We here at Screenfix watch a lot of TV. I mean a lot. I mean like watching a season of 24 in a single day lot. It used to be there was really only one way to watch your favorite show. You had to tune in at the correct time and sit in front of your television to watch along with the rest of the world. Then came the DVR, and there was much rejoicing as TV fans could record and watch at leisure. Around the same time it became common for many shows to be released as whole seasons on DVD and eventually those DVDs came to be streamed on Netflix and other on demand sources. This created a new wave of viewing as people not only could watch when they wanted, but did not have to wait a week in between episodes as binge viewing rose. We are now seeing a new wave of viewing emerge that I call social viewing. Facebook has identified a desire in entertainment fans to watch something with their friends. To meet this need, they have begun using the Facebook platform to begin renting films for streaming. People often see watching entertainment as a social activity (I think this is insane, but I recognize I am the minority in this situation) and Facebook, Twitter, and other social online services seek to connect people as they watch the same entertainment. In a similar vein, Howard Stern made minor Twitter history when he found that his film Private Parts was being shown on cable and did a live tweeting session along with the film. Many followers tuned in to get a form of live commentary via Twitter. This social viewing has breathed life back into the old model of watching something at a time set by an external force rather than at one’s leisure.
So we have three forms of viewing when it comes to TV: Watching live TV, watching DVR’d programming, and binging on multiple episodes in one sitting. I think everyone in reality watches in some combination of these three, but as I was binging on Bones I realized I became very excited for the third season to unfold because of a season long plot. I felt that if I was watching it week to week there would have been too much time from the beginning to the end of the season for me to stay so invested, but with the power of Netflix I watched through the whole season in just about two days all because I wanted to get from the beginning of the story set up in the first episode to the end that was not resolved until the finale. This got me thinking about the pros and cons of the different ways of watching TV.
Live TV, in my mind, was a horrible thing that deserved to die and I can remember being in my young teens and thinking how dumb it was that I had to sit down at a certain time just to watch the show I wanted to watch. I couldn’t see why shows could not be released on the day they would air and we could watch when we wanted. Essentially, I wanted the internet to bring me my content back when the internet was too young to do so. With that being said, for a long time after the internet could bring me my shows, I never looked back. However, with the rise of the social sphere of the internet watching live TV now puts you in the middle of an audience. Watch Twitter or Facebook during an episode of a popular show like Glee or American Idol and you can find millions of people talking about the show as it is happening. This can be powerful and interesting and very very annoying at times. However, one cannot argue that the only way to benefit from this global conversation is to tune in live. People that need to DVR shows and watch later live in fear of spoilers in their Facebook feeds. In conclusion, I feel that live television is making a comeback and as people develop new ways to connect with one another online, we are going to see more and more people tuning in at primetime to watch with the rest of the world. More importantly these people are going to help the cable industries keep alive the primetime model that has been hurting more and more in the last few years.
The DVR may be the most important invention since the cotton gin. Okay I’m kidding . . . no one cares about the cotton gin. Being able to watch a show when you have free time is great and allows people who are not bound to the slavery of a nine to five work schedule to enjoy primetime programming. Although it lacks the social elements of watching TV live, it still allows a person to tune in week to week and be a part of the global conversation about their favorite show. I like watching a show on a weekly schedule. I feel like most shows are meant to be watched like this and there are several shows that I enjoy, but only in a one episode a week frequency. Specifically procedurals work well in the once a week format. I enjoy a Law & Order: SVU marathon as much as anyone, but sometimes watching a show that follows such a rigid formula can get boring when you watch it back to back and realize the episodes were so similar you can’t tell them apart. Disappointing shows like The Cape were made better by the fact that every week I tuned in hoping that it would be better than last week and if I had just watched the first season straight through I probably would have quit three episodes in. Likewise really great shows make you excited to come back every week and some great tension can be built wondering what is going to happen this week. When the entire season is sitting in front of you it is hard to build the same kind of tension.
However, binging through shows several episodes at a time, after the season has aired can have its own benefits. Once again you are on your schedule and can use the couple days you have the flu or that three day weekend to catch up on the TV you were too busy for during your normal day to day routine. Certain shows that tell a long story can seem a lot tighter and better polished when watched back to back. Lost is a great example of this because every episode sought to be a chapter in a larger story. When a season has a clear beginning, middle, and end it can be helpful, when watching the end, to have the beginning fresh from yesterday as opposed to garbled from six months ago. The famous “last time on . . .” beginning has helped with this slightly but still there are times when watching a whole season as if it was a really long movie can enhance the story. However, because shows are generally made to be watched on a week by week basis more often than not binging does not enhance the show and merely makes for a fun afternoon of catching up. The real advantage of binging comes in one of two situations: The first is when you find out about a show late and want to catch up so you grab the previous season and prep for the next season’s premiere. The second is if you are one of those mythical people with those things referred to as “jobs” or “lives” that do not involve watching several hours of television a day. In the case of these supernatural creatures using holidays and vacations to catch up on old seasons may be the only way they are in a position to speak with people like us.
These are just a few of my opinions and musing on the different ways I think about watching TV. What do you think? Are my three types accurate? Which method do you favor and why? I would love to continue this dialogue because the way we consume our entertainment is something that is very interesting and important to me. So let me know what you think in the comments and as always if you would like to become involved with Screenfix send an email to info.screenfix@gmail.com.
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