And to that end, I have found myself with some of the Free Time. Turns out, not having to drill multiplication tables and grammar rules into my kids’ heads, or sit with them while they grudgingly read Johnny Tremain means I have time to do things! AMAZING. And to that end I have been indulging to one of my favorite things: TV-watching.
My daughter has been joining me on my quest to binge as many comedy shows as possible this summer, and since she is only (almost) 12 I wanted what she watched to be something I had seen before so I could feel ok with her watching it without me. Yes, that works on two levels: ONE, it makes me feel like a good parent who is vetting the content of what her pre-teen daughter is watching and TWO, it keeps me from missing anything while I’m doing the laundry or walking the dog.
So, we’ve found ourselves in a little loop of RE-WATCHING some of my absolute faves. So far, we’ve completed every season of Parks and Recreation, The Office and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. We’re on New Girl now. So head to the Netflix nearest you, pop some kettle corn, and get ready for your summer reboot because I’ve decided to share some of my new found re-watching wisdom with you.
Summer Reboot: Watching Your Old Faves
1. Watch with a NOOB
My daughter has never seen any of these shows, so watching with her is like seeing it through totally new eyes. Plus I happen to be suggesting she watch shows I know a TON about, so I get to keep impressing her with my insider knowledge or my pics of times I got to meet cast members. She was extra impressed that I’m Facebook friends with Jim O’Heir and Andy Buckley (it’s not impressive).
She gets so excited that we are going to sit down together and spend a couple of hours laughing our heads off at Leslie Knope or Andy Dwyer or Dwight Schrute. It’s makes what might be kind of lame way to spend an afternoon a ton of fun. And it makes the show seem new again. Also we laugh NON STOP.
2. Keep your re-watch to your faves
This re-watch strategy doesn’t work quite as well when it’s not a show that you already know that you love. I liked Scrubs back in the day, but I didn’t LOVE it. I tried watching a few episodes again with her and I just got annoyed. Except the musical episode … because I could watch GUY LOVE on a loop. But when it’s not a show that you refused to ever miss, then you won’t care if you miss it all over again. Stick to the ones you’ve always considered the top of your list.
3. Make it short and simple
We don’t go more than two hours of binge-watching at a time (sometimes we do this twice a day if we are particularly bored). With comedies, this means we can watch four – sometimes five or six – episodes before it’s time to shut it down, go outside or pick up a book. Keeping it short helps when you’ve already seen it a million times because it doesn’t lose its nostalgia as quickly. There are only so many times you have hear those happy opening jingles in a day anyway.
So … what comedies do you think we should do next? I’m thinking it’s time to introduce this sweet summer child to Seinfeld.
