The TV Treasure Chest Moment occurs when you stumble upon an elusive rerun of your favorite TV show just as it’s about to start.
This champion channel-flip happens in two big ways:
1. The Missing Link. This is when you suddenly realize you haven’t seen this episode before — ever! You love the show, you’re a huge fan, you’ve seen most episodes ten times … but now you landed on the missing link. Maybe you always knew this episode existed but didn’t get to witness it until today. You know you landed on a missing link if you find yourself saying things like “Is this the backwards episode?”, “So that’s when she got braces” or “Ahhhh, now I fully get another joke referenced later in the series. I am at peace.”
2. The Full Fave. Here’s when you find your favorite episode of the series and get giddy with anticipation. Maybe it’s the soup nazi on Seinfeld, the time Carlton gets cut from the frat, or that dark day when Jesse takes too many caffeine pills. Chances are good you’ve seen the end of this one twenty times and that’s exactly what makes the full version such a sweet release.
People, you know it and I know it: The TV Treasure Chest Moment is a great big rush of excitement in the middle of your family room. When it happens you’ve gotta dim those lights, pop that corn, and stare deeply at the glittery gold moment before you.
AWESOME!
Wow! The New Yorker reviews The Book of Awesome
I absolutely LOVE when this happens!
I have a superpower where I think of a specific episode of a show, and it comes on TV within 48 hours. It’s pretty scary.
That seems to happen to me a lot too; I thought it was just me! People always thought I was crazy for saying that. Thank you.
You’re like some kind of omnipresent being. You are so skilled at epitomizing all of these experiences. I love it. :)
Truly awesome. What’s also awesome is after a very long day, when you have absolutely nothing planned, and there is a MARATHON of your favorite show.
Oh shit. So awesome.
No more soup for you. :P
That line is AWESOME
I didn’t even know it was on at all anymore, and bam, I caught a few minutes of Johnny Bravo.
That Jessie Spano episode is so classic-awesome!
That was one of the best episodes ever!
I still have nightmares about that episode. It was horrific!
I’m so excited! I’m soo excited! I’m…so…scared! Lol. Could they not have picked a better drug? I’m just sayin. She went to rehab and everything!
Completely agree.
I remember my friends making jokes about shows that I haven’t seen. I didn’t watch Seinfeld until about a year ago (thank you reruns) and now I get all the jokes.
And I kinda miss Saved by the Bell. I loved that show growing up. It was the ‘must see’ of middle school.
God I love Fresh Prince :-)
Fresh Prince is the best :D
I had that moment while watching a repeat of Criminal Minds the other day. SO that’s why Spencer is on drugs….AHHH!
I LOVE your website and look forward to reading it everyday! Thanks for creating it!
This happened to me just this morning! An episode of Charmed that I missed somehow came on :) Very awesome.
I feel like the advent of DVRs and shows on DVD means this will happen less and less often, which is a shame.
This was actually a very big deal for me with the show Roseanne. I had seen every episode countless times EXCEPT the series finale. For some reason, each time it rotated I missed that episode every time.
About a year ago I started to watch an episode and realized, wait – I haven’t seen this. OMG, I can finally see how the show ends!!!
My Roseanne cycle was finally complete.
The best Fresh Prince/Carlton moment:
You always just cut to the core of me. It’s like you get me. The only swap I would make is the Soul Train episode instead of the Frat episode. I love it when Carlton nails the Michael Jackson dance at the end. Great post!
I love it!
Seinfeld + Fresh Prince are my two fave shows of all time.
I loved every single one of your examples. I knew each one and could recall the specific episodes :) Another reason why your website is AWESOME!
IM SO EXCITED! IM SO SCARED! HOLD ME ZACK. AWESOME!
I LOVE IT WHEN THESE HAPPEN!! it’s the best when I’m the first one to discover a new tub of ice cream at dining hall. :)
Hahah this is what happens every time the spongebob episode with the fun song comes on… the BEST!!
Go Carlton! Go Carlton!
What I love is when you’ve seen the show, so you settle in to watch, and – hey! a new scene!
Some networks cut so much out of classic TV episodes (which used to run 25 minutes for a 30 minute show) that it’s hard to follow the plot. I love discovering a new scene.
yeh this is always awesome!
Just yesterday I sat down to watch a movie I had taped, and Monsters Vs. Aliens was just starting on HBO. I had seen it before, but got sucked right back in to watch it again. Then I watched my movie. Not a terribly productive afternoon, but it satisfied the couch potatoe in me.
That episode of Fresh Prince? Clearly it should’ve been the one where Will and Carlton throw a party and get taken to court by Phil. The two different versions of the story are amazing.
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“That dark day when Jesse takes too many caffeine pills,” hahaha – YES! And stumbling upon ANY episode of Fresh Prince is awesome in my book.
It’s happening RIGHT NOW! The “Astro Quest” episode of “CSI” is on. I love this one!
oh man, recently i got something BETTER.
i was having a really, really awful day & i know at 6pm my favorite childhood show plays reruns, so i was happy to get home with some chinese & watch it. that day was my luckiest day ever – not only was the network playing TWO episodes that day (!!!) but they were two of my FAVORITE episodes (!!!!!!)
totally turned my day around…
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on the internet for articles which can support me. Thank you
I lived for the days when The Backwards Episode (Seinfeld) aired, it was my absolute favourite!
Another AWESOME thing is when you get sucked into an episode of a show you’ve never watched, and it’s great. When you see the show again, you think “That last episode was awesome! I’ll watch this show again!” And then it’s the same episode. Somehow you’re not even mad because you don’t have any other episodes to compare it to. It’s just a rerun of awesome.
Even though there are so many great sitcoms; come and sadly gone, it’s super great so many can be rented and/or revisited on the computer…and a marathon begins!
I have to say it’s always so sad when it’s over.
Although it came as a surprise and shock, because we really liked it, the way “Medium” was ended was tastefully done; well done!!!
I absolitely love when this happens!!!