Let's see...what can I watch? Ooh, I have the first 4 years of Barney Miller! What else? Oh yeah, my dad gave me the entire Maverick series...on that note I also have all of The Rockford Files, The Wild Wild West, Sledge Hammer, most of Soap, Titus, SCTV, and the first season of SNL...among other shows.
Then there is all that streams on Netflix or Hulu or whatever other services there are...way too many.
But that is the nature of the beast in the 21st century...binge watching an entire series, or at least an entire season of a series in one fell swoop.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I just can't do the binge watch the way many do these days. Yet, shows made now especially for streaming have shorter seasons. The Mandalorian, for instance, is less than 10 episodes in a season, and go for about 40-50 minutes each. One could watch that in a 12 hour period if they really wanted to...and in this COVID era with people staying home, those streaming originals are tailor-made for that kind of watching.
It wasn't always that way, though.
Back in the 1950s, when television was in its infancy, the idea of a rerun wasn't in anybody's minds. On average, sitcoms went between 30-40 episodes per season! That pretty much meant that the season went from September to April or May, then some other summer replacement show would fill in until the next season began. Same with westerns and dramas. All 6 years of Leave It To Beaver were 39 episodes, putting its total at 234 shows! I have watched that on one of the services, and I can't do more than 2 or 3 before deciding I've had my fill.
My wife just finished watching all of Bewitched in a bit over a month, and that was 254 shows! She is more binge-tolerant than me. I was happy when Dick Sargent showed up, it meant the end was near.
So when did this binge-craze begin? In my mind, TV Land got it started a bit over 20 years ago with their focus weekend marathons of severely cut shows (what they did to Barney Miller was a crime!) That brings about another bit: if you are going to air a show, air it WHOLE...otherwise there is no point. And also, air it with its original closing credits and studio logos, it is part of classic TV.
The trouble with some classic shows is, many lack the original charm they once had, especially after 3 or 4, maybe 5 episodes! Take Cheers, for instance. Once a hot 80s-90s staple on NBC, Norm and Cliffie wear a bit thin after an hour or so, especially the first 2 years. Another is Family Ties, which truly belonged to the 1980s. The nostalgia wears off after a bit. I can only handle half a disc of The Rockford Files before I'm ready to do something...anything...else!
Don't get me wrong, lots of these shows are considered classics and deserve to be watched again. For me, I generally have specific episodes in mind for different shows that were, in my mind, the "best ofs". For example, I absolutely love The Wild Wild West, but not all of its 104 episodes were gems. If I had to pick a show I could probably binge-watch for at least a whole disc, it would be WKRP in Cincinnati, I don't think there was a dud in there.
Actually, I find that my former couch-potato-head ass doesn't desire a whole lot of TV watching anymore. My attention span for it just isn't where it once was.
Until I get old and retire, I think I'll just stick to an episode here and there of whatever, then put it back into my memory for the time being...unless someone finds the missing episodes of The Edge of Night....then I'm there, dude!
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