4
My dad called 'The Wire' boring and it made me realize something about how we watch shows
Honestly, I was telling him he had to watch it, like I do every few months. He finally gave in and watched two episodes. He called me and said, 'Ben, I don't get it. Nothing's happening. It's just guys talking in a room.' For a second I was ready to argue, but then it hit me. I binged the whole first season in a weekend when I was laid up with a broken ankle. He's trying to watch one episode a night after work. The show needs that immersion, that time to let the world sink in. It's not a 'case of the week' show you can dip into. I think some shows are just built different for binging. They demand your full attention for a solid chunk of time to really work. Has anyone else had a show they loved totally flop for someone because of how they watched it?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
caleb_stone1mo agoMost Upvoted
Your dad just proved the binge model. Trying to watch The Wire like a nightly appointment is like reading one page of a book a day. You lose the whole story.
4
nelson.nancy1mo ago
Yeah the "one page of a book a day" thing really hits home. I used to be all about weekly episodes, thought it built suspense. But I tried rewatching a show week by week recently and totally lost the thread between plotlines. Binging lets you hold the whole complex story in your head at once. You're right, some shows are just meant to be consumed as a whole thing.
0
daniel85729d ago
Oh man, that's exactly it. I had the same thing happen with my buddy and The Sopranos - he watched it in bits on his phone during lunch breaks and said it was boring, but I couldn't convince him he was doing it wrong...
2