BUFFALO, N.Y. — "The Office," "Parks and Recreation," "Grey’s Anatomy," "Vampire Diaries," "This is Us," "Ted Lasso," "The Walking Dead," the list goes on when it comes to television shows that have left the world laughing and crying. The question: Why do we get so involved with these series? Turns out it's in our DNA. 

What You Need To Know

  • The connection we feel with television and movies is in our DNA 

  • Psychologists say it's healthy and a way to supplement our real-life relationships

  • As humans, are drawn to storylines

“I would definitely say I cried a couple of times watching this growing up,” Gabí Hermida-Parra laughed when thinking about "My Little Pony."

Hermida-Parra loves television.

Hermida-Parra says it’s when the storyline hits close to home, like "Vampire Diaries," that it takes on a new meaning.

“I feel like how messed up some of the, like, family relationships are I can relate to a little bit. So it's like putting a piece of myself into the shows,” Hermida-Parra said.

It’s therapeutic, and in some cases, it normalizes what’s typically stigmatized.

“I have anxiety and I feel like they portrayed it so well because the one scene where she's just there at the council, but she's running a million miles a minute, that's my everyday life,” she said about the new character in the movie "Inside Out 2," Anxiety.

This is all in our DNA, according to a professor of psychology at the University at Buffalo.

“Basically, at a time when our brains were just evolving and we were just becoming what we now consider humans, people had to live in collectives in order to survive,” said Shira Gabriel.

Fast forward to now: Gabriel says our brains are always searching to belong in groups, even if they’re on a screen.

“You know logically that the people on TV shows are not your real groups, that you don't really live in that world [but] when you watch those shows, you feel as if you do,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel started her research in 2008. She looked at the popularity of the "Harry Potter" and "Twilight" film series.

“There’s something wonderful about really just letting go of where you are in your life and being pulled into a fantasy world and feeling when you're watching it,” she said. “Like you really belong there. Your brain is telling you that those connections are real. That's why you feel so happy for them when good things happen and so upset when bad things happen and [you are] so desperate to find out what happens next.”

Feeling that is good, Gabriel said.

“What we find is that people use these in like a really healthy way to just sort of supplement their social lives and have like a stress-free and desireless way,” Gabriel said.

Then there’s fandom. Gabriel says over the past decade, thanks to the internet, we can connect with people from beyond our social circles, even across continents.

“You also have this feeling of connection to the broader world, to everybody else that's into that show, and it gives you sort of a sense of identity,” Gabriel added.

“I cried, I was like, ‘That's me,’ " Hermida-Parra said. “Finally, they understand.”

Other research Gabriel has done shows that, for couples who don't have lots of ways to connect in real life — maybe they’re in a long-distance relationship, or they have different friend groups and different lives — coming together to like watch a favorite show is a way to build up that bond.