Posted
by Joel Mathis
January 22, 2006 at 5:27 p.m.
Binge viewing
I couldn't wait for the "Battlestar Galactica" season premiere.Yeah, yeah, I'm a bit of a science fiction geek, but you don't have to be a geek to think the new version of "Galactica" is one of the best shows on TV - it's a gritty drama, wrestling with real moral issues, and a far cry from its cheesy 1970s predecessor. Plus it's got Edward James Olmos as Admiral Adama, and he could bring a dark and brooding intensity to a singing telegram._ADAMA: (Quietly) "Happy birthday." (Looks down at feet, avoiding eye contact while wrestling with the difficult words he must speak next, in a whispering, gravelly voice.) "Happy birthday ... to you." (Ominous music plays.) "You're dismissed, soldier."_So I'm a big fan. But I didn't actually watch the series on TV during the first couple of seasons. Instead, I got hooked when Doug at Liberty Hall recommended I rent the show on DVD. I watched the entire first season on one weekend, the entire second season two weekends later. There was very little getting out of the house on those weekends.I binged on "Battlestar," in other words.After months of waiting, the third season started a couple of weeks ago. I declined all social opportunities that Friday night, including a trip to go dancing in Kansas City. It was embarrassing to tell people that I was rejecting their company for a television show. Somehow, I managed the moral courage.I took my place on the couch. The show started. The story was told. And then the show ended.It was over. After just one hour. A week to go until the next episode. I felt a sense of disappointment. This is how television is changing. It used to be that if you liked a show, you'd have to watch it while it was on TV, or get left behind.No more. Now we have DVDs of "Seinfeld" and "Sopranos." "Firefly" got a movie, based on DVD sales, even though almost nobody watched the series on TV. If you can't wait for the DVD collections, you can usually download an episode from the Internet hours after it originally appeared. You don't need a television to watch television anymore. In my case, that leads to binge viewing, so much so that watching a single hour of my favorite series and waiting a week for the next hour - the way we used to do it - hardly seems like fun.What does this mean? I'm not sure. But I don't envy the Hollywood executives who have to figure out how to keep up with this evolution.And in the meantime, I've got 46 hours of "West Wing" to watch.
Comments
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lchronister (Levi Chronister) says…
This is actually how I prefer to watch TV now. I've done with this almost all of Angel and Smallville, and I have Freaks and Geeks next on my list. It puts you behind everyone else on the culture radar since you don't see the shows as they happen, but it is a much more enjoyable viewing experience.
Sara (anonymous) says…
I'm with Levi. This is the first season that I'm watching 24 on TV, and not on DVD. Same with Veronica Mars. It's awful to have to wait a whole week for the next episode of my favorite shows, and to sit through commercials. And wait through weeks of repeats. I, like probably everybody else, much prefer the DVD-binge experience. It's much more continuous, and it's easier to pick up on subtleties.
beatle919 (Marcy McGuffie) says…
That's how I was introduced to Sex and the City. My sister encouraged me to watch - then, I became hooked...sitting on my arse hour after hour getting my fix. I tried to do Oz...but had trouble getting into it.
Freaks and Geeks - oh gawsh...that show was great! Too bad it didn't have more of a following...I would've liked to have seen it stick around for more seasons...
Dazie (Aileen Dingus) says…
*grin* Northern Exposure baybee. We own one season, and I've netflixed the rest. Every time one shows up my daughter says "Why do you keep renting this one?" and rolls her eyes.
Doug (anonymous) says…
I think the improvement now for a lot of the most innovative shows on television (Battlestar, 24 among others) is that the networks, especially cable, are willing to keep the seasons moving with fewer holdups between episodes.
I remember it was big news for 24 fans when FOX said it was going to show all the episodes straight through, and you wouldn't see a week where Jack Bauer was not on. So you'll be able to sit down on Monday night from now until the clock hits 8:00 AM on Day 6 and be sure that 24 is on.
The cable networks have gone the same way. They don't produce as many episodes per season, but they'll be sure to get them all on over a 8 to 12 week period. My guilty pleasure is Monk on USA, and I know that it'll be on for the next several weeks, with this new season.
Mr_A (Bryan Anderson) says…
I got "Serenity" for Christmas, but I never saw a single episode of "Firefly". But thanks to the DVD, I watched them all in two days.
It is entirely too easy to sit on the sofa and watch the DVD collection, not just TV but movies. I have lost many a weekend to Star Wars, Lord of the rings, Futurama, the Sopranos etc. I'd watch a box set of Iron Chef if there was one. Somebody needs to stop me.
mwoodard (Matt Woodard) says…
Mr. Anderson, sounds like you may be Monk-ish. I have yet to watch the latest version of "Battlestar" (mainly, I'm too busy) but I recall watching the original series with my parents as a kid. I guess I've been a bit skeptical about how good it would be, knowing all too well that the graphics would be better.
Perhaps I should give it a chance. Think I'll wait for the dvd and waste a Saturday that way.
Little rant about networks not keeping series moving through the season: I agree Doug. My biggest gripe relates to "LOST" (I'm hooked) and being on the cusp of learning something new and exciting ...only to get another little crumb and find out the next new episode is in 3 weeks! Sorry, but F that! If they can't keep the season together, don't start it! It's still a great show, but give us something more! My only wish for "24" is that it was 2 hours every week.
Jester (Nick Spacek) says…
I love "time shifting."
By that, I mean that while I've seen My Name Is Earl exactly once on tv, I've still watched the entire season thus far. Same with the Boondocks. BitTorrent and a good server site, combined with a large hard drive, means I've got high-def versions of every episode long before the dvd ever hits shelves.
MyName (anonymous) says…
Well, I have a job where I have to work when the good TV is on, so pretty much the only TV I get is through DVDs. I don't miss the commercials at all. I think that's the way TV is going, only instead of DVDs, it'll all be downloaded off the internet into your hi-def media machine. Ad companies are already having a devil of a time keeping up with the 18-24 year olds who have stopped watching as much TV (in favor of the internet and DVDs and playstation).
cvillehawk (anonymous) says…
We've been able to save on HBO and Showtime subscriptions this way. The movies on those channels suck, so we were paying big bucks just to watch the series like Deadwood, Sopranos, etc. We dumped that and decided we could wait for the DVD releases from here on out. Then you can... gorge!
Our most recent fest was "Veronica Mars" because the WB isn't on our sattelite package. We were able to watch 3 episodes per night at our peak. Bad and yet so good.
Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
The weird thing, though, is when the seasons come to an end. After a day or two of immersing yourself in a show, you come to feel the characters and their ongoing stories very intensely. I spent a sick day watching the entire "Firefly" run a few months back, for example, and afterwards felt a sense of loss that there was no more "Firefly," ever, to be had. I don't like that part of it.
cvillehawk (anonymous) says…
True. And now that we've flown through season one of Veronica Mars, we have the realization that the second season is currently airing, so we won't see more for about a year.
If you haven't watched Freaks & Geeks yet, I highly recommend it. Bill Haverchuck is one of my all-time favorite TV characters - I laughed every time he was on the screen.
Doug (anonymous) says…
I have to admit, I really want to buy "Undeclared" now that its out on DVD. I remember that show from watching a couple of episodes my sophomore year. I was just so bummed that it got moved around and I wound up losing track of it.
And, Joel, my sense of loss over Firefly didn't really hit until after the end of Serenity. I think the story was wrapped up so tightly, that outwardly there doesn't appear to be a way to bring back the universe.
Joel (Joel Mathis) says…
Then there's this proposal from Slate:
Writing in Slate last year, MIT media analyst Ivan Askwith suggested that dead or dying shows might find an afterlife on iTunes. I can think of no current TV show better placed to blaze this new distribution model than The West Wing.
First, it's a soap opera, meaning it has a cracklike effect on its victims. We must know what happens next, and we're willing to pay for our fix. Two dollars an episode? Sure. Four dollars? Fine, just give me my damn program!
http://www.slate.com/id/2134803/fr/rss/
cvillehawk (anonymous) says…
Yeah, a la cart is the way to go. There's no reason to be stuck with the old systems of content delivery other than the networks or advertisers can't figure out how to make money off of it yet.
Jester (Nick Spacek) says…
Mmm... Undeclared. Loved that show. Never did understand all the hype about Freaks and Geeks, though. It seemed a little weak. Nothing special about the plots or the characters.
And I grew up a geek in school. Scholar Bowl, newspaper, drama... I was a bad-haircut-having, book-reading, glasses-wearing kid with no dates until my senior year. And I still couldn't relate.