We're all guilty of binge watching. But why do we poo-poo binge eating and not binge watching?
It's not productive and it also robs us of the experience intended by the artists.
In the 90s we had to rely on ourselves to be home at a certain time to catch our favourite show and if we missed it would have to use TV guide or wait until next week for a recap.
Binge Watching TV In The 90s Was Better Anyway
To binge TV before 2001-2003 meant either waiting for network marathon days or saving up to buy overpriced DVDs to watch at your leisure. But you generally would have already seen the show on TV for the season to invest in reliving it all over again.
Because it meant something to you.
I blindly bought Six Feet Under DVDs when they were on sale for Boxing Day. I knew it was a show I would probably like. But I wasn't sold after watching the season 1 DVDs.
If I had watched it on a streaming platform I would have given up on it as there was a ton of other shows at my finger tips to just press "watch" for.
But because I invested I went into season 2 ... oh man, what a little moonlight can DO!
I am a lifer and advocate for that show, something I would have missed out on in this new normal of consuming television.
But I am not a "pure fan" of that show ...
Waiting to Binge Watch TV Means You Are Not A "Pure Fan"
I am of the opinion that if you do not watch a show on its original run as it was intended by the creators then you are not a pure fan. You can be a fan, sure, even a big one. But you had not gone through the trials and tribulations associated with waiting for answers over sweeps or summer vacation to the season cliffhanger ...
Lots of people don't miss those days.
But what about this idea of dropping a full season and finishing it in a day? Then waiting two years for the next iteration? Is that better?
Well, I lay it out in my latest video for The 90s Are The New 70s.
Do you agree?