12 TV Shows That Make More Sense As You Get Older

There are kids shows that are obviously created for children alone (and maybe some super bored parents): the cartoons, the musical shows featuring singing and dancing grown-ups, the educational shows about food or building things or learning about how things work. Then, of course, there are shows aimed at adults: dramas, comedies, reality series, and so on. There are certain shows that younger kids or teens can still watch and pretty much understand -- and then there are other shows that make zero sense until you're much, much older and supposedly wiser. Here are 12 TV shows that definitely make more sense as you get older.

12 The Sopranos

Maybe you happened to catch this super popular HBO drama sometimes because your parents always tuned into it when it was on. But you probably had no idea what was going on, right? Talk about a confusing show if you're not in your 20s, let's say. Now that it's super trendy to watch classic HBO shows since they're now available on all kinds of streaming services, you're totally interested in catching up on all the grown-up talk and plotlines that you missed.

11 Friends

Sure, you watched this sitcom when it was actually on the air as well as never missing a single re-run. You got the jokes, you thought Joey and Chandler were super adorable, and you really wanted Rachel's hair. That's pretty much the basic, normal experience of Friends. But now that you're in your 20s and beyond, you can understand this show on a much deeper level. You get the subtext, the hidden messages, the real meaning of the show, and you realize that it's so much more than just something funny.

10 Sex And The City

When you watched this show, you had probably never even had a first kiss, let alone anything else that the four stylish, fun women were experiencing. Now that you're much older, you can actually appreciate their conversations and problems. You understand that even though you saw Carrie typing away in coffee shops and restaurants, she wasn't playing hooky - she was really working since of course being a writer is a real job and lots of people do it. Isn't is so much better when you actually get what characters are chatting about?

9 The West Wing

Political shows are not for the faint of heart - they involve tons of fast talking, difficult concepts and a lot of thinking. The West Wing is definitely worth checking out, especially because Aaron Sorkin is a brilliant writer. But when you first watched this, you might have thought, yeah, Rob Lowe was pretty cute, but you might not have really fully gotten what everyone was talking about. This one is definitely worth a second watch now that you can actually figure out what the characters are saying.

8 Dawson's Creek

You may not think that this is a super adult show, since, well, it's a teenage drama. But it's pretty hard to tell what those crazy Capeside kids are talking about when you're a kid or pre-teen. After all, the first season alone has tons of jokes about bedroom stuff that you just wouldn't know the euphemisms for until you at least got into high school.

7 LOST

You 100 percent were addicted and obsessed with this lost-on-a-deserted-island mystery. You might not have totally understood every storyline, though, since you were younger when it was on the air. This is one of those shows that even grown adults have trouble understanding sometimes, though, so don't be discouraged. Just watch it again (and again, and again). The more you watch, the more sense it will make. Promise.

6 Twin Peaks

It's hard to think of a more beautifully shot, crafted, acted and written drama. But it's not the easiest show on the planet to understand, let's just be honest here, and that applies to people of all ages. But this show totally made our list because you have to be old enough to get how totally and completely deep it is. It's pretty philosophical when you really watch it carefully.

5 The X-Files

Aliens? Supernatural creatures? An overarching love story? Sure, The X-Files has all that and when you were younger, you could have definitely really enjoyed the show by focusing on the creepy moments and fascinating creatures. But years later, you can have a much better experience of the show when you actually get the gist of what's on your TV screen.

4 The Wonder Years

This show from the 80s is super smart, philosophical and pretty existential. So naturally, when your parents were tuning in and laughing, you just didn't get it. Not at all. You thought it was cute and sweet and funny and all that but you weren't really fully grasping how deep the show was. Now that you're older, you're totally in love with pre-teen Kevin's journey into adulthood.

3 Ally McBeal

Sure, Ally is super cute and fashionable, and the dream sequences and supernatural, magical moments make this law show one to watch no matter how many years pass. But since it's a legal drama, you should be of a certain age in order to really grasp the concepts. Yeah, this show can be silly at times (okay, most of the time) but you want to be old enough to really enjoy it.

2 E.R.

Medical dramas are more fun to watch than they technically should be - after all, we're still obsessing over Grey's Anatomy all these years later. But E.R. is an “adult” medical drama. It's not just about hooking up and it's not the clickbait in TV form. It's sophisticated and pretty grown-up, so you want to be much older than you probably were when this was originally on the air.

1 Seinfeld

Yeah, it's a sitcom, and you probably watched this with your fam and you laughed a ton. Jokes are jokes no matter how old you are. But you didn't really understand this humor. You laughed because your mom and dad were laughing and it was clear that it was funny. But now that you're older, you really get the sophisticated brand of humor and you get that these jokes are more intelligent than others. Isn't that so great?