If someone asked you what your favorite TV show was, what would you say? Would it be a thriller like “Law and Order: SVU” or a classic sitcom like “Friends”? Is a feel-good dramedy like “Gilmore Girls” your show of choice or do you prefer a post-apocalyptic saga like “The Walking Dead”?
I’m a pretty indecisive person, so I can never answer this question fully. And it’s because of this conundrum — which I’m sure many of you are facing too — that I realize it’s because I’m so emotionally invested in a select few shows; to pick a favorite would be too hard. After a few months of pure bliss, I finished “Parks and Recreation” this past summer, and not to be too dramatic, but I felt empty inside for a few days. It’s not that I wasn’t satisfied with the ending. I missed being able to regularly see characters I had grown to love, continue their stories. And this strong reaction forces me to wonder: why are we so attached to TV shows nowadays?
While TV shows are a part of our everyday life — whether you watch to pass the time or as background noise — recently it seems like people are growing increasingly invested in their shows, basically becoming addicted to them. With the recent increase in popularity of websites like Netflix and Hulu, it’s too easy for us to get into a show, simply because the entire series awaits us with the push of a button. I’m not about to go on the classic rant that TV is ruining our society, forcing our brains and intellect to atrophy. I’m interested in why TV today seems to be that much more of an emotional experience than it was, say, 20 years ago.
Why are we are willing to watch an entire season in the span of a few hours? Why are we so attached to our programs that we can’t wait a week to watch the next episode and look for leaked episodes online? I’m talking to you, “Game of Thrones” fans. And with the introduction of social media, watching TV has become even more of an experience. You can easily see what other fans are saying about an episode, as you post about that very episode. These all explain the increase in people’s obsession with their shows, but doesn’t it seem like more than that? I think it has to do with how our lives shape our perception of the TV shows we watch, allowing us to escape into and relate to a particular series, if only for half an hour.
Any high school athlete or coach can relate to “Friday Night Lights,” while someone at a dead-end job could see themselves in any of “The Office” characters. But it doesn’t have to be that obvious. Someone facing a hard time with his/her school or personal conflicts with a sibling or significant other can almost always relate to what a character is going through. This is why we find ourselves so enamored with TV and so attached to the shows we watch. It goes beyond the love for a specific actor, an interest in the subject matter or procrastination. At any time when we find ourselves confused about if we’re doing the right thing, or if we just need something to believe in, we know exactly which shows will give us that comfort, sometimes forcing us to see the reality of our own situation, even if on a fictional platform.