Here's Why You Need TV Shows to Fall Asleep
The first thing I thought when news broke that 30 Rock is leaving Netflix next month was, “How am I going to fall asleep?”
That’s not an insult to 30 Rock, which remains one of the funniest shows to ever hit network TV. In fact, the show—which was created by and stars Tina Fey and ran on NBC from 2007 to 2012—is responsible for most of what I find funny even years later. I don’t have original thoughts so much as I have 30 Rock bits from 2009 through which my brain filters all experiences. It’s how I know never to follow a hippie to a second location and to listen to my H.E.A.R.T. And though it got just-OK ratings for most of its run, it’s since become quite the sleeper hit—pun intended.
Which is why for the last several years, whenever my mind decides that 1 A.M. would be a good time to go over every dumb thing I’ve ever done, I’ve switched on 30 Rock and dozed off to the dulcet tones of Tracy Morgan shrieking, “Doctor Spaceman! Doctor Spaceman!” Whether it’s because I’m so familiar with its particular brand of absurdist office humor or because I find main character Liz Lemon’s privileged white lady obstacles refreshingly manageable in these troubled times, it’s become a very easy thing to fall asleep in front of.
So when Netflix made this announcement, I panicked. Seeking solidarity, I went on Facebook to post that I was sad to see the show leave streaming because I’ve really come to rely on it—and within an hour, dozens of comments appeared from people who also use this particular show as their sleep aid of choice. “Wait, what??? They can’t take it away from me!” wrote one devastated friend. “What the heck! 30 Rock is one of my standby soporifics!” wrote another. One particularly sad comment just read, “Wow. I may never sleep again.”
Others suggested their own favorite sleeping shows as replacements. “Kimmy Schmidt, Archer, and Bojack Horseman are my go-to for turning down,” suggested one person. Two different friends remarked that Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting is now available online. One buddy said she spent years putting on the Bewitched reboot, the one starring Nicole Kidman, to help her doze off. (I’ve also occasionally turned to movies as comedy calmatives or dramedy dramamine. Why waste a perfectly good ZzzQuil when there are any number of Duplass Brothers films I could play for five minutes?)
Sensing a trend, I wondered how this came to be—especially given the conventional wisdom that staring at a TV screen around bedtime will make you stay up. Turns out, most people don’t encounter that issue. “If you work on a submarine or live in a basement, yes, be worried that the light itself will keep you awake,” Jamie Zeitzer, Ph.D, an associate professor at Stanford University in the Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine, told me in an email. “For the rest of us, who go outside or work in normally-lit offices, there is no reason to worry about the amount of light that is being emitted from these screens—it’s insufficient to directly wake us up.”
I asked Zeitzer what it is about certain shows, like 30 Rock, that seem more appealing for bedtime. He says what most must-sleep TV has in common is its ability to distract us. “A key feature of insomnia (or general inability to fall asleep) is that people are inwardly focused and often have cyclic thoughts,” says Zeitzer. “Watching something on TV can, basically, allow people to get out of their own way and allow for sleep to occur.” That way, you don’t ruin bedtime with your thinking!
And since nothing really loud or violent happens unexpectedly in programs like 30 Rock or Parks and Recreation, you have some quality distraction without the possibility of being jolted awake midway through the next autoplayed episode. Beyond turning off our thoughts, though, watching a certain show can also become so much a part of our routine that we associate it with sleep—similar to the way putting on pajamas can mentally prepare us for going to bed. But this, says Zeitzer, can be a double-edged sword because it has the potential to become habit-forming: “If the power is out, or you are somewhere there is no TV, it might be anxiety-provoking or just cause difficulties in initiating sleep.”
So what will happen to the legion of 30 Rock devotees when Netflix finally decides to pull the show off the air? Well, allegedly DVDs are making a comeback or you could buy it on iTunes. Better yet, take Zeitzer’s advice and avoid forming a habit by mixing up the shows you pick. (Here are 20 great options.)
As for myself, no matter what I end up doing, I’ll sure miss my Netflix/30 Rock routine. Goodbye, my friend.