Danielle Cummings, of Auburn, was watching a true-crime show while doing laundry when her young son, Everett, walked in.

He asked to watch with her, then started requesting to see more shows about police. Looking for something that wasn’t too intense, she turned to “North Woods Law,” the Animal Planet reality show that followed members of the Maine Warden Service on the job for seven seasons, starting in 2012, as they checked fishing licenses, caught poachers and rescued injured wildlife.

Now, Everett, 5, watches it before he goes to bed every night. His room is painted to look like the Maine woods and his Little Tikes car and truck to look like the wardens’ vehicles.

“It has become a way of life,” Cummings said.

They’ve already traveled to see his favorite member of the cast, Sgt. Chris Simmons, at his sugarhouse in Morrill for Maine Maple Sunday. On June 28, they were among the show’s fans who sat in the rain to see Simmons and other wardens play in a charity softball game at The Ballpark at Old Orchard Beach. And, at least until the thunder started, so was I.

Although new episodes of “North Woods Law” featuring Maine game wardens haven’t aired since the show relocated to New Hampshire in 2017, the entire series is on Max and other streaming services, continuing to amass new viewers or, for longtime fans, get turned on in the background and tuned out as we please.

For me, that’s the lasting power of “North Woods Law.” Like Everett, lately I’ve been watching the show before falling asleep, and I’ve frequently woken up on the couch mid-episode: sometimes to the pursuit of a speeding ATV, other times to discovery of a man with dementia who’s wandered from home. But it took a while for the show to grow on me, let alone for it to become go-to ambient TV.

At first, I found it frustrating, getting invested in the interwoven storylines of the cases featured in each episode, only for all the buildup to culminate in — wait for it — a warning. That anti-climatic aspect, however, turned into something I came to appreciate, both for the entertainment value and for what it said about the majority of the wardens’ work portrayed on TV — a contrast to incidents of overzealous enforcement outlined in a 2016 Press Herald investigation.

Like with any good comfort show, the plot has taken a back seat to the people, namely the wardens who all “take it real serious” and are pleased when an encounter results in “a learning lesson.” A note to Hollywood: Just as Jason Isaacs studied “Southern Charm” to perfect his “White Lotus” character’s drawl, try watching “North Woods Law” if you want a chance at finally getting the Maine accent right.

The best, in my opinion, belongs to Warden Eric Blanchard, who delivers his dry humor in a soothing tone that’s probably what’s put me to sleep. He’s often accompanied by his York County compatriot Tim Spahr, whose cool demeanor and silver coif bring gravitas to the screen.

Head to Somerset County to find Warden Jonathan Parker wrangling baby raccoons that got loose in his truck or staking out a monkey show at a local fair.

But ask most female fans of the show about their favorite warden, and you’re likely to hear the same name over and over: Kris MacCabe, who seemingly emerged as the cast heartthrob.

Though MacCabe might forever remain the young hot shot in reruns, the show has started to reveal its age. For one, it was filmed before the state legalized recreational cannabis. So, watching all the busts of growing operations and summonses given to people found with weed in their pockets has gotten a little cringey.

And then of course, there are the cellphones, flipped open and prominently featured as the wardens talk on speaker.

At the same time, this year’s softball game didn’t draw as many people as it usually does, said Greg Sirpis, chairman of Operation Game Thief, a nonprofit dedicated to catching poachers that is the beneficiary of the fundraising event. He didn’t know whether it was the weather, the change in location from Hadlock Field in Portland or the fact that the team was playing wardens from West Virginia rather than their usual opponents and fellow TV stars from New Hampshire.

Before the game, Simmons and Lt. Tom McKenney said, over the years, they’ve been recognized everywhere from a Manhattan street corner to Patriots games, but it doesn’t happen as often as it used to.

Still, fans came out, including Nathan Laplante and his parents from Chicopee, Massachusetts. Laplante graduated from the University of Maine in May and hopes to become a game warden.

“I like to see the weird situations they can get into,” he said about why he watches the show.

The Harmon family, of Lyman, has seen every season a few times and came carrying a sign declaring themselves “Kris MacCabe’s biggest fans.”

Nine-year-old Norah Harmon said she likes the show because “there’s a lot of excitement.”

Sitting in the stands, Kathleen Nielsen, of Scarborough, said she appreciates how much the show has taught her about the laws governing the outdoors.

But there’s another reason that Mainers might keep watching long after others have moved onto the shiniest new badges in reality TV.

“Just to see your own state,” she said.