Viewing Habits?

[Prof. Sky Alton]

So, I had several episodes of a show to catch up on this weekend and ended up watching them back to back. My brain is now mush and even though there’s one episode to go, I think I’ll save it for next weekend!

But I know lots of my friends love watching shows like this: binge watching them, one episode after the other so they don’t have to wait to find out what happens. We live in an age of boxsets, recordings, catch-up and instant gratification. Personally, I struggle with this because A. I can’t concentrate for that long and B. I feel like I’m burning through a good thing too quickly. I don’t want to start resenting a show because it’s standing between me and sleep. Then again, I hate cliff-hangers and often end up spoiling myself by trying to wait it out and winding up on Wikipedia or IMDB instead.

But what about you guys? Do you like to binge watch or marathon shows? Or are you like me and prefer to leave gaps?

[Arianna Stonewater]

i definitely prefer to binge! Aside from the fact that I am impatient, watching one episode after another helps me remember what just happened, so i don't have to spend an episode trying to remember what previously happened and end up missing some other detail!

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

I also like to leave it until a whole season is out, if not the series. Mostly because of my impatience, like Arianna, and I really just want to get it all at the same time, so I can watch it at my own pace. I only watch the show on a weekly basis if I am really interested in the it, which currently are only Madam Secretary, South Park and NCIS: New Orleans. Then maybe X-Files when it comes out in 2018.

I also absolutely hate cliffhangers, especially end-of-season ones (still have not forgiven Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior for getting cancelled on a cliffhanger) or arcs that continue through several seasons. Similarly to Sky, if the whole show or season is out, I usually spoil myself on some things, especially if it concerns my favorite characters.

[Vanessa Tilley]

I personally binge watch TV shows. I actually will not watch a TV show until the series is over EXCEPT for Game of Thrones and Big Bang Theory. I HATE cliffhangers so I just can't do it until the whole series is up. I LOVE that Stranger Things on Netflix put the whole season up at a time.

[Emanuel Hines]

I do watch series, but in a very slow way. I have ended five Game of thrones seasons in a few days, but now I do have a lot less time. Three times a week I do watch one episode in the evening, maybe sometimes a little more.

[Shiloh Adlar]

I also will binge watch shows because I don't have enough time generally, so the only time I can watch a show is when I have a period of free time. Plus, I'm always way behind on the current shows that by the time I get to watch them, the whole season is up, or the whole series minus the next season (Game of Thrones for instance) so it makes sense to binge watch them. I really dislike cliffhangers as well, and there are many shows I don't think I could handle watching only week to week.

[Shadow Gaunt]

I don't like shows. In fact, although some seem interesting I am more drawn to movies or books. Thus, I would say my viewing habits are more like one episode a month.

[Prof. Amy Lupin]

I usually only watch one or two episodes at a time, but there have been times where I've binge watched a series.

[Aurelia West]

I typically like to wait until an entire season of a show is out so that I can watch all of the episodes in a short time. However, I don't usually binge watch since I don't have a lot of large blocks of time, so I'll watch a couple episodes at a time like Amy over the course of a week or two. I think that I like waiting until the season's out because I feel like I can catch things that I might not with a week to go between episodes, like symbolism or recurring themes, and I really like being able to connect all of those items during my viewing experience.

[Prof. Sky Alton]

I think last weekend was the first time I've ever binged an entire new series in a day. Well, it was a miniseries (Good Omens, soooo good) but it was a solid 6 hours of watching with minimal comfort breaks. It was an intense experience watching it all at once (my head was spinning a bit by the end and I was glad I had a 2 mile walk home from my friends place to clear it) but I definitely don't think I could have stood the suspense of trying to watch it episode by episode over a longer period of time. I do want to re-watch it at a more leisurely pace now though as I'm sure I've forgotten lots of amazing bits.

My habits have changed a bit since I wrote this post a couple years back though as I've started to have series I'm familiar with on in the background while doing stuff. So I can easily get through a season or two in a couple of days. Still not sold on doing it for 'new' shows as I'm afraid I'd miss too much or get too tired but I definitely loved making an 'event' out of Good Omens. I'd be open to doing it again.

[Dexter York]

I think last weekend was the first time I've ever binged an entire new series in a day.

Congratulations!
I'm watching Good Omens too (half in).

I guess I'm more like a flamingo here:

I also like to leave it until a whole season is out, if not the series.

And then I binge.