Do you binge watch or serial watch?

[AgentC]

We have Directv at our house and I noticed the last time I watch a series that I had a few episodes left of that at the end,it now pops up with a window that says "watch next episode".

I didn't think anything of it until I was watching Season 3 of House of Cards and realized that I only have 3 episodes left of this season. I felt a but sad that it was already over but when I watching it 4 hours at a time, I'm not sure what I expected.

So it got me thinking. I binge watch Mad Men to catch up back when Season 4 was starting so I wouldn't be behind everyone here when it started. I started watching the Gilmore Girls after being introduced to it last fall. I semi binge watch it- watching 2-5 episodes in a row then skipping it for a few days or even weeks. I even kind of binge watched the end of How to Get Away With Murder since I had missed the last 3 episodes and once I started the it seemed silly to not watch until the finale.

I think a benefit of binge watching is you can see nuances you might miss from week to week but a drawback is that loss of anticipation. And then depending on whether it is a show like House of Cards that is released all at once or a show you save and binge watch at the end of the season, there is the dreaded spoiler issue.

So do you binge? If you do why? If you don't why not? Are there shows you always binge? Are there shows you never binge?

[Melanie]

I'm not normally a binge watcher, but I have done a few shows here and there like that. Most recently, Friday Night Lights, and I'll have to say it consumed my life for a few weeks. Wow!

[AgentC]

I'm not normally a binge watcher, but I have done a few shows here and there like that. Most recently, Friday Night Lights, and I'll have to say it consumed my life for a few weeks. Wow!

It's so easy to click on "play next", isn't it?

[JanetMegan]

It's funny, usually we watching things about 1-2 days late but we keep up from week to week. Actually we did the same as you on How to Get Away with Murder. We had missed the last 4 hours and watched it all this weekend in row, I think it helped us "keep up". We also binge watched Sopranos and Breaking Bad but we are watching Better Call Saul as we go, so I guess we do both

[Melanie]

It's so easy to click on "play next", isn't it?

It is! But I can't let myself get wrapped up too often. My poor house suffers.

[JanetMegan]

Also I guess since we don't have in demand since we don't have internet at home (I know I know) we are limited by what is on the DVR or what we buy on DVD.

[magicofdisney]

My personal preference is to wait for a series to establish itself and then binge watch. My favorite is when there are at least five seasons. Well, five normal seasons. I don't care for how short British seasons are. But I do love British television. This trend began for me after my 4th child was born. I just ran out of time to watch television (go figure). So as my children are getting older, I'm able to catch up on some series I was previously interested in watching. I binged watched all of Alias and most of LOST!

[PirateLover]

Both! We binge watched the first 2 seasons of House of Cards. So far we've only found time for 3 episodes... having a new baby around drastically cuts back on tv time for shows we watch together! We still have plenty of shows we watch weekly, though. I don't think I have a preference. If I have the time, binging is nice, but I don't mind waiting week to week either.

By the way, when did we switch from using the term "Marathoning" to "binge watching?"
Back in the day (haha) I remember DH and I used to marathon watch old seasons of 24...

[AgentC]

Both! We binge watched the first 2 seasons of House of Cards. So far we've only found time for 3 episodes... having a new baby around drastically cuts back on tv time for shows we watch together! We still have plenty of shows we watch weekly, though. I don't think I have a preference. If I have the time, binging is nice, but I don't mind waiting week to week either.

The birth of our son pretty much did in our viewing of Superatural. Maybe we'll binge watch to catch up.

By the way, when did we switch from using the term "Marathoning" to "binge watching?"
Back in the day (haha) I remember DH and I used to marathon watch old seasons of 24...

I'm not sure. I've used marathon myself and peopel used to talk about "glomming" I Googled it to get the most current term and up came binge watching.

[MNNHFLTX]

The birth of our son pretty much did in our viewing of Superatural. Maybe we'll binge watch to catch up.

I still have the last three seasons of Supernatural recorded on our DVR. I'm not sure if I'll ever get motivated again to watch them, but I can't quite bring myself to delete them either.

I don't tend to binge, but I do watch two episodes in a row on occasion (did that with Mad Men to catch up too!) I have a hard time committing to a big chunk of time watching anything on TV, even movies. This is especially true in the evening. I usually get up pretty early in the morning and my attention span is only good until 9 or 10 p.m. at night and then I start to get sleepy.

[AgentC]

I have a hard time committing to a big chunk of time watching anything on TV, even movies. This is especially true in the evening. I usually get up pretty early in the morning and my attention span is only good until 9 or 10 p.m. at night and then I start to get sleepy.

I have a very bad habit of turning the tv or tablet on after the kids go to bed and start watching and watching and watching. It's really bad because I'll start saying okay if I stop now I can sleep for xx hours.

[Hammer]

I tend to binge watch the HGTV shows I have on my DVR, Then I have to stop myself from going over to Lowes and redoing something in my house! I also binge watch the weekend cooking shows.

There are certain shows though I have to watch week to week, or just 1 or 2 episodes off the DVR. As much as I love Criminal Minds and think they have the most diverse group of good looking men , I can't watch too many episodes in a row as the subject matter is so heavy!

[magicofdisney]

I tend to binge watch the HGTV shows I have on my DVR, Then I have to stop myself from going over to Lowes and redoing something in my house!

HGTV is one of my weaknesses.

[TheDuckRocks]

We recently completed the ultimate marathon watching over a number of months. On Demand has all 160 something episodes of Magnum PI. Yes, I sat for hours on end with a happy smirk on my face, watching Tom Selleck in his prime. The old guy still has it as far as I'm concerned.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

I don't know that it is so much binge watching as it is stockpiling.

My wife and I try to watch 2-3 shows current each week after the kids go to bed. Usually Person of Interest, Race, hopefully Survivor and maybe Blacklist.

Shows we don't watch together we usually stockpile on the dvr and then we each watch when we can.

I just finished the last two episodes of Sleepy Hollow last night. I think I have 6 episodes of the Musketeers on dvr, but will wait until all the episodes have aired until I start watching it. My other shows like Gotham, Castle, Downton, Hawaii 5-0 I try to watch current or at least within that week.

Where I get killed is that I have Amazon Prime and my brother's Netflix account. So I find myself watching cable shows that we don't normally get. I just finished watching S5 of Justified the other night (watching 2 episodes) and am also starting the Borgias. But in the past I've had to catch up on multiple seasons of:

The Arrow
Hell on Wheels
True Blood
Californication
Weeds
Game of Thrones
Dexter
Deadwood

I think of these I did binge watch one season of Californication. Showtime had a preview weekend and I watched all 12 episodes over two days (1/2 hour episodes made it easier).

Binge watching for me would be 2, maybe 3 episodes in one day, then maybe another couple later in the week. Rarely can I sit down and knock out an entire season in just a day or two.

[PirateLover]

I'm not sure. I've used marathon myself and peopel used to talk about "glomming" I Googled it to get the most current term and up came binge watching.

Right, exactly, in the Netflix era it's the term everyone uses. It's just a curious thing how word choice changes over time I guess.