I didn’t plan to binge-watch all nine seasons of The Office throughout April but that’s exactly what I ended up doing. Before quarantine, I had never really been interested in watching sitcoms, and I never had the time to sit down and watch 10 consecutive episodes of a show. Once school moved to distance learning, I found myself having way too much time on my hands. With that extra time, I didn’t want to sit around and sulk about how everything I was excited about had been canceled because of the pandemic. So, I started watching The Office to fill that gaping hole in my life.
Pretty soon, I found myself watching episode after episode, and once I finished watching The Office, I started watching Parks and Recreation. Then, after finding more and more sitcoms to watch, such as Silicon Valley and Community, I discovered that immersing myself in these shows provided a wonderful escape from reality. And as it turns out, I wasn’t the only one to turn to sitcoms for comfort.
When asked about whether watching sitcoms worked as a coping mechanism, Audrey Simmons, a junior, replied that they “definitely did!”
She explained that she watched sitcoms with her family and “would make it a really special thing, making snacks and bonding over binging several episodes in a row. It was something to look forward to at the end of every day. We could focus on these characters… and forget all the craziness for a little while.”
Even adults have been turning to sitcoms as a source of comfort. “During quarantine last spring, I rewatched The Office, which takes me back to watch parties with college friends. I delighted in the irony of watching a comedy about office life while offices all over were shut down,” says SMHS English teacher Ms. Eckert. “Watching familiar shows where you anticipate the conflicts and take comfort in the comedy is stabilizing in a time when so much of our world–from global news to our day-to-day realities–remains uncertain and ever-changing.”
Relying on sitcoms to null the pain of living through a global pandemic can actually be beneficial to our health. According to clinical psychologist Marc Hekster, watching sitcoms like Friends can actually reduce our anxiety. However, as much as sitcoms can provide an escape from our problems, we still need to keep in mind that the act of binge-watching can increase feelings of anxiety. So it’s important to remember that we need to take breaks in between watching episodes of a show.
Quarantine has been hard for everybody to bear and we’ve all been using different mechanisms to cope. If you’re dealing with your distress by laughing at Dwight setting a trash can on fire and sending his co-workers into a panic, you’re not the only one.