Recently, I’ve begun a rewatch of Battlestar Galactica with my wife. In one of the first episodes, there is a scene where Commander Adama mentions how he’s never finished reading his favorite book. He always gets to the end and just starts over, that way it never ends. It made me chuckle, because I’ve had the habit of doing the same thing.
For years, I’d fall in love with a television show but then stop just short of the final episode. I never had to mourn the conclusion of the story and there was some comfort in knowing I still had an undiscovered part of the story to unfold.
I’ve gotten better about it, thanks in part of how many discussions I have about TV shows I watch. I tend to watch some of them at the same time as friends, so I’m compelled to finish it just so we can conclude our discussion. I believe that experiencing the show, even though text messages, with someone else has made it easier for me to accept the conclusion.
But as I write this, I find myself staring down the final episodes of several series that I thoroughly enjoy, all of them old sitcoms I watch by myself. Shows that I’ve connected with and even use to boost my mood from time-to-time. Luckily, sitcoms are almost endlessly rewatchable and I know this won’t be the last time I’m watching any of them, but it is sad knowing that I have four shows with less than ten episodes left. Shows that won’t be getting revivals nor have a great finale. It’ll be the end of new material for these shows.
I have some mixed feelings about this. For one, I realize that there are plenty of new shows to discover/finish up watching. Removing these shows from the queue will aid tremendously in experiencing other shows that I may love just as much.
But I also have profound sadness. I tend to get attached to families in sitcoms, because I guess they have what I’ve always wanted. That togetherness and connectivity just doesn’t exist in my family and so I live vicariously through the TV at times. So, it can be a little difficult to move on from them at times.
Then there is the element of time. Wings is one of the shows I’m almost done with. I started watching Wings back in the early 90’s. Most of the time it was reruns on USA, but it was a show I caught often and really enjoyed. A few years ago, I began watching Wings from the beginning and as I reach the end, it feels like the conclusion of thirty years of watching, and not just three. I know it’s not necessarily logical since I can always go back and watch my DVDs or stream it on Paramount+ but it still feels like the end of something that has been in my life for a very, very long time.
It seems a bit irrational to feel this way about TV shows, but it was nice to hear a Commander Adama say something similar about his favorite book. I think at times, we discount how important good entertainment can be or what a large part it plays in our life. It’s often used for numbing, comforting, entertaining, inspiring, provoking thought, and I guess when you take all that into consideration it makes sense why we become so attached.
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