Repeat, rewind, rewatch

[Gob]

All those hours spent on the couch watching old episodes of Fawlty Towers were not wasted after all, according to a new study.

Watching reruns actually has a beneficial impact and can increase your self control, according to research from the University of Buffalo.

Psychologists have long believed that people have limited amounts of impulse control are more likely to give in to temptation later.

For example if you avoid sweets during the day you may succumb to having an unhealthy dinner later in the day.

In order to stop this happening and to restore sense of self-control we need to boost be in a good mood, which is where re-watching favourite TV shows works.

Psychologists say we think of these characters as friends or family.

In the study, the results showed that people found it easier to maintain their self-control if they had also been asked to describe a favourite television show during experiments.

The research saw participants taking part in essay writing and word association experiments.

Jaye Derrick, from the University of Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions, describes watching reruns as providing 'social surrogate restoration.'

In her article published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, Ms Derrick says that while watching TV is not the optimal way to boost your mood – physical exercise and reading can have the same effect – it should not be dismissed.

Media use can have unexpected psychological benefits,' she concludes.

'Television, movies and books can be more than leisure activities; in some cases, they fulfill needs, like restoring self-control, that people are reluctant or unable to fulfill through other means.'

[dales]

HEAR, HEAR!

[kristina]

So it's a good thing that I can recite (along with the characters) nearly all of the dialogue from the first couple of seasons of Red Dwarf!