# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/41 "2017-09-20T17:06:24Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > The Honeymooners > > Soundstage > [Soundstage (TV series) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundstage_(TV_series)) > > Monty Python (ETA: Fawlty Towers) You mean soundstage the PBS concert series? What wold be the purpose of forgetting the first time you saw the performance of some music? ---
**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, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/42 "2017-09-20T17:26:35Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > You mean soundstage the PBS concert series? Yes, he/she does: > **[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... The final parenthesis has to be there for a link to work. It gets cut off because of some glitch in the site’s programming. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/43 "2017-09-20T18:04:12Z")
I would love to take this deal. It would be great to get to re-experience the first season of The Newsroom. To see the presumptive star of the series, in the first moments of the series, possibly experience hallucinations- maybe even a psychotic break? To hear a public figure go on a rant and attack “Sorority Girl” without knowing what is going to happen in episode ten? Yes to experience that anew would be vastly different than re-watching it now. To experience the many awkward moments in the first episode without knowing how they would play out later would be a genuine treat. The only thing I would want to know going in was the production note that Tom Sedousky is playing what was originally two different characters merged into one for cost reasons. It explains why he changes from bad guy to good guy as the script requires. It seems to me that those of you who refuse the offer want your viewing to be spoiled (by your own memory). If you move this into the realm of movies, I cannot believe anyone would rather watch The Sixth Sense knowing the big reveal (although it seems everyone on this board saw through the movie as soon as Bruce Willis reappeared- for my part, I suggested that possibility and was told by my companion who had seen it previously that was not the case. It did keep me from looking closely and I arrived at the truth when the director intended and it was a very powerful emotional reaction.) I guess I would take the deal only for very exceptional television experiences. For example, I never saw Firefly during broadcast and bought the disks as a result of comments made on this board. I liked it but was a bit underwhelmed based upon the praise I had heard heaped upon it. In that instance, I like the comfort of knowing what is coming; there are no moments that shocked or awed me. (In fairness, I knew before the first frame that Joss did not value human life the way other series did. Inara’s female client was the biggest reveal I can remember in the whole series.) I will post this and try to think of two more things I would like to see without my knowledge of the series. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/44 "2017-09-20T18:19:09Z")
If we go back a few years, two great series (from the same production company I believe) are The Andy Griffith Show, and I Love Lucy. As a kid I thought Lucy was a hoot and Andy was a bit boring and preachy. Now I tend to value Andy greater and see Lucy as a silly clown. If those two shows were on every Wednesday at 8:00 7:00 central, I would want to remember Andy so any stinker would fit into a larger context, but would like Lucy to be brand new to me. If the slapstick is fresh and amusing, great! If it is a little juvenile, it is no worse than Man with a Plan (or Kevin Can Wait, or Mom, or……) ---
**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, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/45 "2017-09-20T18:55:45Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > It seems to me that those of you who refuse the offer want your viewing to be spoiled (by your own memory). If you move this into the realm of movies, I cannot believe anyone would rather watch The Sixth Sense knowing the big reveal You’re missing an important part of the offer - you lose your existing memories of the movie. It’s not someone choosing “I’d rather watch Sixth Sense knowing the ending”, it’s “I’d rather keep my memory of watching Sixth Sense without knowing the ending than lose my memory of it, and watch it again to get a different memory of watching Sixth Sense without knowing the ending that I can’t compare to the original experience because part of the offer made it vanish”. > [@](#): > > I liked it but was a bit underwhelmed based upon the praise I had heard heaped upon it. FYI, I feel the same way about Firefly, and I first saw it back in the day. It was an enjoyable series, but I can see why really weird, internally inconsistent setting might put people off. I certainly would have liked to see more episodes, but I’m not surprised it didn’t catch on that well and don’t get the ‘cancelling Firefly was the Greatest Tragedy EVAR’ meme. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/46 "2017-09-20T19:40:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t understand why anyone would take this deal. I would take this deal to watch \*Firefly \*in order. The first episode I saw had a significant spoiler for all the other episodes. I would have really like to see it unfold as intended. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/47 "2017-09-20T21:01:47Z")
Star Trek DS9 is the only one I would pick. I think it was the best of all the Star Treks and I think it’s aged better than the other Star Treks. I was also going to say Seinfeld, but I think it probably hasn’t aged well. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/48 "2017-09-20T22:30:26Z")
I seem to have a self-resetting memory for TV shows. “Have I seen this? I don’t think so.” 20 minutes in. “Oh wait, I know what’s going to happen. There will be a car chase, Rockford will get beat up, and he’ll end up not getting paid.” Hey, I can hide my own Easter eggs. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/49 "2017-09-20T22:52:55Z")
> [@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. I feel that way about _Upstairs, Downstairs_. I watched it with my parents when I was a really small child, mostly because it was on from 8:00-8:45, and my bedtime was 8:15, and it was pre-VCR. Neither of my parents wanted to miss any of it, so they let me watch it quietly on the couch, and then go straight to bed. I was fascinated by it, and really liked some of the characters. I followed the story in a this happened, then this happened way, and but I didn’t get much deeper that was going on. Something in my baby ape brain knew it was really good, though. When I was about 12, I read the books that were based on the series. Then a couple of years later, _Masterpiece Theatre_ ran like, 5 episodes of it. When I was 20, the local PBS station decided to run the whole thing. By then I had a VCR, and I had my brother record it, because I was at Gallaudet. I managed to see the first 5 or 6 episodes, then when I was home for winter break, binge-watched it (before that term existed). I kind of saw it for the first time when I was 20, and kind of not. I’d read the books, and I remembered a surprising lot from when I was 4, 5 & 6. Nevertheless, I would like to see the whole thing with fresh eyes as an adult. I can’t think of any other show I’d take the deal on, though. A lot of other shows I liked were part of my development, and some I liked because of the age at which I saw them. _One Day at a Time_ was very important to me when I was 11, 12 & 13. I have watched it in reruns now, and while the part of my brain that remembers being in intermediate school gets a tickle out of seeing them again, I know that if I were seeing them for the first time now, I’d probably not be a regular watcher. It might be fun to see _Fawlty Towers_ new, but then, it still makes me laugh in reruns, and what would I have enjoyed back when I saw it the first time? Same for\* Law & Order\*. Something has to be that experience I had in the 90s and 2000s. I’m going to stick with just _Upstairs, Downstairs_. ETA: Do I have the choice of forgetting I ever watched _The Love Boat_, and then not watching it again? ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/50 "2017-09-21T05:06:17Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I seem to have a self-resetting memory for TV shows. “Have I seen this? I don’t think so.” 20 minutes in. “Oh wait, I know what’s going to happen. There will be a car chase, Rockford will get beat up, and he’ll end up not getting paid.” > > Hey, I can hide my own Easter eggs. I loved The Rockford Files back in the day, and I remember that episode! It always makes me think of that one episode of Gilligan’s Island when they almost got off the island but Gilligan did something that ruined the plan at the last moment. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/51 "2017-09-21T05:10:59Z")
[quote=“Pantastic, post:45, topic:796718”] You’re missing an important part of the offer - you lose your existing memories of the movie. It’s not someone choosing “I’d rather watch Sixth Sense knowing the ending”, it’s “I’d rather keep my memory of watching Sixth Sense without knowing the ending than lose my memory of it, and watch it again to get a different memory of watching Sixth Sense without knowing the ending that I can’t compare to the original experience because part of the offer made it vanish”. In my circle, I am usually the one accused of over thinking something. However, in this case, whatever you are driving at is going over my head. I must give up the memory for the story to achieve its goal of making me think and feel at a very real and intense level. I would not give up the memory if there was a 50/50 chance I would get to see the show again and re-experience the awesomeness I experienced the first time I saw it at some random time in my future. I would give up the memory so I could see it again for the first time and re-experience something sublime. The rule of diminishing returns applies to this situation- but I believe it is much stronger than that. The first viewing is art, all subsequent viewings are engineering (on a creative scale- vocabulary is failing me). I know how The Newsroom affects me. I know it can make me its bitch and manipulate my emotions and perceptions. I know it will make me remember events from my own life; public embarrassments and surprise encounters with people from my past. I know I will relive the very deep and personal experience of trying to do the right thing and having it fail…. over and over again. I will think of people I once knew whom I admired, and people who were disgusting opportunists who always came out smelling like a rose despite the fact they rolled around in shit each day. But now when I watch it know too much. I know this is really a setup for some sub-plot in episode four, and how this will be resolved by the end of the season. I now know that some dilemma that seemed organic and showed how blind we all are to our own ambition and sense of right was really just a set up for a morality lesson in the last reel of that episode. I have twenty-twenty hindsight now and it diminishes the impact of the show, there can be no drama when you know how the conflict will resolve. I still admire the craftsmanship, I recognize the storytelling and how elevated it is in my opinion. But it cannot “work” any longer because I am too well informed. I guess I am trying to say the card trick was better when I didn’t know how it was performed. I knew it was a trick just as I know Sorkin is constructing a fictional story—but both the card trick and the drama have the greatest impact when all the questions are not answered. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/52 "2017-09-21T05:31:51Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > If we go back a few years, two great series ( **from the same production company I believe** ) are The Andy Griffith Show, and I Love Lucy. As a kid I thought Lucy was a hoot and Andy was a bit boring and preachy. Now I tend to value Andy greater and see Lucy as a silly clown. If those two shows were on every Wednesday at 8:00 7:00 central, I would want to remember Andy so any stinker would fit into a larger context, but would like Lucy to be brand new to me. If the slapstick is fresh and amusing, great! If it is a little juvenile, it is no worse than Man with a Plan (or Kevin Can Wait, or Mom, or……) I was wrong, Desilu produced I love Lucy (obviously), but Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard produced The Andy Griffith Show. ---
**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 21, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/53 "2017-09-21T14:56:35Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > I was wrong, Desilu produced I love Lucy (obviously), but Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard produced The Andy Griffith Show. By 1964, Desilu was coasting along by renting space and equipment to other production companies. The last big hit they’d had, aside from _ **The Lucy Show** _, which remained their only series in production, was _ **The Untouchables** _ (1959–63). If I’m not mistaken, other shows produced on the Desilu lot by different companies included _ **Hogan’s Heroes** _ and _ **Gomer Pyle, USMC** _. This is why Gene Roddenberry and Bruce Geller were brought in: it was their job to come up with new series that could be sold to the three (at that time) major networks. They succeeded with _ **Star Trek** _ (to NBC) and _ **Mission: Impossible** _ and \*\*\*Mannix \*\*\*(both to CBS). This put the studio back on the map and undoubtedly added to its value prior to being sold to Paramount in 1967. ---
**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 21, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/54 "2017-09-21T15:03:32Z")
Addendum: Desilu was Roddenberry’s partner in producing _ **Star Trek** _. The name of his company was Norway Productions. ---
**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 21, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/55 "2017-09-21T15:06:47Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > I loved The Rockford Files back in the day, and I remember that episode! It always makes me think of that one episode of Gilligan’s Island when they almost got off the island but Gilligan did something that ruined the plan at the last moment. I always wondered why the other castaways didn’t just kill Gilligan after the second or third time. He was lucky to have survived for fifteen years! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/56 "2017-09-22T06:28:59Z")
I only saw a minuscule few episodes of _Everybody Loves Raymond_ while visiting the folks, and maybe a few fragments of a few other episodes. Every minute of every episode I saw made me want to puke. Taking up on OP’s offer, I’ll gladly have my mind scrubbed of _ELR_ and then _never watch them again_ ! ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/57 "2017-09-22T11:35:20Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > 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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vYAyq5l2Bs). 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. > > Any other _Smiley’s People_ fans? Another venerable but largely forgotten Beeb effort was [Days of Hope](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_Hope). As a 15 year old it was mind-rendingly awesome. If I could watch it again with grown-ups eyes I’d be very, very happy. And to fill in the rest of the weekend, the Alec Guinness Smileys would be a perfect delight to discover for the first time again. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/58 "2017-09-25T05:54:00Z")
So, thanks to this thread I went back and re-watched the original movie M_A_S\*H tonight. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, what a loathsome, offensive, sophomoric, overall steaming pile of shit that was. Dear Og on high, how did we ever think that was good?!? It’s just _Porky’s_ with tents. ☹😕☹ I want to change my answer. Social (and production) -standards have risen over the years, and I’m not sure anything I watched before, say, 2012-ish is still going to fit my definition of watchable, much less highly enjoyable. I think I’ll move on to new pleasures. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/59 "2017-09-27T13:41:23Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I always wondered why the other castaways didn’t just kill Gilligan after the second or third time. He was lucky to have survived for fifteen years! They had [motives](https://hashed.io/c106358/gilligans-island/t1016312/gilligans-vice-by-adam-troy-castro) not to. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-will-reset-your-memory-on-three-television-shows-itll-be-like-your-first-time-seeing-them/796718/60 "2017-09-29T05:35:05Z")
Though I watched it in order, I only started Game of Thrones after it had been on for 4 seasons, and I had already heard about many of the big shocking moments [actual spoilers redacted for anyone who hasn’t yet watched]. I’d love to see it all with no idea what was going to happen. [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=2) [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=4)