Streaming gives viewers instant access to thousands of shows and every topic imaginable, but many people feel nostalgia for the days of plain, simple television. What did we get from television that streaming platforms are making us miss? Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, and neither is traditional programming. Here’s why some viewers miss television the same way other people miss vinyl.
Streaming versus TV: Choice and anticipation
Television programming didn’t provide thousands of shows at the push of a button. Viewers had to sit through one show to get to another. First, you had to watch the news or Pasella, and then you would get to see the movie or show you wanted to. If you wanted to know what happens next in Supernatural or Heroes, you would have to wait another week. Anticipation might have a lot to do with what made television work!
Younger viewers might not be able to imagine what it was like having to wait an entire week to catch up on episodes of your favourite soap opera in the form of reruns. The streaming era gives viewers anticipated premieres like Spinners or the second season of Squid games. However, the streaming age also gives its viewers the option to binge-watch their favourites whenever they want.
Binge-watching older shows brings back some of the memories that viewers might have connected to back when their favourite shows aired. Views on classic shows like The Sopranos and Friends have increased. It’s much easier to watch through all the seasons of Shameless or The mentalist than you might think. Binge-watching is a trip down memory lane, and it’s fair to say that viewers connect shows to important milestones and emotions. I like watching certain shows when I’m feeling up, and certain shows when I’m feeling down. Like putting on the most depressing music imaginable when it’s time to feel emotional, viewers gravitate to certain characters and shows. Some shows have answered the nostalgia with new seasons or comebacks, such as How I met your father and Fuller house. Afrikaans viewers can enjoy new episodes of the culinary comedy Vetkoek Paleis.
“I’ll have the classics, please.”
Television made it almost effortless to decide what you wanted to watch, usually because you had no choice in the matter as to what came up next. Someone somewhere at the station was in control. You could switch on for shows you actually wanted to watch, while changing the channel for the rest.
Ricki Lake and Jerry Springer were two stalwarts of the talk show era, but also guaranteed to have both fans and haters in the same household. Streaming allows us almost unending choices as to what we want to watch, but it also comes with the heavy burden of choice. Even with algorithms at work, it’s tough to choose what to settle on. People experience the same in restaurants when choosing what to eat from the menu. It’s not unusual to spend at least an hour finding a 20-minute episode – or to decide between spaghetti or the cheese burger. People choose the classics because it feels less mentally taxing – and instead of reading reviews, you already have expectations of whether it’s going to be good or not.
For many, having a television on serves as a distraction from the silence, or a means for timing their day. South African fans of 7de Laan were upset when the national broadcaster moved the time of their favourite show, particularly because the theme song was considered an important checkpoint in the day.
Whether or not you were a fan of the show, the theme song was usually a way to indicate that everyone was at home. Unless you’re scheduling your own shows ahead of time (or have friends who forward their playlists and recommendations your way), streaming doesn’t do much to time your day.
Playlists for the feel
Playlists and the random play button recreate some of the randomness of television programming. There’s much to be remembered in waiting for your favourite show to air, or playlisting three familiar theme songs to fall asleep to. A look at YouTube shows that users are often trying to jog their memories back to the television era, where playlists are made to be as random as television used to be – sometimes with numerous advertisements worked in.
Streaming is used to entertain and occupy our minds, but also to comfort a world of insomniacs and introverts with the screen’s glow. Television-era nostalgia is still there for anyone born in the nineties, though it might ring less of a bell for the incoming generation.
While sleek smart televisions connect directly to YouTube, Netflix and Showmax, it’s like comparing vinyl with Blu-ray. If you’re trying to explain to someone why vinyl was important for the sound or feel, you might find that the person you’re explaining it to just doesn’t get it.
Old televisions were bulky and cumbersome, but also made up a part of the household furniture that some people miss enough to build cabinets around their smartphone or flat screen. Older generations, if you remember the beginning of television, ended up using the television as a table for their photographs. A handful of internet memes show old, bulky televisions that have been converted into beds for cats. The internet’s favourite things: a tribute to the old gods and the newer ones.
Recapturing television
Streaming platforms are aware of the nostalgia their viewers are looking for. Some shows intentionally recreate the old television feel from the appropriate era. Joker: Folie à deux has a scene fictionalising the Joker’s appearance on a classic late-night talk show – and it’s not the only show cashing in on particular filming angles and effects. The devil makes his appearance as a television show guest in Late night with the devil, and serial killer Dahmer’s resurrection smacks of era-appropriate decor. The ring still includes flat screen televisions, simply because it’s not quite as impressive to watch a movie monster crawling out of a smaller screen.
Everybody hates Chris is a familiar show for international and South African SABC 1 viewers. In the streaming era, the show returns with an animated format. The boondocks is an animated look at nostalgic Chicago, filled with references to television and radio. Netflix’s adventurous horror Bandersnatch crossed over into video game nostalgia, centring its plot on a game designer descending into madness. Fans of any console that ever plugged into your television with multiple wires, also happen to feel the same pangs of nostalgia.
The list grows, and F is for family is an adult animation capitalising on the seventies. A lot can also be said of Van Pletzen and his talk show Praating – if you’ve seen it, you can practically smell the nostalgia coming off the set. It might just be the hair gel.
Do viewers miss more than just the nostalgia of television itself, but also the subtle comfort they might have gotten from it? Is this a consequence of generations raised on television, or a way for us to make our inner circles seem less quiet? Nostalgia in the streaming era is about much more than just what was on television, but about how television might have made us feel. Do smart devices cast a comforting glow over the day for a momentary segment, letting us escape the day’s silence or lack thereof, the way television did?
