I see comments all the time about how people wish they could watch a show again like it was the first time and that they’re envious of people seeing it newly.
Well, suppose I (or a genie) could do that for you.
What three shows would you pick to have wiped from your memory and wake up tomorrow not having remember seeing them at all? You would know/remember that you had seen them before (AKA, you’d be aware that you had your memory taken away) and had made this deal, though…just not remember the actual episodes of the show until you watched them all again.
[ul]
[li]Buffy the Vampire Slayer – I’ve seen the entire series once and many episodes a number of times, but it’d be great to see it all again, from the first episode to the last, for the first time.[/li][li]The Andy Griffith Show – This is my comfort show above all others; I’ve seen all of the episodes lots and lots of times, and I’d appreciate not knowing the scripts by heart. Part of the comfort of the show is that I know what Andy and Barney are going to say and do, of course, but it’d be so much fun to watch it anew.[/li][li]The ITV production of Jeeves and Wooster – the world of P.G. Wodehouse, brought to life by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. I’d be familiar with the stories themselves because they’re adapted from the books, but seeing them on the screen for the first time would be a welcome experience.[/li][/ul]
I don’t understand why anyone would take this deal. Seeing a TV show (or reading a book, or whatever) for the first time is indeed a special experience… but I’ve already had that experience. The only way to give me the experience again is to take away the experience I already have, and so the net result is the same: One experience. And it also takes time that I could have spent experiencing a new work, and getting another new experience added to what I already have.
One of the first shows I actually made a point of watching (back in the days before demand) was Miami Vice. Loved it. However, I rewatched an episode or two recently and it’s aged horribly.
So I’m guessing most of the shows that would bring you the same joy would be recent ones.
I tend to agree with this, unless you’d want to change the experience… take away the memory of watching a show jumbled and out of order so that you could watch it through in order, for instance. I might be tempted to nominate “Star Trek TNG” for that reason, though I was following it much more closely in order after season 3.
I wonder how it would effect other things. For instance wiping Star Trek (TOS), it would seem corny watching it today due to the cheesy special effects of that time and has the chance of not being interesting today as it was back then when I first saw them. However it is what got me interested in watching TNG and so on and makes me look forward to Discovery (and to a lesser extend The Orville). But take away TOS, is taking away my foundation of being a trekkie, and perhaps I would lose interest in the series.
No, I will just obey the temporal prime directive and not change the time line.
I’ve got work to do, and there’s tons of shows out there that I haven’t seen that are supposed to be awesome, like The Wire. So why the feck do I want memories of stuff I cherish deleted, just so I can see it again? Besides, what if I think it sucks the 2nd time around?
Now, wipe my memories of useless junk I still carry around, like the theme songs to F Troop and My Mother the Car and you’ve got a deal.
I watched MAS*H the first time through the eyes of a child. There are several episodes that I can’t see as funny or “deep” because my original impressions get in the way. I also watched it in re-runs more often than not, so I never saw it develop as a series in chronological order. I’d be interested to watch the whole thing clean, as an adult.
If miniseries are allowed I might nominate Smiley’s People (made 1982, starring Sir Alec Guiness), which, like many BBC programs, can be watched on YouTube. I’ve enjoyed it several times. Like John le Carré’s novels it is more a series of well-written vignettes than a straightforward spy story. It was a sequel to the 1979 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (also starring Guiness), which I liked much less and only watched once.
The physiological mechanisms by which short and long term memory operate are distinct, and the emotional impact of an experience is different from the emotional impact of a memory of an experience.
Do you really feel the same while you’re doing something than when you remember doing it years later?
Oh, yeah, this. My classic example is Firefly. The pilot episode as aired by Fox is completely different from the intended pilot as found in the DVDs, and the original pilot sets up some of the later conflicts that seemed to come out of the blue in the original airing.
I’d love to see it all again, in the order Joss Whedon intended, foreshadowing included, without knowing anything about the remainder of the series ahead of time. I suspect the show would feel quite different.
