I'm beginning to dislike Netflix (re: Archive 81, 1899, Warrior Nun etc cancellations)

[Ruin Explorer]

You know what's funny about Wheel of Time? The ending of the show is actually clearer about what happens at The Eye of the World than the book is. And it's still about as clear as mud.

Very true and very sad lol.

As someone who has read that book, I thought it was like, not a bad adaption, but like, man that's a hard book to adapt.

Augh. Binge watching is just terrible. It kills any sort of hype or community around a show and I find it really difficult to hold my attention that long. Move to a weekly release schedule with no breaks, and create an official Netflix Message board where people can engage one another about the show! Drive interaction to the roof!

Yeah it's dreadful and I feel like it's outdated, because I just don't watch stuff that way anymore. Not regularly.

Unfortunately they tried the "messageboard" approach, but they completely failed to publicise it, despite making some kind of incredible content, that was NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to find lol. So then they fired everyone (mainly talented PoCs sigh) who they'd binge-hired to create content for it.

 

[Mercurius]

@Ruin Explorer, we're clearly very different with regards to this issue, light years away really, so I'd suggest that we save ourselves (and everyone else) the grief of further discussion on the matter. We agree on some other things, so maybe let's keep our interactions to those topics ;-). Peace.

 

[amethal]

What's your opinion on binge watching, Snarf? I feel like it's kind of a blight on entertainment.

I'm not Snarf, but my answer might depend on what your definition of binge watching is.

My wife and I rarely have time to sit down and watch TV together, so when we do we tend to watch 3 or 4 episodes of something in an evening. Then we'll watch another 4 episodes the next time we can manage it.

I suppose we could watch one episode of 4 different things, but it's nicer to just have the "what shall we watch" conversation once rather than 4 times.

Also, our time is limited so we only ever watch "good" shows i.e. things that come recommended. But we then like to give the show a fair chance, so unless we really don't like the first episode we watch a few more afterwards.

 

[Undrave]

I'm not Snarf, but my answer might depend on what your definition of binge watching is.

My wife and I rarely have time to sit down and watch TV together, so when we do we tend to watch 3 or 4 episodes of something in an evening. Then we'll watch another 4 episodes the next time we can manage it.

I suppose we could watch one episode of 4 different things, but it's nicer to just have the "what shall we watch" conversation once rather than 4 times.

Also, our time is limited so we only ever watch "good" shows i.e. things that come recommended. But we then like to give the show a fair chance, so unless we really don't like the first episode we watch a few more afterwards.

When I talk of binging I mean situation where the season drops one morning and the next day you already have Youtube videos with titles like "WHAT DOES THE END OF SEASON 2 MEANS FOR GERTRUDE AND OVILLA?!" or "EVERYTHING YOU MISSED IN SEASON 2 OF POPULAR SHOW!" (usually with a spoiler in the thumbnail) and you're expected to watch every single episode as fast as possible, within the first few days.

 

[payn]

Very true and very sad lol.

As someone who has read that book, I thought it was like, not a bad adaption, but like, man that's a hard book to adapt.

Yeah it's dreadful and I feel like it's outdated, because I just don't watch stuff that way anymore. Not regularly.

Unfortunately they tried the "messageboard" approach, but they completely failed to publicise it, despite making some kind of incredible content, that was NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to find lol. So then they fired everyone (mainly talented PoCs sigh) who they'd binge-hired to create content for it.

I could see another possible creep coming; the dreaded .5 season. Start getting 3-5 episode dumps 2-3 times a year to keep folks wanting more and talking about it longer.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I could see another possible creep coming; the dreaded .5 season. Start getting 3-5 episode dumps 2-3 times a year to keep folks wanting more and talking about it longer.

Yes and the real effect is that only 30% of the people who watched the initial season even notice that the later portion of the season came out. So it's a total self-own.

 

[payn]

Yes and the real effect is that only 30% of the people who watched the initial season even notice that the later portion of the season came out. So it's a total self-own.

AMC is so shameless in this. I busted out laughing a few months ago when I saw an ad "The Walking Dead...The Final Season....Part Three!" I had given up long ago and didn't miss it. This was just too much.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

What's your opinion on binge watching, Snarf? I feel like it's kind of a blight on entertainment.

I ... I have complicated feelings about binge watching. So complicated I am sure I wrote a 20,000 word essay about it at some point.

Anyway. I am so conditioned to binge watching that I find it almost impossible to watch TV shows the "old way" anymore. I will deliberately wait until a season (minimum) is ready to go so that I can watch them all. The few exceptions are, unsurprisingly, some buzzy HBO shows (like White Lotus).

That said, I don't necessarily think it's great for most serialized TV. A lot of shows that are released as "binge-able" shows suffer from pacing problems, perhaps caused because they are meant to be binged- why worry about pacing when they are going to be consumed at once. It also makes it really hard to talk to other people about shows; with a very few exceptions, there's no "water cooler shows," and no shows people are watching at the same time ... except for live sports, really.

Like a lot of things in society, I think it is great individually but bad in the aggregate. In other words, I love it for me, but hate what it's doing overall. If that makes sense.

 

[Undrave]

Like a lot of things in society, I think it is great individually but bad in the aggregate. In other words, I love it for me, but hate what it's doing overall. If that makes sense.

Nah it totally makes sense!

 

[payn]

I ... I have complicated feelings about binge watching. So complicated I am sure I wrote a 20,000 word essay about it at some point.

Anyway. I am so conditioned to binge watching that I find it almost impossible to watch TV shows the "old way" anymore. I will deliberately wait until a season (minimum) is ready to go so that I can watch them all. The few exceptions are, unsurprisingly, some buzzy HBO shows (like White Lotus).

That said, I don't necessarily think it's great for most serialized TV. A lot of shows that are released as "binge-able" shows suffer from pacing problems, perhaps caused because they are meant to be binged- why worry about pacing when they are going to be consumed at once. It also makes it really hard to talk to other people about shows; with a very few exceptions, there's no "water cooler shows," and no shows people are watching at the same time ... except for live sports, really.

Like a lot of things in society, I think it is great individually but bad in the aggregate. In other words, I love it for me, but hate what it's doing overall. If that makes sense.

Some good observations and experiences here. I think the bombardment doesn't help either. Take The Last of Us, a lot of folks are saying, "more zombies?" or Tulsa King "more mobsters?" or even Yellowstone "more westerns?". These genres seem to come and go in their popularity. Its the real revolutionary shows that make a difference like The Sopranos which you then see disseminated into all the other shows and genres. There is only so many ways to skin a cat, and folks attention is fickle.

Now 20 years ago, network TV was king. Folks didn't have streaming and on demand. They had to settle for appointment TV which consolidated their experiences and also limited them. It was much easier to talk about shows because there was fewer of them, and notice the innovations among them because they were more unique. Its very difficult to reach that aggregate, but it still happens. How to capitalize on it when it does is the million dollar question. Podcast? Talking Dead/Bad/Etc... Twitter?

Is it crucial and something should be done about it? I suppose being able to measure ratings and keep good things going is ideal. Does it make entertainment better? This is something I don't necessarily agree with. I think entertainment now is better than it has ever been. A real golden age of television/stream. Never has their been this much variety in genre and quality due to competition. Entertainment has changed and folks just are not sure what to think of it. The default often is that its worse because folks just don't like change.

"The only constant in life is change" -Bob Dylan exactly.