Learn While You Sleep

A character listens to a recording while they sleep, thinking they'll learn the information and remember it when they wake up.

The Goldbergs

Appearances

• The Patty Duke Show: Season 1, episode 8, "The Conquering Hero" (1963). Cathy records herself reading a textbook so a high school basketball star can listen to it and learn the information while he sleeps.
• The Odd Couple: Season 2, episode 7, "Does Your Mother Know You're Out, Rigoletto?" (1971). When opera-singer Richard Fredericks breaks his leg playing baseball with Oscar, Felix makes Oscar lip sync to Rigoletto while Richard sings. To help Oscar learn his lines, Felix plays a tape of Rigoletto in Oscar's bedroom while he's asleep. He claims this method has been "proven scientifically with rats."
• Mork & Mindy: Season 4, episode 1, "Limited Engagement" (1981). When Mindy declines Mork's proposal, he tries to convince her to change her mind by making a tape talking about how great he is and playing it while she's asleep.
• Night Court: Season 4, episode 6, "Dan's Operation: Part 2" (1986). While Dan is in a coma, Bull plays Spanish learning tapes for him, thinking he's taking advantage of Dan's condition to help him learn a language.
• The Goldbergs: Season 3, episode 19, "Magic is Real" (2016). Barry decides to take the SATs, and to help him study, he records a tape of himself reading vocabulary words and plays it while he sleeps. In the morning, Erica asks him what "gregarious" means, and he says, "To be like Greg."