Instant satisfaction vs delayed gratification

[Mage]

More and more people these days binge-watch shows. It's a very good way of not getting annoyed by cliffhangers in episodes, and not having to wait to find out what happens with your favorite characters.

Then again, with some shows being pretty short these days (Stranger Things only has 8 episides), you're done with a new show pretty fast, and what you really really loved, is suddenly done.
My girflriend and I, we prefer not to binge, since we don't want our good shows to end to fast.

So, out of curiousity, a poll. Delayed satisfaction, or instant gratification.

 

[retroenzo]

Good question!

Personally I'm a one episode a session person, but that's If I'm watching something for my own enjoyment. At a push, I'll do two in a row

I break that rule though if I'm doing something that I want 'background noise' for (ie tidying) and then I'll do something like I did on Tuesday. (I was indeed tidying and put on the first episode of 'I, Zombie' to see if it was any good. I ended up watching four episodes in a row as background).

 

[Seven of Five]

I've always enjoyed binge watching, yet there have always been TV series that I've followed where I have to wait every week (or longer) for a new episode. If the show wasn't grabbing me at that moment in time, I'd let them build up on the Sky+ box for a few weeks and then do a catch up.

 

[Kemaiku]

I tend to wait until an entire season is available and watch it through.

Unless I can't wait and then it's weekly so I can keep up with people here (Supernatural, Evil Deadm, Lucifer etc).

 

[auntiehill]

I don't have the time nor the desire to sit and watch more than two episodes of the same show per day. I like to have something to look forward to, so I don't mind waiting. Yes, long season breaks can be a drag, but it also makes you appreciate it more when it comes back.

 

[RandyS]

I tend to wait until an entire season is available and watch it through.

Unless I can't wait and then it's weekly so I can keep up with people here (Supernatural, Evil Deadm, Lucifer etc).

Same here. If it's a show I really want to see I just buy the DVD set, and spend a week (depending on the number of disks) watching it.

Is that your method too, or do you stream shows?

 

[1001001]

I like watching shows in bunches. 3-4 episodes at a time. I store them on my DVR like nuts for the winter.

The downside is that I can't participate in show threads because I'm always behind.

 

[Kemaiku]

Same here. If it's a show I really want to see I just buy the DVD set, and spend a week (depending on the number of disks) watching it.

Is that your method too, or do you stream shows?

DVD/BR for shows depending how much I like them. Or watch through streaming/TV for weekly viewing.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

I get so bored if I binge watch. Too much of just one thing blurs into tedium for me. Thankfully my home video collection is big enough for me to create my own TV schedule. I have a big pile of DVDs and Blu-rays to watch, and when it comes to serialised television, I'm a one episode a night person. I even alternate TV series by the disc, so I might watch 4 episodes of LA Law, then 4 episodes of Stargate Atlantis. I'm just as finicky with movie boxsets, alternating movies too. I watched the Alien boxset last year, the one with all 4 Ripley movies, the ones with two versions of the films. I spent over six months watching that boxset, interspersed with other films.

I'm making a distinction for Star Trek Voyager though. I'm in the process of throwing those VHS tapes (yes, really) out, so I'm watching one tape a night. When I was a kid, I could watch 4 Next Generation tapes in a row! I guess my attention span isn't as intense any more...

Can't watch broadcast TV anymore. There are too many channels and they pull the schedules out of their asses. I watched a couple of seasons of Castle on Channel 5, then for the next season, they shifted the whole kit and caboodle to 5USA and assumed that I'd watch their channel round the clock for any announcement they might put up. I only watch one or two broadcast shows a week, and I usually miss the start of each new season in any case, but they were halfway through the season before I realised. Thankfully, Castle turned to crap after season 3...

 

[John Clark]

For the most part, it's an episode at a time (I don't generally stream too much) and Tivo-ing to watch a season at a time gets in the way of other people who may need the box.

On rewatch though (Shows I've enjoyed enough to buy dvd/blu), I'm a total binge-watcher.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I tend to watch shows 2-3 episodes at a time, maybe 1 if it's a heavier, denser show like Game of Thrones.

In general in TV shows I would say delayed gratification. Shows that take their time and set up big payoffs are more fun to watch than shows that give small candy payoffs every few minutes out of fear of their audience's short attention spans.

But specifically in the case of cliffhangers, waiting is only fun when everyone else is at the same point in the show and you're sharing the same anticipation, so in that case I'll go for instant gratification.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I find it difficult to watch only one episode then have to wait 6 more days. Having said that, I can't binge more than 3 episodes a day.

Also, I feel like watching week-to-week is actually more time consuming than bingeing. I'd rather watch something over the course of a few days/weeks than months. Even if it means waiting a very long time for more.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I try not to binge in the usual sense. I usually watch an episode per day at most. I find myself enjoying it more that way.

 

[Timewalker]

It depends. I've binge-watched Downton Abbey (everything on Netflix Canada) at least 3 times through, at least 2-3 episodes per time.

Several years ago, someone had years' worth of General Hospital on YouTube, and I loved it, because they were the years I'd missed because I didn't have a working TV. The then-current storyline kept referring to events from the older time, and I was confused. So I binge-watched at least 6-10 episodes per day, for several months, and got caught up (sounds like a lot, but without commercials, GH episodes are only 36 minutes long).

I've binge-watched Bonanza, Reign, Tomorrow People (the American series), How the West Was Won, and am about to watch S2, E10 of Marco Polo on Netflix.

After that... well, Netflix Canada has the final Hunger Games movie, the latest Star Wars movie (no, I haven't seen it yet), and since they finally got the rest of the Star Trek series, I'm going to indulge in a lot of rewatching stuff I haven't seen in years (never owned the DVDs and don't get any of the channels it might be shown on here). There's at least 2 years' worth of Enterprise I never did see, so that will be brand-new.

Pretty much the only things I watch on TV itself anymore is GH and the CBS reality shows.

I don't really get too excited about new shows anymore, because they eventually turn up somewhere, either online or available on Amazon. Whether I watch a show once a week or binge-watch depends on the show itself. I think the last one I tried to keep up with on a weekly basis was The 100.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I have to get really hooked to binge it. At most I might do a couple of episodes at a time, even if they all drop at once.

 

[JoeZhang]

I've got about ten hours a week maximum for watching TV so binge-watching is out for me.

 

[Tosk]

I'm not gonna live forever. I'd rather watch stuff at my pace, not theirs. Give me the whole run at once.

 

[SPCTRE]

broadcast is dead, so might as well give me the whole season at once

 

[lurok]

If on a day off feel like being a lazy slob, I might have a very loooong lie-in and bingewatch a short run series (6-8 episodes). But usually at most only get to watch 1-3 episodes max at a time at once. So general principle is prefer binge-watching/instant gratification, but rarely get the time

 

[Admiral2]

I'm an impatient person. I'll take instant any way I can get it.

However, the same impatience will make me watch week-to-week instead of waiting for the whole season to be available at once.