coli

There was an interesting article I read online that was published on TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly, but the jist of it was: Are there too many good TV shows out there where people just don't have time to watch, even in the age of DVR and Netflix?

I constantly feel consumed by TV shows I'm watching because like everyone here, we only have a certain amount of time so sometimes you have to pick and choose. Has anyone cut any 'good' shows they were watching in favor of only the 'great' shows because you only had so much time?

Jadzia

All the time. I try to watch most scripted pilots, at least so I know what a show is about and I often find hidden gems that way. But I usually have to make a quick decision to decide whether it is a show I have the time or inclination to watch. There is soooo much TV now, that now I have to make a pretty hasty decision. Whereas several years ago, I would give a show 6 episodes or so, now I am only giving 1 or 2. And often I just have to ask myself whether a show is truly entertaining or valuable to me in order to invest the time to stick with it.

That is why I pulled the plug early on such popular favorites as Game of Thrones and True Detective. I watched the first few episodes and decided they just weren't shows for me (even if they were well made and have a lot of talent involved.)

Sometimes I drop shows when I realize I just don't care about any of the characters or what happens to them. That happened this summer with The Whispers and Zoo. In normal summers, I would probably stick it out for the summer, but there was so much good tv this summer I had to trim the fat somewhere.

Speaking of this summer, I noticed this is the first summer where I have not been able to catch up as much on my backlog. I still have the entire last season of Justified to watch and normally I would have watched that in May/June when the regular season ended, but I just haven't had time with all the other good shows on this summer.

rocket1312

Of course. For example, I've got every episode of Humans, Mr. Robot and Deutchland '83 just sitting on my dvr from this summer. I've watched the first episode of Humans (and I really enjoyed it), but haven't seen any of the rest. There just isn't time in my life. I've still got the last 7 episodes of The Walking Dead that I need to get through as well(although that's more of a comment on my feelings towards the show than a question of time). I also haven't seen a single second of Breaking Bad, I'm only about 2 episodes into season 6 of Mad Men and have only seen the first 4 episodes of the Shield. And you might as well throw movies in to the conversation as well. I have about a dozen saved on the dvr and probably 3 times that many sitting in my unwatched disc pile. Odds are I'm never going to watch all of the above, which kind of makes me sad.

DJariya

http://www.thewrap.com/why-fx-chief-...d-tv-industry/


Funny you bring up this topic. There was a recent article ^^^above where they interviewed the president of FX about this. He says there are over 400+ scripted shows on TV right now including streaming platforms and it's drowning viewers. He says smaller channels are going to get killed because of this.

Yes, I have felt overwhelmed. There's a bunch of Netflix originals that I want to watch, but can't because there's originals on cable and even network in the summer that keeps my viewing constant. I'm not a picky viewer like some here, but I have dropped a few in the past, which I like simply because I was overwhelmed.

I was a regular viewer of Bones for 8 seasons and yes I liked it. But unfortunately cut it because I couldn't devote my full attention to it. I only watched the first season of House of Cards on Netflix, but haven't continued because it's a show that I know needs my full attention and I can't give it that right now.

I'm sure there's many scripted shows that aired this summer that some here might have tried, but simply didn't have the time.

davidh777

The premise of the article seems a bit obvious, like "do you not have enough time to do everything you want to do?"

I think the huge number of shows available on so many channels and streaming services as well as the easy availability of many decades of catalog content (so much easier to find compared to when it had to be DVD or live TV) just makes it an impossible task to watch everything we want to.

Osiris3657

Think this applies to a majority of people.

I've got a list of probably 20 shows that I'm interested in checking out at some point.

Fall is going to be busy (at least what I consider busy) and it'll be tough to start anything new. I've got American Horror Story, Homeland, The League, Fargo, and The Walking Dead to keep up with.

Bluelitespecial

I have fallen behind on some shows and haven't had the time to keep up, only through s3 of the Walking Dead, s5 of Supernatural, s3 of Justified. I want to catch up through buying them on bluray, plus would like to watch Game of Thrones and Entourage.

morriscroy

My backlog is so long that I don't bother adding many new shows to my viewing schedule anymore. Too many shows to keep up, whether catalog or current.

The only new show I added to my viewing schedule is CSI Cyber.


More generally, the stuff I'm more likely to regularly watch fits criteria like:

- I'm regularly home during the evening. (ie. Watching live tv on Friday, Sunday, etc ...)
- Summer schedule. (ie. Under The Dome, etc ...)
- Frequent reruns of current/recent episodes. (ie. Basic cable channels, etc ...)
- Genre. (ie. Sci-fi, etc ...)


My main judgement as to whether a new/current show is catching my interest, is whether I am willing to watch it live, or watching it on the dvr with a 20 minute delay.

Otherwise recording everything onto the dvr and watching it days (or weeks) later, just isn't cutting it anymore for me. In practice, I find that when I'm stockpiling episodes onto the dvr, they frequently end up going unwatched and are eventually deleted unwatched.

Shannon Nutt

I just said so long to UNDER THE DOME a few weeks back.

DJariya

That doesn't count. UTD has never been regarded as a good show.

fujishig

I am a gigantic comic book nerd and I haven't found the time to watch Daredevil on Netflix despite stellar reviews. I think it's mainly because it's streaming and it'll be there when I want to watch it, without fear of a dvr filling up or having to track down a dvd. Same with Arrested Development.

mphtrilogy

If it's great I will make space on my dvr, if it's just good I will wait until Netflix or Amazon prime and give it a go in the summer months....

brainee

The premise seems obvious, but it sounds like industry people are treating this forecast by the FX head as some kind of bombshell ... instead of logical common sense. There are only so many people, with only so many hours to watch tv. Yet the number of series has doubled in just 5 years. And that doesn't count all the youtube and other web shows that are clamoring for attention.

I'm the same with Netflix shows. Haven't watched a single episode, because I feel like I have to prioritize other series that Netflix could lose the rights to at a moment's notice. It really sucks when you're just getting into a show on Netflix only to realize it disappears in less time than you have to finish it.

Jadzia

^^^This. That is the reason I have never watched House of Cards, Kimmy Schmidt, Daredevil, or even the rebooted season of Arrested Development. I still need to watch the new season of Orange is the New Black. I just feel streaming shows will "always be there" while I need to clear out my DVR now.

JuryDuty

Absolutely. I pretty much have about 5 MUST-see shows. Everything else I try to watch, but if time's an issue, I just don't care anymore.

Neil M.

Once I start a show, I usually see it through. I have plenty of shows that I want to watch and it's just a matter of time before I get to them.

madcougar

This is the reason I decided I wouldn't watch Fear the Walking Dead. Watching TV is starting to feel like a job.

morriscroy

The primary reason I'm still watching Under The Dome, is that I've been home on Thursday evenings and there is nothing else on at 7pm.

In addition to the giggle factor.

morriscroy

I think you may be on to something here.

I've been noticing the same thing, for shows I have on dvd (or bluray).

For example, I use to watch a lot of Star Trek franchise daily reruns. After purchasing the blurays, I find that I don't watch the shows much anymore. (ie. The dvds/blurays will "always be there").

DWilson

Because I have a DVR that allows a hard drive, I have a lot of series that I haven't got to (I probably have about 250 hours on there), but once something shows up on streaming, -let's say the latest season of "Doctor Who", -I can delete the episodes off my DVR to make room. Of course, I'll get to those "later", but there isn't a priority unless I hear they're being dropped by Netflix. Also, as time goes on, some series kind of lose their appeal as they reach their end ("The Whispers", for example, which started out with some nice comments but as it went along everybody stopped talking about it, which I took as a "sign"). I definitely record far more than I'll ever catch up on, and the only thing that keeps me in check is that I have to clear stuff off the DVR.

fujishig

I do kinda wish that they released season sets for ongoing shows earlier, to allow some time for catch up. I have to catch up with Once Upon a Time, but doubt I'll be able to marathon a whole season before the next season starts, which kinda kills my interest.

morriscroy

As in a removable hard drive, with an esata or usb2 (or usb3) connection?

DWilson

Its a Motorola DVR with an e-sata connection. I have Charter cable. I had a Moxi box that I really liked and it allowed me to hook up a 1TB drive. It stopped working and Charter replaced it with a Motorola. Of course, I lost everything I had recorded on that drive. Fortunately, they replaced it with a Motorola model that also allowed for that hard drive, so at least I had an even greater capacity than I had before. I know some of the earlier Motorolas that some local friends were provided by Charter did not allow hard drives. Other than that, I find the DVR unpleasantly "quirky" in its operation compared to the Moxi.

Trevor

This is part of the reason why I've given up TV almost completely. A couple years ago I was constantly fighting DVR space and watching shows just to keep up with water cooler conversation. I pretty much just quit everything cold turkey.

When I was a kid, even though we had cable and lots of options, it seemed like most people enjoyed TV as an occasional diversion. Maybe an hour a day tops. But over time it seemed like everyone changed and it became normal to have a TV on most of the time, and to watch something every single day. Plus late night shows. Plus morning shows.

I don't know. I'm not saying TV is bad, or that the entertainment I do instead is better.

MrX

Once I hit four episodes on the DVR I delete them and move on. If I haven't felt the need to catch up by that point I never will. I've been doing that quiet a bit lately with the comedies on FX.