Knowing beforehand how many episodes it would be, what's the longest series you've gotten into?

[Alzrius]

In my experience, commitment anxiety when someone recommends a long-running series is a real thing. Regardless of a show's quality, the prospect of watching dozens - or even hundreds - of episodes can be off-putting, even if you think you'll like it. Even passively consuming a show can feel like a project, or perhaps a chore, in such circumstances. Unlike where you've gotten into a series in its early days and just followed along, a deep backlog of material to get through can push viewers away.

Having said all of that, what's the longest show that you've committed to, knowing that you'd have your viewing work cut out for you? Shows where you signed on at the beginning and watched episodes as they were released don't count; this is about seeing a huge library of already-released episodes and saying "let's get started."

For me, it was watching the One Piece anime. On a bet with a friend, I started watching the entire thing (skipping only the filler episodes), taking it one episode per day, every day. Now, new episodes were still being released when I did this (and still are now), so catching up took longer than it would have otherwise, but it still took twenty-five months in total to catch up...or a little over 750 episodes altogether (and I'm still watching the new ones as they come out now).

What's your greatest viewing-achievement? Have you watched all of Doctor Who, starting from the original series until now? Decided to watch all fifteen seasons of Supernatural? Wanted to brag that you've seen every episode of every Law & Order series?

Post your series commitments here!

 

[Retreater]

Firefly.
It's the only one that I started after it was over. All other series I started early enough that I watched as they were released - Cobra Kai, Stranger Things, etc.
I wouldn't go back and watch something like Game of Thrones because I know has a widely regarded dip in quality in the end.

 

[Morrus]

I definitely shy away from shows which are like 10+ seasons in. Never seen Supernatural for that very reason. And all the Star Wars animated stuff (not that I get on well with cartoons anyway, but even if I did, the sheer volume of it would put me off).

I don't know why. If I find I like it, I should be pleased I have a ton of it to watch. But for some reason it just doesn't work that way for me.

 

[Blue]

Committed is an interesting word. You mentioned One Piece. I started watching One Piece with the intention that if I liked it I would watch the whole thing through. Does that qualify?

I'm "committed" to watching all of Supernatural, but have no problems if I only watch episodes when I'm in the mood for it and weeks or months go by.

I have watched all of Buffy, Gilmore Girls, West Wing, Leverage, and a number of shorter shows. Not One Piece in length, but unless you consider things like Sesame Street I don't think there is anything of that length out there.

But really, TV is one of the less enjoyed mediums for me, so finding me want to commit to anything long is a rarity. (Same with podcasts and audio books.)

On the other hand, a few years back I committed to reading (or re-reading for the first 9-10) the entire Wheel of Time series. Took months, and I needed to read a few other books in different styles to refresh as going through it.

I have reread book series like The Dresden Files or Honor Harrington (don't judge) many, many times when new books have come out. There's no fear of commitment for that medium.

 

[Umbran]

Commitments? To TV shows? What the heck is that about?

If I don't like it, or I get bored, I just don't watch it again. If a character is just to annoying or problematic, the pause button is hit, and I am done. There is no commitment. There is no contract. No expectations. There is an explicit rejection of the sunk cost fallacy.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

I'm very selective when it comes to TV series. They take so much of your time. I've had so many experience where I'd watch two or three episodes that were really mediocre to have friends say "but by the end of the second season it becomes amazing". Sorry, but I'm not watching 15 hours of TV to get to a good part. It doesn't make sense.

So I tend to watch one episode, and I only commit to what I feel is top notch TV. I also tend to gravitate towards shorter series or mini-series.

I think the longest show I've committed to after it was over was Mad Men. I started it in 2017, watched three episodes, I was unsure. But I found myself thinking about it non-stop for a few days. I went back to it and finished it.

Mad Men was amazing. And I'm only committing to what I consider amazing TV. If it's good, it's not good enough for me to sink tens of hours into.

 

[Retreater]

I've had so many experience where I'd watch two or three episodes that were really mediocre to have friends say "but by the end of the second season it becomes amazing". Sorry, but I'm not watching 15 hours of TV to get to a good part. It doesn't make sense.

Yeah. My Doctor Who experience.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Probably Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is about 60 episodes. In general, series with a lot of episodes tend to lose my interest (my wife is the opposite, she loves a series she can get her binge on). I bounced right off of Supernatural - there was just so much to go that it became hard for me to maintain any sort of interest or sustain tension "Oh no, they're in trouble again, however will they get out of this to star in the 300 more episodes to come?"

 

[ccs]

I think it's a tie between Star Trek: Voyager & Once Upon a Time. Both have 7 seasons.

Looking it up;

*Voyager = 172 episodes - watched straight through about two years ago. At that point it was the only ST series that I'd never seen all of. (just some random early {& bad} episodes when it was new)

*Once = 156 episodes - Of wich I've seen episodes 1-155.
Never saw a single episode before giving it a watch this past summer/fall on Netflix. I had one episode left. I log on to Netflix late Sunday evening (Sept.6) & find it's gone out of my queue. Well that's annoying....
Turns out it'd left Netflix that Sat (Sept. 5) and is now on Disney+. So eventually when I give in & subscribe for the SW/Marvel stuff I'll pick off that last episode.

 

[embee]

Battlestar Galactica (reboot). 76 episodes.