Binge watching Vs weekly viewing: how do you consume TV? Whats your binging record?

IvaBigWun

As I rewatch House Of Cards in anticipation of season two it reminded me that I watched season one over the space of 4 days, i.e. about 3 episodes a day.

It got me thinking that this isnt necessarily a good thing with some shows, House Of Cards is quite a dense programme and sometimes less is more when its like that.

Binge watching Vs weekly viewing: how do you consume your TV? And whats your binging record? (most episodes of one show in a day/week/month)

Dman001

There are certain shows, I feel, are best to watch on a weekly basis. Breaking Bad and Lost being two of them. Getting caught up on the latest cliffhanger, and speculating what may happen, what X, Y or Z means, and taking to the internet to get the latest theories and discussions were all part of the fun and hype of the shows. Anyone now, who has never seen the likes of Breaking Bad, won't experience that fun, speculative side of watching the series and waiting a week to see the next one - they'll simply play through every episode. I also think that's why shows like Breaking Bad are branded the 'best show ever' (IMO it is one of the best shows to be made), and when people hear about the hype and go to binge watch, they often think the show was over-rated which, I think, is due to the fact that they didn't get wrapped in the weekly, painful, speculative hype until the next episode.

Back on topic, it's interesting OP that you find House of Cards not necessarily suitable for binge watching. I found it the opposite. Most episodes tied in directly after the last, some often beginning with very same scene were the last episode ended, and found it perfect for binging. I'm watching The Wire now myself, and do find that there is a lot of names and lingo to get my head around, so is better for binge watching, to keep up with everything happening.

don ramo

i used to love binge watching, i binged on The West Wing, The Wire, The Sopranos, and many others, but due to the sheer amount of TV shows i watch i generally try and keep my viewing to weekly episodes as they air,

i still have other show i really do need to get to, and i will eventually binge on them, but i dont get the time anymore, im currently stuck in the middle of binge watching The Shield, Oz, Friday Night Light and Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, havent seen any in months and i really wanna finnish them, but like i said i dont have the time, there is simply to much out there to watch:mad::o:):pac::pac::pac:

Sierra 117

I tend to watch one episode of a show per day. I like to have a space in between episodes to make sure they don't start melding together in my head.

FortuneChip

Breaking Bad & Lost were the only shows I religiously watched week by week, but I think that's just a result from getting into them during their first few episodes. Plus there were spoiler risks.

Most other shows I wait until a season finished before watching it, then have a "Justified" couple of days. Maybe 2/3 episodes a go.

I bought the boxset of The Wire a few years back. First season took nearly a month to watch.
Didn't even take a month to finish the following four. I think Season 4 took 2 sittings.

Pushtrak

I way prefer waiting till a season is done, or multiple seasons than week to week. I haven't started watching Game of Thrones though might get around to it so I'll be able to watch the final episode of season 4 as it airs. I watch Arrow, Castle and Elementary week to week. I have a crazy amount of things to catch up on when their seasons are done. Too much to list. I watched Person of Interest with the intention of watching week to week last season. I loved season 1 when I got around to it, and decided to watch that week to week. Very poor choice of show to do so. They had a crazy amount of breaks. It seems from watching air dates, they're fine this year, but still have put it off.

The craziest binge watching I did was watching all the Star Treks except The Original Series. Yeah, probably not going people endorsing my not watching TOS.. But I just couldn't. I love really old movies, but TOS.. It would have looked great in its time, but isn't exactly the most watchable show today in fairness. I can't remember exactly how long it took me. I wouldn't even want to hazard a guess at time, in case I over or under calculate. Suffice to say it was in a short enough time span that would make most reasonable people balk.

I've done other stuff, but really, in terms of sheer length, I don't think any is going to measure up to what I did for Trek. I do have a lot of big shows that I've wanted to get to for years, but haven't. The West Wing, the Stargate shows (I'm not sure how this would rate VS Trek, and don't really care to look, and I expect it'll be over a year or more when I get to it). Can someone lengthen days, I don't know, by a factor of 3 or something?

orangesoda

It depends on the show and how busy i am. A few times i've watched about 12 weeks of home & away in the space of 2 days.

Engine No.9

My records for watching tv shows, I watched 4 seasons of Prison Break over 9 days, 8 seasons of Supernatural in less than 3 weeks and the same for the 8 Seasons of 24. Gotta love Netflix. Although, Supernatural I got off a mate.

Needless to say I definitely prefer binge watching over week to week. I've season 3 of Person of Interest there which.is only 12 r 13 episodes in at the moment, Sat down.n started watching it one night last week and now I'm raging I did as I have to either follow it week to week or wait until the end of the season.

I've so many shows I download tho, American.Horror Story, Arrow, Blue Bloods, Castle, Grimm, Revenge and about 10 others I download weekly. Will be waiting until they're all finished before I start watching this season based on my PoI experience.

tusk

I'm a terrible binger. I started watching House of Cards (not on netflix). Watched the first two eps then bought a subscription to netflix so I could watch the rest. Finished the whole thing in a day.

I don't see the sun very often...

Recently re-watched all eps of Prison Break, SOA, Breaking Bad, Burn Notice, plus all of Lillehammer, and the last two seasons of House all in the space of maybe 2 months! It's the best way to watch, I think.

Also starting watching Law and Order SVU from the beginning! Got about halfway through season 3 so far.

Washington Irving

Any current show I am interested in I watch weekly (TWD, Community, Workaholics etc). I wouldn't deliberately wait for a season/series to end and then watch all the episodes together.

Everything else I binge.

Dravokivich

I started watching house in its 5th season. Had a week off work I needed to take so used that and a few days more to catch up on the 4 previous.

tusk

Dravokivich wrote: »

I started watching house in its 5th season. Had a week off work I needed to take so used that and a few days more to catch up on the 4 previous.

Awh noo! Don't know how anyone can do that. There's no way I could start something midway through. I have to start at the very beginning of everything.

pajopearl

pajopearl wrote: »

My records for watching tv shows, I watched 4 seasons of Prison Break over 9 days, 8 seasons of Supernatural in less than 3 weeks and the same for the 8 Seasons of 24. Gotta love Netflix. Although, Supernatural I got off a mate.

Needless to say I definitely prefer binge watching over week to week. I've season 3 of Person of Interest there which.is only 12 r 13 episodes in at the moment, Sat down.n started watching it one night last week and now I'm raging I did as I have to either follow it week to week or wait until the end of the season.

I've so many shows I download tho, American.Horror Story, Arrow, Blue Bloods, Castle, Grimm, Revenge and about 10 others I download weekly. Will be waiting until they're all finished before I start watching this season based on my PoI experience.

Gonna have to one-up you. :pac: Got through The Wire in a week once, The Shield I watched a few seasons at a rate of one a day, along with The Sopranos. I've gone through half-hour sitcoms at 30-40 episodes a day at times.
I'm so awesome.

Bootsy.

I never binged watched anything until I decided to watch The Wire about three winters ago. I haven't had a TV since around that time, so wanted to something to watch. I seriously binged on it! Two or three episodes at a time every day.

Since then I've gotton addicted to Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and Spooks. All were last winter, but still watching Spooks because there's 11 seasons.

Most recently, I finally checked out Love/Hate and got seriously addicted, all four seasons in 2 weeks.

Because I don't have a TV I don't weekly watch anything, it's all binging. My binging record would probably be 8 episodes of The Wire in a row!

Absolutely can't wait for new Game Of Thrones, more blood 'n' guts, intrigue, and ridin'!

Edit: Ha, I just realised my "binge watching" is pretty f*ckin tame compared to some of you! :P

I don't like binge watching something all in one go as when its over you regret it. You also don't take it in properly, or appreciate an episode if you watch 3 or 4 in a row imo and miss things.

For instance I was given a folder with the entire breaking bad except for the 2nd half of season 5 which wasn't out at the time and I managed to drag it out for just over a year, I was just catching up when the second half of season 5 was released. Wish I kept it going longer now.

somesoldiers

Watched all 37 episodes of Chicago Fire last Sat and Sun when mrs was away. Even got all the house work done and most of the Times Jumbo Cryptic, what a weekend! Can wait for 2nd half of series 2 to start. Also waiting for s2 of Banshee to finish, that'll be an all-in-one go.

GarIT

Watched all of Game of Thrones over 2 days. Watched 4 series of Breaking Bad over a week. I don't watch TV only watch things online.

Dravokivich

tusk wrote: »

Awh noo! Don't know how anyone can do that. There's no way I could start something midway through. I have to start at the very beginning of everything.

Would generally be the same myself. But hadn't paid any attention to it until one of the promo's for an episode hooked me in, so checked it out and then went back.

I'm not going to go to the start for something I'm not sure I'm interested in. It wasn't really until the last 2 seasons that the story throughout them actually meant anything anyway.

Bootsy. wrote: »

Edit: Ha, I just realised my "binge watching" is pretty f*ckin tame compared to some of you! :P

What's mentioned here would be considered tame by those who watch Anime! A lot of the good series are setup that the story leads into the next episode and the next and the next... It's almost like playing a short game of Civilisation.

FloatingVoter

11 episodes of The Following on Saturday. Then my brain revolted and I gave up. Those are 10 hours spent that could be summarised in a 30 second reel of Keystone Kops c. 1914.
As for quality - first three seasons of Breaking Bad in a week. House of Cards(Netflix) season 1 in 2 days.

tusk

FloatingVoter wrote: »

11 episodes of The Following on Saturday. Then my brain revolted and I gave up. Those are 10 hours spent that could be summarised in a 30 second reel of Keystone Kops c. 1914.
As for quality - first three seasons of Breaking Bad in a week. House of Cards(Netflix) season 1 in 2 days.

I was the same with House Of Cards. Just couldn't stop watching it. Though there were 1/2 eps towards the end that weren't great.

somesoldiers

Got bored of The Following after about 5 eps, does it get any better?

TouchingVirus

Binge watcher here, no other way to watch shows with any sort of mental investment IMO - shows like The Walking Dead, LOST, The West Wing, The Wire, Homeland, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire and House of Cards. I do have some weekly watchers like Family Guy, The Big Bang Theory but I can dip in and out of these as I please with very little in terms of continuity between episodes. I'm not a regular TV watcher, weekly episodes don't suit my way of living but when I've 2 hours free I can plough 3 episodes with ease.

It also helps that I don't participate in fandom online - so no speculation about plot lines, cliffhanger discussions or what X/Y/Z means for me - just serve me up my TV opium and I'm happy

Pushtrak

TouchingVirus wrote: »

It also helps that I don't participate in fandom online - so no speculation about plot lines, cliffhanger discussions or what X/Y/Z means for me - just serve me up my TV opium and I'm happy

Yeah, it's a zero sum game. Either people speculate the right thing and you know something to expect or they're way off. Not for me in either scenario.

Engine No.9

Right. Gonna sit down and binge on either the Unit or The Wire. Decisions. Decisions... Somebody help me out here

somesoldiers

The Wire

Engine No.9

The Wire it is.

Alfred Borden

Oh the wire most definitely, hard at the start but once you get sucked in you wil have no free time

krudler

Depends on the show tbh, I was definitely watching 3-4 episodes of The Wire a night at one time, same with Battlestar, just sucks you in.

extra gravy

Just binged on season one of the Killing (Forbrydelsen) for the last couple of days. Really enjoyed it, lots of twists and great acting.

gazzer

Programs I am currently watching are:

American Dad
Banshee
Big Bang Theory
Arrow
The Originals
The Tomorrow People
Agents of Shield
2 Broke Girls
Raising Hope
The Middle
Modern Family
Mom
True Detective
Supernatural
The Following
The Neighbors
Homeland
The Walking Dead
Helix
Revenge
Once Upon A Time
Once Upon A Time: Wonderland

I dont have enough hours in the day to watch these during the week (out of the house for 11 hours with work) and by the time I get home and have dinner I only have about 90 minutes before bed. So usually it is the weekends before I can watch my shows. Some weekends I binge but I imagine with the Olympics on and some shows off the air until the end of February I will have caught up by the end of the month

somesoldiers

My Mrs binge watches anything with wedding dresses, weddings, babies, sister wives, housewives, ( though there was one on the other day with some MILFs in that wasn't too bad), buying houses, selling houses, doing up houses, anything with Beeny in. Thank god she hasn't discovered E! yet as it's too far up on the UPC, is only a matter of time though I'm sure...

IvaBigWun

Watched all 7 episodes of Derek on Netflix last night.

Incredible stuff. Gervais gets a lot of stick but he's finally made that third really great show following The Office and Extras.

Yamanoto

I've a stockpile of shows that I'm waiting to attack, 2 episodes at a time where possible:

1) Mad Men S6

2) Boardwalk Empire S4

3) Band of Brothers

4) True Detective

5) Sherlock

6) Smiley's People

somesoldiers

Watched ep 4 of True Detective last night, is promising to be a great series

bogmanfan

I generally prefer to record a show week by week and then binge on it as the end of the series approaches. The one time I really binged though was on the Alias Series 1 boxset - 24 episodes in 2 days! Funny thing is, I lent it to several friends, and always had it back within a few days. Most addictive show ever.

gazzer

bogmanfan wrote: »

I generally prefer to record a show week by week and then binge on it as the end of the series approaches. The one time I really binged though was on the Alias Series 1 boxset - 24 episodes in 2 days! Funny thing is, I lent it to several friends, and always had it back within a few days. Most addictive show ever.

Alias was such a good show. I used to watch it every week. Used to be torture waiting for the next episdoe, though that was before I learnt how to obtain shows from my American cousins

Sideshow Mark

We tend to save shows up, and would have one saved show on the go where we watch a couple of episodes a day either from Netlfix or on Sky. Currently watching House of Cards, will be all caught up by Friday. Recently finished all of Damages in that way.

somesoldiers wrote: »

Got bored of The Following after about 5 eps, does it get any better?

No, it gets quite a bit worse.

tusk

House of Cards S2 out now. I'm sorted for the rest of the night

Elmo

I have got bored of binging on TV shows. Prob shouldn't have watched all 9 seasons of the X Files in less than 5 months.

Once a week maybe not a live broadcast but definitely catch up, as I used to with VCRs back in the day.

Alfred Borden

Have binged on 3 seasons of Boardwalk Empire this week, but fourth is going to have to wait for now, gonna get started on House of Cards.

FloatingVoter

Just finished season 2 of House of Cards. No I have to stay away from normal people for at least a week lest I spoil it for them. Bugger.

Pushtrak

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Just finished season 2 of House of Cards. No I have to stay away from normal people for at least a week lest I spoil it for them. Bugger.

As good as season 1? Feel free to limit yourself to yes or no, or 5 words, or some restriction that prevents spoilers.

FloatingVoter

Pushtrak wrote: »

As good as season 1? Feel free to limit yourself to yes or no, or 5 words, or some restriction that prevents spoilers.

As good as - yes
Faster paced - yes

If you've already seen the UK version, you know where the general plotline is going...but there are a few surprises along the way.

IvaBigWun

Pushtrak wrote: »

As good as season 1?

4 episodes in and in short:

Nowhere as near as good as last year

titan18

Watched about 22/23 seasons of Survivor continuously over a period of 6/7 weeks a few years ago. That's probably my record.

Depends on the show for me, I prefer weekly viewing but I'm well capable of binging on something straight through e.g House of Cards season 2, last night and today, all of The League was last week. Going to do Archer next week

tusk

IvaBigWun wrote: »

4 episodes in and in short:

Nowhere as near as good as last year

Have to disagree! I finished it in the one go on friday night and it was FANTASTIC!

The absolute pain of having to wait so long for another season. It actually makes me want to cry :mad:

Elmo

tusk wrote: »

Have to disagree! I finished it in the one go on friday night and it was FANTASTIC!

The absolute pain of having to wait so long for another season. It actually makes me want to cry :mad:

Could be a reason not to binge.

Pushtrak

Elmo wrote: »

Could be a reason not to binge.

No, if anything its a reason to wait till a show is just completely done.

Elmo

Pushtrak wrote: »

No, if anything its a reason to wait till a show is just completely done.

But then your not up to date. and all the internet spoilers. e.g. I now know from the House of Cards clip that

kevin spacey character becomes vp

Though after 8 episodes I am still not convinced. It is good but ...

Pushtrak

Damn that was close. I almost read the spoiler. I quoted your post, but obviously you can see what is written then. I read the first 3 words and stopped myself. Not being up to date is fine. I've left Game of Thrones off... Was thinking I'd get around to reading the books first, but I don't know when I'd get to that, so might just catch up on all that is done so far in the summer. Not a thing has been 'spoiled' on me. I do see this brace yourself meme, and know it has some connection to Game of Thrones, and lots of people die... That's what I know. And that's a pretty popular show to talk about. I watch The Walking Dead on a by season basis, and have had some close calls there on facebook, but never actually saw a full spoiler, just character names, and get myself to stop reading.

There are some shows that are better to watch week to week. Something you wouldn't exactly watch back to back, for instance. For me, some shows I leave to watch when the season would be because I'm not going to want to wait a week between episodes. Then, with new shows, it's a 'is this going to be canned?' and if it is, I try to find out whether it is worth watching despite the fact it was canned or not to waste my time. Everyone has to wait a year anyway, so while yes, the season by season does have that, it doesn't seem as bad as the alternative to me.

Engine No.9

Pushtrak, you should ask your brother about the spoiler I dropped on him a few months back. He was nine too pleased. Still brings it up. Haha. Obviously it wasn't intentional.