Television

Teeeee said:
The Succession binge v. not-binge convo has me thinking.

What characteristics make a show binge worthy and what makes it more of a slow digest? And do the tv execs recognize these characteristics and seek them out?

So for Succession, I think it is how horrible the characters are. Or for Handmaid's Tale, it is so intense, I just can't watch more than 1 at a time. Or for Pose, I love it so much, I want to absorb it before I move on to the next one. Whereas other shows that I love, I fly through.
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Yeah I think something like The Handmaid’s Tale would not work as a binge (and I binged a number of episodes last season to catch up). It’s way too much to handle for hours on end (even when you’re taking breaks and whatnot). Other shows feel less binge-able when they’re really complex or deep or something, with enough substance and story to really get you thinking about it heavily for a week.

A show almost designed to be binged is The End Of The Fucking World, or Living With Yourself, or Undone. All of those have fairly short episodes where each one sets up the next episode perfectly and leaves you hanging so you just want to keep it going. I think the length is part of why something is binge-able, also the way the story is told. Shows like those are written so that each episode amps up and amps up, with cliffhangers at the end of every single one, and opening moments that take place right after the previous one’s end. It’s fun and all, but it also kind of bums me out once it done cause it feels so short and fleeting. The one recent show I really wished I could have waited just a little instead of binging was Russian Doll. That’s cause I loved it so much I wanted to savor it more.
 
Teeeee said:
The Succession binge v. not-binge convo has me thinking.

What characteristics make a show binge worthy and what makes it more of a slow digest? And do the tv execs recognize these characteristics and seek them out?

So for Succession, I think it is how horrible the characters are. Or for Handmaid's Tale, it is so intense, I just can't watch more than 1 at a time. Or for Pose, I love it so much, I want to absorb it before I move on to the next one. Whereas other shows that I love, I fly through.
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I think comedies and shows with lighter themes are binge worthy. Like @Bennnnn and @Indymisanthrope said plot driven, not character driven. Shows that love to end an episode with a cliff hanger are perfect binges.

Also, how much does everyone love His Dark Materials? I am really interested to see where this goes--okay, okay, I know where they are going because I read the books. The world is great and I love how they took some time at the college. It was way too rushed in the movie and there's a lot of significant details that got overlooked in the movie that didn't get overlooked here. I really like how they did some character development before immediately plunging you into all the daemon stuff.
 
ranbalam said:
We started Succession. I think we're halfway through S1 and hit a burnout point already. I know we're not supposed to like any of the characters, but I don't love to hate any of them either.

For now we're back to the easy-to-watch Alone. I don't see many people mention that one, but I've found each season pretty watchable. I'm sure we'll venture back to Succession at some point, since my wife is pretty much couch bound for a few more weeks.
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Are you referring to the survival show Alone or is there some other one I'm not aware of?
 
Teeeee said:
The Succession binge v. not-binge convo has me thinking.

What characteristics make a show binge worthy and what makes it more of a slow digest? And do the tv execs recognize these characteristics and seek them out?

So for Succession, I think it is how horrible the characters are. Or for Handmaid's Tale, it is so intense, I just can't watch more than 1 at a time. Or for Pose, I love it so much, I want to absorb it before I move on to the next one. Whereas other shows that I love, I fly through.
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I stupidly avoided Friday Night Lights when it was first on TV. I binged all five seasons in about a month this summer. Even though I wouldn't characterize it as a "light" show, it was a world I didn't want to leave. So many characters were so compelling and relatable that I always hated to turn it off. I'm already contemplating my second run-through.

I also find mysteries pretty bingeable. Trapped (imagine True Detective set in Iceland) is super dark, but I had to watch just one more episode to find out what would happen next. Broadchurch was the same way.
 
JohnPeelIsMyCoPilot said:
I stupidly avoided Friday Night Lights when it was first on TV. I binged all five seasons in about a month this summer. Even though I wouldn't characterize it as a "light" show, it was a world I didn't want to leave. So many characters were so compelling and relatable that I always hated to turn it off. I'm already contemplating my second run-through.
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I did that last year, and yeah felt exactly the same way. I just never wanted to stop living in that world. I'm gonna watch it through again sometime soon too.
 
ranbalam said:
Yep, on History Channel. I've watched every season. I can't call it outstanding, but I always end up watching it. And the season with twosomes didn't work as well I don't think.
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I love that show and I've also seen every season and totally agree that the one with teams didn't work, it's the alone part of the experience and the fact that they film everything themselves that makes the show work so well.
 
teefer said:
I love that show and I've also seen every season and totally agree that the one with teams didn't work, it's the alone part of the experience and the fact that they film everything themselves that makes the show work so well.
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Dude on this recent season killed a Moose AND a Wolverine. Most don’t get any game bigger than a squirrel. Those Canadian rabbits were quite large though.
 
JohnPeelIsMyCoPilot said:
I stupidly avoided Friday Night Lights when it was first on TV. I binged all five seasons in about a month this summer. Even though I wouldn't characterize it as a "light" show, it was a world I didn't want to leave. So many characters were so compelling and relatable that I always hated to turn it off. I'm already contemplating my second run-through.

I also find mysteries pretty bingeable. Trapped (imagine True Detective set in Iceland) is super dark, but I had to watch just one more episode to find out what would happen next. Broadchurch was the same way.
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FNL is one of my faves. Hugely binge worthy.
 
Oh, I love making rakings!
Top 10 best tv shows

1- Lost
2- The Good Place
3- Dollhouse (the first half of the first season seems slow but then it makes sense and it works perfectly)
4- Please Like Me
5- Wilfred (US)
6- The IT Crowd
7- Dead Like Me
8- Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
9- Bates Motel (the first season is not good, but then it's sublime)
10- Orphan Black

Ugh, I'm leaving a lot out of this list: Tabula Rasa, Future Man, The X-Files, Arrested Development (I can't forgive what they did to this show after S03), Black Mirror (after S02 it's getting worse and worse), Grimm, Lucifer, The Big C, Don't Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23...

I want to add Queer As Folk to this list (the British one, of course), but I don't know if it would seem dated if I watched it today. I remember how important it seemed to be when it was released.
An honorable mention goes to RuPaul's Drag Race. It's not fiction but it's so fun.
 
Waitressboy said:
Oh, I love making rakings!
Top 10 best tv shows

1- Lost
2- The Good Place
3- Dollhouse (the first half of the first season seems slow but then it makes sense and it works perfectly)
4- Please Like Me
5- Wilfred (US)
6- The IT Crowd
7- Dead Like Me
8- Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
9- Bates Motel (the first season is not good, but then it's sublime)
10- Orphan Black

Ugh, I'm leaving a lot out of this list: Tabula Rasa, Future Man, The X-Files, Arrested Development (I can't forgive what they did to this show after S03), Black Mirror (after S02 it's getting worse and worse), Grimm, Lucifer, The Big C, Don't Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23...

I want to add Queer As Folk to this list (the British one, of course), but I don't know if it would seem dated if I watched it today. I remember how important it seemed to be when it was released.
An honorable mention goes to RuPaul's Drag Race. It's not fiction but it's so fun.
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You've got some really eclectic stuff in here! I'm so happy to see someone else loved Please Like Me. It was such a sweet, warm, wonderful and at times heartbreaking show. Tatiana should have one all of the awards for every season of OB. She played a gazillion characters!! And then when she played characters pretending to be other characters? COME ON!!!! She's so good. I agree about Arrested Development. I did NOT enjoy S4 and have not had any desire at all to watch S5. But when it was good, it was golden.

And I used to love the US version of QAF. I think it is ok for things to feel dated. It is a completely different world out there than when it aired. I remember that it was probably THE only show with lesbians on it at that time, even if they were almost an after thought. But it still was so important to me and my friends that we at least had that.
 
Top 10 tv dramas then ... rule is must have finished... so no walking dead etc or doctor who ..

1. The Wire ..stunning show
2. Game of Thrones ..cmon even with a duff ending still a brilliant tv event
3. Sopranos.. what a show
4. Life on Mars ..UK version of course .. fire up the Quattro
5. Inspector Morse .. the Daddy of detective shows
6. Battlestar Galactica.. the remake ..now that was another duff ending
7. The people vs OJ .. that was a great watch
8. The bridge - how the feck did I miss this out first time , sorry Versace
9. Band of Brothers .. say no more
10 Edge of Darkness..BBC 80’s classic..please check this out ..wonderful
 
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