It isn’t that I immediately rewatch something, it is more how I feel about rewatching it down the road.
It isn’t that I immediately rewatch something, it is more how I feel about rewatching it down the road.
Ok. That's fair and as I said I know I'm weird about it but even if I feel the inkling towards rewatch I'm not likely to do so. It becomes a pleasant memory usually followed by, "I should rewatch that" and never do.
I remember detesting - absolutely detesting - Kevin Smith's Mallrats back in my twenties. Though the movie was aimed at Gen X kids and young adults just like myself I didn't like it at all. Starting around 2005 I revisited the movie since I'd liked or loved Smith's other movies in the View Askewniverse and suddenly found myself not only appreciating Mallrats but loving it.
It's still a goofy and dumb movie, but I finally got it. I liked it. Hell, I love the steaming little nugget of celluloid. I had to grow ten years older and enter a different mindset to want to revisit certain pieces of entertainment, and sometimes that's what it takes or it just won't happen.
It's still a goofy and dumb movie, but I finally got it. I liked it. Hell, I love the steaming little nugget of celluloid. I had to grow ten years older and enter a different mindset to want to revisit certain pieces of entertainment, and sometimes that's what it takes or it just won't happen.
Same for me. Though I found I often don't know if I'll want to rewatch something later, until years later, I suddenly do feel like rewatching it.
I watch much much more than I used to, pre-streaming ... but I guess the handful of "rewatch material" stays about at the same ratio ... except that back then, I wouldn't watch most of the stuff I don't care about for a first time (short of a few minutes here and there while zapping through channels).
I think the shows that really struck me due to their quality and instant rewatchability, were the famous HBO and AMC "premium peak tv" shows 20 years ago ... especially "Six Feet Under", but also "The Sopranos", "The Wire", "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men" ... they gave me a concept of tv being art and really captivating, rather than mere "entertainment" and escapism.
Ever since then, I often try to invest myself into a new show, even when it's a slow burn, hoping to get another high from the pay off ... which just doesn't happen that often anymore. Maybe three or four shows per decade.
Much of the rest is disposable methadone. Or something between "comfort food" and "guilty pleasure" with escapism potential, like Star Trek.
Same with me. It's how my wife knew I didn't like DISCO... I never bothered to rewatch it. I honestly didn't realize that until she mentioned it a while back, but she's right. And I can say the same about other shows, too.
I literally grew up watching the View Askewniverse (probably at far younger of an age than I should), and it was my jam from the jump. It's a major source of nostalgia and comfort - particularly Clerks II.
Except those shows all ended up with viewers. Modern trek can't even get anywhere near shows like landmans or Tulsa kings numbers. They are getting cw numbers and sometimes lower. No ones watching except the die hard trek fans that love anything that has star trek in the title or the other side that watches it to later mock it on YouTube. So a lot has changed.
How do they cater to the lowest common denominator?
It’s not exactly brainy television. Landman for instance is about a murder investigation in an oil field. Sat through one episode and thought it was dumb.
Landman is anything but dumb. Watching one episode out of 20 or so you can't get the whole experience. Smart and funny writing. But what makes shows like std or sfa brainy? It's obviously much more dumbed down than previous treks in my opinion. The writing isn't nearly as witty as shows like Landman or honestly nowhere near the excellence of TOS.
One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Well the best things in life are worth revisiting. Something one may find mildly entertaining but would never rewatch it. What's the point? If it's not that great why watch it in the first place?? Yes we have all watched crappy film and tv before. But as you get older and see that you don't have as much time left one wants to kinda watch stuff that is really good and has that rewatch potential in it. Not to say I can rewatch everything again at this point in my life because sadly I cannot. I don't even know how many times I can rewatch all my favorite films and TV shows again. I'm guessing in many cases I will never see them again except for snippets on YouTube. But it is still nice to watch things that i think...."Dang I would not mind seeing this again" or "I would definitely own a hard copy of this excellent film or TV show".....
....
For one of the qualifiers, "funny" is ALWAYS going to be more subjective than other shows' elements. Even on the most intelligent shows, the wrong quip at the wrong time knocks it down and "wrong" is as open-ended as the attempt at comedy as well.
IMHO, of course, but few shows that were comedy-oriented have been popular... and for those that were, was the entirety of the audience laughing at the same thing at the same time for the same reason? (Well, no, there's something to be said about ensemble pieces... but I'm in "Lisa Simpson mode" again...)
TOS was often excellent, especially for its time and especially for how it embraced its limitations - the "parallel Earth development" stories, as those came to mind first and foremost right now, certainly embrace the improbability and the verisimilitude of the actors is a big factor in making it all watchable. Then again, the same season uses the same plot beats but creates a dichotomy - one forks into uber-serious territory and the other yuks it up as far as they dare take it with the comedy. Which is good in a way because one can still try to appreciate the trope of societal interference, even if the 1920's-isms come across so crass and corny (IMHO, a rewatch might change that of course)... to say nothing of the Edith* episode where lots of ha-ha-bonk moments are attempted what with Spock's ears and all and, you guessed it, for me none of them worked after the age of 7, which is impressive as TOS was sold in adverts in 1966 as being "adult sci-fi"... Or even then, and the music telling me it was funny didn't add to the moment. But that's just me, some had and still think it's a creative moment. YMMV. IMHO, of course, as I have rewatched "A Piece of the Action" a few times, stemming from nostalgia, but still finding something of value - even indirectly.
* Yup, it's footnote time again. Edith Keeler, not Bunker, though IMHO Bunker was the far more interesting character and one who didn't tapdance along the fourth wall with sledgehammered shlock about energy getting people to the stars, etc... (As the first use of "spaceship" was the late-1800s whereas previous works of fiction alluded to the idea but without coining the term, Edith was probably a fan of J.J. (Astor, not Evans)... but computer told me that so it might not be accurate, which is also told me is possible since a computer is only human...
I guess. I lack this to a degree. The things I rewatch are very limited.Well the best things in life are worth revisiting. Something one may find mildly entertaining but would never rewatch it. What's the point? If it's not that great why watch it in the first place?? Yes we have all watched crappy film and tv before. But as you get older and see that you don't have as much time left one wants to kinda watch stuff that is really good and has that rewatch potential in it. Not to say I can rewatch everything again at this point in my life because sadly I cannot. I don't even know how many times I can rewatch all my favorite films and TV shows again. I'm guessing in many cases I will never see them again except for snippets on YouTube. But it is still nice to watch things that i think...."Dang I would not mind seeing this again" or "I would definitely own a hard copy of this excellent film or TV show".....
Yeah some people just move on from stuff. I get that. Because as I said I'm at an age now where I realize time is no longer on my side so I really have to pick and choose what I want to watch and rewatch.
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