# I will reset your memory on three television shows; it'll be like your first time seeing them. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718 "2017-09-19T12:25:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/21 "2017-09-19T19:13:33Z")
Lost. Not because I want to watch it again, but I want to forget that I WASTED MY TIME only to find out it was as I suspected all along. GAAAAHHHH! I’m still a little piqued about that one. ETA: I’ll second Firefly because that was a damn good show. I can’t think of a third. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/22 "2017-09-19T19:14:54Z")
The older I get, the more memory fades. I expect that in ten years it will all be new to me. Win! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/23 "2017-09-19T19:41:33Z")
I’m not asserting that the memory feels the same as the original experience. I’m asserting that the original experience has no existence at all outside of the context of the memory of it. If something happens that you have no memory of at all, then you have no experience of it. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/24 "2017-09-19T20:14:48Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I watched M_A_S\*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. This is a fantastic choice. I don’t think I started watching it regularly until the Col. Potter/BJ years; the rest I caught in re-runs for years after. In addition, I was _just_ a bit too young to get the full impact of a few of the episodes. Would love to be able to start from the beginning with a completely clean slate and my much older brain now. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/25 "2017-09-19T20:35:46Z")
I’d like to have _Star Trek: Next Gen_ wiped from my memory, and then re-watch the episodes again. They might be a little dated to modern sensibilities, but I really would binge watch them, and try to see what’s going to happen next. The episodes were very compelling, in rerun, and syndication. There was this time when Next Gen was on PBS. The show would run, Picard would face a serious challenge, the screen would fade to black for commercial, … then brighten right back into the episode. Star Trek freebase. 'sa hellava drug. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/26 "2017-09-19T20:45:20Z")
I dislike Game of Thrones and Lost so if the few episodes I watched were deleted I would probably be, on the whole, a bit happier. Add I love Lucy and I wouldn’t be unhappy those episodes I’d seen I never remembered. Maybe if I watched them again, I might have a different view and enjoy them? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/27 "2017-09-19T21:49:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m not asserting that the memory feels the same as the original experience. I’m asserting that the original experience has no existence at all outside of the context of the memory of it. If something happens that you have no memory of at all, then you have no experience of it. Do you really feel the same while you’re doing something than when you remember doing it years later? I don’t. I think most people don’t. I would be very surprised if you do. So, there is some difference between experiencing something in the present vs further in the past. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/28 "2017-09-19T21:56:28Z")
_ **Batman** _, _ **The Time Tunnel** _, and _ **The Rat Patrol** _. I’d like to be 11 years old again. :o ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/29 "2017-09-19T22:09:48Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I watched M_A_S\*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. That’s a good one. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/30 "2017-09-20T00:19:44Z")
LOST Battlestar Galactica (2004) The Walking Dead I admit the Walking Dead is going on too long, but these three shows have been my best experience watching TV. I was blown away by all of them in different ways and would love to experience that again. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/31 "2017-09-20T00:45:03Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > _Abruptly_ sneezed! As a child I always wondered what a broken sneeze was. This is \*so \*not PC! 🆒 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-K4BvF_sb3Y/hqdefault.jpg "F - T R OO P Opening Theme") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K4BvF_sb3Y) I love it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/32 "2017-09-20T01:01:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > _“The end of the Civil War was near when quite accidentally, a hero who sneezed abruptly seized retreat and reversed it to victory.”_ > > Bastard. Now I’ll be singing that under my breath for the rest of the day. 😃 try this then: \*Well, you all may think my story Is more fiction than it’s fact But believe it or not my mother dear Decided she’d come back As a car\* ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/33 "2017-09-20T01:11:49Z")
**All in the Family** , for reasons similar to those who want to first view MASH as an adult. **Lost**. This was a special TV event for me, and I never had a problem with the ending. **Frasier**. Just a brilliant show with so many pleasures. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/34 "2017-09-20T01:24:41Z")
A good many shows that I enjoyed in my youth I would find horribly clichéd now. I discovered this by seeing old episodes of _I Dream of Jeannie_, _Get Smart_ and, yea, even _The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour._ I am not the same person I was when I watched them first. Nevertheless, I’d go with: _The Twilight Zone._ Rediscovering the twist endings on some of those would be grand. _Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency_ (The one with Elijah Wood.) I saw that just last year, so enjoying unraveling its quirky plot again would be a certainty. _The Carol Burnett Show_. The company of actors still crack me up, especially Tim Conway. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/35 "2017-09-20T01:48:21Z")
Since we agree that experiencing something in the moment is different than remembering it, how is the TV situation different than the following, other than the intensity of the experience: Suppose you are only allowed to have sex once. A genie comes to you and says he can erase your experience, and then you get to have sex again. Do you say “why would I do that, I already have a memory of it? I’ll be right back to where I am now in an hour!” Or, do you go have sex? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/36 "2017-09-20T02:01:46Z")
I sort of had that experience recently (with a TV show, not the sex thing Snarky Kong talked about). I watched on DVD a single-season series from _fifty_ years ago, specifically “Coronet Blue”. An interesting experience. The episodes were uneven in quality, which is often the case. Also amusing to see some actors at the start of their careers. I had not, of course, seen any of the shows since their original airdate. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/37 "2017-09-20T02:18:18Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > **Lost**. This was a special TV event for me, and I never had a problem with the ending. I agree entirely. Just did a re-watch via Netflix. I love every second(well, almost) and have no issues with the final episode. > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > _Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency_ (The one with Elijah Wood.) I saw that just last year, so enjoying unraveling its quirky plot again would be a certainty. Thank you! This was my fourth pick, but I held back on mentioning it because it is so recent and so short. But, yes, it was amazing and I would love to go back. I recommend it to everyone. Season two comes out soon! I hope it matches the first one in quality. ---
**Author:** ![KatTP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@KatTP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KatTP)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/38 "2017-09-20T06:54:27Z")
There’s only one. Farscape. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/39 "2017-09-20T10:43:33Z")
The Honeymooners Soundstage > **[Soundstage (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundstage_(TV_series))** > > Soundstage is an American live concert television series produced by WTTW Chicago and HD Ready. The original series aired for 13 seasons between 1974 and 1985; a new series of seasons began in 2003, with the latest (Season 11) starting in April 2018, each presented in high-definition with surround sound. Some performances have been made available on DVD. The performances are taped on stage at the WTTW television studio in Chicago, as well as large venues throughout the United States. > Airing nati... Monty Python (ETA: Fawlty Towers) ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/40 "2017-09-20T15:16:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. I don’t think I’d actually take the deal as stated, but I can see its appeal for a few specific things. It would be nice to be able to see something like Babylon 5 without knowing what’s going to happen but without having to wait years for all of the episodes to come out and missing some episodes due to pre-DVR issues. Other story arc shows could work the same way. You can also remove bad context from a show this way. Some people have mentioned that they can’t get into part of a show because they first watched it as a kid and can’t make themselves like episodes their kid-self didn’t understand. Other people may have watched a show with a now-hated ex, or had something bad happen while watching the show that sticks in their memory of it and would rather watch it ‘clean’. I think if the thread is trying to get ‘what shows would you want to watch fresh’, it would be better to change the reset. Make it so you back up the memories, then remove them from your brain, then restore them after you watch the show. That way you’re only looking at ‘would you like to see this show fresh’ instead of ‘are you willing to get rid of your old memories of the show to see it fresh’. (For example I wouldn’t actually want to get rid of B5 memories because I watched the series with a friend who’s dead now, and I’d lose a lot of memory of time we hung out if I got rid of the memories of the show). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718.md?page=3)