These Are the Shows Students are Watching to Get Through the New Semester

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With the University of Maryland and many other colleges transitioning to online learning because of the coronavirus, people now have more time on their hands. It’s a stressful time right now, and most are in need of some sort of escape. Some have taken up new hobbies, deep cleaned their houses, made hour-by-hour quarantine schedules, and of course—binged a lot of TV shows.

While people have more choices than ever because of the variety of channels and streaming, there are a few shows that stick out more than the rest.

“Tiger King,” Netflix’s number one TV show in the U.S. as of this article’s publication date, is one of them. It centers in on infamous tiger owner and zoo runner Joe Exotic, and his ferocious murder-for-hire plot toward his enemy, Carole Baskin. Exotic owned Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park aka G.W. Zoo, which held a myriad of animals. Exotic and Baskin were enemies for one main reason: she founded the Big Cat Rescue in 2006, whose main goal is rescuing wild cats and ending their private ownership.

Exotic and Baskin’s worlds are constantly colliding in the show, and it all comes to a head when Exotic pays a hitman $3,000 to kill Baskin.

Freshman Alessandra Adams decided to watch “Tiger King” out of peer pressure.

“I think Tiger King was one of the stupidest shows I’ve seen,” Adams said. “But it is a great distraction from the world right now.”

Adams chose watching TV over other pastimes for a reason.

“TV just places you in a different universe and it takes you somewhere else,” Adams said.

TV acts as a distraction to get Adams’ mind off of the news or assignments, she said.

But students also watch more light-hearted shows during their newfound time. Maitri Khera watches many, both old and new.

“I’ve been watching Beverly Hills 90210, and rewatching Glee,” Khera said, also mentioning that she’s watched “Brooklyn 99” and “The Bold Type.”

She watches TV as background noise during art or homework. “It’s just filler sound and keeps me from getting bored sooner,” Khera said.

Her sister suggested they should rewatch “Glee” when searching for something.

“It’s definitely given us a reason to spend time together, rather than staying holed up in our own rooms,” the freshman said.

But Khera also said, “seeing TV as a “filler” has come between her and her schoolwork, especially since she only binge-watches during breaks.

Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and many other streaming services feed us enough content to last us a lifetime. While TV can be a negative or positive distraction, it brings people together and can be used as a way of escaping the current world we live in.