Siobhan Smith ‘30
Staff Writer
Throughout my first few months in college, as I learned to navigate schoolwork, new friends, new living situations, and now some upcoming exams, I’ve realized how I have fallen back into my comfort shows. I’ve always been someone who loves to rewatch favorite movies and shows or reread books, but why? What about these shows or books provided comfort? Why is the term “comfort show” so frequently used?
I personally love comfort shows—I’ve rewatched Friends and Shrinking so many times, I could quote any scene. For me, I love being able to jump into any season or episode and having characters that I know and plots I’m familiar with. Do I get bored? Nope. While I may have seen the episodes before, the jokes are still funny, the themes are still powerful, and I find every time I watch or read something again, I get more out of it. Whether it’s noticing a small detail—in Friends, I watch for the Magna Doodle sign on Joey and Chandler’s door as it has a message relating to either a small plot line or off-screen joke—or picking up on Easter eggs hidden throughout the story that relate to its ending. There is so much put into every episode, it’s impossible to notice everything that was designed and scripted on the first go-around. My opinions of characters shift as I see things from a different perspective, or pick up on something small they may have done. So, rewatching is far from boring; there are constantly new things to notice and learn.
One of the biggest reasons why so many people love comfort shows is because they are often so nostalgic. I can remember watching Gilmore Girls with my mom in middle school, and still get that feeling of sitting under the blankets on the couch with her, laughing along to Lorelai’s antics, and that feeling returns every time I put on an episode. Or I am brought back to the feeling of my friends and I constantly updating each other on our thoughts about the emotional rollercoaster that is the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy and debating who’s better— McDreamy or McSteamy?
So, after a long day of classes, club meetings, and/or sport practices, when I’m ready to relax, I don’t want to have to start immediately thinking and processing new information—I want to relax with characters I know. The familiarity is reassuring and calming, but never boring. Stories in general can provide so much comfort; throughout my life, I’ve always loved the feeling of being transported by a good story. For a little while, the halls of Hogwarts could be real, or Schitt’s Creek could be an actual town. It’s not about avoiding the real world, but about having a constant to be comforted by, hence the term “comfort show.”
Copy edited by Claire Flynn ‘29
Featured image courtesy of TIME
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