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Binge watching is the best way to get an accurate assessment of a show

S

Skellig Gra

Member
I recently binge watched all of GoT in a little over a month and before that I did the same thing with Breaking Bad. Two shows that are widely regarded as some of the best ever (especially the latter). It got me thinking that I was able to much more honestly assess the merits and pitfalls of the shows. Absent the week to week hype and insane theories that go along with waiting for the next episode you can just focus on enjoying the ride.

So what do you prefer GAF? Getting caught up in the hype and discussing minutiae for 6 days or just immersing yourself in a show with no distractions then decompressing afterwards?
 
S

Sephzilla

Member
I binged watched all of Game of Thrones from S1 -> S6, and S7 was my first time watching the show live.

I vastly preferred binge watching
 
KonradLaw

KonradLaw

Member
It's not really. because most shows are designed for weekly airtime and that includes the plot, cliffhangers, flow of the story etc. I prefer binge, but it's not the most accurate way to assess the shows.
 
D

DBT85

Member
Always binge if I'm lttp.

With thrones though I have to watch as it airs, too popular to avoid spoilers.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
Hollywood Duo said:
I recently binge watched all of GoT in a little over a month and before that I did the same thing with Breaking Bad. Two shows that are widely regarded as some of the best ever (especially the latter). It got me thinking that I was able to much more honestly assess the merits and pitfalls of the shows. Absent the week to week hype and insane theories that go along with waiting for the next episode you can just focus on enjoying the ride.

So what do you prefer GAF? Getting caught up in the hype and discussing minutiae for 6 days or just immersing yourself in a show with no distractions then decompressing afterwards?
Click to expand...

I think it also covers weaknesses too.

I binged GoT recently and the so-called terrible Season 5 wasn't that bad, or as bad as people made it out to be. It was weak, but because I binged it, it was rather entertaining.

If I was waiting weekly, it would have probably felt worse.
 
J

JoeM86

Member
I tend not to binge watch as it makes things blur together.

It really depends on the type of show. If one is completely arc based and continues into eachother like Game of Thrones then binge watching is preferable but if it's semi-serialised or episodic, I prefer to watch 1 or 2 episodes at a time to properly absorb it and take each episode as its own narrative rather than as a big story.
 
S

Slayven

Member
Depends on the show. Comedy, episodic stuff, yeah. But shit you have to really pay attention to nah, you start watching just to finish not to take in and enjoy.
 
K

KojiKnight

Member
Binging is fun, but so is the week to week thing. If you're into discussing theories with your FRIENDS. Don't bother doing so online, fans online are trash.
 
S

Sephzilla

Member
entremet said:
I think it also covers weaknesses too.

I binged GoT recently and the so-called terrible Season 5 wasn't that bad, or as bad as people made it out to be. It was weak, but because I binged it, it was rather entertaining.

If I was waiting weekly, it would have probably felt worse.
Click to expand...

Yeah I feel similarly. The "weak" seasons of Game of Thrones didn't seem that bad to me. I think it's partially because instead of having a week to stew over a bad episode I could just move on to the next episode immediately.
 
W

WolfeTone

Member
I prefer to binge watch by season since I don't like long waits between episodes. If something is airing on TV, I'll wait until the season ends before beginning. I sort of miss being able to keep up with discussion boards while something is airing, but so often those threads get toxic, so really, I don't feel like I'm missing much.
 
S

Slayven

Member
KojiKnight said:
Binging is fun, but so is the week to week thing. If you're into discussing theories with your FRIENDS. Don't bother doing so online, fans online are trash.
Click to expand...

Depends on the show. Smaller shows like Flash and AoS are pretty fun on GaF. Except for ZeroX03.

But you couldn't pay me to touch the Marvel Netflix threads
 
S

Skellig Gra

Member
KojiKnight said:
Binging is fun, but so is the week to week thing. If you're into discussing theories with your FRIENDS. Don't bother doing so online, fans online are trash.
Click to expand...

Sure I get that, people really enjoy the social aspect of watching a show together and then poring over the details the next day.
 
prag16

prag16

Banned
JoeM86 said:
I tend not to binge watch as it makes things blur together.

It really depends on the type of show. If one is completely arc based and continues into eachother like Game of Thrones then binge watching is preferable but if it's semi-serialised or episodic, I prefer to watch 1 or 2 episodes at a time to properly absorb it and take each episode as its own narrative rather than as a big story.
Click to expand...

This is the right answer imo.

For heavily serialized shows, binge all the way.

For heavily procedural, yes, binging does seem to make everything blur together.

Of course some shows are some blend of the two, so for those ymmv, and it depends on how they're balanced (i.e. monster of the week vs mythology).
 
S

Skellig Gra

Member
entremet said:
I think it also covers weaknesses too.

I binged GoT recently and the so-called terrible Season 5 wasn't that bad, or as bad as people made it out to be. It was weak, but because I binged it, it was rather entertaining.

If I was waiting weekly, it would have probably felt worse.
Click to expand...

Depends on what it is I think. One thing that sticks out to me about GoT is that people came up with all these crazy theories over the years but in reality its more or less incredibly straightforward in its plot. The real genius is in the realization of the world and the characters.
 
B

BertramCooper

Banned
I kinda liked how Hulu handled it for The Handmaid's Tale - first three eps released at once, then the rest of the eps aired weekly.

It can be really hard to truly gauge a show based on the pilot alone, so having access to a handful at the top, and then watching the rest of the season at a more leisurely weekly pace, is a nice balance between the two approaches.
 
P

Prodigal Son

Member
yeah seriously. I almost never like shows anywhere near as much keeping up with them week to week.

A lot of netflix shows would do awful if they aired weekly on TV. They're much better experienced in their entirety.
 
M

MetroidPrimeRib

Banned
Absolutely not for me. I despise bingewatching and shows being dropped all at once, especially hour long shows. I'm far too anal about having a schedule.

I enjoyed the 18~ weeks of Twin Peaks the Return. I suppose the kind of TV shows I do gravitate to that aren't comedic require more meditation between episode.
 
J

jph139

Member
Depends on the show. Nowadays they're making stuff more binge-friendly but historically shows haven't been paced that way.

Honestly I can't stand binging TV. No more than one episode a day if I can help it. Let things linger, let anticipation build, that sort of thing. Take the scenic route.
 
S

Skellig Gra

Member
br0ken_shad0w said:
Disagree for some shows. Half the fun of watching LOST was the online fanbase.
Click to expand...

Yeah that can be a lot of fun (like our endless Episode 8 discussions), but I think that can be a double edged sword sometimes. You chop it up so many times, someone figures out the exact plot and other people come up with better versions of the story and lot of people end up disappointed.
 
S

SomedayTheFire

Member
I don't agree. Binge watching tends to let you paper over the cracks. Bad episode? Doesn't matter the next ones already started. Having a break allows you to more critically think about them.

I say that as a serial binger
 
E

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
It kinda just depends on the show. Game of Thrones is pretty great for week to week since most episodes have big moments that advance the story then you have shows like Bloodline where it takes multiple episodes for the story to move along and would make for a really annoying watch if you had to wait 3 weeks for anything to happen.

Also, outside of just the show, you also miss on all the week by week discussion which I love when it comes to GoT. You miss out on half the fun of GoT coming back.

[edit]

Binging is great, though. I'd prefer it most of the time.
 
M

Mushroomer25

Member
I think if you're just measuring the merit of a show in a vacuum, binging is typically the best way to watch a show. The issue is, plenty of shows aren't meant to be watched in a vacuum. Watching LOST now is an entirely different experience from following it over the years it was broadcasting. The theories, analysis, and discussion was a core part of the show - requiring deeper viewing and conversation.

This is why I feel a lot of Netflix series don't live up to their full potiental, since they drop all episodes at once and make a communal viewing experience impossible. Something like American Vandal would've been more enjoyable if people had the time to discuss, theorize, and unpack clues week-to-week. Instead, there's a compulsion to binge - lest the ending get spoiled.
 
S

Skellig Gra

Member
SomedayTheFire said:
I don't agree. Binge watching tends to let you paper over the cracks. Bad episode? Doesn't matter the next ones already started. Having a break allows you to more critically think about them.

I say that as a serial binger
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on the person. I tend to dwell on stupid shit that happens in bad episodes. Couple prime examples for me (Breaking Bad)
Walt fixing the water heater episode of BB
AND (Game of Thrones)
How dumb the faceless man shapeshifting thing is in GoT when they are literally just putting on a cut off face but yet somehow changes physical build,voice, hair color, etc.
 
A

archreaper93

Member
It's how I watch everything. I even specifically wait for ongoing shows to finish so I can watch the whole thing without breaks.

Same thing with reading manga/comics/novels and playing video games.
 
S

SpaceWolf

Banned
Not sure I agree. I can't imagine binge-watching a hyper-intensive show like Better Call Saul for example, and I think binge-watching it would actively detract from the experience of watching it.
 
S

SpaceWolf

Banned
Hollywood Duo said:
Why do you say that? Need time to process what happened?
Click to expand...

Essentially. I think that's the best way to enjoy television in general, barring a few exceptions. Watching television on a weekly basis allows you much more episode to digest each episode as well as to reflect on where the story is heading. In addition, it makes for a more fun collective viewing experience, allowing you to chat about each episode with your friends (whilst speculating in earnest about various things) in-between each episode.
 
S

Skellig Gra

Member
SpaceWolf said:
Essentially. I think that's the best way to enjoy television in general, barring a few exceptions. Watching television on a weekly basis allows you much more episode to digest each episode as well as to reflect on where the story is heading. In addition, it makes for a more fun collective viewing experience, allowing you to chat about each episode with your friends (whilst speculating in earnest about various things) in-between each episode.
Click to expand...

I get that, my problem is ever since I had a kid I need to maximize my viewing time when its available. So I'll power through like 4-5 episode in one sitting. I'm torn because I think the most critically viable way to watch a show is binge watching but it may be less "fun" overall when removing the social aspects. I'll always have the LTTP and RTTP threads tho!
 
W

WaffleTaco

Wants to outlaw technological innovation.
If you binge watch Walking Dead you will consider it a good show, if you watch it live you will hate it. Binge watching prevents analysis and is pretty regarded as dumbing down the viewer. It allows people to pay little attention and to take focus off the main show. There’s simply very little content that you can watch for more than three hours without getting bored and looking at your phone. Of course some have different opinions and definitions of binge watching, and they may be more accurate. Game of Thrones shouldn’t be binge watched. It removes the weight of the actions of the characters. A sitcom can be binge watched though. Dramas shouldn’t be.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
The real way to watch things is to fast forward through the boring stuff by just looking at the thumbnails until you get to the cool parts and then just watch those.
 
S

Slime

Banned
fade_ said:
They do when they read comics. Which do you think is closer to today's television..
Click to expand...

A ton of people these days actually prefer to to wait for a trade when reading comics, just like they prefer for a TV season to be over so they can binge it.

(I used Dickens as an example because many of his novels were serialized monthly in literary magazines)
 
D

DeathoftheEndless

Crashing this plane... with no survivors!
I get burnt out if I binge watch too quickly. If I watched 7 or 8 seasons of a show in a month, I'd be more relieved to be done with it than anything.
 
G

Glix

Member
Binging a show that is over is amazing. BSG for example, for me.

Binging on a show a few seasons in and then having to wait for episodes is excruciating.

That is my somewhat relevant input.
 
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