I know that streaming shows use a few different models but I am tired of waiting for shows to be released weekly.
Like a drug dealer, they give you a few upfront. The first four episodes of Poker Face sure you can have them. But after that, you need to wait a week for a single episode. This early release of some for me seems to counter the argument that you should space them out. Though I will admit rewatching early broadcast shows tends to give me a bit of a disconnect with time.
I’m honestly not a huge binger. I’m not going to be up until 4 am watching a series. But I do often like to watch them quicker than one a week. With Poker Face even two a week would feel better. I just finished Leverage: Redemption and skipped a week so I could do two together.
And yes I know we used to do this all the time. Part of the problem is that I’ve gotten soft with a DVR. I no longer even know what time and day some shows are on. My TiVo grabs it when it’s on and then I check in and there is a queue of stuff that I have selected. The streaming services just don’t have a great interface for that.
And don’t get me started on a new season. Some shows are in my “watch again” list when I haven’t even caught the final season. Also because streaming seasons tend to be shorter and you do watch them more quickly it can be a full year or more between seasons. I honestly don’t remember what happened. I really would have it all there, even if it takes me forever (from a modern perspective) to get through Better Call Saul or Lucifer.
Now there is a little bit of a water cooler component about some shows. I find that Stranger Things for example is something that people watch right away. So if I want to stay up on things I have to jump on it. But for the most part, everyone is watching something different, there are just too many shows to be immediately up to date on everything.
So if I’m not being cutting edge I could just wait until the entire series is completed. But if everyone did that everything would get canceled because no one would be watching. I get it, it’s a business. Another reason for them to string you out a bit.
Overall I tend to do a mix of catch-up on the full series I’ve missed, a slight delay so I don’t have to wait between episodes, and real-time viewing. Has anyone solved this?