I’ve been watching a lot of TV lately. Which is typical for me this time of year. I probably watch more TV January through March than I do the entire rest of the year combined.
Like most modern TV viewers, I’m a binger. I watch one show at a time and I stay faithful to it until I either run out of seasons, or get bored. To ensure I have plenty to keep me busy, I try to be as late to the party as possible.
Game of Thrones is a good example. I waited until everyone else discovered, became obsessed with, and consumed every episode before I started watching it. By the time I got through everything that was available, the only season I had to wait for was the last one.
I wasn’t always like this. Back in the day, binging tv shows wasn’t even an option.
Do you remember what it was like watching one episode at a time? We waited all week for our favorite show to come on and, when it finally did, it was an occasion with a ritualistic level of preparation.
First, we had to make it known that we would be watching the TV at a certain time, on a certain day. Dibs, if you will. Then we had to make sure we were home. Lastly, we had to eliminate all potential distractions.
Our families were our nemesis in this endeavor. Inevitably, our sibling or parent would want to watch something else at that time and we would have to beg, bargain, plead and/or threaten for control of the tv.
Once we had our time slot secured, we could go about preparing the perfect snack and praying to all that was holy that no one would decided to:
pick a fight
start a fire
go on a family outing
watch with us
All of these scenarios spelled disaster for our viewing experience. Especially the last one. There was nothing worse than a family member deciding to come “see what’s so important”. Because if they did, you would spend the next 30 to 60 minutes explaining who was who and previous plot lines instead of actually watching the show.
And if you missed it…..you missed it. There was no TiVo or Hulu. Only the kids at school the next day talking about whether or not Ross and Rachel were on a break.
The first show I remember becoming obsessed with was Alf. Do you remember Alf? Everyone’s favorite, cat consuming alien. Hey, it was the 80’s. Things were weird back then.
I was only four when Alf first aired, but I remember watching it every Monday. I probably learned to tell time just to ensure my mom didn’t pull a fast one.
Years later, my must watch show was Friends. All through middle and high school, I made sure I stayed in to watch it every Thursday night at 7pm. After I left home, my friends and I huddled around my roommate’s tiny, dorm tv. I never missed an episode.
When my son was little, I started renting whole seasons of his favorite cartoons from Blockbuster. We watched Scooby Do, Garfield and The Backyardigans on DVD. Then we discovered Netflix streaming and everything changed. Suddenly every episode, of every show, was available at the click of a button.
There were exceptions. Competition reality shows mainly. My husband and I liked to watch “The Apprentice” and “The Amazing Race” together. I watched “So You Think You Can Dance” with my mom and I liked to call my mother-in-law to discuss our favorite contestants on American Idol.
For the most part, I just wanted to mainline all nine seasons of “How I Met Your Mother” before moving on to “Call the Midwife” and “The Closer”.
I once accidentally watched a few seasons of “The Shield” before realizing it was not, in fact, “The Wire”. I do not recommend taking that detour.
Other than that disturbing mistep, I was totally on board with binge watching. It’s fun to go hard for your favorite characters. The whole point of TV is to detach from real life for a while. Why not do it for fifteen hours at a time?
A loyal streamer for over a decade, I never planned on going back to the Stone Age. There was no reason to. Then I stumbled upon “The Last of Us” this February, not realizing it was only hallway through the first season — or that it was a cultural sensation.
I just saw it, thought “Ooh! Zombies!!” and hit play.
Imagine my surprise when I finished episode four, only to find out there weren’t any more episodes. By then I was hooked and there was no turning back. Just like that, I became an episodic viewer again.
Lucky for me, TV has evolved enough to eliminate most of the old pitfalls. No more waiting for a commercial break to use the bathroom, make something to eat or return a quick phone call.
I don’t have to combat my family anymore either. New episodes of “The Last of Us” are released straight to streaming. Once they’re available I can watch them anytime. I can wait until everyone is otherwise distracted, or better yet gone, to curl up with my snacks and immerse myself in Joel and Ellie’s world for an hour.
I can pause, rewind and watch a scene multiple times if it so pleases me. A right I excercised vigorously with Episode 8. If you can resist the urge to rewind “I’ve got you baby girl” over and over again….you are not a true fan. You’re probably also a stable, well adjusted human. So, congratulations.
But I digress.
Waiting for a new episode to drop every Sunday was kind of fun. Especially because everyone else was experiencing the suspense right along with me. It felt like a true water cooler moment, and those don't come along very often anymore.
Not to mention, the ultimate resource for modern superfans : Podcasts.
“The Last of Us” is just one of many sensational shows that created a massive cultural buzz. Shows like Succession, Yellowstone, and Euphoria all have a multitude of podcasts dedicated solely to unpacking plot twists and feeding fandom between episodes.
You can go aaallllllll the way down that rabbit hole and stay there for as long as you want. I’m mildly embarrassed to admit that I listened to every T.L.O.U. podcast I could find….every week.
The experience of watching a really good show, over the course of a couple of months, has given me a chance to rethink my binge watching habits.
Some shows really are meant to be savored.
The space between episodes allows time to process what happened and mentally prepare for the next one. The build up from one week to the next is exciting, and what’s more fun than getting swept up in a low stakes, cultural moment?
I’m testing the week-by-week waters with the current season of “Survivor”. The jury is still out on that one. Netflix, and other platforms, are playing around with the format too. They release some shows, like “Love is Blind”, in batches. They might drop six episodes one week and four the next. It’s a nice binge/savor balance. You get the experience of binging a bunch of episodes and the anticipation of waiting for more.
I won’t be going back to watching commercials and bartering for tv time anytime soon, but I do have a new appreciation for retro viewing habits.
It’s April now and time to break up with my TV for a while. It’s been fun, but I need to get out and enjoy some of this sunshine. I’m sorry Pedro. It’s not you, it’s me. Let’s try again in 2024 when Season 2 of “The Last of Us” comes out.