Rewatch Podcasts: The Nostalgia Alternative

 In the grand scheme of podcast listeners, I tune-in to a minimal number with high consistency. If I were to count the number of podcasts that I never miss an episode of, it wouldn’t take me long. One. Two. Three. Hey look, I’m done. The breadth of my listening can be much greater at times, but there are only three podcasts where I never, ever miss an episode. Despite that, 100% of my must-hear-podcast are foundationally supported by must-see-tv. All my regular listening surrounds television, and two of the three podcasts are strictly ‘Rewatch Podcasts.” That number would be much higher, but I have a self-imposed limit of no more than two rewatch podcasts at a time, as otherwise my week would be consumed with television from the 90s and early 00s, and I can’t let all of me live in the past. If I had unlimited time and attention, I could fill my week with endless rewatch podcasts and the shows that sparked them. If it is a show that aired more than 5 years ago, chances are, you can find a rewatch podcast for that program. Better yet, these podcasts are not fans like myself discussing the show, but rather the stars and creators themselves spending every week reliving their experiences alongside the plot analysis of that week’s episode.  

When I realized that my podcast preferences were becoming a larger trend, I wanted to think about why this may be and what function this will serve in the greater industry. Nostalgia has always been a powerful driver, but it seems to be in full force in recent years as remakes and sequels abound. This format is so much a part of the zeitgeist that it inspired a five-part series on this blog. I broke down my personal formula for a successful remake or reboot - from harnessing shared experience to understanding who the content is of and for. Recycled content only works when this formula is taken into consideration for that particular piece of IP. Though often, it doesn’t work. While I wrote about several successful examples - Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Raven’s Home, etc. there are far more unsuccessful examples. Ask anyone what their least favorite remake, reboot, or sequel is, and you would be hard pressed to find anyone who hesitated. We all have strong feelings about our favorite IP that was nearly ruined by a cheap nostalgia-grab. All this begs the question: Even if the shared audience experience is taken into mind, even if the right person is helming the project for the correct intended audience - what do we do when we just can’t recycle the content into new content? The answer: we podcast about it. 

If most content is best left alone, but streaming provides a still passionate and nostalgic fanbase ready to re-engage with the content, podcasting about the content is the answer. This isn’t a completely new concept, with fan-made discussion boards, podcasts, and reddit pages galore. Recently, however, as these podcasts are made by the original stars and creators, they have become a financially viable alternative to remaking the content. Granted, a successful film or tv show will rake in exponentially more money than any podcast, but it still opens the options for how to handle nostalgic IP without ruining it. I recognize that the majority of rewatch podcasts involve television, and I would argue the bulk of terrible remade IP is in film, but this is a start to solving that problem. Ironically, experimenting with this medium could be the beginning of swinging the pendulum away from remakes, rather than toward them, cutting down on the terrible remakes made and only doing so when it works. If we can now have the stars of Boy Meets World, Psych, Friday Night Lights and countless others spend YEARS podcasting about their old work, this is only the beginning.