Missed It the First Time? It’s Never Too Late to Find a New, Old Show to Love

There is always another show everyone insists you need to watch right now.

The problem is, there are only so many hours in the day, and television isn’t exactly slowing down to let us catch up.

So yes, sometimes we arrive late to the watch party. That doesn’t mean we missed out.

Some shows are just as good years after the final episode airs. In some cases, watching later may actually be the better experience.

I know because I’ve been late to more than one watch party. I didn’t watch Desperate Housewives during its original run.

By the time I finally made my way to Wisteria Lane, the series had already ended, and most people had moved on to other shows.

Once I started watching, none of that mattered.

I didn’t have to wait months between seasons or spend an entire summer wondering what would happen next.

I got to experience the story from beginning to end at my own pace.

That’s when I realized there is a real advantage to discovering a great series after everyone else. I call it the bonus binge-watch.

There is something satisfying about finding a show years after it aired and realizing every episode is waiting for you.

You tell yourself you are only going to watch one episode before bed, and suddenly it is after midnight.

Netflix asks if you are still watching, and the answer is always yes. That is exactly what happened when I finally watched The Wire.

I came to the series a few years after it ended, and once I started, I was hooked. I finished every episode in less than a week.

The same thing happened with Mad Men.

Before I knew it, I had stayed up way too late several nights in a row and finished the entire series. That is the beauty of the bonus binge-watch.

When a show pulls you in, you do not have to stop because the season is over.

You do not have to wait until next Sunday or next year. You just keep going. There is no schedule to follow and no race to finish before the next episode airs.

The storylines are easier to follow because you are not spending half the new season trying to remember what happened two years ago.

There is also less pressure to keep up with the conversation.

As much as I enjoy talking about television with other fans, social media can become exhausting when a popular show is airing.

Every episode turns into a debate before you have even had time to process what you watched.

Every twist is dissected, and spoilers seem to be everywhere. Watching later takes all of that pressure away. You get to experience the story without everyone else’s opinions.

Streaming has made it easier than ever to go back and discover shows that passed you by the first time.

It also means the end of a series does not have to be the end of its audience. New viewers can find it years later, settle in, and watch the whole thing without interruption.

So if there is a series sitting on your watch list, consider this your sign to hit play. You are not too late.

Some TV shows are absolutely worth the wait.