A semi-comprehensive guide on what to watch when you want to avoid studying.

It is officially every returning student’s worst nightmare and every new student’s greatest fear, midterm season. The dreams to “stay on top of work” and “actually study every night” have long since been chased away by the fact that the Core exists and going out is so much more appealing. So now as professors attempt to bury us in more and more midterms, the only logical conclusion is to cram the night before every single one of them. But that unfortunately leaves us with a lot of extra time. What to do with that time? Start and finish a whole show in the span of a couple of nights, of course. 

But what I’ve learned from my weeks of experience is that not all shows are the same. In fact, there are some that are a lot more palatable as a student living in New York City than others. The original purpose to binge a show is to turn off your brain, but that’s not possible when a show spirals you into bouts of existentialism or reminds you of the horrors of outside. So I have compiled a list of shows that would surely only worsen your procrastination endeavors and a few that will be perfect to forget your impending bad grade with.

Shows To Not Watch While Procrastinating Studying: 

Law & Order

This is a show I could stomach in my small rural town where no crimes happen, but I have learned since moving here that this show is no longer just unlikely scenarios. Just walking a little too late at night once was enough to make me realize I was unable to watch this again. Watching this show feels like I am actively adding more fears to my list of things that could go wrong. 

The Bear

There is nothing wrong with this show in theory. But seeing delicious food in high-end restaurants knowing there are many restaurants like that only a subway ride away is not a reminder me or my wallet wants. It is just a temptation I don’t think will bide well on my bank account so this unfortunately will be a skip this semester.

Gossip Girl

This is what the Columbia Ivy experience is to the outside world. Too many rich, privileged kids crammed into a city too small for their dramatic lives despite it being New York City. Is this what people think of us? I wish my life was just a series of break-ups leading to more family issues without concerns of my next exam score or potential rejection from another internship. Maybe I’m too disillusioned to the idea of seeing rich kids just worry about being rich, but this show made me more frustrated than relaxed.

Dr. House

As a pre-med student, this show only reminds me of how incorrectly medical dramas have become. The level of unprofessionalism in Dr. House is just too much for me to overlook. There is very little enjoyment when all I can think about is how many times Dr. House has violated HIPAA. So maybe this suggestion is very specific to pre-med students but my recommendation, or lack thereof, still holds. 

Some Alternatives:

The Office

An oldie but a goodie. The romanticization of the mundane nine-to-five almost makes me okay with this inevitable future. Learning about the “ordinary” lives of paper company employees makes it seem like my life, no matter how monotonous, will have its value in the end. Whether I end up as a doctor or a scientist or somehow in the dreaded investment banking pipeline, I will find my people and my place. It makes the unknown future seem alright. So no matter how “overrated” it is to the average red-pilled reader, it is a solid show.

Community

“This could be me,” I remind myself as I watch this. There is a certain escapism in the idea that I could be doing what the students of Greendale Community College are doing. Watching them go from studying Spanish to paintball fights to going to community college formals, I find myself loving my own college experience the more I watch them. Their joy in experiences is infectious, and it gives me a new appreciation to being on this campus even if the events here are objectively less interesting in comparison.

Friends

The true romanticization of New York City is living with some of your best friends and the slice-of-life that results from that. Just imagining that this could be my future with a few of my friends I’ve already made. It is a cult classic for a reason. While it is formulaic, its familiarity gives me comfort. I can watch every episode knowing vaguely what’s going to happen. This is the quintessential “turn off your brain” show.

Image via Bwog Archives