As with many situations, it's hard to find a better quote to capture the sentiment than a Maya Angelou quote: "I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." The intangibles of the 'network effects' of what we watch are the highest for shows in settings that encouraged the strongest & most memorable feelings, which are almost always related to feelings of togetherness, friendship, family, and community. My clearest memories of childhood shows (with often fairly "fat tail" messaging) are of the ones I watched with my sister, at an age where it was hard to find consensus shows that we would watch in peace!
The NYT had an article recently about the show the Gilmore Girls. Apparently, it was one of the top 10 most streamed show last year, even though it ended in 2007. The NYT author offered several reasons for its popularity, but I think the biggest one is like you highlighted here: the show offers community. Millennials remember watching it with their mom, and Gen Z wants to recreate (understand?) the cult nostalgia millennials have for the show. Personally, I started watching the show in 2019, long after its peak popularity, because I worried that I had missed out on some key cultural marker of my generation. Now, 5 years later, I've attended several Gilmore Girls trivia nights and been the recipient of countless Gilmore Girls memes on instagram. You can say what you want about the show, but it definitely gave me the community I was hoping for.
As with many situations, it's hard to find a better quote to capture the sentiment than a Maya Angelou quote: "I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." The intangibles of the 'network effects' of what we watch are the highest for shows in settings that encouraged the strongest & most memorable feelings, which are almost always related to feelings of togetherness, friendship, family, and community. My clearest memories of childhood shows (with often fairly "fat tail" messaging) are of the ones I watched with my sister, at an age where it was hard to find consensus shows that we would watch in peace!
The NYT had an article recently about the show the Gilmore Girls. Apparently, it was one of the top 10 most streamed show last year, even though it ended in 2007. The NYT author offered several reasons for its popularity, but I think the biggest one is like you highlighted here: the show offers community. Millennials remember watching it with their mom, and Gen Z wants to recreate (understand?) the cult nostalgia millennials have for the show. Personally, I started watching the show in 2019, long after its peak popularity, because I worried that I had missed out on some key cultural marker of my generation. Now, 5 years later, I've attended several Gilmore Girls trivia nights and been the recipient of countless Gilmore Girls memes on instagram. You can say what you want about the show, but it definitely gave me the community I was hoping for.
This is a great example, actually! I spoke to someone at work who was too young for Gilmore Girls when it came but, she still watches it with her mom.