Already know every joke, plot twist, and season finale in a series you’ve watched more times than you can count? There may be a good reason you keep pressing play.
“When we rewatch a favorite show, we’re essentially giving our brains a gift of predictability,” Dr. Danielle Roeske, PsyD, MS, a psychologist and the Vice President of Residential Operations at Newport Healthcare, told Parade. “Choosing something new requires our brains to work because we don’t know the characters, the plot, or the tone, and we can’t be sure we’ll enjoy it. A familiar show removes all of that uncertainty.”
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So if you’ve been feeling guilty about starting the same series again, you can give yourself a break. Wanting something familiar at the end of a stressful day doesn’t make you lazy.
Why Do People Rewatch the Same TV Shows?
“When life feels uncertain or overwhelming, returning to a familiar show provides a sense of comfort and predictability that our brains genuinely crave,” Roeske said.
That can be a relief if you’re already anxious or easily affected by what you watch. Roeske explained that a familiar show takes away the worry of an unexpected twist. She also described rewatchers as potentially empathetic or sentimental, so the attachment may go beyond the story itself.
“Re-watchers often associate certain TV shows with specific memories, people, or chapters of their lives,” she continued. “Returning to that is a way of reconnecting with something meaningful.”
Of course, people rewatch shows for all sorts of reasons. Not everyone who returns to the same series is anxious or sentimental.
Is Rewatching Your Favorite Show a Healthy Coping Habit?
Watching the same episodes to unwind is often called “comfort television.” Roeske describes it as a form of “emotional self-regulation.” You recognize that you’re stressed and choose something you know will help you relax.
“Someone who recognizes they’re stressed, overwhelmed, or emotionally depleted, and intentionally reaches for something they know will comfort them, is demonstrating emotional intelligence,” she told Parade.
The Hearty Soul also describes comfort viewing as a way to cope with stress, not just laziness. Knowing what happens next is part of it, but so is spending time with characters you’ve grown attached to.
What Does Research Say About Comfort TV?
Shira Gabriel, a University at Buffalo psychology professor, studies how television can help people feel connected. Her work suggests that the company of familiar characters can offer a real sense of belonging.
“It’s actually a very healthy part of maintaining a strong sense of self and sense of connection in the modern world,” Gabriel told TIME.
In a 2009 paper published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Gabriel and fellow researchers Jaye L. Derrick and Kurt Hugenberg examined whether familiar TV programs could help people feel less rejected. In one experiment, participants who thought about a program they loved after a threat to a close relationship were less vulnerable to drops in self-esteem, negative mood, and feelings of rejection.
Reruns may help when you’re mentally worn out, too. In a separate study, Derrick found that people turned to familiar stories after tasks that required self-control. Returning to those stories also helped restore their self-control.
So go ahead and start that series again. If it helps you relax after a stressful day, that’s a good enough reason.
