I Never Wanted to Watch TV Alone

Do you want to watch with me?

Old Television Photo by Sven Scheuermeier on Unsplash

This Friday is the series finale of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I am so excited! But less excited that I’m going to be watching it alone.

I grew up in a family that watched way too much TV. The television was always on, though often muted: a constant background to our lives. Saved by the Bell reruns did my homework with me. The Simpsons brought the whole family together every week.

And my mom and I especially bonded over watching Gilmore Girls together, until I went off to college.

Then, I had a weekly ritual of watching Gilmore Girls with my friends in the apartment next door to mine. We’d get Chinese takeout and cheer on Rory and Lorelai while eating General Tso’s tofu. When they invited me over, I felt the family-like feelings I hadn’t realized I was missing.

I don’t watch as much TV anymore, and I’m really strict on screen time with my 4-year-old daughter. But I have some really fond memories of bonding over television.

During one of the hardest times in my life, I subsisted off of cookie dough and solo rewatches of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Only Willow understood me.

You know that feeling? When you think you’re connecting emotionally to someone or…