Television Show Obsession Disorder

Television Show Obsession Disorder (TSOD), also known as Awful Television Show Syndrome, Phineas and Ferb Syndrome, Pizza and French Fry Syndrome, My Little Pony Syndrome, Brony Syndrome, Bronychitis, or incorrectly known as TV Screen of Death; is a mental disorder where you like a show for no reason. It's NOT the same as pretending to like a show because it's popular (although sometimes your brain tricks you into actually liking a popular show just because it's popular) or being obsessed with a show that you would normally like. It most commonly occurs in children and teenagers, and less commonly young adults. It usually occurs with TV shows but sometimes happens with other media. It can last from less than a day to a few years.

Acute TSOD

1. You start watching the show.
2. You like the show for some weird reason (childhood memory, good animation, a few slightly funny jokes, etc.) or no reason at all.
3. You become slightly obsessed with the show.
4. You get bored of the show.

Usually Acute TSOD lasts for a month or less and isn't a problem.

 Chronic TSOD

1. You start watching the show.
2. You like the show for some weird reason (childhood memory, good animation, a few slightly funny jokes, etc.) or no reason at all.
3. You become obsessed with the show.
4. You get bored of the show.
5. You stop liking the show and feel awkward when someone mentions it, you try to avoid the show.
6. You start hating the show more than it deserves.
7. You accept that you don't like the show but don't hate it more than it deserves, however it might still be slightly awkward when someone mentions it.

Chronic TSOD usually lasts for a few months to a few years.

Symptoms of TSOD

If you have TSOD you are likely to deny it, if you think you have TSOD then you just passed step 3 or never had it in the first place.

• Being obsessed with a show that you would normally hate. Especially suspicious if the show is ultra-nice and they're not or if the show commonly has morals they don't follow.
• Pretending the show is something it isn't. Especially suspicious if the show is ultra-nice and they act like it's badass.
• Ignoring the flaws in the show, can be conscious or subconscious. Especially suspicious if the flaws outnumber the good parts and they still ignore them.
• Thinking the jokes in the show are funny even if they probably wouldn't think it was funny if it was from another show.
• Liking a show for it's animation/voice acting. Almost no one actually likes shows for just these reasons. Especially suspicious if they can't name any other good thing about the show.
• Saying a show is "just good," "badass," "it's so great even (a group outside of show's target demographic) likes it," "makes things 20% cooler," etc.
• Not liking the show and just obsessing over fanfics/fanart/pairings.

Treatment

It ends by itself, but you can help it heal faster.

• DO NOT make fun of/criticize the patient's favorite show around them or tell them they have TSOD, or they will defend it and it will strengthen their faith in it by giving them an enemy. However...
• DO NOT pretend to like the show, either it will look too suspicious and strengthen their faith in it or it will encourage them and cause them to like it longer.
• DO NOT pay attention to the show or start a conversation about it, the best way to stop TSOD is to ignore it. However...
• DO NOT ignore them when they tell you about the show. This will make it seem like you hate the show (you might, but you don't want them thinking that) and it will strengthen their faith in it. However...
• DO tell them to stop talking about the show if they talk about it constantly.
• DO NOT laugh or agree when they make fun of the show if they have TSOD. This symptom is called "fan parody" and if you encourage it they may think it's ok to like a show for no reason. Although fan parody is a good thing (you can accept that your favorite show has flaws) it's a bad thing if you ignore the fact that the flaws actually ARE bad things and not jokes or pretend there are less than there actually are, which is the basis of TSOD.
• DO make fun of the show once they've gotten to the bored stage, it will speed up their recovery and won't strengthen their faith anymore.
• BASICALLY just ignore it but don't act mean about it.

NOTE: I haven't actually tried this yet, but I'm going to start doing this so my little sisters' MLP addiction ends, but I feel like I need to tell someone my plan.

My Experiences with TSOD

When I was 10-11 I was obsessed with Phineas & Ferb (AKA Pizza & French Fry because I don't like saying the show's name now that I don't like it anymore). I never REALLY liked the show, I only liked it because I saw it a few years before then, but I thought it was on Cartoon Network and not Disney so I thought it got cancelled because I never saw it again. I forgot about it until I found some episodes on YouTube, I only liked them because of childhood memory. I became obsessed with the show. I didn't actually like anything about the show except a VERY small number of actually funny jokes and some of the songs and if anyone asked I probably wouldn't be able to give a reason. I even tried to get everyone else to like it by saying shit like "but even adults like it!" I eventually got obsessed with the fandumb instead and I often thought that stuff in fanfics was actually from the show (I never actually checked and I didn't know what the words "canon" and "fanon" meant) Eventually I got bored of the show and then went into the awkward phase, and it felt weird even when I saw "Pizza & French Fry" on a candy wrapper or something (it still kinda does) and I would look away, thinking looking at it would make someone mention it (everyone still thought I liked the show). It took almost a year to go into the hate phase, and I'm starting to go into the acceptance phase now.

Right now my little sisters like MLP:FIM, it's not a show they would normally like but they do anyway, and they just ignore me when I ask why they like it, definitely TSOD. They just started the obsession phase a few days ago, so hopefully it'll end soon.