Friends on TV

“In a very real way, television is the new mythos. It defines the world, reinterprets it. The seasons do not change because Persephone goes underground. They change because new episodes air, because sweeps week demands conflagrations and ritual deaths. The television series rises slowly, arcs, descends into hiatus, and rises again with the bright, burning autumn.”
―Catherynne Valente

The Social Surrogacy Hypothesis sounds like an episode of The Big Bang Theory (actually it IS the name of my BBT spec, so don’t steal it), but in reality this is a very real phenomenon of psychology which says that people can form social attachments to their favorite television characters.  This research is supposedly proves why Friends really feel like your friends.  Or why someone (don’t know who, just someone, no one in particular, stop looking at me) would vow to never watch Lost again week after week as their favorite characters are methodically killed off, only to return like a moth to a bright screen.  And then repeat that with Grey’s Anatomy and then again with Game of Thrones even though I had already read the books and totally knew those people were about to die horribly.  But this isn’t about me.  I think.

This parasocial element of television has helped “Who shot JR?” and “Joanie loves Chachi” and “Yadda yadda yadda” become an ingrained part of our culture.  Studies have shown that people feel less lonely, less sad, less afraid, when their television is on.  And this is a GOOD thing.  Of course shunning the outside world to watch reruns of Gillian’s Island is probably going too far.  But, though it seems crazy, it is perfectly normal to get caught up in the imaginary lives of the Gallaghers of South Side Chicago or the Starks of Winterfell.

However, the sense of belonging, which can buffer a negative mood and even increase self-esteem, is part of the reason we love television so much.  It’s why we keep returning even though they killed off Charlie, why we cheer for Alicia even when she does something a little scummy, why we may or may not have cried just a little bit when Cam and Mitchell got married, and why if Daryl dies we riot.

So what does this mean for us as writers? (after all this is a writing blog)  It means television is all about the characters.  We start watching because of the hook, but we return because of the characters.  So when you’re working on that new pilot and thinking about your story engine and all the little plot points that will allow the series to get to episode 100, remember, it all starts and ends with the characters.  I’ll be posting a little more on television in the weeks to come, so tune in (har har.) to get some tips and trick on starting that pilot or spec.

Because admit it, you totally squealed like an eighth-grade girl when Sheldon kissed Amy.