Netflix released a new season of Arrested Development earlier this week, and it was widely assumed that mass binge-watching ensued. My wife managed to stay up past midnight to download the season, and we did watch the first episode.
But then we remembered how lame we really are and went to bed.
We've only made it through the second episode so far, but I'm sure once we get rolling, we'll crank through the season in no time.
This new season of Arrested Development has sparked a lot of conversation about the merits of binge-watching. I personally love binge-watching. I hate waiting a week to watch a new episode of a favorite show. I don't know about you, but my attention is easily lost. If I like a show, I don't want to stop after one episode. Quite frankly, I can't anymore. If I don't have access to that next episode, right now, I'm gone. Life is too busy man.
It seems to me that the only reason I have to wait for my TV shows is advertising, and I'm sorry, that's a 20th century construct I can gladly do without.
I want to consume my television like a good book. At my own pace. I mean, think about having to wait for that next chapter of a book you're loving. If I want to set a show aside for a while, fine, but let me make that choice.
So I applaud Netflix for letting viewers decide how we want to watch a show. I hope we have this choice with more and more shows.
What do you think? Will the Netflix model become the norm or is it just a gimmick?
I think more and more shows are going to be watched this way. I think it is cool that viewers would be able to watch what they want to watch. One of my favorite shows is Veronica Mars so I'm excited that there is a crowd funded movie in the works.
ReplyDeleteI like the crowd funding concept. Could be a huge development in the way movies and TV shows are created.
DeleteAnother reason i gave up TV was the commercials. Now books and kids and kittens and blogs and work and life consume my life, not made up people i have to wait to see on a screen once a week.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your binge-watching!
We love Netflix for this very reason. The DW and I binge watch all the time once the kids go to bed. It's part of our "date night". We're right there with ya in the lame department.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty much how we have operated for the past 6 years, having no cable or local television. Now we also watch through other mediums too, such as directly from network websites, Amazon, movie berry, etc... It will be the norm for more and more people going forward.
ReplyDelete