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Immortality is not what it used to be. Once a quality desired by humankind, it is now regarded by popular culture as problematic. Vampires are depressed because they live forever and never age, while their mortal sweethearts are subject to the depredations of time. The deathless warriors in Highlander went to great trouble beheading each other because “There can be only one”—couldn’t they just learn to get along? Whatever their grievances, surely they could forgive and forget after 500 years or so.

And yet it should be noted that vampires could end their suffering easily enough by walking outdoors in broad daylight or, if they were the sparkly emo kind, sky-diving onto flagpoles. The Highlander guys could’ve taken naps using train tracks as their pillows. But they didn’t do it, because you know why? Because if you have your health, your looks, and your wealth (Even the most inept immortal could get rich by opening a savings account—even at low interest rates, savings pile up in 100 years), you don’t really want to die. At least not yet.

Read our TV column The Binge in BusinessWorld. This week we explain why the 2014 series Forever starring Ioan Gruffudd and the 2008 series New Amsterdam (the start of our completely unilateral relationship with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) are the same show.