Binging, it's a good thing.

The latest trend in television viewing is "binge watching" or "marathoning".  It's being bandied about as if it's a new thing. It's not really. Well, not if you're a reader!

How many of you have gotten a long awaited book and literally sat up to read the thing cover to cover? *coughs* Harry Potter? Twilight? *coughs*  We have all done it, might as well confess up to it.

The question is: Is it so bad? The talk now about the whole multi episode viewing thing is it's not good. I don't see the harm in it. Personally, I watched House of Cards on Netflix till I literally couldn't keep my eyes open. It was that good!   Did it harm me? No. Did I miss out on anything important? No. Two harmless days of tv watching did not end the world.

Personally, I see it as a way to get someone involved with a show. Take for instance Grimm. The thing is literally filmed in my city. You see them filming ALL OVER. I watched the first three episodes then forgot to program it in my tivo and poof...gone. I recently found it on Hulu and started over from episode 1..damn if I am not hooked on it now. The back to back to back caught my attention. I didn't have to wait a week or two or even a month in some cases to see the next episode. They were all right there..and on Hulu..they automatically start. It's like watching one long movie.  Will I now watch it on a weekly basis live on tv? Oh hell yes. Well..via tivo because truthfully, I rarely watch anything at it's alloted time slot.

The whole thing is...if you had to read a book like a serial, you might lose interest. Especially if they took hiatus's for long periods. For instance over the holidays. Some shows are off for a whole month! Way to loose someone's interest, there.  

Personally, I like my television like my books. In nice big chunks. I think that House of Cards was just the beginning on putting the whole season out at once. You could then watch one episode a week if you wanted...or watch them all at once.  Either way, the shows would be watched, advertisers would be happy and the viewer would be happy.

Speaking of advertising...Hulu shows ads during it's shows. Honestly, I rarely notice them. They don't detract from the whole binge thing at all. Gotta have a bathroom break after all, right?