The most fun I’ve had watching any TV show this year has been X-Men ’97 (Disney+), the breakout cartoon of the year. It’s wonderful, and is more than just a great nostalgia trip, so I highly recommend it to anyone who has even a passing interest in the X-Men.

More recently, I’ve watched about half of the new Batman: Caped Crusader (Amazon Prime) show as well, and while it isn’t as stunning as X-Men ’97, it’s still a lot of fun and I’m enjoying it as well. This even got me looking into how to watch Batman: The Animated Series that I loved as a child, which it turns out is all available on Max, so I’ve watched a few of those as well.

Quick aside, but did you know that Batman: The Animated Series was 65 episodes released over the course of one year? They then got to do 20 more episodes a year later, but that was it. The amount of episodes over such a short time is borderline inconceivable in today’s TV world where it feels like the best shows do 8-10 episodes and you wait 2 years for another handful. Maybe they’ll even spread those 8 episodes out over 2 mini-seasons! Looking at you, Invincible…

But what the heck is going on? Why am I suddenly so drawn to cartoons, something I haven’t really watched in well over a decade? It’s a question I think a decent number of people are asking as well because I haven’t been alone in watching these new shows, X-Men especially was one of the biggest “water cooler” shows of the year! And the excellent new film, I Saw the TV Glow, is literally about someone reckoning with how the TV shows they loved as a child felt to them at the time and what it’s like to go back to them.

Looking just at myself, a few things come to mind.

1. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. Having new cartoons with the characters I loved as a kid, but now in high definition and with more expensive animation, is fundamentally appealing.
2. In a world where “prestige” TV often aims to be very emotionally heavy, it’s easier to commit to a show that’s lighter and has characters I recognize. It’s just an easier lift.
3. Twenty…two…minutes. Okay, the shows are tiny bit longer than that, but these stories are tightly written to fit in a shorter window, and that just makes it easier to commit to squeezing in an episode when I can.

There’s surely more at play here, but it’s something I’ve noticed about myself and truth be told, I’m enjoying the hell out of it. Again, I can not recommend X-Men ’97 enough, I think it’s a masterpiece. Batman: Caped Crusader is definitely scratching that Batman itch I basically always have as well, and I hope this season ends well. And then there’s Batman: The Animated Series, which I think I’m going to keep watching until I get tired of it. You really do appreciate the quality of animation today when going back to this show from the 90s, but even considering the rougher animation, there is so much love and artistry being put into those episodes that I still find them enjoyable.