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Why can’t we put our favorite show on pause? Why are you ready to sacrifice sleep for the next series of an exciting saga? Here are six reasons why TV shows have such a strong effect on us.
How often do you rush home after a long day of work to watch a new show that all your colleagues and acquaintances are talking about? And now it’s past midnight, and you’ve already mastered half of the season. And although you know that you will most likely have to pay for such a frivolous attitude to sleep tomorrow with lethargy at work, you continue to watch.
Why do we keep turning on episode after episode every day, and what prevents us from hitting the pause button?
The ability to experience intense feelings
TV series provide an opportunity to get emotions that are not enough in real life. Getting involved in an interesting story, we begin to empathize with the characters and empathize with their feelings as if they were our own. The brain reads these emotions as real, belonging to us. And we virtually make up for that adrenaline and delight, which we don’t have enough in everyday life.
Addiction to pleasurable emotions
Shows are truly addictive. This is due to the fact that while watching your favorite show or any other pleasant video, dopamine, the hormone of pleasure and joy, is released in the brain. According to clinical psychologist Rene Carr, this “reward” causes the body to experience a kind of ecstasy, euphoria. And then he wants to repeat this experience again and again.
Interest and curiosity
Most of the plots of the most popular series are based on simple and already proven successful tricks. Think of at least a couple of your favorites: you can probably easily find similar storylines and twists in them that make us keep watching the show and wait with curiosity to see what happens next.
For example, in one of the most famous series, Game of Thrones, you can easily find plot moves like “from hatred to love” or “hot and cold”. The bottom line is that love relationships are tied up between heroes with different characters and from different worlds. Because of this, the viewer constantly wonders whether these two will be together or not, and continues to follow them with interest.
Television dramas provide more room for storytelling. Numerous episodes help the writers to «grow» strong characters that the audience will love.
Rest and relaxation
Even very simple, but such exciting storylines distract from the stress accumulated after a hard day’s work, give a feeling of comfort, and relax. The tension subsides after a soft dive into a fascinating story that will surely end in a happy ending. The Age of Television study survey showed that 52% of viewers love television shows because of the opportunity to empathize with the characters, feel comfortable and escape from the daily routine.
The ability to influence the plot
If you’re wondering, «How do these writers seem to guess that I want these characters to be together?» Then let’s reveal the secret — the plots really adapt to the viewer. During breaks in filming new episodes and seasons, the show’s creators analyze our reactions to new episodes and storylines. The Internet provides many opportunities for such research.
The material success of the creators of the series directly depends on how many people and how often they watch it. Therefore, producers often take ideas for new episodes from audience theories, literally giving us everything we ask for. And Netflix, one of the largest streaming platforms in the world, even analyzes when viewers get hooked on a show and start watching multiple episodes at a time.
Emergence of new topics of conversation
TV shows are a great topic to talk to your girlfriend or family. Favorite heroes seem to us close acquaintances, and unexpected turns in their fate and our feelings about them just want to discuss with a friend or relative.
It’s funny how one forty-five minute episode can lead to half a dozen conversations: «Did you see?», «Can you believe it?», «What do you think will happen next?» And very often these conversations lead to discussions that otherwise would never have been born.