The original post: /r/television by /u/napoelonDynaMighty on 2024-10-14 00:11:06.

There’s this thing where once a popular show is over, actors want to “distance themselves” from shows that people loved, and want to not be associated with them anymore. Not to be cynical but it seems like after a while if their careers haven taken off, or if there is a slow period they suddenly remember they were on a hit show before, and now want to do a podcast about that show.

I think this proliferation of nostalgia re-watch podcast is interesting. This is especially since the format has been legitimized by “Office Ladies” and to a lesser extent “Pod Meets World” etc. Those are two good ones in my opinion, where it’s actual leads of the show coming back and having fun reminiscing

Then there’s the more recent ones that feel like formulaic cash grabs; taking advantage of a trend. They all rely on the same cliches… For example, they always have to pretend that in the 90s/00s they never watched a single episode of their own show, so this is the first time they’ve EVER seen that show. Sure… whatever. Then they kind of sit around clumsily discussing episodes, with a little bit of apathy in their tone, and try to sell you nostalgia-bait merch. For example the 7th Heaven one (Keeping up with the Camdens) is so aggressively bad, even with 3 of the 5 kids back. They come in having “forgotten” to watch the episode, or with nothing of ANY substance to say while they all talk over each other like they’ve never seen a microphone before

And don’t even get me started on the ones that feature like 4th and 5th leads, who aren’t even in most of the episodes, or who have no inside info. I just think when done well these can be so insightful and feel like weekly reunions. When done like the rest, it feels gross, and cheap, and exploitative of the fans