I'm currently on my third rewatch of The Golden Girls since mid March. All seven seasons. All 180 episodes.
At this point, I think I can quote Blanche, Dorothy, Rose, and Sophia in my sleep.
A lot of the time it's just on as background noise while I work, clean, or do something else, but I also find myself sitting down to watch it with purpose at night. I often work pretty late, but I've been trying to cut out a little early lately. I tell myself I'll stop writing at, say, 9 p.m., and get back to the book I'm reading, look for a new show to get into, or even watch a movie. But I pick up my remote and suddenly, none of that seems appealing. I feel a physical need to be in Miami with Bea Arthur and Betty White.
It's not the first time I've gotten hung up on a TV show like this. It's not the first time I've gotten hung up on The Golden Girls. Back in 2022/2023, when my dog was injured pretty badly, I think I went through all the seasons a few times. When the pandemic first began in 2020, I watched The Office almost every single day and then started it all over again. When my mom's health started taking a turn circa 2016, I got in my bed every single night and watched Friends until I fell asleep. As for this current round of The Golden Girls, well, I have been dealing with a lot of uncertainty about my future lately.
Notice a trend?
For a while, I thought this was weird, but I've since learned that A) Other people do it too and B) It can actually be... good for you. And there are many reasons why:
1. It's a coping strategy: "Rewatching is an adaptive way to decompress after the stress of everyday life, regulate emotional states, and create a predictable transition into rest."
2. Nostalgia: Watching our favorite shows often take us back to simpler times. I know that when I was a little girl and I'd spend the night with my grandparents, my grandmother and I would always get into her bed and watch The Golden Girls. This can be healing, and it's even been used to help treat dementia.
3. It brings order and stability to our lives: Sometimes, our brains need a break from uncertainty, especially when we've experienced high levels of stress or trauma. We watch the same show over and over because we know the characters and the story. There are no surprises.
4. Reduced cognitive load: Day-to-day life can be exhausting. This can be especially true for parents of young children; people who work "in roles that require sustained attention, rapid decision-making, and emotional labor"; and people who are generally anxious to begin with. Many experts explain this as your brain being like a web browser with thousands of tabs open at once. Comfort TV doesn't require you to focus and learn like a new show might. It may even help you shut out some of the excess noise.
5. Connection: There are many lonely people in this world. While the characters on your favorite TV show aren't a forever solution, it can help bring a temporary sense of connection, like you're hanging out with friends.
6. No decision-making fatigue: How many times have you gone to Netflix or some other streaming app and surfed for something to watch, only to realize that it's an hour later, and you still haven't started anything? According to psychologist Barry Schwartz, having too many options can sometimes cause stress, even when you're actually just trying to relax.
7. Self-awareness: This is one of the more interesting items on the list, in my opinion. An article in Psychology Today points out that watching something we've watched before makes us more self-aware, especially as it relates to our growth over time. The author of that article points out that a couple of decades ago, he watched the movie Sideways and became interested in wine. Now, he can go back and watch it again and appreciate some of the details he may have missed the first time. I find that to be true with The Golden Girls too. For example, watching it as a child or teenager is completely different from watching it as someone who is only one to two decades away from the ages of the show's characters. You appreciate and understand more... and you wonder why they were always wearing so many layers of clothing in Miami.
One more thing I found interesting when researching all of this was that not everyone's go-to for comfort TV is the same. Shows like the ones I've mentioned — comedies and classic sitcoms — are the most common. But for some people, it's medical drama or true crime. These shows usually present a structured problem with a clear outcome. Others might prefer horror or thrillers because they're distracting. Some people watch children's shows for the simplicity, while some turn to cooking or decorating shows. I know when I was going through the end of a relationship once, I wanted to watch nothing but stand-up comedy and would often repeat the same specials over and over.
Now, it all makes sense.
What about you? Tell us your go-to comfort TV shows in the comments.
