Daily life is full of stress — whether it be work, school or relationships—and how we manage that stress is often, ironically, another source of stress. For many, the go-to way to assuage this stress is through media — books,TV shows and movies — however the things that bring us comfort aren’t always, at a glance, comforting.
For some the panacea for this stress is found in watching people who are good at what they do — so-called “competence porn.”
The term “competence porn” was originally coined by “Leverage” screenwriter John Rogers to describe a phenomenon where viewers engaged with scenes that were seen by writers as purely for exposition.
“For the audience, watching competent people banter and plan was a big part of the appeal. “Competence porn” as we started calling it.” wrote Rogers in a production blog from 2009. “For we writers, it was always X pages of pipe we tried to make as entertaining as possible and move past to get into the plot”
While the term floated around with occasional usage over the years, it gained renewed interest in 2026 to describe media that specifically highlighted talented people doing their jobs well.
One example of this new era of “competence porn” is a procedural medical drama on HBO Max, “The Pitt.”
“The Pitt” is a medical drama that follows a cast of ER doctors as they tackle the challenges of a single shift in emergency medicine with each episode being a single hour in their shift.
Since its premiere, “The Pitt” has captivated audiences with its grounded, grisly and often harrowing depictions of the daily lives of medical professionals.
As you watch any given episode, you’ll see doctors use their honed skills to address problems as they arrive. Even in the naturally chaotic and stressful circumstances there is something cathartic about watching a job being handled well.
While the term has its roots in scripted content it has grown beyond it.
If you open up any short form content platform —tiktok, Instagram Reels, or Youtube shorts— you’ll experience a flurry of content that is just people doing their jobs.
Whether it’s a man effortlessly leading a customer on a wild goose chase for an ice cream cone or someone cleaning a carpet that was previously more dirt than rug.
Under these you’ll find hundreds of comments calling these videos and “satisfying” and “therapeutic”.
Online content is providing people with more content that satisfies this itch for highly skilled content.
“I think it feels good to be good at something,” said Mac Her, a student at Delta College, who watches videos of high level players playing his favorite game in his free time. “ I think I do it because it’s like it helps me get better at the game. I feel like seeing someone who’s good at a game teaches me to get better at it,”
