How do you watch yours?

After an interesting conversation with a friend I was told that the way I watch television is completely out of the ordinary. He likes to watch his shows episode by episode as it's broadcast. I on the other hand prefer to watch an episode or two and if I enjoy it wait a few weeks or in most cases till a series has aired so that I can make the most of it.

For instance, yesterday I watch all 2 seasons of Californication having had them on my HD since first broadcast. I think it allows for a more fulfilling viewing experience as you're not waiting a week each time to see what happens next, watching 24 week by week completely put my friend off the show and can't understand why I enjoyed it so much more.

So how do you watch yours?

tman

I definitely prefer watching episodes back to back... There's nothing more annoying than having to wait a week for your next fix after a cliffhanger ending to an episode.
If I'm watching a currently airing program, I might stop watching it for a month or so in order to have a backlog of episodes to get through

Then again it can depend on the show, if there isn't any kind of major plot continuity, then I'll happily sit down and watch it once a week (generally sitcoms)

Also Starring LeVar Burton

I try to keep up with the US and watch them as they air. The only time I have a backlog of shows is if I start watching something that has been on for awhile; for example stared watching True Blood last week and am now up to date and will watch it week by week as it airs.

connundrum

The only series I religiously follow is Entourage and I watch that show by show as it's aired, but then buy the series and watch it all again in a couple of days.

Dman001

I'm happy to watch the likes of Lost each week as you can't wait months for the season to end to watch them back to back. I'm the very opposite to you OP. I think it's more fulfilling to watch a series individually each week and there's less chance of someone spoiling an episode for you.

missingtime

I feel its kinda cheating to deliberatly watch a show all in one go. The cliffhangers are a vital part of shows, especially Lost or most recently True Blood.

If I'm following a show I will watch it religously but obviously thats if I pick it up straight away.

With True Blood I watched the first series all in one go because I didn't know much about it but I'm following it episode by episode now.

Another problem I find with watching shows week to week as that you can quickly lose interest in a show if the standard slips or nothing really happens. When you have episodes stockpiled you feel more inclined to keep going and will often be rewarded for doing so. True Blood and Dollhouse are perfect examples of this, both started off poorly and many people just gave up on the shows. .

AlmightyCushion

I would prefer to watch them all in one go but I usually can't wait for the season to finish so have to watch week by week.

AlmightyCushion

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

I would prefer to watch them all in one go but I usually can't wait for the season to finish so have to watch week by week.

I think the only show I watched on TV weekly in years was the first series of The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

There are some shows which really work much better on DVD, 24 being one example. It's just nice to be able to watch all the action and keep track of the various twists.

Rewatching Babylon 5 on DVD was a truly satisfying experience as rather than watch it all over 5 years as broadcast I could keep track of every twist, turn and enjoy the story over a couple of months.

missingtime

The Wire is another show that works better watching all in one go I think. On TV there tends to be a habit of "and <insert show name> will return to our screens in two weeks time as we will be covering all the action from <insert obscure sport> games"

When the show finally comes back its on at a different time or a different day.

With something like The Wire, it can really ruin a series.

missingtime

missingtime wrote: »

The Wire is another show that works better watching all in one go I think. On TV there tends to be a habit of "and <insert show name> will return to our screens in two weeks time as we will be covering all the action from <insert obscure sport> games"

When the show finally comes back its on at a different time or a different day.

With something like The Wire, it can really ruin a series.

True that but in fairness to TG4 they treated Oz and The Wire with a lot of respect. I think that RTE's treatment of The West Wing is what really put me off watching tv it's broadcast.

missingtime

Deleted User wrote: »

True that but in fairness to TG4 they treated Oz and The Wire with a lot of respect. I think that RTE's treatment of The West Wing is what really put me off watching tv it's broadcast.

RTE used to have this sci fi show that I really enjoyed at like 3 in the morning ( i had to tape it) then right toward the season finale the stopped airing it.

It came back about a month or two later but sure thats no good to me.

PinkTulips

Depends on the show.

I can't watch Lost week by week anymore as it's too easy to get confused when your head has been free of it for a whole week so i watch it a whole series at a time now.

Shows i come to late i get the whole series of once it's done airing and watch back to back.

Most shows i watch weekly though, unless the channel it's on ups the ads to stupid levals at which point i stop watching and wait to see it all at once as i can not abide ad breaks every 5 mins :mad:

Conor108

I'd prefer to watch it all in one go but sure then you get addicted, you catch up to the US and you end up watching weekly

J-blk

It depends how addicted I am to a show - I probably watch most stuff week by week, though it can be annoying with certain shows (Lost being the best example). On the other hand, keeping up with the US pace is great for discussing episodes here, as if you watch it months after it has aired, any discussion has mostly died down.

However, for shows that I don't follow that closely I just stock pile them and watch them during "lulls" in the schedule, like summer time or Christmas. I just watched 5 seasons worth of "Weeds" in the last couple of weeks and it was great to have all the episodes queued up like that. I also just got around to finally watching "Band of Brothers" and again, it was brilliant to have all the episodes available, but I just don't think I could do it for most shows...

And BTW, is "Californication" worth it? Cause that's another one I haven't gotten around to...

Elmo

I like it week by week, I do watch some in one weekend but that can be a bit monotonice after a while. It depends on the show.

CSI, House, The Closer and other detective shows I would watch on and off. They would be weekly shows (BUT NOT EVERY WEEK) as they tend to have less reoccurring story lines.

24, The Wire and Damages need to be watch each week but I perfer to see both The Wire and Damages in box sets.

This year I avoided Lost and was going to wait for the boxset, unfortunately I will have to wait until Dec to see the newest season I was getting board of LOST but I did like it each week.

So it depends on the show.

J-blk

J-blk wrote: »

And BTW, is "Californication" worth it? Cause that's another one I haven't gotten around to...

It is well worth watching, I cannot put in words just how much I like it. Pretty much everyone I know hates it and one girl in my film class despises it for the opening scene alone. She only watched 3 minutes of it and swore she would never watch it again. It does appear to be quite light and easy going at times but there is a lot of heart and great writing in there. The death of one character is handled perfectly and will make even the most cold hearted of people sad.

J-blk

Thanks, think I'll check out the first few episodes and see how I like it. I think I've heard about that opening scene in the pilot, but then again, "Weeds" has some pretty twisted stuff in it and I've enjoyed it immensely - I really find HBO/Showtime shows about flawed characters to be quite excellent...

Elmo

J-blk wrote: »

Thanks, think I'll check out the first few episodes and see how I like it. I think I've heard about that opening scene in the pilot, but then again, "Weeds" has some pretty twisted stuff in it and I've enjoyed it immensely - I really find HBO/Showtime shows about flawed characters to be quite excellent...

When you think about it its not that twisted for an Irish audience. :eek:

Holsten

Back to back, I don't have to wait so why would I.

Elmo

Holsten wrote: »

Back to back, I don't have to wait so why would I.

You have to wait for them to be released*



*or for you cousins to download post them over to you

L31mr0d

Depends. Will usually let the first season run through to completion, wait to hear if the shows getting a second season then watch the first season back to back. From then on I'll watch every episode as its released on a week to week basis.

If it doesn't get a second season I'll usually give it a miss. Unless: 1. I hear rave reviews about it, 2. It only ever was going to get one season or 3. They had enough foreknowledge to write and shoot a semi-proper ending to the show

MOH

I watched the first 3 seasons of BSG back to back over about 4 weeks. Didn't feel the last season was quite as good, but never knew if that was just down to having to wait each week.
Definitely filler episodes aren't as bad when you've a stockpile built up and can carry on to the next one.

nix

Yeah i dont watch tv shows on TV, i just download a bunch of episodes at a time and watch as many back to back.

Like for instance i only started watching the tv show "Supernatural" about two weeks ago, and im currently into like the 6th episode on the 2nd season. I prefer to go at my own pace and waiting around a week for a cliffhanger is just annoying and for me takes away from the story. After a week the suspense is killed and i care less for the characters.

Theres enough TV shows to keep ya going at this pace, and no waiting around or annoying TV ads which i hate with a passion.

Downloading didnt kill TV, Advertisements every 10minutes did