Picture the scene: You’ve come home from another grueling day at work—someone ate your sandwich from the communal fridge, didn’t they? Despite the sweet little note you left on it?—and you’ve plonked yourself down in front of the TV for a little R&R. You could watch the hit new show everyone’s raving about, sure, but it just feels like… well, it just feels like so much effort. Because wouldn’t it be easier to just, say, dive back into the warm bubble bath-esque nostalgia of something you know and love? Something that you likely know the words to by heart? Something that always acts as a soothing balm, no matter how rubbish you’re feeling?
And, just like that, your hand has somehow slipped on the remote and you’ve accidentally-on-purpose binged your way through an entire season of Friends. Again. Go figure.
If this little scenario feels too close to home, don’t worry: You’re not alone. The overall streaming top 10 for 2023 is positively dominated by old shows like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Grey’s Anatomy, Suits (yes, Suits!), and The Simpsons. Netflix, too, constantly informs viewers that “everyone’s watching” Gilmore Girls and Downton Abbey. And Disney+ is having oodles of success with its latest tried-and-tested carrot, How I Met Your Mother, too. So, what gives? Why are we all clinging so tightly to TV shows of the past instead of diving headfirst into something new and exciting?
Because nostalgia is addictive, quite frankly—and especially so in times of trouble and strife (which, let’s face it, the world is absolutely experiencing by the bucketload right now, however much we may try to avoid admitting as much).
Nostalgia allows us to “revert back to a perhaps happier or carefree version of our own past,” explains U.K.-based empowerment coach Grace McMahon. “It could be referred to as reminiscing in comfort, and who wouldn’t want to engage in a little of that between our busy, stressful lives and the challenging circumstances we’re all trying to make sense of right now?”
The mood-boosting impact of nostalgia isn’t just anecdotal: In fact, studies have shown that nostalgia creates a chemical reaction, triggering the release of dopamine and serotonin, two happy hormones. This, McMahon explains, can have something of an addictive effect on us. “We enjoy the feeling, so naturally want more,” she says. “It is human nature to chase circumstances where dopamine is released—think scrolling through social media, going for a run (if you’re into that), or getting a hit from buying yourself a little treat.”
The same is true of our neverending love affair with Friends & Co., it seems. Because, no matter how many times we see Ross lose his mind over that sandwich, Phoebe sing “Smelly Cat,” Joey toot de la fruit his way through his French lessons, Monica propose to Chandler amid a sea of candles, or Rachel get off the plane, it somehow still feels every bit as good as it did the first time around. Which, considering how much we hate laugh tracks nowadays, doesn’t make all that much sense.
“Look, we likely watched these shows for the first time when life felt simpler, or we didn’t quite have the perspective on the world’s challenges we do now,” says McMahon. “We were younger, freer, and maybe things didn’t feel easier at the time, but the perspective we have as adults can make life feel much more overwhelming than when those seemingly trivial issues we had back then.”
McMahon continues, “There’s a comfort in knowing these shows, feeling familiar with the characters in them and casting our minds back to a simpler time.”
Basically, the predictability of watching an old show—of knowing every beat, every joke, every emotional moment—is a major part of what lures us into these nostalgia-inspired binges. When the world feels chaotic and the 24/7 news cycle triggers feelings of despair, it’s nice to take solace in something that’s not going to catch us off guard. Ever.
“There’s also the fact that we’re not trying to guess the plot or waiting to find out what’s going to happen, and we don’t have to focus quite as much as if it were a new show,” adds McMahon. “This can be more comforting and easier on our minds; it requires less energy and feels less draining than watching things we haven’t yet seen. New content has an element of the unknown, which can be gripping at times but also stirs uncertainty, which we all know, since the pandemic, can create feelings of anxiety.”
Throw in the fact that new content tends to skew a little darker—sure, there are some comedies, but there are countless more “based on true events” dramas and crime procedurals—and you have more than enough reasons to find that aforementioned new hit show a little… well, a little anxiety-inducing, quite frankly.
“If you’re already feeling frazzled in your life or by the prospect of the world’s challenges, it might be the last thing you want to indulge in after a long day at work or at the weekend,” says McMahon. “Nostalgic shows, on the flip side, offer us a chance to escape everything that’s going on in the world, transporting us back to a simpler place where our current problems don’t feel as consuming.”
So, Friends and the like are the televisual equivalent of a cozy blanket, basically. Even reboots and requels are experiencing a surge in popularity for much the same reason, whether it’s One Day on Netflix or Percy Jackson on Disney+, so it’s little wonder the TV gods are set to bring Harry Potter and Twilight back via starry small-screen adaptations, too.
That said, there’s more to our insatiable lust for all things tried and tested than just the way it makes us feel: the way we consume content has changed drastically from the days of regularly scheduled TV, too, and McMahon suspects our fondness for old content is driven in part by the fact that we’re living in an “era of mass information and instant gratification.”
“With few adverts (mostly), skip intro and credits, and the next-episode buttons, there’s little need to slow down,” she says, “and many of us are so used to having information coming in at all times that the silence is difficult to manage.”
As such, many of us are now using TV as background noise: Much like our grandparents used to pop the wireless on for company (my grandma was always a fan of talk radio), so many of us are doing the same with our televisions.
“On this same note, our attention spans are dwindling with this kind of information consumption, so many of us reach for our phones in a moment of nothing,” says McMahon. In fact, she suspects that many of us are so used to the short clips we stream via TikTok, Reels, and other social-media sites that we find it hard to concentrate for the length of an entire episode of something on TV. As a result, “many of us likely prefer to watch things we’ve already seen because it then doesn’t really matter if we’re not engaged.”
Of course, our addiction to nostalgia has absolutely been helped along by streaming services. In many ways, these apps are the ultimate enablers, imbuing us with the power to be more nostalgic than ever: We are no longer limited to a strict TV schedule and can dive back into an old favorite as many times as we want. Still, while it’s nice to have that flexibility—and while it’s admittedly lovely to be able to binge our way back through standbys like Modern Family, Superstore, and Community from the very beginning—there is a catch: Having all of those options of things to watch, both old and new, means that we’re constantly being struck by a form of choice paralysis.
“It’s yet another source of information overwhelm,” notes McMahon, who says that, when we become fatigued by decision-making, it can cause us to “want to escape further and disconnect from reality.” She continues, “How many times have you scrolled through the options, finding a number of things you might enjoy or want to see, or have been recommended to watch, only to find yourself still undecided half an hour later, giving up and heading back to an old favorite?”
Reader, it’s okay if you feel incredibly seen right now. Entertainment should be exactly that: entertaining. So, if you find yourself stuck in a nostalgic cycle and can’t quite steel yourself to watch new content at the moment, that’s not something to be ashamed of.
“Do what makes you happy,” advises McMahon, who confesses that she herself loves to rewatch This Is Us at the start of October every year, to signal to herself that autumn has arrived. “There is no problem with going back to old and loved shows, especially if that brings you joy. Life and the world we live in can be hard enough, so don’t pile additional pressure on yourself.”
Still, if you find you’re being hit with that judgy “are you still watching?” prompt more and more often, McMahon says it might be time for a break from the past—even if that means switching to watching a new show or (sacrilege) getting outside in the fresh air for 20 minutes. And so, on that note, this writer advises you to check in with yourself and find out “how you doin’?” the next time you’re worried that your nostalgia-binging has gotten out of hand. Because, if it’s still sparking joy (and you can still get up from the sofa without being struck by pins and needles), you can write it off as a beautiful dopamine-boosting activity.