Assignment 7: Binge-Watching

 
Binge-watching was a phrase coined by Netflix to mean: watching many episodes of a TV show or shows in succession (such as over a weekend or in one day). The phrase has only been around for about 5 years.  I don't really like binge-watching. I'm just used to the old-fashioned way we watch TV - one episode per week. I'm too busy, most of the time, for binge-watching, unless my DVR is almost full and I'm trying to watch stuff just to get it off there. For example, I try to keep up on everything, but I record 2 soap operas, "General Hospital" and "Young and the Restless," and I'm behind on watching both. I like all the soaps, but they're not so good that I want to watch them every day. I'd rather watch Primetime shows, so they usually take priority. If I'm caught up on all of my other DVR shows, I do try to watch "General Hospital." VIDEO

As you may remember from my first blog post here, I watch a lot of TV.  Before streaming videos were common, you could only binge-watch if a TV network was showing a marathon of shows, or if you bought a videotape or DVD set, or (later) if you recorded a whole season on the DVR.  I still buy DVD's and have a DVR, so that's where I do most of my binge-watching. I don't watch TV on my phone. The screen is way too small. I really don't even like watching on my laptop. I use my ROKU to watch Netflix, Amazon, HULU, et al.  Although I'm mostly discussing TV shows here, people also do binge-watch movies, and they binge-read as well. There are a lot of movie series or franchises and a lot of book series. I don't go to the movies much, but I love to watch any movie with a superhero in it, or any "Star Trek," "Star Wars," "Lord of the Rings" or "Harry Potter" movie. I also loved all of the "Hunger Games," "Mazerunner," James Bond and "Divergent" movies. I don't have much time to read, but in the past decade I did binge-read the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, The Hunger Games books by Suzanne Collins, The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, the Hammarby series by Carin Gerhardsen,  the Harper Connelly mysteries by Charlaine Harris, and all of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

In the past, there were some shows I binge-watched on DVD, or on a late-night marathon, long after they had started airing: "Highlander (92-98)," "Revenge (2011-15)," "Desperate Housewives (2004-12)," "Homicide: Life on the Street (93-99)," "Dawson's Creek (98-03)," "Dynasty (81-89)," "Eureka (2006-12)," "Mad Men (07-15)," "Queer As Folk (2000-05)," "Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-present)," "I Married Joan (52-55)," "Teen Wolf (2011-17)," "Dexter (2006-13)," "The Closer (2005-12)," "Joan of Arcadia (2003-05)," "Laugh-in (67-73)," "Car 54, Where Are You? (61-63)," "Poltergeist: The Legacy (96-99)", "Forever Knight (92-96)," and "Medium (2005-11)."  These are all that I can remember right now; there are probably others. Before I had a DVR, I would watch many re-runs late at night, usually on cable.

There are some shows that I watched when I was younger, but I can always watch them if I see them now in re-runs, like "Hogan's Heroes (65-71)," "The Flying Nun (65-70)," "M*A*S*H (72-83)," any of the "Star Trek" or "Law & Order" franchises; "Two and a Half Men (2003-15)," "Fawlty Towers (75-79)," "The Bob Newhart Show (72-78)," "Seinfeld (89-98)," "Twilight Zone (59-64)," "Monty Python's Flying Circus (69-74)," "Designing Women (86-93)," "Night Court (84-92)" and "Barney Miller (75-82)." They never get old to me. I can always laugh or enjoy them.

 

I wish I had time to catch up on so many shows that I had to quit watching due to lack of time; Either I have most of these on DVD, on VHS, or they're available online: "Runaways (2017-present)," "The Gilmore Girls (2000-07)," "The Good Fight (2017-present)," "Star Trek: Discovery (2017-present)," "Orphan Black (2013-17)," "Stranger Things (2016-present)," "The OA (2016-present)," "Unreal (2015-present)," "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-present)," "Torchwood (2006-11)," "Outcast (2016-present)," "Travelers (2016-present)," "Mr. Mercedes (2017-present)," "Luther (2010-18)," "The Americans (2013-present)," "Fargo (2014-present)," "Lost (2004-10)," "Person of Interest (2011-16)," "Mr. Robot (2015)," "Humans (2015-present)," "The Fosters (2013-present)," "The Expanse (2015-present)," "Stargate SG-1 (97-2007)," "Stargate: Atlantis (2004-09)," "24 (2001-10)," "Alias (2001-06)," "Arrow (2012-present)," "Covert Affairs (201-14)," the older "Doctor Who" franchise (1963-1989), "Glee (2009-15)," "Grey's Anatomy (2005-present)," "Hollywood Heights (2012),"

"Nashville (2012-present)," "The Good Wife (2009-16)," "Sleepy Hollow (2013-17)," "True Blood (2008-14)," "V (2009)," "The Vampire Diaries (2009-17)," "The Originals (2013-present)," "12 Monkeys (2015-present)," "Empire (2015-present)," "Greenleaf (2016-present)," "The Royals (2015-present)," "Impastor (2015-16)," "Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll (2015-16)," "Damages (2007-12)," "Riverdale (2017-present)," "Bloodline (2015-17)," "Altered Carbon (2018-present)," "Mindhunter (2017-present)," "The Punisher (2017-present)," "Atypical (2017-present)," "Atlanta (2016-present)," "Victoria (2016-present)," "Archer (2009-present),"   "The Exorcist (2016-present)," "Midnight Diner (2016)," "Van Helsing (2016-present)," "The Librarians (2014-present)," "Queen Sugar (2016-present)" (OWN), "Outlander (2014-present," "Lucifer (2015-present)," "The X-Files (93-02, 2016-present)," "The Magicians (2015-present)," "Bull (2016-present)," "Younger (2015-present)," "Beyond (2016-present)," "Mary Kills People (2017-present)," "Castlevania (2017-present)," "The Durrells in Corfu (2016-present)," "Top of the Lake (2013-present)," "Deadwood (2004-06)," "The Good Doctor (2017-present)," "The Sinner (2017-present)," "The Tick (2016-present)," "Timeless (2016-present)," "Designated Survivor (2016-present)," "Scandal (2012-present)," "People of Earth (2016-present)," "Friday Night Lights (2006-11)," "ER (94-09)," "The West Wing (99-06)," "Genius (2017-present)," "Saving Hope (2012-17)," "Extinct (2017-present)," "Knighfall (2017-present)," "Vikings (2013-present)," "Electric Dreams (2017-present)," "Counterpart (2017-present)," "The Alienist (2018-present)," "Indian Summers (2015-16)," "Jane the Virgin (2014-present)," "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-present)," "The Shannara Chronicles (2016-17)," "Night Manager (2016-present)," "Sense8 (2015-18)" "Rome (2005-07)," "Nurse Jackie (2009-15)," "Prime Suspect (91-06)," "Entourage (2004-11)," "Continuum (2012-15)," "The Son (2017-present)," "The Glades (2010-13)," "Grimm (2011-17)," "Transparent (2014-present)," "Poldark (2015-present)," "Mr. Selfridge (2013-16)," and "The Night Of (2016)."  There are many others, I'm sure, that I just haven't thought of.  Since I try to watch every new fiction show on TV, I usually will just watch one or two episodes for the review and then not watch the rest due to lack of time.

I've heard that these shows are very good, but I haven't seen them at all; I would probably like them: "The Wire (2002-08)," "Game of Thrones (2011-present)," "The Crown (2016-present)," "House of Cards (2013-present)," 'The Handmaid's Tale (2017-present)," "Six Feet Under (2001-05)," "Call the Midwife (2012-present)," "Black Mirror (2011-present)," "Rectify (2013-present)," "Endeavor (2012-present)," "Episodes (2011-17)," "The Knick (2014-15)," "Shameless (2011-present)," "Grace and Frankie (2015-present)," "True Detective (2014-present)," and "Orange is the New Black (2013-present)."

This week I've been trying to watch "Jessica Jones" Season 2, in between my DVR shows.  There are just way too many good TV shows, and I'm not that picky, so I always have way too much that I want to watch.  Here are the shows I regularly binge-watch when they come out on Netflix with a new season. I love them, so I make time for them: "Longmire (2012-17)," "Daredevil (201-present)," "Jessica Jones (2015-present)," "Luke Cage (2016-present)," "Iron Fist (2017-present)," "The Defenders (2017-present)," "The Killing (2011-14)," and "13 Reasons Why (2017-present)." Also, I watch any standup TV special by Dave Chappelle, Lewis Black, Anthony Jeselnik or Ricky Gervais.   On Amazon, I always watch any new episodes of "Bosch (2014-present)" and "Red Oaks (2014-17)."  All of the other shows I watch regularly are on broadcast or cable network TV.

Last week I binged-watched the entire season of "A.P. Bio (2018)," since I was interviewing two of the show's cast members. I was pleasantly surprised at how funny it is.  Last year I binge-watched the Netflix limited series "Alias Grace (2017)," which was really good, until the end, which was very disappointing. I also binge-watched Amazon's "I Love Dick (2017)," which was very good.  You can't always tell if a series is going to turn out OK or not.  I wish I had time to re-watch some of my favorite series, such as all the Star Treks, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer (96-03)," "Angel (99-04)," "Constantine (2014-15)," "Remington Steele (82-87)," and "The Dead Zone (2002-07)," as well as all of the "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" movies. No matter how I binge-watch, I enjoy doing it. I just wish I had more time!

Some research indicates that binge-watching might be bad for you. It might cause heart problems or insomnia. Well, like any good thing, it should be done in moderation. You can't binge-watch and neglect your job, your studies, your family, your health, etc.  It's like anything that "they" say is bad for you: If you do it too much, you might go blind!

Besides the shows I mentioned here, here are some other really good shows that I recommend you watch.  Dramas: "The Mentalist," "Mad Men," "Leverage," "Veronica Mars," "Castle," "Suits," "White Collar," "Men of a Certain Age," "Royal Pains," "Numb3rs," "Terriers," "Queer As Folk," and "St. Elsewhere."
Sitcoms: "The Larry Sanders Show," "Blackadder," "Police Squad!," "Frasier," "Big Bang Theory," "Will & Grace,"
Sci-Fi/fantasy: "Babylon 5," "Haven," "Fringe," "Once Upon a Time," "Supernatural," "Arrow," "Battlestar Galactica," "Jericho," "Revolution," "Falling Skies," "Eureka," "La Femme Nikita," "Being Human," "Lois and Clark: The Adventures of Superman," "Farscape," "American Gothic," "Medium," "Firefly," "Dollhouse," "Earth Two," "Heroes," "Alphas," "Wilfred," and "Sliders."