The nostalgia factor is hard to ignore, especially when it becomes the driving force behind TV series. Many have delved into revisiting the past on the small screen, offering a visual and emotional refuge for audiences seeking stories set in decades past considered fascinating, from the 1960s to the 1990s. An era before smartphones, with music listened to on physical media and human relationships that did not pass through the glowing screens of our devices. Recalling those decades undoubtedly taps into the emotional memory of those who lived through that period or would have loved to experience it, captivating both old and new generations with a pop mythology of arcade rooms, neon lights, and Walkmans, turning nostalgia into an extremely powerful narrative engine. If you’re nostalgic too and you’ve come this far, sit back and take note of these TV series titles that will offer you a dive into the past.
The power of pop nostalgia: the 3 TV series that made us fall in love with the past
Dark
A German TV series among the brightest and most intricate on Netflix, Dark is a science fiction thriller that spans its narrative across multiple timelines. Many characters are able to travel through time, but they cannot alter their own fate or those of others because the past is immutable. The story actually begins in 2019 in a small German town, Winden, and involves four families and their secrets. The first season offers several jumps into the past exploring the 1980s and the 1950s, while the second season in addition to going back in time also jumps to the future, arriving in 2053, just as the third continues to roam across different timelines of the past (even reaching 1888).
IT: Welcome to Derry
Born as a prequel to IT, Welcome to Derry tells the origins of the clown Pennywise and how he traumatized and marked the lives of numerous generations in the town of Derry. Drawing from what Stephen King recounts in his novel, the TV series distributed on streaming via HBO Max and in Italy also on NOW has so far offered a first season set in 1962, recounting what happened in that period to the citizens facing Pennywise, who awakens from his slumber every 27 years and claims victims. Also in this case, being set in the past, the nostalgic atmosphere is strongly present not only in the colors and outfits of the protagonists, but also in the broader set design (such as the old cinemas).
Stranger Things
When thinking of nostalgic television, it is impossible not to mention Stranger Things, the creation of the Duffer Brothers, concluded with a fifth season but always set in the 1980s. Faced with government mysteries and a dangerous Upside Down populated by menacing creatures, the young residents of Hawkins are forced to roll up their sleeves from the very first season, when Will’s disappearance leads them to confront government secrets and supernatural forces. The arrival of Eleven, a girl endowed with extraordinary powers, will help the kids understand the Upside Down better. Stranger Things is an ode to nostalgia, steeped in references to the pop culture of that period, from arcades to cinematic references, from soundtracks to the walkie-talkies used to communicate with each other on bicycles.
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