The Downside of a TV Binge

Gone are the days of savoring a TV season of a hit show.   I miss that.   A story arc that is designed to cover 22 to 24 episodes from September to May.  Waiting with anticipation the next episode of a continuing story which would air a week later.   Talking to your friends in between and discussing what they thought would happen next.   

You relish a fine wine and sip it.   So I used to do the same with TV shows.  My favorites such as "St. Elsewhere" or "Knots Landing" or "24" or "Desperate Housewives" or "The Sopranos."   The latter was even more daunting.  Sometimes, you had to wait a whole year plus to see the next season.

Nowadays, a season is 8 to 10 episodes.   And, with the push for streaming services like Hulu and Netflix, an entire season is available on one day.  I remember two months ago, anxiously waiting for Season 2 of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."   I was my own enemy.   Instead of enjoying and savoring it like a delicious meal, I watched it all in just four days!   

It was there and now it's gone.  And I've become no better than anybody else.

So I blew away Season 2 of Maisel so quickly.   This is not the way great television is supposed to be enjoyed.   But, binging quickly also has a major drawback.  When you watch a whole season quickly, a show's problems, as well as its virtues, are more evident.

Take, for instance, the case of "Grace and Frankie."   I was a fan from episode 1 of this sitcom featuring Jane Fonda and old friend Lily Tomlin.  It seems like just yesterday that it premiered.   Already it's in Season 5 of 13 episodic increments.  And that season just dropped (as the phrase now goes) and I lapped it up over a period of 5 days.  

And I suddenly realize that, when you watch something that quickly and in a compacted universe, you discover that the show is not as good as you thought it was.

Oh, don't get me wrong.   When Fonda and Tomlin are on the screen, it's magic.  But, in Season 5, I finally realized something I should have figured out a long time ago.   The rest of the show sucks.

Former "Friends" creator Marta Kauffman is the showrunner here and she uses the same "three subplots an episode" device she used on her old hit.   The only problem is that it worked when you really enjoyed all six main characters.  On "Grace and Frankie," it's either Fonda/Tomlin or nothing at all.   Two-thirds of every episode is spent with characters you don't like and actors who aren't very good.

For example, the gay husbands.  When you watch the shows in a compacted time and space, these two guys are intrusions.   Plus the usually reliable Sam Waterston is now playing Saul as this stereotypical male housewife with a whiny voice that you want to throttle.  Meanwhile, his romantic mate is played by Martin Sheen who doesn't have a comedic bone in his body.   He plays every scene as if he's still playing the President on "West Wing."

Plus there are four children on the series who are grossly uninteresting.   The adopted sons of Lily, Coyote and Bud?   Boring.   And downright gimmicky as Bud is Black and filling the show's diversity quota.  Jane Fonda's daughters?  Meh.   The one girl is a terrible actress and the other, the cosmetic executive, is a little interesting but grates on your nerves after five minutes.

It's fascinating how I didn't notice any of this previously.  But I guess that's what happens when you binge watch anything.

Oh, how I long for the days of "to be continued next week."

Dinner last night:  French toast.