A few nights ago, I saw an interview with Tracy Morgan on the Drew Barrymore show. (When I’m awake odd hours, I see odd things.) And he made a pretty interesting point. He said that he thought it was sad that we no longer have “family TV”, where everyone is interested in watching the same show, which is always on the same time every week, and that can spark conversations. Growing up in the 90s, I can think of a few we watched together as a family: Family Matters, Boy Meets World, and Full House are the ones that stand out to me, though I’m sure there were others.
But then I thought a bit more and I thought about the watch parties I’m part of online. That’s kind of the modern equivalent, I think. We gather together regularly, at a set time, and we watch something, and then we talk about it. And it’s been such a joy to do that. I’ve grown closer to some of my existing friends, and made new ones, through the power of these watch parties.
I feel less alone. I feel happier. It’s been a really nice addition to my life. And honestly, it’s brought back the joy of watching media. I used to do this all the time with friends and family, and somewhere along the way I stopped. I’m not even sure why.
The last thing I watched “as it released” would have been 101 Dalmatian Street. 2019 was when I was still working on Linux regularly, so I’d watch the newest episode while I was waiting for packages to build. Fun fact: this is why The Woof Factor makes me think of compiler bugs. I was working on a GCC patch that week! And I didn’t even know anyone else interested in cute spotted puppies back then, so it was something I watched myself.
Before that, in 2018 I used to regularly watch General Hospital and I did know a few people interested in that (my Mum, and someone on the Fediverse). That was fun. I would wake up really early Saturday mornings, sometimes as early as 4 or 5 a.m., and we’d watch the entire week’s episodes. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but General Hospital is probably where I learned a few of the tropes I use in my writing, especially the twist reveals coming in some of the later arcs.
In January 2020, the Linux project fell apart, and then the Covid pandemic started to affect my life in February 2020, and then my Mum’s cancer diagnosis happened in April 2020. I stopped having time to watch anything. This is also why the last episode of 101 Dalmatian Street I’ve seen in full is The Longest Night. I believe I saw the very beginning of Balancing Act. After a year, I ended up just reading the plot summaries so I would at least know what happened…
I landed my job at IBM just as my grandmother was getting her first cancer diagnosis, for breast cancer. The entire year of 2021 was mostly devoted to caring for her, when I wasn’t working long hours trying to keep the IBM network flowing smoothly.
The Beijing 2022 Olympic Games were the next and last event I recall watching with a few of my friends, but that was a crazy time in my life as well. Raising new baby kitten Melody took most of my time! For my memory, that was the last thing I watched, period.
I had convinced myself that watching things, whether series or films, was a waste of time. A period of being idle that gave nothing in return and took from me time I could be using to make something, to do something, to be something. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
Yes, the occasional break is necessary to keep productivity at its peak.
Yes, it’s important to have fun.
But it’s more than that. It’s about the community you build having a shared fandom with others. It’s about the genuine connections you can build enjoying a story together. It’s about the inspiration you can get from seeing the characters going through things, and feeling like you can do the same. And honestly, that’s what I’m hoping the stories I’m writing can do too.
There’s so much on my watch list already, but I’d love to hear your suggestions for me in the comments, if you have any! I love animation of all kinds, I love adventure, I love dramedy, and I especially love a good mystery (though nothing too filled with gore).
To give you an idea of my tastes, some of the things on my upcoming watch lists with friends include continuing The Lion Guard, An American Tail, The Aristocats, Last Action Hero, Archer, Miraculous, Luther, and The Secret of Crickley Hall. And yeah, it’s a wide assortment of things I’m looking forward to seeing!