The 6 Feelings of Starting a New TV Series

The end of a TV show is like a breakup — whether or not you saw it coming, it still hits you with a tornado of emotions. Will you ever find another? What will you do with all your time now? I still haven’t processed that Friends is over. Alas, there is hope, and at the end of the tunnel there’s a laptop on low brightness waiting for you to watch before you get into bed. But until then, here’s what you’ll go through once your favorite TV show ends and you start a new one.

1. This show will never be as good.

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This is the denial phase. You passively clicked through the latest downpour of Netflix original series and have found one you keep hearing about. (Ahem, The Crown — go watch it!) You’re not excited in the least, but hey what else are you going to do?

2. Who’s this joker?

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As the opening credits roll, you cynically look at the names of actors you care nothing about and wonder if you should just rewatch Mad Men for the third time. Once it becomes clear who the protagonist of the show is, you point out all their flaws and sigh at how they pale in comparison to Don Draper.

3. This is so boring. Nothing’s even happened.

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Five minutes in and all you’ve gathered is that the show takes place by the beach. (I’m looking at you Big Little Lies.)

4. I miss ____.

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As your brain does somersaults trying to figure out how the entire season will play out so you can assert yourself as superior to this silly show, your heart breaks a little from the agony of no longer have a show you could see do the same thing over and over from episode to episode with a slightly different twist each season. It was predictable and planned — you hate the unknown!

5. Holy sh*t what what what just happened omg

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On the outside, you’re cool and calm like Emma Stone at the Oscars. But when that pilot episode twist hits you, on the inside, you’re like, “WTF, I didn’t see that coming. This is like Modern Family, This Is Us level shiz!”