Feel good
Again and again Gilmore Girls: Why Comfort Binge Makes You Happy
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There are series that you can watch over and over again without boring you in the least. In addition, “seeing you again and again” has a positive side effect.
by Viola Kaiser
When my colleagues talk about the Gilmore Girls, it’s like they’re talking about their friends. When they talk about Stars Hollow, it sounds like they’re talking about their home village. It goes so far that one has to think of Luke when she drinks too much coffee. When you talk about this series, you get a slightly ecstatic look on your face. I don’t find it strange the way they act when it comes to Lorelei and Rory, though. On the contrary, it even seems very normal to me. I myself watch the same thing over and over again: I particularly love this one episode of Modern Family, in which Edward Norton appears and sings “Gold” by Spandau Ballet.
I can have a say in “Brian’s life”
Even before there were streaming services or “Gilmore Girls” or “Modern Family”, I did what is now called “Comfort Binge” in English-speaking countries. I kept watching the same films on DVD over and over again. I can say “The Life of Brian” or “Love Actually” word for word. And although I already know what will happen in minute 5.31, the whole thing is not a bit boring for me. On the contrary, it has had a consistently positive effect on my life. I don’t want to learn anything new or be totally surprised, I just want to see something that I already know and like. Some evenings I’m so exhausted that I can’t even manage to follow complicated threads of crazy new stories. Then that’s just too much for me. Instead, I could just jumble through all of the episodes of “Modern Family” without really thinking. Because I know my way around the cosmos of this series so well. I would go so far as to say that comfort binge makes me healthier. Because it calms me, because it makes my pulse beat steadily, because it makes me happy.
I’m happy to see the protagonists again
I also know the protagonists of “Modern Family” and “Brooklyn 99” so well that I am always happy to see them again. I developed a real bond with them. The fact is that I first need warm-up time for each new series. By the time I know everyone, the season is often over again. Sometimes I get really down because it’s over now. But this feeling doesn’t even arise when I watch episode 12 of season 2 over and over and laugh myself at it for the 1000th time. Because I already know everything, it’s almost like meeting old friends. I just don’t even have to get up from the couch or comb my hair. Usually I can only hang out with real friends. Sometimes I do that too. With the best, I even share my favorite episode with Edward Norton.