Watercooler show

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A watercooler show is a cult TV show that people talk to each other about in social situations.

The term first appeared in the mid-1990s, describing the phenomenon of people gathering around watercoolers at work to talk about the previous night's episode of Seinfeld. Seinfeld poked fun at the phrase in its final episode, when Jerry and George were summoned to NBC to revive their long lost show, Jerry, because NBC didn't have enough "watercooler programming". George pointed out that people also gather around coffee machines, and that they drink mostly from bottles, not watercoolers.

The term mostly applies to TV shows with a large following that have many surprises that keep audiences guessing or feature edgy material not seen on other shows. The Super Bowl, World Series, and the NBA Finals are sports events that can also be considered watercooler material.

HBO ran an advertisement campaign in 2004, "Making Water..cooler," showing situations of people talking about HBO Original Programming around the water cooler.