The New York Times recently wrote an article about the new(ish) phenomenon of folks preferring to watch their T.V. shows in one chunk these days. You know, no more one-episode-a-week-like-the-olden-days. We seem to like choking it all down in one crazy marathon.
I have to admit, I have binged on quite a few T.V shows in my day. My first ever T.V. binge was 24. Come on, you know you love some Kiefer. I had just gotten married and quickly found out I was pregnant too. I had no idea how miserably sick being pregnant can make you. How generally you just feel like you ate 23 tins of sardines, got on a roller coaster, and then were struck with influenza. every.day.
So, in true newlywed/pregnant/twenty-something fashion Jonathan would drag an extra queen sized mattress we happened to have (random, I know) out to the T.V. where we would lay like vegetables and binge on 24.
And it was awesome. Hour after hour of Kiefer, carrying his man bag, hunting down dangerous criminals, never stopping to take a bathroom break or to eat a croissant. Just action. Cheesy, adrenaline pumping, addicting action.
Since our 24 binging days, Jonathan and I have had a few other T.V. marathon obsessions like Breaking Bad and Lost (until we caught up and had to watch it on once a week like everyone else), Mad Men (for a brief minute until I decided it didn’t have one redeeming character), and the epic Friday Night Lights (clear eyes!).
I like a good punch in the face of 13 episodes all at once. What about you?
Our binging comes from catching up on our shows on the DVR once a week.
Watching your favorite TV show gives you thrill and excitement. You can’t wait to know what will happen next especially when you’re watching TV series. Other times, when people are waiting for TGIF, you can’t wait for Monday to start! haha It makes me feel good! I just love Telenovelas!
We have definitely done our fair share of TV binging I think for us it comes from not wanting to ever ever pay to have cable. So instead we watch shows on Hulu or Netflix and usually in big marathoning sessions. By the way, Friday Night Lights is one of our favorites!! I want to grow up to be the Taylors! And we stopped watching Mad Med for the same reason. Our current favorite is Dowton Abbey. I can’t get enough!
If I had to choose, it would be a good TV series, I think, but I do love a good movie!
Our binges have been Chuck and Castle. I always wanted to know how the relationships would turn out.
24, weeds, breaking bad, walking dead, and oh yeah 24. A season at a time. Who needs sleep? He doesn’t so neither do I.
Netflix has made TV bingers out of us all. That’s how I was reconnected to Grey’s Anatomy and introduced to Private Practice (before it ended) and Pretty Little Liars. I try to challenge myself to finish the episodes before the show airs the next week. I have many sleepless nights as a result.
My whole family are TV bingers, I’ll admitted it. It’s just too easy with Netflix. We disconnected cable about a year ago and subscribed to Hulu instead. Not all our favorite shows are on there but many are. We also have an Xbox Live account and we can purchase shows through there too that Hulu doesn’t have {like How I Met Your Mother}.
My kids have hit a weird patch where they are either getting along famously or they are awful to each other. {My 5 year old gets frustrated when her brother doesn’t want to play with her and my 2 year old is going through the “Mine!” phase}. Add freezing winter weather and snow leaving us inside a lot and Netflix is one a lot if I want to get anything done. So they binge on shows too. I’m looking forward to Spring and Summer and playing outdoors more cause I feel guilty in winter with how much tv the kids watch.
OH! One of my favorite ways to TV binge is an I Love Lucy marathon!!!
My guilty pleasure binge is also 24. However, I do not know this “Kiefer” of which you speak. His name is Jack Bauer, always and forever. Even as a character on another show, his name is still Bauer. It’s like a trump card to all other names. Keith Fedor would back me up on this.
The appreciation that me and my friends share for 24 has even infiltrated our deepest conversations. For example, the encouragement, “You’re being spiritually attacked so intensely right now because you’re a Bauer of the spiritual realm” may have been uttered at least once :)
I never binge alone. Group binging with friends and family is my favorite.
No dvr and no patience for commercials meant our family only turned on the tv for the weather report but once Netflix hit scene we did our best to get caught up. We watched Gilmore Girls (even the men in the house), The Office, Castle, Fringe, and we tried to watch 24 but I think I ruined it for everyone because Tony Almeida’s intense facial expressions would compel me to drag my knuckles on the ground, furrow my brow and mockingly say, “Me monkey. Monkey Mad.” I know, I’m a terrible person, but I’m being punished because living in India I don’t have access to Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc…I’m left with what’s been uploaded on Youtube.
24 was my first binge as well! My wife and I recently did 30 Rock (we had never seen it previously) and caught up with the show just in time to watch the final episode in real time. We’re considering starting over! lol
Winter is usually my TV binge season, and it all started when I signed up for Netflix and Hulu in 2010. My first real binge was Weeds. My latest binge has been The Walking Dead. I have also binged on, at one time or another, Once Upon A Time, Jane By Design, Drop Dead Diva, Gossip Girl, and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. I do hate getting caught up, and having to wait to see the newest episode every week!
West Wing, always, forever, over and over.
Um, I did (and still) watch a lot of cartoons. In terms of popular live action shows—I watched a lot of Lost (until the last season…blargh). I also watched a lot of In Treatment–I liked the analysis of different characters and how the psychologist had problems himself.
Now, if I’m able to, I try to catch Adventure Time & Regular Show on Mondays and Young Justice and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Saturdays but I’m usually working so there you have it. :(
Twin Peaks. All in one wonderful, maddening weekend. David Lynch is seriously bizarre.
I binged on Star Trek Voyager after discovering (after a miscarriage) that my husband and I might be unable to have children. It was great for keeping my mind off reality. Love it.
24…….and then 24, winter weekends can make my wife say “more 24?”
Everything we watch is on a binge. It’s all at least a year behind so we hear about something after it’s cancelled;-)> Currently–Once Upon a Time, Merlin, Robinhood, Dropdead Diva, Arrested Development, Doctor Who. We are hold on for new episodes on most of those.
One of my first was Gilmore Girls… had several seasons to catch up on by the time I discovered the show and I just fell in love with the fast talking and obscure pop culture references.
I also loved to binge on Alias every few years and re-watch my favorite episodes. The invention of TV shows on DVD has been a wonderful time-waster.
My favorite TV binge was The Wire. I think it is the best series ever produced. In fact, it’s been so long since I’ve watched it, I think I’d like to watch it again. :)
I have been TV free for the last 4 years so the majority of my viewing has been on binges. White Collar, Covert Affairs, The Office, How I Met Your Mother – all of these we have watched in a flood. My sister and I are addicted to the same shows so God forbid one of us have a sick day when a new season comes out. There’s the inevitable, “You watch it without me?!”… so we play catch-up together. Because suspense and humor are always better shared.
The WORST is stopping by my parents house (they watch the same shows in real time) and catching an episode of a show that we are 4 weeks behind on because of Hulu’s new delays. SO MANY QUESTIONS.
cool
My wife borrowed season 1 of Son of Anarchy from a coworker. Now we’re hooked and watching seasons 2-4. I like watching them in batches for the continuity, plus it’s so nice not to have all the commercials!
I tend to binge on half-hour comedies, since on Netflix they’re only about 20 minutes. Arrested Development was my first binge, followed by Community, then Parks and Recreation, then Better Off Ted, and then How I Met You Mother. Now I’m blitzing through Scrubs.
I might have a problem.
My wife and I super binged 24. We watched 5 seasons in two weeks. Gotta love Family Video Stores.
Years ago, my first was NCIS. Then it was the first season of Justified, and most recent would be Numb3rs. Interesting question Nicole, thanks for asking.
Fine, I admit it. When my bride and I entered into covenant, I knew she liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gilmore Girls. I knew it. But I shrugged it off.
What I DIDN’T know is that she would eventually ask me to watch ALL the seasons, of EACH series, one episode after episode after episode, in a 1 month period.
There simply is not enough soap available to wash those memories from my brain. Trust me, I’ve tried.
But, in all fairness, I did have her watch the entire series of the anime Hellsing (the original) with me afterwards. Oh, and Firefly.
Kidnapped (TV series) 2006 on Netflix. One season. Timothy Hutton and Dana Delany co-star as an affluent New York couple whose teenage son Leopold (Will Denton) is abducted. Also starring Jeremy Sisto, Carmen Ejogo. Delroy Lindo, Linus Roache, Will Denton and Mykelti Williamson. Started watching on a Saturday night until I fell asleep on the couch about midnight. Woke up on Sunday morning at 6:30 and finished by 1:00 PM. Addicting. Must see!