That's one of my metrics to whether a show is just very good vs being truly great. If on the 10th watch I'm still finding new things to think about, if I'm fully engaged after several watches, then I know it is more than fleeting entertainment. As an example, Breaking Bad was fleeting entertainment. I watched it from the first second it aired. I watched every episode. I watched the aftershows. I took part in conversations. But then as I watched it a second time, I was generally bored, and I found myself fast-forwarding through a lot of the scenes. I think it is a very good show, but it is not a truly great or classic show (for me). I think it fell apart with repeated viewings. I could still appreciate the acting and some of the situations, but the writing was far, FAR less impressive the second and third time. Yes, I even tried a third time. I think I've watched Mad Men seven times? And the story still holds me. I'm there for every moment. I've watched Downton Abbey and NYPD Blue maybe 15 times (the entire series, from beginning to end), and I'm still there for every word. As my high school English teacher often said: you haven't read it once until you've read it twice.
