There's never any resistance to watching old movies or reading old books (besides the general challenge of having to keep in mind the time in which they were created) but when it comes to TV shows that are 10 or 20 years old I find that people tend to just skip over them. Before websites like Netflix and Hulu made it easy to watch these shows, it made sense to avoid them. It's pricey to buy multiple seasons worth of material. But now there's no excuse so here are some reasons to consider spending some time on older shows.
1. Old TV shows are a snapshot of their time.
More so than movies or books - many shows are a view of the values of a time; what are acceptable relationships (both romantic and familial), how people present themselves, and what their everyday lives look like. While this may make them seem dated, I think it's that feeling that makes them special.
2. They're a form of art.
Like films that win academy awards and are watched for years to come, TV shows are often the product of people that feel strongly that they have created something beautiful and worthwhile. They often hold plenty of merit from the more artistic perspective.
3. Characters.
Some older shows ran for years and years. It is my belief that characters tend to be the driving force behind shows that run for a long time. They're one of the few elements that tend to be more developed in shows than they are in movies. It may seem daunting to undertake long running shows but I find that the character payoff tends to make it worthwhile. There are definitely shows today that do this well but often times we only watch shows in their early seasons and give up over time, which is a shame because characters tend to improve over time.
4. Actors.
This is a fun one. Often times actors that are now pretty big names or are known for something completely different have guest roles on older shows. It's pretty fun to see a tiny version of an actor show up (ER is probably where I've seen this the most).
5. It's fun to see how far we've come.
CGI has come a long way, lighting and the camera's ability to catch it has come a long way, sound has come a long way. I think it's really fun to laugh at old CGI (or appreciate the ingenuity of getting around the budget) or wonder how they lit a scene versus how we'd do it now. It's a part of film history and it's fun to think about (though maybe this is just a film major thing).
So go forth and watch some TV shows that you've heard about but never took the time to look into; the time is worth it.
