An Ode to Rewatching

This summer I watched Freaks and Geeks a whopping three times in a row. The 1999 show, which devastatingly got canceled after one season, takes place in Michigan, in the 1980s, and follows high school junior Lindsay Weir and her geeky younger brother Sam as they navigate the trenches of high school. What I found really interesting about Lindsay's character is that she doesn’t fit into a box. As she hangs out with her new and quirky burnout friends, we see her struggle to fully leave behind her nerdy goody-two-shoes identity.

I’ve grown up hearing stories and anecdotes of my parents' childhoods in the 1980s, which seemed to sharply contrast the John Hughes-esque movies and shows I’ve been exposed to. However, Freaks and Geeks, at least to my knowledge, seemed to more accurately reflect my parents' stories. Watching the show felt like stepping into an alternate reality. When I finished the show for the first time, I began to wonder what would have happened next, where the characters would've ended up, how their lives would have changed, and so in an attempt to grapple with the show's ending, I clicked rewatch. This made me begin to wonder why we rewatch things? Why do we long to rewatch something we already know the ending to? 

For the most part, It seems that people's favorite things to rewatch, especially among teenagers, are comedies and sitcoms. Emma Manning and Ella Gravin, who have both watched The Office about three or four times, both claimed The Office was their go-to rewatching show because “The characters and the jokes are comforting.” Interestingly, Emma added, “I never really rewatch things, but for some reason I could watch the office over and over.” Similarly, Nora Guitilla, whose favorite rewatching show is Friends, said “It's my comfort show because of the comic relief.” She also said exaggeratingly, “I’ve probably watched Friends about 400 times.” and “I like that it has very predictable situations and characters that are all different and funny in their own way.” and claimed, “I could probably recite the entire series.” Nora explained that when she got her wisdom teeth out, “I watched friends for hours.” 

Another fan favorite rewatch is the drama series “Jane the Virgin.” Sydney Conlin explained this is her favorite rewatch because “it's the perfect amount of all different genres. It has sadness, crime, mystery, romance, etc.”  Autumn Rutley also reported this was her favorite show and, interestingly, both Sydney and Autumn said every time they’ve rewatched it, they pick up on things they didn’t notice before. 

Whether someone is rewatching a drama, comedy, sitcom, etc, I’ve noticed that the common denominator in rewatching these shows is comfort, connection to the characters, and attention to detail. We rewatch things that resonate with our emotions and interests that ultimately connect us to our identity.