Rewatching Favorite Shows: The Science Behind It

2 days ago
3 min read

In the world we live in, humans are exposed to many unpredictable and stressful

predicaments. We survived a pandemic, wars, the boom of the internet and social media, the

complete phase of cable, etc. We live in a world that is always moving, always evolving, you

can’t even count on your favorite restaurants being there by the end of the year. Add in days full

of work or school or parenting (which all sound the same), social lives where you have to give

and receive for it to count as a real meaningful friendship (also sometimes work too), selfcare,

cooking, cleaning, maintaining your mental health, holy shit the list goes on.

Imagine your combination of a normal week, whether it’s clocked in shifts or debating

about the hierarchy of Barbie dolls, sitting down at the end of the day to watch a new show

sounds exciting, in theory. But in reality, winding down shouldn’t also include clocking in more

hours to understand backstory, character relationships, and predict the upcoming drama.

During a given day, we only have a certain amount of willpower, Derrick says. Paying

attention to boring tasks at work, regulating what you say to your co-workers, running errands;

all of those things use up this limited amount of self-control. “And then when you get home,

your partner asks, ‘What do you want for dinner?’ You’re like, ‘I don’t care. Let’s just eat.’

That’s an example of not wanting to make decisions anymore, because you don’t have the

resources left to engage in effortful decision-making at that point,” she says. (Goldfarb, 2022).This concept ties into the idea of picking out your clothes the night before, saying a

decision you’ll have to make in the morning. Or meal-prepping, less time making the decision of

what to eat when you have meals ready to eat. It’s comforting to know what is coming, humans

have an innate need to control things, and this is just another way to comfort with control and consistency.

The relationships viewers form with their favorite characters can ease stressful life, not

because the events of the show/content are necessarily peaceful, but viewers know what’ll happen and how they’ll respond. Viewers form bonds with the repetition, and the bond becomes

comforting (theGuardian.com, 2024). With the modern world of streaming services, the rewatch

culture has boomed. Not because new media isn’t as entertaining, but it’s made it only that much easier to find familiar comfort(Shackleford, Whiteman, et.al , 2025). Beyond comfort,

rewatching shows can build community among generations, parents and their child quoting

episodes of Friends that they watched years apart. With fresh eyes in every “repeat” choice,

whether that is listening to the same song, watching the same show, or going to the same

restaurants, people often find new things they hadn’t noticed before. Repetition allows for the

meaning of the things we love to grow, because we grow as those things continue to bring

structure. We might not understand the severity of how toxic Ross and Rachel’s relationship as

kids, but one day we’ll look at Ross and say: “Joey would’ve loved everything about Rachel he hates.” And now the show has a new meaning, a new life to it than prior.

So, don’t feel bad for missing the latest season of an overly complicated and poorly paced

eight episode season, that can only be heard during the middle of the night when the entire world is dead silent and seen in complete utter darkness. Enjoy a familiar show with real character arcs that can be appreciated with overtime and with age.

Written by, Grace Almonte

Sources:

Goldfarb, Anna. “Why Rewatching Your Favorite TV Show Is Good for You.” Time, 17 May

2022, https://time.com/6177365/why-do-i-rewatch-tv-shows/. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.

Guardian staff reporter. “From The Office to Breaking Bad: What Is the Neuroscience of

Chronic TV Rewatching?” The Guardian, The Guardian, 24 Sept. 2024,

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/24/from-the-office-to-breaking-bad-what

-is-the-neuroscience-of-chronic-tv-rewatching. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/24/from-the-office-to-breaking-bad-what-

is-the-neuroscience-of-chronic-tv-rewatching

Shackleford, Karen E, et al. “Choosing to Re‐Experience Movies and TV Episodes: Popularity,

Motivations and Benefits of Volitional Reconsumption of Entertainment Media.” Social and