We’ve had this discussion before – some people like to binge watch, some people don’t. The greatest benefit of releasing all episodes of a TV season at once is it puts the power directly into the hands of the viewers. They can watch exactly how and when they want. My biggest issue with binge watching will always be how it makes discussing a show much more difficult.
Starting June 12, I’ll start RopeofSilicon’s coverage of the third season of “Orange is the New Black” and a bit later in the summer I’ll be reviewing “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp“. Both of these shows will be released all at once to allow for binging but I plan to cover two episodes a week so we can all discuss the show as the season progresses. “Orange is the New Black” creator, Jenji Kohan, gave an interview to The Hollywood Reporter and is quoted as saying, “I miss having people on the same page. I do miss being able to go online and have the conversation the day after.”
Part of the power of television has always been the discussion it could inspire. Imagine “True Detective” without the ability to go into work or meet up with friends on Monday morning and bounce crazy theories back and forth. Say what you will about how it ended but “Lost” mastered the art of sparking debate and fan theorizing in its early seasons. Their cultural impact is directly tied to how many people are talking about it.
“Mad Men” creator, Matthew Weiner, feels this way too saying if he were to make a show for Netflix he would want it released in a more traditional method, “so at least there was just some shared experience. I love the waiting [and] marination.” Even the sixth season of “Community“, a show directly targeting a demographic that embraces online content is being released one episode per week on Yahoo Screen.
As much as she misses the water cooler experience, Kohan seems to accept binge watching as the new norm. Later in the interview she says:
But it’s kind of a waste of time to lament that because that’s not the way our show comes…When people watch our show, they immerse themselves in it, they bathe in it, they live with these characters for hours and hours at a time — and they have a different experience because of the way they watch it, because of the binge.
I’m a huge “Orange is the New Black” fan. But unlike with “House of Cards” and “Daredevil“, I’ve never watched more than two or three episodes in a row. The show’s character work is so dense I need to consume it at a slower pace. Also, I don’t know about you, but Litchfield isn’t exactly a place I would want to immerse myself in for an extended period of time.
Watching television in the internet age has become about getting content when you want it and how you want it. Enough alcoves exist online that you can probably find a group of people who watch a show in the exact same way you do and carry on a discussion. But if given the choice, creators like Kohan and Weiner wouldn’t give up on the old ways and as a viewer, neither would I.
Even Netflix is supplementing its “release all at once” methodology. Last week, Netflix started the roll out of a new Canadian sci-fi series called “Between“. One new episode of the series will be released every Thursday on the streaming platform. This is obviously a new tactic for Netflix and it will be interesting to see if they go this route again.
Should creators be happy people want to consume their creation as quickly as possible? Will weekly releases be entirely phased out in favor of making all episodes available at once? Are you excited for any of the Netflix shows coming this summer?
