If settling in to watch Mr Squiggle, Round-The-Twist, Skippy The Kangaroo or Bananas in Pajamas sounds good – you’re not alone.
Seven out of 10 Aussies are rewatching TV shows from their childhood, and it’s all part of a nostalgia trend.
A recent study by Swinburne, RMIT University, and Australian Children’s Television Cultures found that jumping back into old shows is a form of comfort watching.
The study analysed 542 survey responses and 21 extended interviews with adults who grew up watching television in Australia.
Today on The Briefing, Katrina Blowers is joined by Joanna McIntyre from the study to find out why we are choosing to binge shows from the past.
The study analysed 542 survey responses and 21 extended interviews with adults who grew up watching television in Australia.
It addresses a range of issues, including the lasting impacts of local children’s content on Australian cultural identity, why adult audiences revisit Australian children’s television from the past, the influence of digital technologies on sharing old children’s content, and the significance of Australian children’s television to personal and collective memories.
“One of our really interesting findings was the comfort that returning to kids shows from, from your childhood can, can give people,” she explained.
“So this kind of idea that whole generation bonded because of the shows they watch that you can connect with anyone from your generation…Interestingly as well, particularly with Australian shows, a lot of people with loved ones who weren’t, who didn’t grow up in Australia. They would show them shows from their childhood that were Australian in particular, to sort of show off something about being Australian as well.”
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