 For the first few years Polskie Radio made no official announcements about the show, which led many to believe it was not a play, but a form of a reality show.Although the show's popularity has waned in recent years, it used to be the most popular radio drama in Poland (declared as such by the Centrum Badania Opinii Społecznej study in 1968 ), with estimated 12 million listeners .The Matysiaks family mirror many events from contemporary Polish history; however despite being created during the times of communist People's Republic of Poland it has never been a propaganda mouthpiece—one of the reasons that may explain the show's popularity.