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Binge Watching vs. Taking it Slow
https://gladerebooted.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8822		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  RangerDave [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:50 am ]
Post subject:  Binge Watching vs. Taking it Slow
Over the last few years, I've become more of a "binge watcher". I rarely watch shows as they air, but instead catch up on seasons or even entire series over a relatively short period of time by watching multiple episodes at a sitting. The only exceptions, really, have been Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and the first season of The Killing. Everything else has been DVD and Netflix binges. Consequently, I found this article, critiquing binge-watching, pretty interesting. Money quote:

Jim Pagels wrote:
Our best friends are the ones we see every so often for years, and TV characters should be the same way. I feel like I grew up with Michael Scott, because I spent 22 minutes a week with him every Thursday night for seven years. A friend of mine who recently cranked through all eight seasons of The Office in two weeks (really) probably thinks of Carrell's character like someone he hung out with at an intensive two-week corporate seminar and never saw again. Binge-watching reduces the potential for such deep, Draper-like relationships. While the Grantland piece argues that binges are the only way to forge “deep emotional connections,” in fact, the opposite is true.

I have to admit, the shows I watched as they aired over the course of years have definitely stuck with me in a way the ones I've watched all at once likely won't. And I do kind of miss looking forward to a particular day of the week because a new episode of some great show would be on, as well as all the post-episode or post-season speculation/anticipation that followed. On the other hand, there is something to be said for the immersiveness of watching a season or series in a compressed timeframe. I don't know.... What do you guys prefer?
Author:  LadyKate [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:59 am ]
Post subject: 
That's a really interesting point. Huh. I didn't think of it that way.
I don't know how that would relate to books, but I know the feeling of getting to the end of a book (or a series of books) an feeling sad, like you were saying goodbye to a real friend.
I think we actually do develop some sort of one-sided limited dimensional relationship with the characters in stories that we emotionally invest in.
I remember watching the first what, 3 seasons of LOST in a binge-type way on DVD and then the rest of it as it aired. I don't really recall whether the way I watched it made much of a difference in how I felt about the characters though....although I will say that having to wait a week (and time in between seasons) gave me the opportunity to discuss the characters with my husband and friends which made them seem more real and helped to develop the attachment, so I could see the merit in that article.
Author:  Kaffis Mark V [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:03 am ]
Post subject: 
There's also something to be said about the antici
pation of watching/reading a series while it's still on-going. When you're eagerly looking forward to the next episode, the next novel, and the next season, it really makes you think about the series much more.

When you binge, it's a one-time event (albeit, a long-term one-time event) that you don't really think back on much.
Author:  LadyKate [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:08 am ]
Post subject: 
I love what you did there, Kaffis, hahaha! Very clever. I couldn't even read past the first sentence.
Author:  Hopwin [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:26 am ]
Post subject: 
That sword cuts both ways though, I watched the X-Files week-to-week when it was on the air and found it to be very disjointed and frustrating. Years later I bought all the seasons and movies on DVD and binged through them in 2-3 weeks and found the underlying storyline to be MUCH more cohesive than it was before. I also caught a lot more of the recurring themes, characters, etc because they weren't weeks, months, years between appearances.
Author:  Lonedar [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:05 pm ]
Post subject: 
Binge. I don't pay for premium cable so I catch things when they hit DVD or Netflix. Kind of like the 2nd shot of whisk[e]y quickly following the first...hard to stop once started.
Author:  Aizle [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:25 pm ]
Post subject: 
Binge. Several reasons.

1. Hate commercials and have no patience for them anymore.
2. I rarely can or want to schedule my day around a TV show.
3. Binging allows me to watch as much as I want when I want.
Author:  FarSky [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:39 pm ]
Post subject: 
I binge...but it's primarily because I tend to discover (or choose to watch) shows after the fact. In fact, I can't really remember the last show that I jumped on in-stream...jeez, The X-Files? And I dropped that in season 8.

The basic routine is this:

1. See list of upcoming shows and pick out a few that sound interesting.
2. Promptly cease thinking about them.
3. Shows premiere.
4. Good shows get buzz. The list of shows that seemed interesting narrows.
5. The post-buzz phase winnows the choices even further...what still seems to be considered "good?"
6. OK, it appears this handful of shows doesn't suck. But now we're well into the season, and I'd need to catch up. I'll just wait for the home video release. (Note: this can occur multiple seasons into a show.)
7. Get the discs, watch a shitload of episodes.
8. Continue watching the show "live" if it's still on the air.
9. ?????
10. Profit!


Edit: Wait, no, Supernatural.
Author:  Noggel [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Binge Watching vs. Taking it Slow
I prefer to take things slowly, and mostly find myself in favor of the argument at the start of this thread.

Reality, however, tends to rarely agree. It's usually the case that I come to a show after the fact, and so I have a whole lot of content out there. It's tough to wait. :p

My compromise is a sort of restricted binge. I won't spend 8 hours straight watching episodes. I'll try to do maybe one a night (for hour-long shows, at least). It works well for me, and cuts down a bit on the negatives surrounding binge watching. It's not perfect, but it helps.

I can tell you that I used to watch anime a little in years past. Occasionally I would go through a whole ~22 episode anime in 2 days. I feel pretty confident in stating that those shows left very little of an impression on me compared to ones I took longer to watch. I know, this is hardly scientific with a lot of variables mixed in, but I'm fairly certain the binge-watching was a contributing factor. I don't even really remember this one show where I watched nearly the entire thing in one sitting during an all-nighter, and it was a fairly well rated anime.

I feel this argument works very well with books, too. As an avid fantasy reader, there is most definitely a big difference for me if I blow through a short series really quickly vs spending a long time with it. I definitely try to avoid powering through books if I can at all avoid it. There are pros and cons to be discussed here, maybe a little different from comparing to TV shows, but for me? I will definitely take drawing it out over binge reading any day of the week.
Author:  Shelgeyr [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:40 pm ]
Post subject: 
I'm currently getting the most enjoyment out of long-running shows that are streaming on Netflix. I binge on several episodes back-to-back, then leave it alone for a while and go back later for more.
Author:  Müs [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:22 pm ]
Post subject: 
The last series I "binged" on was BSG.

After finishing it, and then reading about the horrible network drama, I am so glad I wasn't watching it while it was airing.

It was a hell of a ride, and I think having to wait as long as it took between seasons... would have ruined it.
Author:  Midgen [ Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:41 pm ]
Post subject: 
I binged my way through EVERY EPISODE of the ENTIRE Stargate series a while back.

There is no way I would have been able to catch every episode of every season over 10 years. I'm glad I did it this way...
Author:  Rorinthas [ Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re:
Midgen wrote:
I binged my way through EVERY EPISODE of the ENTIRE Stargate series a while back.

There is no way I would have been able to catch every episode of every season over 10 years. I'm glad I did it this way...


Yeah. I did this a while back too. I think it's good to appreciate that series as a whole that way.
Author:  Lenas [ Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re:
Midgen wrote:
I binged my way through EVERY EPISODE of the ENTIRE Stargate series a while back.


I did this with 20 seasons (Original, TNG, DS9, Voyager, some of Enterprise (/barf)) of Star Trek a few years ago. Enjoyed them much more than I did when new episodes were still coming out.
Author:  FarSky [ Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:36 pm ]
Post subject: 
O.O
Author:  Hopwin [ Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:51 pm ]
Post subject: 
This thread makes me feel a little less like a weirdo :)
Author:  Midgen [ Thu Jul 12, 2012 8:02 pm ]
Post subject: 
By "Stargate Series" I'm referring to SG-1, SG-Atlantis, and SG-Universe.
Author:  Raell [ Thu Jul 12, 2012 8:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re:
Müs wrote:
The last series I "binged" on was BSG.

After finishing it, and then reading about the horrible network drama, I am so glad I wasn't watching it while it was airing.

It was a hell of a ride, and I think having to wait as long as it took between seasons... would have ruined it.



Yea, I am so glad I got to watch BSG the way I did. It would have driven me to lose interest had I had to wait long periods of time.

I also liked being able to plow my way through Doctor Who. That was fantastic to just sit and watch episodes one after another.
Author:  Talya [ Fri Jul 13, 2012 7:25 am ]
Post subject: 
I can disprove the entire premise of the OP.

Firefly is my favorite TV show ever. I think I watched it in 3 days.
Author:  RangerDave [ Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:19 am ]
Post subject: 
I think Firefly's a bad example, though, since it was only a 13 episode run. It didn't run for years, with the characters slowly evolving over that time. So watching the whole thing in a weekend doesn't really cause you to miss out on anything anyway. A show like, Breaking Bad, though, in which a big part of it is (from what I've heard, as I haven't seen it) watching the main character change over time. I could see that sense of gradual change being diminished by binge viewing.

Maybe the best approach varies by show?
Author:  Kaffis Mark V [ Fri Jul 13, 2012 12:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re:
RangerDave wrote:
Maybe the best approach varies by show?

I find your refusal to take a stand indicative of an underpinning moral deficiency!!!
Author:  Corolinth [ Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:09 pm ]
Post subject: 
Once Upon a Time and Grimm were the first two shows I'd watched in about ten years that I didn't binge-watch.

I would be hard pressed to say that I enjoyed them more than Buffy, Firefly, or Veronica Mars. In fact, the episodic format of both of the two recent shows stood out very strongly. Meanwhile, when binge-watching Veronica Mars, I was able to focus on the overarching plot.
Author:  Kirra [ Tue Jul 17, 2012 8:07 pm ]
Post subject: 
Binge watching is the only way...I don't really care for watching lots of different shows all in the same week, I enjoy it more to concentrate on one and understand it more.
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