Once I burn out on something–TV show/movie/CD/book–it’s over, baby. There ain’t no going back. Maybe 10-15 years after last seeing MASH, I have no desire to ever see it again. Evah. Ditto Cheers, All in The Family, Home Improvement, Frasier, Friends, the original Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and most any James Bond or action flick.
Some things have a quick burnout rate. Others burn out only after many viewings.
Because of the possiibility of longterm burnout, do you ever find yourself rationing how many times you view/listen to something, to prevent burnout of something you really enjoy?
I’ve burnt out on several music groups over the years. Usually a year or so after the burn out I’ll start listening to them again, I haven’t found anything I burnt out on completely. Sometimes my tastes have moved on and I don’t care for the group any more, but always after a year or so the 'burnt out" feeling goes away.
I was completely and totally burnt out on Seinfeld a few years ago. I couldn’t stand to even flip past it! But over the last few months I’ve been enjoying watching the old reruns again.
It depends on the reason for burnout. If I burned out because familiarity breeds contempt–the more I swallow, the less I like–then I’m not likely to go back. (Fool me once, etc.) Examples: Seinfeld, Tori Amos, Woody Allen. Those things are all intriguing on first impression, but the shallowness just gets shallower as you explore.
But if I’ve burned out simply because I’ve listened to or watched something so many times that it’s permanently burned into my brain and I can experience it on my own, I may revisit afresh from time to time. Examples: The Dreaming, The Downward Spiral, Ill Communication, When I Was a Boy, Sweeney Todd. This second category is mostly music, for some reason.
I’m currently burned out on the Simpsons. It took forever for me to get tired of the older episodes(Seasons 2-7), but I don’t watch them at all anymore.
I just find the humor reminds me of myself from 10 years ago and no longer strikes me as funny.
I’ll let you know about movies. I still have no desire to see Wizard of Oz or The Sound of Music anytime soon, even tho I liked both of them.
For music, I definitely get sick of songs (esp when they are over played on the radio) but after they drop off the radar I might like to hear them (maybe once a week or so).
I don’t reread books all that often, so I don’t tend to get burned out by them.