Why Everyone Born After 1996 Is Binge-Watching Millennial Shows

It’s 2025, and my Instagram FYP looks like a rerun of Friends, scored by The 1975 and overlaid with “That’s Hot” energy. Gen Z, a generation that grew up with iPads and instant everything, is somehow obsessed with slow-burn sitcoms, pixelated aesthetics, and shows that aired before some of us were even born. From The Office and Gilmore Girls to Breaking Bad, Gossip Girl, and How I Met Your Mother, we’re basically living in a constant state of digital déjà vu. But why are we, the generation that coined the term ‘delulu,’ so emotionally invested in shows that ran during the dial-up era?

The Psychology Of Nostalgia (For A Time We Never Lived Through)

Here’s the paradox- we’re nostalgic for the comfort of something we never experienced. In psychology, there’s something called ‘vicarious nostalgia,’ which loosely translates to ‘the yearning for an era you didn’t actually live through but idealise because of how it’s been portrayed.’ For us, that means latte-sipping twenty-somethings figuring out adulthood without therapy, group chats, or Google Calendar reminders?

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Millennial sitcoms offered something that today’s content rarely does: a slow, unfiltered connection. Friends wasn’t about chasing followers but about chasing rent money. The Office wasn’t romanticising hustle culture; it was laughing at its absurdity. And Gilmore Girls? It is the original comfort watch — caffeine, chaos, and conversations at lightning speed.

When Reality TV Feels Too Real

In the age of Love Island, The Kardashians, and influencers who soft-launch breakups on Close Friends, we crave shows that don’t constantly remind us of our own overstimulated reality. Millennial sitcoms feel like an emotional detox, no algorithmic drama, no curated feeds, just people talking in badly lit apartments and making jokes about fax machines.

Even darker millennial shows like Breaking Bad or Mad Men hit differently. They reflect chaos, but in a cinematic, almost poetic way, the kind that lets you spiral existentially and still look good doing it.

All of this, or just the fact that they don’t make shows like that anymore?

The Rise of the 2000s Aesthetic

The obsession doesn’t end with the screen. Flip phones, wired headphones, indie sleaze, and Tumblr-core, all of it loops back to our craving for something real. 

Millennials lived offline, but Gen Z aestheticises that disconnection (even when we are living offline, we care more about how we can make it look online). We romanticise CDs, brick phones, and Polaroids because they feel rebellious in an era of everything-on-demand. Watching Gossip Girl or Sex and the City now isn’t just entertainment, it’s a case study in pre-Instagram authenticity (and questionable fashion choices).

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Comfort In Predictability

Let’s be honest, millennial shows were also sort of safe spaces wrapped in predictable chaos. We knew Ross would mess it up again. We knew Michael Scott would say something wildly inappropriate. We knew Lorelai and Luke’s will-they-won’t-they would emotionally ruin us. That familiarity feels comforting in a world where nothing stays constant, not trends, not platforms, not even our attention spans.

It’s Not Just Nostalgia — It’s Escapism

Maybe we’re not obsessed with Friends or The Office as much as we’re obsessed with what they represent, the simplicity. Hanging out with your best mates after work, talking about your day, and not performing it for the internet. It’s less about the plot and more about the vibe, a time capsule of emotional safety and connection that we can stream on loop while eating overpriced cereal at 2 AM.

So yes, maybe Gen Z’s obsession with millennial shows is ironic. Or maybe it’s psychological self-care disguised as binge-watching. Either way, we’ll keep going to the next episode because sometimes healing looks like The Office theme song playing on repeat while we pretend it’s still 2005 and life’s biggest problem is missing happy hour.

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