10 TV Shows You Can't Just Watch Once (#1 Is Even Better The Second Time)
'Some TV shows plant themselves so deeply in your brain, you can't help but rewatch them over and over, and often, it's the rewatches where you really begin to understand what makes these shows so special. Some TV shows are too heavy or difficult to watch more than once, but for others, you can't help but watch them again. Some of the shows on this list are worth watching again because they have such thematic depth and large character ensembles; you learn something new each time. Some shows are packed to the brim with jokes, and you have to watch again to catch them all. Then some are simply comforting to watch multiple times.
10
Entourage (2004-2011)
A Fun And Comforting Series To Rewatch
Entourage
Release Date
2004 - 2011-00-00
On its face, Entourage does not appear to be a show that has aged as delicately as other series on this list, but there's more to the show than just famous, rich people partying and doing whatever they want. It's also a sharp satire of Hollywood, and is willing to mock itself as much as anyone.
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It's a comfort series, and one that gets better with each rewatch because you know that for all the ridiculous things our characters do and say, they eventually get their comeuppance. Entourage is certainly escapist, but there are also some rewarding story arcs to return to, and it serves as a time capsule for a specific time in Hollywood history.
9
Silicon Valley (2014-2019)
A Unique And Rewarding Rewatch
With the state of Silicon Valley now and how the world of technology has rapidly advanced to affect things far beyond what anyone would have ever guessed, it's nice to return to a series that is both hopeful about tech and also unafraid to skewer what it saw as growing problems in the space. There's a unique style of comedy to Silicon Valley that we don't see too often on television anymore, and so the series always feels fresh on the rewatch. It's also a fantastically filmed show with each scene rewarding careful inspection. It might be ridiculous, but Silicon Valley has a lot to offer on repeat viewings.
Filled With Series-Long Running Gags And Jokes
Community
8/10
Release Date
2009 - 2015-00-00
Network
NBC, Yahoo! Screen
Dan Harmon's Community follows a group of very different people all taking classes at a local community college. The setting offers a fantastic amount of opportunities for experimental and wacky storytelling that's still somewhat based in reality. It also offers a lot of room for smart and funny comedy. Community is filled with dozens of running gags, and it can take multiple rewatches to start seeing them. Once you do catch on, the series gets even funnier and even more rewarding. Some jokes in Community are so drawn out, and so hidden, that you may even need a cheat sheet to make sure you catch them all.
7
Friday Night Lights (2006-2011)
Rooting For The Dillon Panthers Gets Better And Better
Friday Night Lights
8/10
Release Date
2006 - 2011-00-00
Friday Night Lights, based on the 1990 novel by H. G. Bissinger, is set in Dillon, Texas, a close-knit community where high school football is king. Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and his family have recently moved to the area, and Taylor has all eyes on him as he attempts to win with an often unruly group of players.
The novel was also adapted into a 2004 movie directed by Peter Berg.
There are so many storylines in Friday Night Lights that weave in and out of one another, or see two characters who don't usually interact get together, making each episode flavorful and worth revisiting. The football scenes are also excellent, and watching the show again makes you feel like one of the team's fans, just rooting on the Panthers.
6
The Office (2005-2013)
Get Comfortable With These Fantastic Characters
Every season of The Office is worth rewatching, and that includes seasons 8 and 9. As much as the show suffers without Steve Carell as Michael Scott, the rest of the cast is funny enough, and the writing is good enough to justify these final seasons of the show, which also do a great job wrapping up the series. The Office is a show that you can just leave on your TV while you're cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, or whatever, and each time you raise your head to see what's going on, you won't be disappointed. It's a show where the characters come to feel like people you know, and watching them grow is part of the joy.
5
Chernobyl (2019)
Learn The Ins And Outs Of An RBMK Nuclear Reactor
Chernobyl
10/10
Release Date
2019 - 2019
Network
HBO
Chernobyl is one of those shows that would seem completely unbelievable if it weren't based on a true story with only a few changes to history. The five-episode miniseries depicts the catastrophic Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster and the cover-up that made a bad situation worse.
The series manages to explain a scenario that even the top engineers of the Soviet Union say is unexplainable. "Please, tell me how an RBMK reactor explodes", one administrator inquires. The answer only gets more fascinating and horrifying on each subsequent rewatch of the show.
4
The Sopranos (1999-2007)
Watch Characters Make Appearances Long Before They Affect The Story
The Sopranos
10/10
Release Date
1999 - 2007
Network
HBO
James Gandolfini
Tony Soprano
The Sopranos is one of the best TV shows of all time, and you can't be one of the best TV shows ever unless you're worth rewatching. However, The Sopranos is also particularly rewatchable for other reasons beyond it simply being fantastic TV with themes that resonate as much in the fifth viewing as they do in the first. The large ensemble cast of The Sopranos means that there are characters mentioned and introduced sometimes whole seasons before they have their major storyline. It makes every rewatch a surprise as you forget how these rich characters developed, and then suddenly realize they were a part of the series earlier than you thought.
3
Band Of Brothers (2001)
A True Story You Want To Keep Returning To
Band of Brothers
10/10
Release Date
2001 - 2001
Network
HBO
Damian Lewis
Richard D. Winters
Donnie Wahlberg
C. Carwood Lipton
Band of Brothers follows the members of the 101st Airborne, a real-life division of the U.S. Army who dropped into Nazi-occupied France on D-Day. Their courage is astounding, but it's not a flag-waving, jingoistic series. Band of Brothers focuses heavily on the cost each of these men experiences. For the most part, the series has a common through line, but it frequently branches out to explore one soldier or another and how they're dealing with an exhausting situation. It's constantly mesmerizing and stunning in the acting, filmmaking, and heroism, making it a series you'll want to rewatch as soon as it's over.
2
30 Rock (2006-2013)
You Need To Watch Twice To Catch Every Joke
30 Rock
8/10
Release Date
2006 - 2013-00-00
Tina Fey's 30 Rock, a self-referential series that brings in celebrities as themselves and as other people, and takes place in a world that appears to be ours but is far more absurd. It is just packed with jokes. Some are the focus of the scene, some are throwaway lines that you barely have a second to hear.
It's worth watching every episode of the show twice, mostly because there are just so many jokes to catch.
It's worth watching every episode of the show twice, mostly because there are just so many jokes to catch. There are so many types of jokes to catch as well, which is partially why the series feels like it's always throwing you off balance. Clever wordplay and slapstick combine for something you have to watch more than once.
1
Mad Men (2007-2015)
A Show Even Better The Second Time
Mad Men
10/10
Release Date
2007 - 2015-00-00
Elisabeth Moss
Peggy Olson
If you didn't know a thing about Mad Men, the short description of the series, a show about advertising executives in the 1960s, may convince you that it's just a run-of-the-mill period piece with great costuming and beautiful actors. The show is far more than that, however, and after watching it once, you'll likely watch it again. The series is much more literary than it appears on the surface, with themes and details expertly woven into the show. You can watch it once and pick up none of these nuances and still have a wonderful time, but watching a TV show like Mad Men a second time makes you realize just how great it really is.
