Episode 035: The Appeal of the Rewatch and Historical TV

Thanks to a question from a listener, Andrew, Margaret and Kathryn revisit the idea of rewatches and try to take apart exactly what draws us to rewatching certain series, episodes, and scenes. We think about Mad Men, Outlander, Veronica Mars, and the pleasures of doing research on the shows we love.

Next, inspired by our Americans book club, we consider historical television series, and think about the differences between historical miniseries and open-ended historical series. We talk about Outlander, Wolf Hall, Downton Abbey, John Adams, The Hour, and more. What is the difference between a miniseries and a series in this instance? How are television shows influenced by their source material? Aren't all histories false narratives we impose on events to make ourselves feel good? And also - Margaret makes a near-fatal error.