Hit 100 shows finished in 2 years and I think the binge model is actually ruining how I watch TV
I finished my 100th show last Tuesday since I started keeping a list in early 2023. Sounds like a flex but it really is not. Somewhere around show 60 I noticed I was burning through stuff like The Bear and Severance in two sittings and remembering almost nothing a week later. I started the list to prove to my sister that I actually finish things, since she always jokes that I bail on episode 4 of everything. It worked, kind of. But now I see people in this community racing to finish 12 shows a week and posting their counts like a scoreboard, and I think the popular take that binging makes you a better fan is just wrong. I can name maybe 15 of those 100 shows and give you a real opinion on them. The rest are a blur of plot I could not tell you a thing about. For me the good stuff hit harder when I let it sit, one or two episodes a night, which sounds slow but it actually sticks. So what is your real number, not the list number, the ones you could actually talk about at a party?
Counting shows is the fastest way to stop actually watching them. I keep a list too but I only add stuff I'd still bring up a month later, and that number is way lower than the total. Try picking 3 shows and rewatching one episode you loved, if you can't get through it or remember why you liked it, that tells you everything.