"Have you seen that new show on Hulu/Netflix/Amazon?"
If they start to watch said show, they, too, have been afflicted with...
Binge Fatigue Syndrome.
Streaming services and their regular offerings are all the rage. Series that air in bulk like a video Costco. Seasons of anywhere from 8 to 13 episodes "drop" generally once a year. What then usually results in the viewer/fan will watch the season in anywhere from two to five days.
As I mentioned above, I have been a victim of this. I have gotten hooked on the likes of "Grace and Frankie" and "Glow" and "Stranger Things." Frequently, I have mind numbingly blown through seasons so fast that even I am astounded.
And, yes, I have spread the disease to others. Once I met and thoroughly enjoyed "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," I shared the news with at least ten friends. They also became victims.
I am sorry.
Meanwhile, there is so much content out there that it's impossible to keep track of it all. There are Emmy-winning shows on these services like "Fleabag." I don't even know what that is. (I did subsequently watch an episode and I truly regret that I did.) New seasons of shows "drop" weekly and I can't even keep track. For instance, the second year of "Mindhunter," a show I truly enjoyed the first year, has been available for weeks. I didn't even know it had new episodes out until a friend told me.
But it all catches up to you. After binging on sitcoms like "Glow" and the Jane Fonda/Lily Tomlin laughfest, I cannot distinguish one episode from another. It's like speed reading with zero retention. When the third season of "Stranger Things" came out, I watched the first three episodes and was completely bored. I thought, oh, my God, do I have to watch another seven episodes now?
I haven't been back yet.
I loved a show called "Designated Survivor" on regular over-the-air television for its first two seasons. When it was cancelled by ABC, Netflix gobbled it up for one last year. I watched the first 3 episodes. I haven't been back since.
Yes, a symptom of Binge Fatigue Syndrome is a much lower threshold for boredom. And another symptom is a distinct longing for a better way to enjoy TV shows.
Ah, I remember a cleaner video landscape. When there were three networks and you had your favorite shows on prime time television. One episode every week. That you savored. And enjoyed talking about with your friends.
I remember Friday mornings in the office talking about the "Knots Landing" episode that had aired the night before.
I recall Thursday mornings when you anxiously remembered the funny lines from last night's "St. Elsewhere."
I can think about those days when new and exciting series were in their infancy and started to go viral. Like "Murphy Brown" and "Desperate Housewives" and "Seinfeld." You had to wait a whole seven days for the next installment. And, after a season cliffhanging finale, you sometimes had to endure six months before you could see what happened next.
Streaming and binging has ruined all that. You race through seasons and, if you are catching up on shows in the past, you simply can endure thirty seconds or less in between a season finale and a season premiere.
Think about it. Remember the glorious series finale of "Newhart" with the undisputed best ending ever of a TV series. If that was a show that streamed and "dropped," that wonderful final season with Bob and Suzanne Pleshette would not have been possible.
I don't know how you cure yourself. I am trying to wean myself of the reliance on Netflix, Amazon, and the like. I crave the three or four shows that I am watching on network TV. They air like they should. Once a week.
If you can't fathom the exhilaration of that kind of scheduling, you, too, have Binge Fatigue Syndrome. And, unless you do something immediately, it might be fatal.
Dinner last night: Teriyaki beef noodles.
No comments:
Post a Comment