Watching the Same Tv Show Over and Over Again

"Forget the adjacent big matter. We're all suckers for the concluding big affair." - Derek Thompson, The Atlantic.

I have a list of Tv set shows that I've been significant to watch, or rather that I intend to watch one solar day. Whenever they come up in a conversation, be it The West Wing or Buffy, I'll mention that I'thousand planning to spotter that. But when information technology comes to sitting downwardly and watching a show or reaching the finale and determining what's side by side, I won't go for ane of these series on my bucket listing. Instead, I'll turn to something that I've seen many times earlier, to the extent that I could probably quote information technology past now. I'll lookout man Friends or Drastic Housewives instead of starting ane of the shows that I claim to be eager to watch.

And I'm far from the just 1 guilty of this, as nosotros all seem to adopt rewatching shows rather than discovering new content. The pandemic served merely to highlight this, drawing attending to this addiction instilled in us. TV classics, like The Function, saw considerable increases in scout time during the lockdown, more so than new shows that came out during this catamenia.

Why do we elect to rewatch something rather than tick some other series off of our to-watch list?

Free energy consumption

Watching TV is intended to be a depression-energy task. You're not going to the cinema or theatre, merely instead, you're settling down on your couch or bed, and tuning in to a show to tune out for a while. The most energy-consuming attribute of the activity is choosing what to watch, which is why we feel relieved to have an entire show to rampage-scout, as, for that period of fourth dimension, the decision has been fabricated for united states.

The status-quo bias determines that individuals tend to stick with previous decisions equally the cost of coming to a new decision is mentally tiring. We prefer things to stay as they are, using our current baseline every bit the reference point from which to work from. Examples include staying at your current chore to avoid looking for a new one, which you could potentially dislike more. Shopping at the same store to avoid the hassle of finding a new 1. And rewatching a show instead of choosing a new one to try.

To avoid the free energy-consuming task of looking through possible shows and deciding which to sentinel, nosotros adopt to repeat a previous conclusion and rewatch something. That choice doesn't feel similar a choice at all, merely rather a continuation of when nosotros first watched information technology. We rewatch shows to avoid unnecessary free energy being dedicated to choosing what to watch instead.

Commitment

I won't attempt to convince you that monogamy is dead, but rather that Television receiver monogamy may be on the downfall. We've become delivery-phobic when it comes to TV shows, and so dedicating ourselves to several seasons of a new evidence can experience overwhelming. After all, it takes only one wrongful graphic symbol expiry or poorly executed finale to ruin everything nosotros poured our attention into.

Ane of the primary perks of rewatching a testify is that yous're not committing; you're not guaranteeing what you'll watch for weeks or even months to come up. Instead, it is only now, just one or two episodes. You can choice information technology upwards and drop it as you delight. You lot know the story, and so any point you join at allows you lot to visit and exit every bit you please. This is also why sitcoms tend to be the about rewatched shows, as there are no firsthand storylines to follow; each episode is its own tale.

When tasked with the pick of watching a motion picture or a series, many say that they go for a series for the smaller commitment. Even if they have the time for an unabridged picture, they'd rather watch several episodes. Information technology seems like a smaller toll. This may also relate to humans' shortened attention span, as we discover information technology easier to focus on ane xxx-minute episode after another rather than an entire film.

Control

Humans don't realise how much they cling to control until they lose it. This is why sudden events can traumatise us then much, such equally losing a loved one or developing an affliction. There is the effect itself, simply and so too what this event means to us and our fragile state of being. It'south the reminder that nosotros're non in control, that life doesn't owe us anything, and anything could be taken from us. We don't become to choose our future, as much as nosotros'd like to recollect we can.

Nowadays, control drifts even farther from our reach. Nosotros graduated with unmentionable amounts of debt, it'll exist decades earlier we could always beget to purchase a house, and many of us will finish up doing jobs we despise due to this economy. We can't control when we get upwardly, where we go to work, or where we want to live, equally the options are then express. The pandemic but rendered the lack of control deeper, every bit we suddenly couldn't leave our homes.

We clutch at the small things in our control, one of which is what nosotros choose to watch. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime serve only to inundate us with choices. For once, we're spoiled, with countless thrillers, comedies, dramas and more at our fingertips. Nosotros get to choose what nosotros'll watch; we're in control of that. And so we may exercise this control with a condom choice, given how new a sensation it is. If we were to choose a wildcard and not enjoy it, we would arraign ourselves, because precious time wasted. We use this control wisely and choose something familiar to us if only to pretend information technology was a affair of control in the get-go place.

It is also a means of controlling what we see, as nosotros know what is to come up. We know, at least to an extent, how funny or sad or uplifting a show is, and and then nosotros're controlling how we want to feel, what we want to feel.

Nostalgia

Co-ordinate to Clay Routledge, a psychologist who studies nostalgia at Due north Dakota Country University, at that place are two strains of nostalgia: historical (nostalgia for the general by) and autobiographical (nostalgia for an individual's specific past). This can use to watching films or Television receiver shows in ii ways. We may scout older content in order to have historical nostalgia - "Weren't things then much simpler earlier the internet?"- and rewatch content to have autobiographical nostalgia - "Higher really was the all-time!"

Yous may rewatch the aforementioned shows that bring you to a more than favourable time in your life, one you desire to reminisce over. Additionally, you lot may rewatch shows because of when you showtime watched them. If you commencement discovered Gilmore Girls in college and would watch it with your flatmates, you may rewatch it at present to experience that same sense of security and possibility. If Friends was something you enjoyed with your parents on a Friday evening, rewatching it may make you experience closer to them.

The betoken is that nostalgia goes further than the content of the Television set show but instead refers to everything that surrounds it. Rewatching a show isn't merely about that evidence but includes everything surrounding it. Who you were when you first watched information technology, who you watched it with, even why y'all were watching information technology tin have an effect.

Some shows hold a special identify in our heart or memories, and and then it is only natural that we'll turn back to it when we desire to feel a certain way or retrieve something.

The Mere Exposure Effect

The more you lot see someone, the closer you feel to them. Information technology's as unproblematic as that. At that place are exceptions to the dominion, such as someone who you lot have negative connotations regarding or alien personalities. But more often than not speaking, we develop a fondness for people we're exposed to repeatedly.

By rewatching shows, you feel closer to the characters portrayed. For example, Rachel in Friends holds a special identify in my heart, ane that makes me still follow Jennifer Anniston's career. My mum loved Rachel, then we would watch Friends together, and she'd mention how pretty or nice she is. This was passed on to me, as we bonded through this mutual affection for a character. In turn, Rachel at present is someone I think highly of, fifty-fifty though I appreciate all the characters in Friends - as true fans do!

If you're feeling low or static, you want to turn to people y'all know well, as you feel that yous can trust them more. You don't want to be encountered past strangers, characters who could practice anything or accept some surreptitious revealed that will change how you lot see them. You lot desire your friends, even if those are behind a screen.

The Mere Exposure Issue dictates this, a psychological phenomenon in which people tend to develop a preference for things they're more familiar with. By rewatching a evidence, we have a stronger preference for that over something nosotros've never seen before.

The near-watched shows in 2020

Just in case you doubted the extent to which shows are universally watched, let'due south accept a expect at the most-watched TV shows in 2020. This data was obtained by Broadband Deals and published in January 2021.

1. The Office (US) - Minutes streamed: 57.127 billion
2. Gray's Beefcake - 39.405 billion
3. Criminal Minds - 35.414 billion

The most universally watched TV show of 2020 ended over 7 years ago and yet graced more Goggle box or laptop screens than any other show since or before. Whilst Grey'southward Beefcake is ongoing, with season 17 currently airing, the large viewership is attributed to the prove existence added to Disney+ and more streaming services, suggesting information technology to be a rewatch equally well. Criminal Minds concluded in February 2020, indicating a big portion of the viewership to exist rewatches likewise.

Information technology's no coincidence that these were the most-watched shows in 2020, when a pandemic collection us all home and TV became our principal outlet, bated from food. In times of trouble, we searched for the comfort and nostalgia of our favourite shows.

And here is the listing of the most rewatched TV shows, every bit of 2020, here are the titles and the per centum of viewers who watched the serial more than once:

1. Friends - 63%
2. Peep Bear witness - 59%
3. The Office (US) - 55%
4. Brooklyn 99 - 53%
5. RuPaul's Drag Race - 51%

Incredibly, over half the people who watch one of these shows entirely will keep to scout it over again or several more than times. And given that these shows are primarily comedies, it suggests that we exercise and then for comforting purposes rather than to relive certain dramatic moments or search for further meaning in the script.

Is it bad to rewatch shows?

Rewatching shows allows the states to counteract loneliness, especially in times such as now. The developed bonds with characters enables you to obtain a social connexion right from your couch. Furthermore, it's been shown to reduce feet and depressive symptoms, having a calming upshot on your heed.

The issue comes when you lot rewatch shows as a manner of living in the past. You don't desire to motion forward, and and so you rewatch the same testify about being in higher, or 1 that reminds you of a better fourth dimension. You remain mentally fixated on this time and hold yourself dorsum in doing so. We refuse to enjoy the present past idealising the past, which could also include current Telly shows. Nosotros need to remain optimistic well-nigh the future, and part of doing this is through expanding our choice of shows to spotter.

We need to consider our Television receiver habits every bit more than than just what we watch, for the importance of TV has grown monumentally in recent decades. Our pick of shows reflects our choice of values, interests, mindset and sources of condolement. By rewatching a prove, we choose it over a new feel, preferring this nostalgia or command over the potential some other bear witness may hold. It's of import to consider why we choose to watch a item testify, and if we decide to motility forward, making information technology easier by selecting shows that could fill that same yearning.

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Source: https://symptomsofliving.com/blog/why-do-we-rewatch-tv-shows

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