One of the most persistent memes on the internet is the notion of the “water cooler show”. It’s that if you don’t follow a hot show like Game of Thrones or Walking Dead, and be able to talk about them the next day, you’ll feel left out at workplace conversations. The problem is I have rarely heard large conversations about TV shows at work. Sure two employees who are fans of a show will chat about it, but not an entire room. What shows do you talk about with lots of people at work, if any?
I don’t know if the term is an internet meme, persistent or otherwise. It’s an anachronistic term.
The internet itself is the water cooler now. People don’t talk about TV shows at work, they go to Twitter or Facebook or message boards.
I don’t think they exist anymore. The advent of DVR, On Demand, Netflix, etc. allows people to consume TV shows on their own time table and created the social faux pas of spoiling a show someone hadn’t had a chance to watch yet. They also made niche TV shows more profitable, which means a fan base of just a few million can sustain a show for several seasons whereas in the past they’d be a mid-season cancellation.
Supposedly, the last water cooler show was Seinfeld.
Sadly, the NFL is probably the biggest one. In workplaces I keep hearing “You think we’re gonna win on Sunday?”, “You think their defense can keep up with our running game?”, etc., etc.
I think the Twitter and Facebook explosion concerning a certain event in a recent season of Game of Thrones filled a similar role… something exciting happened, so everyone got together to mull it over, but did so in a virtual fashion.
I’m still hearing about Breaking Bad over and over and over again at work. I have no interest in seeing the show, so my eyes start rolling every time. The only current shows I talk about are The Simpsons, The Price is Right, and Ke$ha: My Crazy Beautiful Life.
In my experience sports, political events, and scientific events (like the Mars rover landing) are about the only things that people still feel the need to watch live.