We all love watching TV and consuming media. During the academic semester, I find myself too busy to start new shows, so often I go back to rewatch older ones I haven’t seen in a while. Recently, I’ve been finding shows I haven’t seen in years, and re-immersing myself in them. I’ve forgotten how good so many of them are, and have found myself as interested and entertained as I was when I first watched them.
Bones
The most recent one I’ve restarted, and am currently still watching, is Bones. Bones is loosely based on the real forensic anthropologist Dr. Kathy Reichs. Dr. Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist, works for the Jeffersonian Institute, who is partnered with the FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth. They together investigate and solve homicides by analyzing the skeletal remains of the person killed.
They work with other members of the Jeffersonian Institute, including a forensic pathologist, forensic entomologist, forensic artist, and others, in addition to an FBI psychologist and criminal profiler. These teams work together to find out the truth based on what the human remains tell them. I was inspired to go back and rewatch this after the forensic anthropology unit in my anthropology class. I love crime shows, and I love how this one includes forensic science and medical information.
Gilmore Girls
I haven’t seen Gilmore Girls in a long time, and almost forgot how absolutely infuriating every single character is, but in the best possible way. I think most will know the premise of the show, but if you don’t, it follows the lives of a mother-daughter duo in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Lorelai Gilmore had her daughter Rory Gilmore when she was just 16 years old, and left her wealthy and slightly abrasive parents to start their new life. Lorelai is quite funny and extremely witty, while Rory is academically gifted. They’re messy and unapologetically themselves, but you can’t help but fall for their charm. Yet, they can be rather infuriating at times, often self-sabotaging good things that come their way. At the end of the day, all they really need is each other.
Sex and the City
I also rewatched the entire series of Sex and the City, as well as the two movies that follow the series. I will always love this show and the four single women it follows: Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte. While living in New York City, we watch them navigate the single life in their thirties in completely different ways. Carrie is, at times hopelessly, in love with the same man, while the sexually liberal Samantha couldn’t dream of monogamy. Miranda is a big shot lawyer trying to balance her career with finding love, and Charlotte’s dream future involves marriage and children.
They are each other’s best friends, and will always be each other’s true soulmates. I love the show’s emphasis on genuine female friendships, and how no man ever trumps it. They always forgive each other and love each other despite their mistakes. That’s what’s important at the end of the show, not finding a guy and falling in love. Within fictional media, it’s not often that you find a message like that.
I do love finding new shows, but during the academic semester it can be hard to put all of your focus into something new. Oftentimes, these shows are on in the background, while I work on assignments, so my focus is not directed towards them. I need something I’m already familiar with, so I can unfocus and refocus without completely missing the plot. These shows always remain oldies but goodies, in the sense that I’ve been watching them since I was a kid.