Isn’t it strange how reruns of old shows and movies somehow become intertwined with the memories of our physical lives? It’s as if we were in the room where all these fictional events took place. Those repeated broadcasts of television shows and movies hold a unique place in our lives.Over time, these reruns shape and influence our memories in subtle yet oftentimes surprisingly profound ways. They serve as a constant backdrop to our evolving lives, replaying not just the shows themselves but also the times and places where we first encountered them.
As we watch and rewatch these episodes, they begin to blend seamlessly with our personal experiences. The lines between fiction and reality blur. We often find it easy to recall a childhood spent alongside beloved characters or a difficult period in life softened by the familiarity of a favorite series. These reruns become more than just entertainment; they transform into markers of time, encapsulating moments of joy, sorrow, and everything in between. They occupy a space in our memory that rivals real-life events, sometimes even outlasting them in vividness and detail.
Somehow, these characters somehow become as familiar to us as coworkers and close acquaintances within the realms of our imperfect memories. We might remember the quirky habits of a TV character as vividly as we recall a family member’s traits. The living rooms and cafes where our favorite shows are set feel as familiar as our own homes. This familiarity goes beyond the nostalgic by influencing how we perceive and relate to our own lives. This peculiar blending of the real and the imagined underscores the powerful role reruns play in shaping our memories and personal histories.
So, by exploring how reruns embed themselves in our lives, we can better understand their enduring appeal and the deep, sometimes surprising ways they influence us. Let’s begin with the very line that inspired this entire essay.
How a Goo Goo Dolls Song Made Me Think About the Importance of Reruns
“Reruns all become our history” is a line lifted directly from the song “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls. I chose to write this line down in my notebook because of how it poignantly captures the essence of how repeated experiences, both in media and in life, shape our collective and individual pasts. The song introspectively speaks to the way memories are formed and recalled. In this song’s context, reruns symbolize the repetition of moments that, over time, become the very core of our history.
This lyric, which I feel is a very underrated one, directly ties into the idea that reruns of television shows and movies become integral parts of our memories. Just as the Goo Goo Dolls suggest that repeated experiences become our history, television reruns do the same. Each time we revisit a familiar episode or movie, it reinforces the memories associated with it. These repeated viewings can anchor our recollections of specific times in our lives. It’s much like how a well-loved song can evoke strong emotions and vivid memories.
Reruns, or their modern equivalent of rewatches on streaming services , DVDs, and Blu-Rays, contribute to the blending of reality and fiction in our personal histories. Watching the same episodes repeatedly makes the fictional worlds and characters feel like a continuous presence in our lives. This phenomenon means that reruns don’t just reflect our history, but actively shape it. They become intertwined with real-life events by providing a constant background against which our personal narratives unfold.
The Goo Goo Dolls’ lyric also touches on the themes of familiarity and nostalgia. Reruns often bring comfort because they are predictable and known quantities in an ever-changing world. This familiarity can make them feel like an essential part of our life story. As we age, these reruns serve as a bridge to our past, evoking memories of who we were when we first watched them and reminding us of the passage of time.
Ultimately, the line “Reruns all become our history” encapsulates why reruns are more than mere entertainment; they are part of a greater shared collective memory that binds us. Whether it’s the shared experience of watching a classic show or the personal memories it evokes, reruns play a crucial role in how we remember and relate to the past.
So, we must appreciate the unique power of reruns to not only reflect our history but to become an inseparable part of it, influencing how we remember our past and what we hold dear. The interplay between reruns and our personal histories highlights their significance beyond the screen, embedding them deeply within the narrative of our lives.
The Phenomenon of Reruns
The concept of reruns has transformed dramatically over the decades, evolving from a business niche to cultural staple. Initially, reruns were a strategic business move by television networks to fill programming slots during off-seasons or to save costs by re-airing popular shows. So, networks could maximize the value of their existing content without incurring the expenses of new productions. They would even purchase the rights for reruns from other studios and networks to fill in any gaps.
Over time, reruns evolved from a mere cost-saving measure into a cultural phenomenon. Repeats of popular shows not only kept viewers engaged, but also created a shared cultural experience, allowing different generations to enjoy the same iconic episodes. I remember in the 90’s there being the saying “new to you” to sell people on the idea of watching reruns. Apparently, it worked because now even in the age of streaming services, many people still watch marathons of reruns on the dying, but still very much present cable networks.
Television networks played a pivotal role in cementing the place of reruns in our culture. By re-airing old shows, they kept beloved series alive long after their original broadcasts. Classic shows like “I Love Lucy,” “Friends,” and “The Simpsons” found new audiences through reruns, often becoming even more popular in syndication than during their initial runs. This practice helped build a sense of nostalgia and continuity. We could now revisit our favorite characters and storylines, forging a lasting bond with these shows. Soon enough, networks recognized that reruns could generate steady revenue through advertising and syndication deals, further embedding them into the television landscape. In fact, they continue to do so through the rise of streaming services.
The advent of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video revolutionized the accessibility and consumption of reruns. These platforms offered entire seasons and series of old shows on-demand, allowing viewers to binge-watch at their convenience. This shift from scheduled programming to on-demand viewing meant that reruns were no longer confined to late-night slots or specific channels. Instead, they became readily available anytime, anywhere, contributing to their enduring popularity.
Streaming services also expanded the library of available reruns, including shows from different eras and genres, thus catering to diverse tastes and preferences. Such accessibility has made it easier for new generations to discover and appreciate classic television shows, ensuring that the cultural impact of these reruns persists. Additionally, the ability to stream shows from various devices, including smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs, has integrated reruns into the daily lives of viewers. They’ve become an essential part of contemporary entertainment consumption as the viewing format shifts with improving technology.
Thanks to on-demand streaming, classic shows and their reruns become reference points in conversations, memes, and social media more than ever, reinforcing their relevance in modern culture. These shared experiences creates a collective memory of certain episodes, quotes, and characters becoming part of the cultural lexicon, connecting people across different backgrounds and generations.
It’s funny to think now that originally networks only leveraged reruns for financial and programming advantages. Streaming services further enhance the accessibility and appeal of reruns, ensuring their continued relevance and influence. As reruns remain a beloved part of our entertainment landscape, they continue to shape our memories and provide comfort on our worst days.
My Personal Connection to Reruns
Reruns of favorite shows hold a special place in many people’s hearts, often linked to cherished memories of times gone by. My own family had a ritual of recording episodes of Star Trek: the Next Generation on VHS tapes, carefully labeling each one to ensure none of the adventures of the Enterprise-D was lost. We also had tapes of original 60’s Star Trek marathons. This act of recording wasn’t just about preserving the episodes; it was about capturing the ability to experience watching them again, being able to relive our favorite storylines and find comfort with these familiar characters.
Every time we pressed “record,” it was a small act of devotion to the show and a bid to keep a piece of that joy for the future. Rewatching these tapes over the years became a nostalgic journey, transporting me back to the days when I first discovered the wonders of the USS Enterprise. Not only could I relive the plot but also recall the feelings and surroundings of those initial viewings — the cozy living room, the smell of buttered popcorn or Chinese food, and the feeling of anticipation for a new adventure.
Unfortunately, just like these physical VHS tapes degrade over time, so do our own memories. The magnetic tape in VHS tapes deteriorates with each playback, leading to static, distorted sound, and eventually, a complete loss of the recorded content. Similarly, our memories are not as reliable as we might think. Each time we recall a memory, it’s like playing back that VHS tape. Small details can become fuzzy, events can become distorted. Over time, the clarity of the original experience fades.
For instance, rewatching an old episode of Star Trek today might bring back memories of the plot, but also highlights gaps and distortions in my recollection of where and when I first watched it. Did I see it on a Saturday morning or a weekday evening? Was it alone or with family? These details blur, showing how time and repeated mental playback alter our memories. Even if we today have these episodes on DVD or Blu-Ray, we still suffer from the same lost fidelity in our memories.
This analogy between degrading VHS tapes and the imperfections of human memory underscores how both are subject to the ravages of time. Just as the tapes become less clear and more prone to errors, so do our memories. Psychologists have long noted that human memory is reconstructive rather than reproductive. In particular, Frederic Bartlett argued that recall is predominately a reconstructive process.So, every time we recall an event, we don’t retrieve a perfect snapshot, but rather reconstruct the memory based on the fragments we retain. Unfortunately, this process is also greatly influenced by our current emotions, knowledge, and experiences, which fill in any gaps.
This reconstructive nature of memory explains why our recollections of reruns can be so potent yet imperfect. My own emotional attachment to Star Trek reruns remains strong, but the specifics of the first time I saw a particular episode might have changed. The joy of nostalgia is tempered by the recognition that our memories are as fragile and fallible as the tapes we once treasured.
The act of recording and rewatching these shows on VHS is steeped in nostalgia, capturing not just the episodes but the emotions and moments of our past. Yet, as with VHS tapes, our memories degrade over time, becoming less clear and more prone to errors. This analogy highlights the imperfections of human memory and the bittersweet nature of nostalgia. Therefore, reruns aren’t just a bridge to our past, but also remind us of the transient and reconstructive nature of our long-term memories.
The Evolution of On-Demand Content
The 1980s and 1990s marked the beginning of on-demand content with the introduction of VHS (aka the Video Home System) and Beta tapes. These formats revolutionized home entertainment by allowing viewers to record television shows and movies for later viewing. For the first time, audiences weren’t confined to TV schedules. We could record our favorite shows and watch them at our convenience. This technology empowered us to build personal libraries of our favorite content. It gave us control over what and when we watched.
The ability to record and rewatch shows made reruns more accessible and personalized. Families could watch their favorite episodes of shows like Seinfeld and Home Improvement over and over, creating a deeper connection with the content. Such VHS tapes became a common household item, and the process of recording shows became a routine part of many people’s lives.
The late 1990s saw the advent of Digital Video Recorder (DVR) technology, further enhancing on-demand content accessibility. DVRs such as TiVo allowed users to digitally record shows without the need for physical tapes. This technology offered greater storage capacity, better picture quality, and the convenience of easily searching for and managing recorded content.
DVRs introduced features like pausing live TV, rewinding, and fast-forwarding through commercials, providing an unprecedented level of control over the viewing experience. We could now easily catch up on missed episodes and binge-watch favorite series, integrating reruns seamlessly into daily life. Such convenience and the enhanced functionality of DVRs marked a significant leap forward from the limitations of VHS tapes. Of course, these were paid services that could be pricey. So, many people still preferred good old analog tapes that they could hang onto for free.
But, the 2010s brought a paradigm shift in on-demand content with the rise of streaming services like Netflix. These platforms offered vast libraries of television shows, movies, and original content available at any time, eliminating the need for any physical recordings. With the advent of high-speed internet, streaming services made it possible to watch content instantly on various devices, including smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs.
Streaming services democratized access to reruns, making them available to a global audience. Algorithms tailored recommendations based on viewing habits, ensuring we could easily discover and revisit classic shows.The subscription-based model also provided an ad-free experience for many, further enhancing the appeal of streaming services. This era marked the transition from owning and managing physical media to accessing a virtually limitless array of content on demand.
These advancements have transformed how we consume media, embedding reruns even more into our daily routines. They’ve allowed us to revisit and cherish our favorite shows, ensuring that classic content remains a vibrant part of our cultural landscape. The evolution of on-demand content from VHS tapes to streaming services illustrates an ongoing journey of increasing accessibility and convenience.
The Cultural Impact of Reruns Even in the 2020’s
Reruns continue to exert a profound cultural impact even in the 2020s, shaping the aspirations and career choices of younger generations. A 2022 survey in the UK found that 80% of Gen Z individuals based their career choices on their favorite TV shows from childhood. This trend underscores just how much media consumption, particularly through reruns, plays in the formation of professional aspirations. Characters and professions depicted in television shows often become role models, providing inspiration and shaping perceptions of various careers.
The survey reveals that traditional career advisors are being overshadowed by the powerful influence of television. For instance, shows featuring doctors, lawyers, and detectives have inspired many to pursue careers in medicine, law, and public safety. This phenomenon demonstrates how deeply embedded these reruns have become in the psyche of younger viewers, affecting their life decisions in substantial ways.
Beyond traditional television, online platforms such as YouTube and TikTok have amplified the cultural impact of reruns. These platforms not only host clips and episodes of classic shows, but also allow content creators to remix and reinterpret them. This has created a new form of engagement: democratized remixing. Influencers and content creators often reference or recreate scenes from beloved shows, introducing them to newer audiences and reinforcing their cultural significance.
Additionally, these platforms have inspired careers in digital content creation, where young people emulate their favorite YouTubers or TikTok stars. The ability to access and share reruns on these platforms means that the influence of classic media is pervasive. They can reach audiences who may never have experienced these shows in their original broadcast form.
The blending of fictional inspiration with real-life aspirations is a fascinating aspect of the cultural impact of reruns. Television shows often portray idealized versions of various professions, creating aspirational figures that viewers look up to. For example, medical dramas like “Grey’s Anatomy” have inspired many to pursue careers in healthcare, while legal dramas like “Suits” have sparked interest in law.
This blending occurs because reruns provide consistent exposure to these aspirational characters and their worlds. Over time, viewers internalize the qualities and values depicted in these shows, which then influence their own career choices and personal goals. The familiarity and emotional connections built through repeated viewings make these fictional depictions seem attainable and desirable, further driving the desire to emulate them in real life.
Of course, not all of these impacts are positive. While there are certainly plenty of professional careers that arise from this media, it also gives people a warped perspective on what these careers actually entail. In particular, it seems that every youngster and their dog is aspiring to make a living as a content creator, which of course, isn’t right for everyone. While it’s good to see classic content reemerging and enhancing culture, people also can get too addicted to the dopamine associated with nostalgia and start living in the fictional worlds they prefer rather than the real one. But, this issue is an entire book in and of itself.
Anyhow, in the 2020s, reruns continue to play a significant role in shaping cultural norms and individual aspirations just as they did in the 1980’s and 90’s. As reruns remain accessible through various media, their ability to shape dreams and aspirations endures, reinforcing their cultural importance in contemporary society — for good and bad.
Actionable Advice on Reruns
Today, we’ve explored the multifaceted phenomenon of reruns, tracing their evolution from a cost-saving strategy to a cultural cornerstone. As we reflect on the impact of reruns, it’s clear that they do more than entertain; they shape our collective memory and cultural history. To make the most of this influence, consider the following actionable advice.
- Curate Your Reruns: Don’t simply binge-watch. Take advantage of streaming services to create a personal playlist of reruns that really speak to you. This can serve as a source of comfort and inspiration, providing a nostalgic escape and a reminder of cherished moments. But, be sure to keep your viewing in a healthy, recreational context.
- Reflect and Share: Use reruns as a starting point for conversations with friends and family. Sharing stories about your favorite shows and how they influenced you can strengthen bonds and create new shared memories.
- Mindful Viewing: Be aware of how reruns affect your perceptions and aspirations. Reflect on why certain shows resonate with you and how they might be shaping your goals and values. Also, draw a fine line between fiction and reality and don’t let the fiction start rewriting your life.
- Preserve Memories: Just as we used to record shows on VHS tapes, consider keeping a journal or digital archive of your thoughts and feelings about the shows you watch. This can help preserve the context and emotional impact of these reruns for future reflection.
Reruns are more than replaying old episodes. They are often stories that shape us and the memories we hold dear. By engaging with them mindfully and sharing their impact with like-minded folks, we can ensure that these reruns continue to enrich our lives and contribute to our shared cultural history. Let’s take the lessons they can teach us and apply them fruitfully and productively to our every day lives.
~ Amelia Desertsong
