It's sort of a twisted irony, but when there was more immediacy, I was more interested in my shows. When I had to tape episodes off of syndication reruns, it was kind of exciting-waiting for episodes to come around, waiting for the next one, etc. Same with movies, combing through the TV Guide to see what was on that week that was hard to find. I used to be really passionate and gobble everything up. Now, I have so much access to almost everything via streaming that I think the immediacy is gone. It's more convenient and I definitely like it, but I feel like my fire has gone out too. Episodes are on DVD now too, they aren't going anywhere and it's easier to build up a backlog. I try not to watch too much TV, but so far, my attempts to read more instead have been for naught too :blush:.

Re: Are you overwhelmed with the amount of TV content out there?
 

I have gotten far more ruthless in dropping poor shows from my regular viewing in this universe of expanded content. That is the only rational response to this problem.

Re: Are you overwhelmed with the amount of TV content out there?
 

I'm think I'm in the same boat as what PhantomStranger mentioned earlier - the increase in shows has just meant a shorter rope on new stuff or stuff in decline. If there was even something small that seemed redeeming (a specific character or maybe one interesting story arc) I used give a new show 3-4 episodes to find a foothold; now I'm more apt to call it one (or two) and done when the shows starts off as a mess. Also some of the reality TV I will give up on in the middle if the contestants are weak or the interesting ones are gone and just wait for a new season (things like Top Chef, Survivor - but I don't watch much reality TV these days).

I also tend to use the DVR as a bit of screen - if I don't watch something that I recorded within 3 or so weeks I generally end up giving up on the show.

Re: Are you overwhelmed with the amount of TV content out there?
 

That's an odd perspective on a site where people commonly own over a thousand movies. If you're recording in HD, leaving the recordings as MPEG2, and not removing the commercials, 10 TB (presumably not a single drive) would archive around 1300 hrs of content.

Re: Are you overwhelmed with the amount of TV content out there?
 

10tb isn't that insane.

Re: Are you overwhelmed with the amount of TV content out there?
 

With all the content out there, we seem to limit ourselves to mostly network and then complain nothing is on. We don't have any of the streaming services or premium cable. My BR player can stream amazon but its too much trouble to set up an account.

When in doubt we'll OnDemand one of our favorites for an episode we missed or a favorite to see again.

Re: Are you overwhelmed with the amount of TV content out there?
 

My level of “appointment” television has gone down over the years.

First, the level of quality I expect has gone up. If something isn't hitting on all cylinders, I'm not going to sit around and wait for it to get better. <i>Agents of SHIELD</i> is a great idea, but it reminded me of UPN shows from the 90s. I would watch it religiously if I was 16, but I'm not 16 anymore.

Second, I have less “empty” time. I have just as much free time as I did ten years ago, but I have more going on in my life so there's less empty time I can fill with watching an entire season of a pretty-good-but-just-pretty-good show.

The choices we have now, with streaming, easy access on demand, home video, etc. means if I miss a show it's simply to catch up with it one or five years later. And this ties back to the two other points. Why watch <i>Homeland</i> if it's not good after the first season? Why start watching a show now if I can just wait to see if it gets renewed?

Finally, I think the cultural conversations around shows — on a mass scale — are on the same level or less than they were two decades ago. There's very few water cooler shows, which means everyone goes to their own communities to discuss their own show. If you like the show, you can find a lot of like-minded people to talk about it with. <i>Sleepy Hollow</i> has an active episode thread here, hundreds of comments with every review on TV Club, yet I have heard it mentioned one time (one single time) by friends or coworkers in the last two years. So if you are obsessively checking out shows, you might feel like you're missing out but in a group of, say, 20 people (not just TV freaks, regular folks), you may only find one TV show everyone agrees with.

Re: Are you overwhelmed with the amount of TV content out there?
 

If you already have Amazon Prime it literally takes 90 seconds.

Re: Are you overwhelmed with the amount of TV content out there?
 

Flash Forward :lol:

I think we saw 1.25 episodes of that.

Re: Are you overwhelmed with the amount of TV content out there?
 

It's been 10 years since I've watched anything as it was broadcast. Over those 10 years, I started waiting for a show to end its entire run, and then watched every episode straight through. It's kind of a bummer that I can't get involved in conversations at work when people are watching something as it comes out, but my life is easier because I don't feel pressured to watch anything.

Since I only have Netflix streaming, I'm stuck with what they offer. Even with their limited selection, I still don't have problems finding something to watch. On the other hand, I'm not overwhelmed with a massive amount of choices. I don't have a lot of time to watch tv any more, so I feel like I'm in a good spot with regards to quantity.