How Finding a New Favorite TV Show Is a Lot Like Falling in Love

I’m currently in a long term, committed relationship… with a television show. It might sound laughable but nearing my first anniversary with my now-favorite show, I’m realizing having a favorite TV show is a lot like falling in love and having a relationship.

It started off innocently enough. My TV show and I traveled in similar circles and knew some of the same people but we’d never met. I’d heard of the show but wasn’t sure what all the hubbub was about. When we were finally introduced by a mutual acquaintance, my nine-year-old son, I was fascinated and enjoyed meeting. This show was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. However, I wasn’t seriously looking for a relationship with a new show so I didn’t give the meeting much more thought.

My son had other ideas though, and kept arranging for us to spend time together. Before I knew it, I was in that heady stage of a romance where you want to know as much as you possibly can about each other. I couldn’t get enough of this show. In fact, I even started spending time with my TV show when no one else was around. I began binge watching old episodes, which only fueled my passion instead of quenching it.

I was in deep and had it bad.

Not only was I binge watching the show, I was now sifting through the internet reading and watching interviews with the cast and the producers. I watched everything my favorite actor from the show had ever been in. Thoughts about my new favorite TV show were all consuming.

Then something changed. I don’t know exactly when or why or how, but the white hot passion cooled yet deepened into something different. I no longer felt that frenzied need to think about my show 24/7 but my appreciation of it had matured into something more meaningful – the way a crush deepens into a mature relationship you are secure in because you know it’ll be there for as long as you want it to be.

Currently, my TV show and I spend as much time together as our schedules allow. It isn’t always as much as I’d like but we make it a point to have date night once a week. My TV show is always there for me, making me laugh, making me cry, making me forget about my troubles for a while. Sometimes we’ll even stay up into the wee hours, reliving good times from favorite past episodes.

I know things won’t always go smoothly. I know sometimes my TV show will disappoint me in some way, but that’s natural. No relationship is perfect so bumps along the way are to be expected. If you truly love your TV show, you’ll be willing to take the good with the bad.

Luckily, my current favorite TV show has a certain longevity, so I’m not too worried about it leaving me. Right now, I’m very happy with it, so I don’t imagine leaving it any time soon, either.

However, things do happen. Shows end or are canceled, or you and your show simply grow apart. In the worst cases, your show may do something unforgivable such as kill off a favorite character or go in a direction you simply can’t stick around to watch. Those are the bad breakups that require lots of time, cookie dough ice cream, and adult beverages to get over.

So the next time you’re flipping through Netflix or Hulu looking for a new favorite show, you may just end up falling head over heels.