We can dig it, yeah.
All those years ago, Stranger Things landed on our TV screens.
It was the return of Winona Ryder, the introduction of Finn Wolfhard, the slow realisation that Mille Bobby Brown is actually British.
Lots going on, lots to love – three seasons deep and the series is still pulling in rave reviews from critics and audiences alike.
It’s hardly surprising then that Stranger Things has ended up being the most talked about show on TV not just one, but two years in a row.
New research conducted by Currys PC World and Sony shows that the Netflix show received over 32 million mentions on Twitter over the past two years.
That’s more than Game of Thrones (which came second with over 11 million mentions) and House of Cards (coming third with over two million).
It was mostly women who were chatting about the show, which is interesting considering the data also showed that men were more likely to tweet about what they were watching in general.
Similarly, TV habits also differed in terms of emotion, with certain shows inciting joy and other inciting sadness.
The series that made people the saddest was, surprise surprise, Black Mirror, while the programme that evoked the most joy was Our Planet.
HBO’s Chernobyl led to the most surprise and the most fear, while the most anger was felt by audiences who tweeted about watching Westworld.
Stranger Things, while also being the most talked about show, was also the series third most likely to incite joy.
Cultural theorist Aaron Balick said that the range of feelings felt by audiences isn’t at all surprising.
“TV shows can provoke all sorts of emotions – we don’t watch them just to feel good,” he said.
“Even those that we call ‘negative’ emotions can be enjoyable to feel. You might cry at the death of a favourite character, which may be a cathartic experience for you because you may also be thinking about someone close to you who has died, and part of your mourning is for them.
“Other times you might experience fear or suspense, and then the pleasure when that suspenseful moment is resolved (they don’t call it a Hollywood ending for nothing).”
So, trip back to Hawkins, anyone?
