TV Why Binge Watching Might Be A Bad Thing

[wildcard]

Always having loved television and movies, I have fond memories of waiting for the next episode of my favorite show to come on.

The first show with a two part, to-be-continued ending I saw still sticks in my head. I had lost complete track of time because I was so wrapped up in the show and I just knew everything would come back to the good by the end of the twenty-two minute show. It always had!

The first time I watched an entire television series back-to-back was later in life. I must admit that it felt freeing. There were no commercials; no waiting to see what happens next week; no bullshit. Then I started noticing that there were other things I wasn't getting when I binged out on my favorite show.

The first thing I noticed was that an element of suspense was taken away from the experience. I used to think about the last episode of my favorite show throughout the week, forming theories and imagining what might happen when the show returned. When I watch tons of TV end-to-end, I don't have time to soak in all that I've seen and heard before the next show is underway.

I also noticed that after hours of watching the same show my memory of faces, names, and places improved, but my attention to detail and appreciation of aesthetic deteriorated dramatically. There have been situations where I've seen an episode on TV and noticed things that I had completely overlooked when marathon-watching.

This world, and especially the US, is all about give it to me right now. Maybe some things are better in moderation.

[srijantje]

give it to me all right now is an individualistic and capitalist way of thinking and will take away a lot of quality in life,
having said that,I know what you're talking about

[Spud17]

I wouldn't say it's individualistic to want an entire tv show season to binge watch, quite the contary. It's a way of sticking it to the man and saying 'fuck you and your irregular scheduling.' For too long tv execs have held us, the viewers, to their scheduling. All too often, our favourite shows are delayed because the tv station is busy covering the world tiddlywinks championships and it's gone into extra time. Then there are the weeks when a tv show is postponed for a week or two due to the similarity between the episodes content and a real life event (usually when someone is shot), and I haven't even mentioned the forced interuptions from a newsflash or ad breaks.

I've been binge watching stuff since I discovered The Pirate Bay, and it has to be said that torrenting is the way forward for anyone who prefers to watch their favourite shows this way, because even though companies like Netflix and Hulu have cottoned on to people's viewing habits (and have taken note, unlike the regular tv stations who are continuing to stubbornly ignore the facts and are losing out as a result) and are screening whole shows over the space of one or two days, it costs money to access these services, and most of us simply can't afford them - or due to our geographic location, cannot access them anyway.

I take my time when binge watching something, just as I do a meal, so that I can soak it up and reflect for a while. It may take me 3 - 5 days to watch an 8-episode season of something, and I couldn't imagine watching every single episode back to back. That would do my nut in for a start, but I have stuff to get done, so might watch one episode in the morning and not watch the next until later on, or even the next day. I'm thinking about what I've watched in between episodes, and wonder what will happen next - much like the days of old when we were forced to watch just one episode per week.

If the show takes a turn for the worse and I find myself becoming bored by the plot, you can bet there are some details I'm missing (which I may or not notice if I was to view the same episode again at a later date), but that's as a result of a boring storyline and not due to me binge watching it. The X Files season 1 - 10 was like that, mostly alright but with the odd episode that was downright dull. I don't think I've missed out in the slightest. If I had watched it instead at one episode per week on tv, I probably would have still found it boring. Westside (a New Zealand comedy drama series which I thought was utterly fantastic), on the other hand, was very memorable. Every single episode was brilliant, and although I could have watched another ep straight after the other, I prefer a gap of at least several hours to give me time to appreciate what I've just watched. Sure I binge watch stuff, but I binge watch in moderation.

[wildcard]

I know what you're talking about

Of course you do. America is not the only country to embrace the microwave, fast food, or speed dating. I singled out the US because, to be honest, we started this gangsta shit

world tiddlywinks championships

I take my time when binge watching something

Then you aren't binge watching

In all seriousness though, I am specifically talking about watching TV episodes back-to-back, one after the other; watching as many shows as you can in whatever allotted free time you have.

I considered making a schedule of the series I am currently watching (10-15) which would limit me to an episode of two different television shows per day, forcing me to appreciate the experience more AND spend my time doing things that are more productive than vegging out on the couch. So far I have made absolutely no progress implementing this plan

If I had watched it instead at one episode per week on tv, I probably would have still found it boring.

You bring up an interesting viewpoint. The flip side is that waiting a week to watch an episode that turns out to be a let down is much worse than that bad episode being one of several episodes you watch that day. Good point. I'd rep you again, but I burned mine on tiddlywinks