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Thursday, October 10, 2013

Confessions of a binge watcher (or why I'm going Ga Ga)




"Binge-watching, also called binge-viewing, is the practice of watching television for longer time spans than usual, usually of a single television show. Binge-watching as an observed cultural phenomenon has become popular with the rise of online media services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime with which the viewer can watch television shows and movies on-demand."
--Wikipedia 

Hi, my name is Tim and I'm a binge watcher.

 It started with getting Amazon Prime. I started watching seasons of My Haunted House and then Hauntings on my Kindle. Then I got a Smart TV and watched the first three seasons of Glee. That's when I discovered they won't let you watch the latest season on Amazon Prime for free. So I watched the first season of Smash only to discover you couldn't watch the second season for free. So now I am watching the first season of Under the Dome. And I can imagine I won't be able to watching the second season for free.



I even subscribed to Netflix streaming video in hopes that I'd be able to get the latest season's of the programs I've been binge watching. But near as I can figure is you can only watch things that no one really wants to pay to watch on DVD. But I can get better streaming of the videos on my Kindle on my train ride home so I'm watching Johnny Depp in the Rum Diaries in 20-minute doses.

I still have to read while I work out at lunch because I need an Internet connection to stream the videos. But I do read the books on my Kindle that I can check out for free with Amazon Prime. They are also books that no one would really pay to download and read. That's the beauty of things like Amazon Prime and Netflix's streaming. You get tons of content you wouldn't really care to watch or read otherwise.

I could sign up for Hulu plus and see season four of Glee, but that would be another $8 a month. Of course, I could get the free trial week and try to watch them all in that time period.

Just solved the problem and bought Season 4 on DVD on eBay.

You would think I watched a lot of television. But most of my viewing is confined to the time after I've helped put the kids to bed, emptied the garbage and cleaned out the cat litter boxes. So we are talking maybe three hours tops a night. Sometimes I multi-task and play Angry Birds of Candy Crush on Facebook while I'm watching.

At least I'm not watching reality television (except for a few weeks where I watched the first two seasons of Pawn Stars). And there was a time I watched a lot of the HGTV network. But you can only watch people buy houses for so long before you start wishing there was a show dedicated to watching paint dry.

I can stop anytime I want.

Really.


8 comments:

The random ramblings of a magpie mind said...

I too binge watch... There I said it loud and proud! For me it is the darker side of life
Afterlife, Whitechapel, DCI Banks, Wire in the blood and The Big C ; streamed through catchup tv on my iPad , usually whilst ironing, cooking , or as a visual 'nightcap' ...no reality TV, although I have to say The Big C is probably one of the most 'real' portrayal of someone dealing with cancer that I have seen ( been there, got the tee shirt, still taking the medicine) do I want to stop? Probably when the series end I'll have to!

Time said...

What? No Dexter?

Yes, my big fear is running out of seasons to binge watch.

The random ramblings of a magpie mind said...

Shhhh, Santa is putting Dexter in my husband's stocking.... So I can watch it ;)

Time said...

That's a killer idea!

Benignjamin said...

Hi Time, long Tim no see!
I just can't resist commenting on Binge watching. I've had Netflix streaming for years and until recently I only watched movies. But movies are a gateway drug to binge watching shows and now I'll watch a whole season of a show in two or three days.

Netflix is kinda funky in what they have available for streaming. You have to just watch what they have and not what you want.

But I've found plenty of things I love that I've never heard of before. Mostly British, Austrailian, and Canadian. So I've had to learn English as a second language.

Time said...

Benignjamin! Let's face it. Movies just don't cut it any more unless you are a glutton for punishment and want to watch Rocky I-V in one sitting. How can an hour and a half movie compare with watching five seasons, 70 episodes or more than 40 hours of a series.

And I agree, Netflix is kind of like Costco. They have a whole lot of shit, but not much that you are actually looking for.

The random ramblings of a magpie mind said...

I have yet to enter the red eyed zombie watching world of the damned which is netflix.....

Unknown said...

Are you a devoted fan or Binge watcher? There is a certain TV watching archetype we all fall into. We may not be restricted to just one, but we definitely embody the features of some of these. Which one(s) do you fall into? http://goo.gl/sDVCwc