I simply couldn’t finish a new tv series for the last two years, as I was more drawn to my comfort shows, Monk, Brooklyn 99, Derry Girls, or Avatar: The Last Airbender. There is something oddly comforting in rewatching favourite tv shows when confronting pandemics, lockdowns, social injustice, or war. Comfort watching, instead of binge watching, is that gentle feeling that everything feels ok with the world. There is no twist, dialogue, or scene that could surprise me when I rewatch these shows, giving me a reassuring impression of local familiarity, control and predictability in the face of global uncertainty and adversity.
And I was not alone in using tv shows as a coping mechanism. Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, published a report aptly called LOL: Amid Uncertain Times, Consumers Take Comfort in Nostalgic Comedy Shows that highlighted an American user preference toward classic sitcoms. Of course, laughter releasing feel-good endorphins increases the appeal of tried and tested comedic episodes.
It’s not only comedy we returned to when we wanted some peace of mind. If in 2020, the most streamed tv show in America was The Office, in 2021, Nielsen determined that Criminal Minds, a crime-drama show started in 2005, was the most viewed TV show across its tracked US streaming platforms. Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, Supernatural, Gilmore Girls, Bones, or Seinfeld were other highly watched tv shows in 2021.
Perhaps we turn to reruns of our favourite tv shows because we associate them with happier times, capsules of tender memories which translates to escapism experiences we crave during challenging times. Watching Monk will always bring memories of my daughter’s first months when I watched the show during those endless breastfeeding sessions.
Another aspect to consider is the cognitive load, the used amount of working memory resources. The working memory is a type of memory that holds data for a short time to manipulate, allowing us to recall and use relevant information in the middle of an activity. For example, planning our day involves working memory: I need to buy some veggies for the stew. What else do I need? Ah yes, that prescription refill from the pharmacy. Oh, when is that report due? This week or the next week? Wait, I need to call the plumber.
As I wrote here, the capacity of the working memory is limited. Some researchers believe that, on average, the working memory can hold around four thoughts or concepts (chunks in cognitive psychology). That means that some people might have working memories that could hold only two or three pieces of information, whereas others could keep five or six chunks. We cannot change our working memory capacity, as this is a fixed characteristic, like the colour of our eyes.
We had to deal with more information than ever before during the last two years. It seemed like everyone became an epidemiologist and, recently, a military strategist. As these years are highly challenging, it made sense to share information between us as the best therapy for anxious thinking is to talk about it. But this introduced too much knowledge to process, which turned into a heavy cognitive (over)load.
So, when it was time to watch something, we contemplated shows we’ve already enjoyed instead of new ones that might have been too much for us to process (new characters and plots to remember, making predictions of what will come next, cliffhangers and so on). My brain has zero work to do with Brooklyn 99 or other shows I prefer, and I can put an episode in the background while I go about my evening.
Of course, not only watching preferred tv shows can relieve worries. Any other occasions where we consume content that we previously enjoyed can do that. Consuming old favourites such as books, songs, podcasts, videos, movies, or games is a delectable de-stressor experience.
Unfortunately, comfort watching can easily lead to binge watching, where we consume media unhealthily. Watching an old TV show is escapism, pausing reality for a while. But if we tend to avoid reality and its problems for too long, reality will eventually catch up with us. So, as long as we are aware of our media consumption and vary our media diet by adding new content, watching reruns is a battle-tested cheerful aid against frightening news headlines.
Related article:
Tracing the Reach of Storytelling
Video Credit: Still Watching Netflix
Video Credit: Monk
Video Credit: Netflix
Video Credit: Avatar: The Last Airbender