General Discussion

Since I began writing for Screened, I have done a lot of thinking about television and the habits and ways in which we watch it. This is an interesting subject, because to even have the ability to consume television in multiple ways is something that has only come around in about in the last decade. When broadcast television first began airing, there were few channels and not much choice. You watched one of of the few shows that was on and when it was on. Now, with the invention of the DVD box set, DVRs and services such as Netflix, Hulu and OnDemand, the way in which we can consume television shows has altered greatly. One of the biggest changes is the ability for one to watch multiple episodes or a whole season in a short period of time in a marathon format. I have seen a lot of discussion lately on the merits of viewing habits and I thought it would be fun to analyze them both. I am a big proponent of the marathon format, which can be seen by the feature I recently started named Marathon to Start. It is a fantastic way to catch up on shows that you have missed for one reason or another. It can also attribute to the cult-like success of shows. One of the best examples of this is Arrested Development. Although the show had extremely low ratings when it first aired on FOX, many fans discovered the show on DVD and a huge audience formed around the series, which even made it popular enough to ignite a new season of the show. However, by watching shows in this way, I wonder if we are missing something? Is there something to be said for having to wait each week for a show without the ability to binge out on several episodes at a time? I say to figure it out, let's examine the merits of both.

First off, I must state that I love doing marathons of shows. In fact, until I started writing recaps of Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, I believe it had been years since I probably sat down each week to watch a show. However, since I started watching these shows on on-air, I have enjoyed the experience in many ways that I forgot that I would. I think one of the biggest things that I have appreciated is actually taking the time to think about the shows and digest them. Especially with a show like Breaking Bad that is so dense, with a lot of symbolism and foreshadowing, I have had a lot of time to analyze the events of each episode before simply just moving on to another. Likewise, having to wait for a week (or even a few days if you have an episode on DVR) makes the cliffhangers have even more impact. If an episode ends and you are left hanging in the balance and must wait to find out if a character is going to live or die, you begin counting down the moments until it is on again. It is a fun and exhilarating experience to scream at a TV "no, don’t make me wait!".

On the other hand, there is a whole different experience of being awake at 3am in the morning and not being able to resist watching just one more episode. I don't think anything can describe this better than this awesome clip of Portlandia where Doug and Claire start watching Battlestar Galactica.

In addition, there also is a social aspect to watching weekly that doesn't necessarily happen when you are watching a marathon. With Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad being on the same night, Sundays have become the "get together, come over, order food and watch television night." It has become a night that I can look forward to seeing my friends and discussing the episode with several of them. Different people oftentimes have different perspectives and when you watch with others, it can bring up perspectives you would not have thought about. There is also nothing better than getting in to a big debate about the merits of a scene or event in a television show, because that is where passion can really shine through. Watching a comedy with people is especially valuable, because you always seem to laugh harder when others are around. Yet, let's not discount the merits of what a great marathon can do for your life if you are lonely, or going through a hard time. The first time I watched The West Wing, I would come home from work and genuinely look forward to spending some time with my "friends". A great television show makes you feel like you know the characters on screen, and sometimes that is an experience that is more valuable to have on your own without it being colored by the opinions of anyone else.

While many people in the network television industry complain about the ability for audiences to do marathons, it isn't all bad for them. The problem that binge viewing has created is the fact that it is much harder to actually get higher ratings, because the need for audiences to watch shows when they are on-air has diminished greatly. It is one of the reasons reality shows like American Idol, The Voice and sports events have some of the biggest ratings in television. If people know they cannot catch up on a show later, they must make the time to watch when its on-air or within a few days on their DVR and somehow, they find a way to do this. I just recently caught up on the latest season of Sons of Anarchy, and am waiting for The Walking Dead to be released, because I didn't have cable at the time. However, because I knew that eventually they would be released as a season, I could just watch then and didn't mind missing on-air. However, the interesting thing is that now that I am caught up, it is very likely I will watch both of those shows when they are actually on television this season. This has happened with several cable shows, such as Mad Men and Breaking Bad in that once people do marathons of the previous seasons that have aired, the ratings for the later seasons will skyrocket. The ratings for the season 5 premiere of both Mad Men and Breaking Bad set series' high records. This could be because of the great PR on the shows, but I actually believe it can more be attributed to the fact that many viewers caught up on the previous seasons and not wanting to wait another year for DVDs to be released, began watching on-air.

When looking back on the differing styles, they each have benefits and lead to a different experience with the show, but is one really better than the other? I don't think so. Television is a form of entertainment that affects each of us in different ways. It can be a social event, it can be an escape or it can be time to take out of your day and just laugh for a few moments. I'm sure that with the rise of second screen and new technologies the televisual experience will once again morph in to something new in the future. However, the important thing is that in a world where there is more premium content than ever before, we should all take a moment to watch an episode of our favorite show or to sit down and start a marathon. (If you would like some ideas on what to watch – you can find some of my current suggestions for a marathon to start below.)

Suggested Marathons to Start:

Arrested Development

Friday Night Lights

The West Wing

Battlestar Gallactica

24

Doing a marathon on a show can be helpful if you are going to catch up on a show, but doing so can lose the "fun" of shows like Lost. Part of the fun was the crazy wild internet speculation that cameout of each episodes. Now such speculation became pointless to me since I jumped off that show after season 3. If you just marathoned it though you wouldn't have gotten the fun of realizing that there was messages within the smoke monster and stuff. The lack of watching things in the moment and not getting pulled into that internet zeitgiest is a completely different experience, that just doesn't seem as fun. Newsroom has it's issued but one of the reasons I've stuck around is the quick discussion I get with my Aunt not 5 minutes after the show ends.

The only time I've found marathoning a show to be easy are mundane procedurals since they have a consistent status quo to hold up to and no major serialization. Which is why you can find a NCIS marathon on TV no matter what.

It does fix that whole waiting problem though. Waiting sucks, patients is hard to do. Take the finish to "Baelor" (Ep09 S1) that was a long week waiting for "Fire and Blood" and after that I had to wait a whole year for season 2.

Appointment TV is still a thing, despite what networks and marketers say, The appointments just change. O I don't have cable well Amazon and iTunes have season passes for 20 bucks with new episodes going up the next day.

For old shows already off air plowing through it at 3 episodes a pop is a nice luxaory but not watching things "live" just dosen't feel right.

I have mixed feelings about the whole marathoning thing. Some shows it's better to wait until the end and then go back from the beginning to see how the show evolves. However, trying to do a marathon with my parents is difficult. Self marathoning TV shows is easy, getting a group of people together is hard. I watched all six seasons of Lost in a month. I was exhausted.

However, the traditional TV model of viewing is sometimes really rewarding. A cliffhanger hits so much harder (though it can go the other way just as easily) and can be so much more effective if you have to wait a week instead of the minute it takes to load up the next episode on DVD. Plus, being in the moment with a viewing community on the internet or a group of friends watching a show can be so much fun. A lot of that is lost when you wait until DVD because everyone has already watched that episode you're raving about.

I really would love to do the whole gather a group of friends together, have some beer and popcorn and watch everyone's favorite show. TV viewing party!

Now I have to watch Portlandia. Thanks.

Funny you mention this, just a few weeks ago I started watching Breaking Bad on Netflix. I would watch maybe 6-8 episodes a day, then I found a way to catch up to season 5. Now I'm watching the new episodes as they air on tv.

I've enjoyed the show, but I hate season 5 so far.

This is a great article, I have actually thought about this subject a bunch! I prefer watching a show, day of, for the series run. Binge watching a show can have its merits to catch people up (me and my roommate watched the first 3 seasons of Sons of Anarchy in 3 weeks to catch the beginning of season 4) but I prefer the attachment that comes with watching a show for 3/4/5/6 years rather than watching a bunch of seasons back to back. Time is the reason why I enjoy watching shows as they go. Being able to sit and digest actions, to connect with characters, that slow burn approach is the best to me.

The Office is the best example I can think of. I've watched that show since episode 1, and I can say almost none of my friends watched it. And being able to enjoy the promise of season 1, then (in my opinion one of the best seasons of a comedy show I have ever seen) season 2, then the still funny but not as good as season 2, season 3. By season 4 the show became popular, and friends of mine could just catch up. But the way they liked they enjoyed the show seemed so much different than the reason I did. A lot of people could quote all these Dwight lines, or funny scenes that I forgot. But the human element seems to be lost for me. To experience that (some times too much) will they or wont they with Jim and Pam for 2 years, then the KISS! Then all of season 3 and then Jim asks her on a date. Being able to have 3 years (a long time) to have a relationship build and fall and build again, time gives that meaning. When you burn through that in a few weeks I feel the impact is lost. There is weight to decisions, and given 3 years to get there, the slow burn affect is so much better. And I'm not saying its everyone, but many of my friends tend to think the office is better than it is. Since season 3 that show has gone down hill hard, but the friends of mine who binged on the office, continue to think the show is fantastic. I think it might have something to do with the fact they had to eat that show up so fast, trying to catch up, they dont want to think they wasted their time. Just a thought

The second (and final thing, I know Im going on) is what we are watching and why we are watching it. I love tv (I think its the best form of entertainment because of its slow burn effect) and Im really not trying to be a snob but I love good tv. Breaking bad, justified, community, parks and rec, Louie, spartacus, game of thrones, the league, s.o.a., 30 rock (similar to the office has seen better days). And all these shows, excluding Louie, I was there episode 1. I have told friends and roommates to watch these, and my roommate in particular is a great case study to this article. He has watched Justified since episode 1 and he loves it, loves it loves it loves it, says its his favorite show on tv. I told him to watch Spartacus and Breaking Bad, to catch up before the next season. So back in december he burns through Spartacus and Spartacus Gods of the Arena to catch up before Vengeance. Towards the end of season 1, I ask him what he thought of SPOILERS Varro's death. He does, man that was crazy, I wonder what Spartacus will do next. I think "huh, there's not much of an emotional element to his reaction, more so, whats the plot going to be". Then he watches Breaking Bad to catch up before season 5. He cruises through season 1, 2, 3 and as soon as he starts season 4, and that SPOILERS Gale is dead, I ask him to pause it. I ask what he thought, and he goes "man, what's Gus going to do to Walt and Jesse now?" I ask him what he thinks about why Jesse did what he did and he says "it has to be done". And I know this is one person with just two shows but I feel the results are very similar, even with me. The emotional effect is lost with binging shows.

I had seen a few episodes of Louie here and there but wanted to see it all. And in one weekend I went through season 1 and 2, and the 4 episodes of season 3 at the time. And while I think that show is very smart, and free to do what it wants, almost an independent movie in a show, I was watching for story more than substance. And now that Im all caught up I can enjoy the subtle things, but I feel the show would be more effective if I had time with it. Same thing with American Horror Story (not one of the best shows on tv but still pretty good). I binged and for me that show is all about "what crazy thing is going to happen next" more so than the character element. If I had watched every week would the impact of each crazy event have a greater impact? I think so.

Sorry for going on and on, but again I've given this a lot of thought. My roommate is not an emotionless creature but the impact of actions dont have time to sit. Viewing continues on, at a breakneck pace, and some of those character developments are lost. Varros death was huge to me, the only real friend to spartacus and boom he's dead. Its heavy stuff but if the next episode just starts, that image and memory is quickly pushed out of the way for episode 11. Time gives every action, every character space. If you give that space, you can breath and have time for people and actions to grow. So I say watch a show week to week, and if you want to catch up and marathon, give it space. Just a day can make all the difference.

So many long responses.

I marathon shows that usually encourage it through how the show is made. With The West Wing I'm entirely comfortable with watching a few episodes and stopping. But with Breaking Bad I lean towards just watching until it's 6am and I've ruined the following day. So for me the show itself impacts how I watch it more than anything.

To watch and episode and let it sink in, or binge and take it all at once. It depends.

@Retnex said:

I've enjoyed the show, but I hate season 5 so far.

You are a terrible person.

I generally watch the shows when they air so a couple different shows a day, but a couple shows I have been saving up like Dr Who, Game of Thrones just because the wait between episodes is just too much i prefer to save them and watch them in batches : )

I think the most important aspect of Marathon vs weekly is the show you are watching.

Somes lend themselves to marathoning far better then others and some things are lost that would have othewise not been.

I watched Lost as it aired and am so glad I did, because I've since lent the DVDs to serveral people and that show loses its magic when they have the option to stick in the next disc and simply not have to wait that week. They miss a huge part of what that show gave you when you watched it as it aired, with the speculation, the resonation, the weight of cliffhangers (and Lost had plenty), just everythings power to sink it. To many friends who marathon'd they've missed experience and it isn't having the sme effect on them that it did me.

It's not that marathoning means you will lose those things with every show, but you will with some, so not catching them as they air in some ways can be a missed opportunity.

Having also watched 24 as it aired and can look back on it with confidence and say, if you marathon that, I thinkgyou won't miss out on some of the magic my friends have missed out on with Lost.

The show just seems to lend itself to the binge format far more. 24 had plenty of cliffhanger episdoes, but it's style and format I think would lend being able to power through.

However, it's all relative. I marathon'd the wire and I don't feel I missed a thing. The Wire was an incredibly dense show, which took a lot of concentration to follow. Heck, it took me about 3 episodes just to try and learn everyone's names, but in some ways, marathoning it may have made it more cohesive and memorable then if I had the chance to watch it weekly.

Perhaps that's something I'll never be able to tell as I'll never have that experience of watching The Wire in weekly doses, but I think some shows do lose part of their wonder when you don't have a week off inbetween epidsoes to really digest them and some shows become all the more well polished when you can pop in a disc and keep on trucking.

I guess the gamble is not knowing which shows are going to lose that sheen if you wait to marathon them and which are going to gain that smoothness. I'd say watching weekely is the safe bet, but I watched heroes weekly for all fucking seasons, 3 of which were truly awful and I'm sure had I been marathoning, that show would have been gone for my life long before I saw it through to it's miserable end in season 4.

God that show got so shit, so fast. Who knows, maybe weekly watching kept me loyaly when it shouldn't have.

@Ghostiet:

:D

Binge Watching is Better, in Fact i think this has made the USA Network what it is today, back in the 90's it ran wings so much, and now with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit SO Yes Binge watching is better....... But it takes longer to wait for a show to be released, Like watching the office, or Royal Pains, but i'm going to start bingeing with those, because the first 2 seasons take place over one summer.

Binge. No fucking question.

I love this blog! Great explanation!

But, wanted to add that back in the 80s (pre-cable monopoly), there were small groups of fans who hosted viewing parties, and what would now be considered hackers who recorded on tape for those parties ("Dallas" is a perfect example).

In the late 90s, we few "X Files" viewers took to the sports bars for weekly viewing, which was great fun! Plus it supported our local businesses!

We held our own marathons then.

I watch the shows I love weekly (old and have no life) but think the marathon format drives new followers. For example, I've been SAMCRO/SutterInk from day 1 (devout "The Shield" fan); at new job during break topic came up; we bonded over SAMCRO. Now we've moved up in the organization and still bonded.

Plus, I'm not a housekeeper nor do I have room for more than 4 people, so wouldn't be able to host "The Walking Dead" fun night; but would love to watch "The Walking Dead" as a group!

With new folks joining, if they seem to be "kindred", with the marathon, they can catch up and bond...

Now that we're waiting for all the "providers" hashing it out, I vote social meetup viewing parties...

There must be a great national chain (Applebee's, Bennigan's, Chili's) willing to host with wifi so we can interact with AMC during the broadcasts?

just mho.

There's something to be had by being a part of the conversation and letting anticipation sit and boil for a week, but screw that. I've never voluntarily put myself on a 1 a week diet for a series. I only wait because there is literally no other option. My preferred method is to binge and gorge myself on as many episodes as I'm provided with.

Rainy Saturdays and non-Football Sundays are the best. I just plop down on the couch and find a TV series that Netflix says I'll give a 4 to and waste the day away.

Thanks to Netflix, I rarely watch TV shows as they air. Binging makes it easier to follow the storyline one episode to the next.