does anyone else not watch 'shows'

i'm honestly wondering if anyone else on here avoids watching shows or movies entirely. it's not some puritanical thing, i just don't enjoy watching plotted narrative entertainments for the most part. i flat out leave the room when someone else is watching something. they make me feel nervous, like my mind is on a hamster wheel. i don't want to encounter the world these people have created for me, even when it seems fun, because the idea of it makes me feel pressed, tired, like it's a chore i want to avoid. i'm fine with this and don't make it an issue when other people are talking about shows because it's a boring and annoying thing to say. but i'm curious if anyone else has a similar experience?

I don't watch fiction TV series or movies, not because they make me feel nervous, but because I feel that they're a big time sink. Especially those TV detective series that some people seem to inhale the box sets of - like don't they realise that a lot of these are the same plotlines that have been recycled over and over again since the 1930s?

I wish some of our posters didn’t watch shows

The discourse around TV has gotten so annoying/oppressive/lame that I've basically stopped watching all TV shows except Curb, I Think You Should Leave and Joe Bob Briggs. Movies are great, watch movies.

Also I find that so many modern TV series seem to be written around cool set pieces that make for good trailers (or YouTube clips) surrounded by a load of bumbling around.

Especially those TV detective series that some people seem to inhale the box sets of - like don't they realise that a lot of these are the same plotlines that have been recycled over and over again since the 1930s?

my tolerance for scripted tv is at an all-time low to an extent, despite there being a supposed wealth of options. i do watch a decent amount but find myself getting really bored by the narratives and conventions which maybe seemed refreshing 15 years ago but now are recycled to diminishing returns. if there's something unusual about a show, or a good hook, or the quality really is genuinely superior, i'll maybe stick around. MAYBE.

movies generally continue to rule, plus there's just such a deep well from the past to dip into. moreso than with TV, obv.

I admire opting out, and I have friends who just can't deal with the artificiality of televisual narrative or whatever, and friends who just read at night.

But tbh I only watch shows when eating dinner with my wife at the end of the night, and it's mostly so we don't have to watch each other eat. And it's a nice wind-down bonding thing, no binging involved. Although it does feel increasingly difficult to find well-written shows, we're not trash tv people.

Watching more movies always seems like a nice idea but most movies are worse than series these days.

xp lol

I don't really watch any modern shows, have a few older comfort favourites that I like to have on when I'm doing other stuff. Don't think I'm particularly against the concept of shows it's just I play a lot of video games and I like movies and there's only so many hours in yr life

whiney otm about tv discourse, assuming maybe he's talking about recap culture to an extent.

It's possible that intensive online discourse about culture always kinda spoils it sorry ilx I don't mean youse

IRL convos at work about TV shows are the fucking worst.

Posted this on another site but

It really bums me out how "What are you WATCHING? What are you BINGING?!?!?!" has become the placeholder in conversation when people used to just talk about the weather or sports. All the academic stuff nerds used to understand movies and music in the 90s has been embraced by the populace at large and is used to turn consumption of these lame shows as the baseline for someone's political views. Everything is pandering, everything is fan service. I think the "I don't even OWN a TV" guys in the 90s might have been onto something, sadly

my w1fe was talking the other day about w/the wealth of TV options, everyone she knows has five shows they recommend to her and they're all different, and they're all saying "oh you have to watch this and tell me what you think", and it's this weird overwhelming feeling.

I've started to get show fatigue, mostly from watching too many.

I can understand the aversion to scripted narratives. It's foreign to my experience, but brains work in different ways. One of my college friends discovered that both he and his sister -- her much more pronouncedly -- had aphantasia. She didn't read fiction at all, mostly because the lack of visualization left her feeling she was just reading descriptions of things that weren't real.

I feel like I've gotten that way about reading long-form nonfiction because I lean to the other end of the spectrum and I'd rather read shorter things that describe a specific event if I'm not going to be fleshing out this fictional world with my mind.

there are too many damn shows, though

I agree, as much as I like & watch shows, I hate it as a conversation topic. Like, it's fine if everyone's seen White Lotus and it comes up naturally, or it can be fun to analyze something right after watching it (the old 'going out after a movie' vibe). But I try to avoid ever saying "so, what are you watching" or "seen anything good lately?" with friends, so boring.

xp

even movies though, which i agree are great! never actually watch them though. i feel kinda guilty about it, like i should watch more, experience more excellent craft or w/e, but i'd just rather stare into space or post random shit on the internet. there's something about the commitment, or i think it's sitting down for a long time. also maybe adhd.

i didn't want to neg on shows itt but i guess that's fine, who cares lol

Personally can’t relate (😎) but you tend to get that kind of chat from people with nothing much to say. It’s as annoying as any other kind of small talk placeholder and they should be viewed with compassion.

tbf my least favorite part of talking about movies or tv is when people miss obvious or major plot details. we all do that on occasion, the human brain just isn't meant to always pick up everything, but some people are repeat offenders.

the second least favorite part is people arguing about things that are obviously left ambiguous in a narrative. not discussing the nuances of what it would mean if the events went one way or the other, but strongly insisting that their interpretation is correct. let the world have some ambiguity

imo the world needs more people staring into space anyway and I'm glad you're here for us

The series-long story arc that modern shows have almost uniformly saddled themselves with is generally a negative imo, for all sorts of reasons beyond the improved enjoyability of just being able to watch a contained 50 minute story with familiar characters. I think the pressure of the arc and the relentless chat it generates probably makes the standards of writing worse on balance

I do watch shows & movies, though I agree with the sentiment that the quality level has dropped despite the glut, and I would like to watch less. I also feel a bit queasy when the "what are you watching?" convo starts.

But I'm curious, map, do you enjoy plotted fictional narratives in non-video forms? (e.g., novels) Or do you generally avoid fictional media? Do you play video games? What about documentaries or sports?

I mention the latter because a friend once told me the reason he likes watching sports on TV (which I have almost never done with regularity) is that unlike narrative TV it's totally unpredictable. I think that's arguable — someone always wins the game at the end in US sports, there's obvs a circumscribed range of events & outcomes — but it stuck with me as an explanation

xps - I don't think you'll find many, if any, ilxors who entirely avoid scripted fictional movies and television, both. The number of ilxors has dwindled to a fairly small number, so your sample size is against you.

I'm mainly a consumer of fictional narrative in the form of books or movies. Although now and then I might spend a few idle moments watching a snippet of a television 'show', it's very rare, and I need to be feeling very aimless indeed.

i loooove talking about the weather. of course i learned a long time ago it's small talk for everyone else. but if i'm like seeking comfort in an interaction i'll talk about it for a little bit too long haha.

there's something to what map is saying that i get though which maybe is just wanting to intentionally remove yourself from devoting your mind to thinking about the lives of these people who don't exist, or be invested in and stressed about things that don't actually happen, and it's a stress or feeling that you don't get in the same way when reading a book. and for me at least it's also different from watching a movie, where there's a limited time-sink and when it's over, it's over. they're not gonna "grey's anatomy" tar or no country for old men.

sorry map not trying to put words in your mouth of course, just watercooling here about TV shows

ha omar yes that's totally part of it for me.

Ts: people who watch a lot of shows or films but need to be spoonfed basic plot points vs people who watch shows and no films

Personally I’m usually this guy, but only for map-type reasons! It takes me a while to decide on stuff and I usually don’t watch that much in a week, like a couple of hours.

Don’t ask me if I’ve seen a movie cause I haven’t

— Triston Casas (@mvptc37) July 23, 2022

I feel like a lot of online discourse is the show-ification of human interaction and maybe that impulse comes from being used to having narratives presented to you in show format

then again, people have always been gossipy about their neighbors

i loooove talking about the weather. of course i learned a long time ago it's small talk for everyone else. but if i'm like seeking comfort in an interaction i'll talk about it for a little bit too long haha.

― ꙮ (map), Wednesday, March 8, 2023 3:41 PM (three minutes ago)

I used to feel guilty about bringing up the weather as it was really drilled into me that only terminally dull people do that (not by my parents though, they love talking about it). But then weather got super dramatic!

imo the world needs more people staring into space anyway and I'm glad you're here for us

But I'm curious, map, do you enjoy plotted fictional narratives in non-video forms? (e.g., novels) Or do you generally avoid fictional media? Do you play video games? What about documentaries or sports?

I mention the latter because a friend once told me the reason he likes watching sports on TV (which I have almost never done with regularity) is that unlike narrative TV it's totally unpredictable. I think that's arguable — someone always wins the game at the end in US sports, there's obvs a circumscribed range of events & outcomes — but it stuck with me as an explanation

that's a good question! i do like novels but i'm really picky and don't end up finishing very much. the novels that work for me are ones where the plot maybe isn't as central. i guess generally that's easier to do in a novel than a tv show.

i never watch sports but when i encounter baseball at a bar or something i can get into it. i can see how the unpredictability would be refreshing.

anyway it's nice to hear about & be reminded of everyone's different preferences, just scrolling thru socials you can get the feeling that you're the weird one.

xp lol i wish

alfalfa is made entirely for laying down in iirc

I... just lose any degree of caring for a show after awhile.

I started watching "Better Call Saul" with my wife. It's a good show! I got to the end of one of the seasons, and I don't know. Just stopped giving a shit.

Has nothing to do with the quality of the shows. A lot of the new ones look like a lot of fun! But sitting down and sitting through an entire 54 minutes about some make-believe people -- yes, it feels very weird to be put out by it!

By the way, I replayed all the Dr. Dre missions solo this weekend in GTA Online and made $2 million because it's a x2 week for agency missions.

I'm an infrequent show watcher - now that the ex is out of my life, I don't think I've turned the TV on in two months

I have it on a cart that I wheel into a closet and cover with a cloth, so it's not a big part of my space and subsequently don't think too much about it

Wait I do have a buddy's Criterion login info so I'll sometimes watch movies on that - but even that has been awhile

as far as video games go, i've played the same game over and over on my laptop (it's called 'deathstate') for two years now and nothing else.

Prestige TV started out okay 25 years ago, now everything is prestige. Just give me garbage.

I feel like the only time I've ever seen Big Bang Theory is when I'm in a taqueria waiting for my order

Tv hasn’t been good since that show with Adrian Pasdar where he lived in a box inside his luxury apartment and was in love with his sister or stepmother or something

It’s funny I almost mentioned better call Saul, I recognize it’s objectively a “quality show” but I find it really tough going. I find it predictable in its narrative unpredictable-ness, somehow. And the Vince Gilligan house style was for me kind of wearying and stultifying after awhile.

I recognize I’m way in the minority there. I’ll probably finish it at some point in 2027.

no, I know a number of people who got a case of fatigue with that show!

I tried with BCS and made it a couple seasons in. Then tried again watching with my wife and we tapped out at about the same point.

"I started watching "Better Call Saul" with my wife. It's a good show! I got to the end of one of the seasons, and I don't know. Just stopped giving a shit."

I don't think I finished a show since Breaking Bad. Last couple of years I've watched bits of Better Call Saul, BoJack, Ricky & Morty. I re-watched a couple of seasons of Seinfeld. There was some amazing Japanese cartoon thing from the 90s that I got recommended on ilx slack, whose EPs are on YT. All good stuff but I just lose the will to go on.

Mostly it's because I feel at the point I get the concept I find I just don't care about spending another few hours with it. And it could be a lot of hours.

I don't see a big novel or finding a poet in those terms, if I tune into the writing. Nothing beats that experience. A film is a more boxed in experience. You are usually done after a couple of hours.

during the pandemic I watched the first two seasons of twin peaks + the first few episodes of ozark (?) but in general, nope, I don’t watch shows.

I tried watching the wire in 2007 but could t understand what anyone was saying or what was going on #dumb

i keep it simple

- jeopardy
- cbs sunday morning/60mins
- real housewives
- rupaul

THATS IT

“My whole family would gather 'round the television on Thursdays to watch Cosby-Family Ties-Cheers-Night Court back-to-back-to-back. My step-dad would even stick around for Hill Street Blues.

pplains, your family was mine. well, except for the stepdad. hill street blues eventually gave way to LA Law i think right? i forget the timeline. I was always a fan of Miami Vice Fridays. if nothing else, my childhood viewing habits made me well aware of Markie Post and Sheena Easton.”

YOU GUYS. My family did this (and not just Thursday nights- Mom and did the Saturday night Golden Girls/Empty Nest/whatever block over pizza)

we're gonna have a TV party tonight
all right!

i think one basic dividing line in tv watching is whether your interest is increased or decreased by realizing that there are 72 hour length episodes in the series

I get that TV is supposed to be an escape, and it doesn't stop me from watching, but any series supposedly set in contemporary America without even a token masked extra makes me think about the pandemic MORE, not less.

I also want Jeopardy contestants sequestered in separate remote cubicles and represented by Max Headroom-style CCTVs stacked on top of their respective podiums, and I also want Mayim Bialik replaced with the animated cat from the Paula Abdul video.

I sometimes have patronizing tinfoil Clive Barker ideas that certain popular television actually makes people feel emotionally “bad” but because it’s makes them feel “something” it gets interpreted as “good” and then compulsive watching follows

TS: Shows v. Stories

Bring back cheaply-made daily soaps!

haven't read whole thread yet, just really otm here—

I’m kinda gobsmacked when considering the hours upon hours of awful or mediocre TV I watched growing up, just because. Just because! Things like children’s programming and cartoons don’t count in my mind, but like, The Love Boat? Melrose Place?

― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, March 9, 2023 4:02 AM

i loved the seinfeld episode where it comes to light that jerry and the gang are all huge melrose place watchers. that really made a lightbulb in my brain come on and i remember thinking "a show about nothing referenced by a show about nothing."

like a lot of people my age, i grew up with tvs just around. and on. always on. when i was able to pick what was on, i liked simpsons or basketball. that never really changed but i always have preferred music. when i was able to have my own place, i never wanted a tv and haven't had one for over 15 years now. lost interest in simpsons, but kept up with futurama and that's really the only show that i've ever been at a _FANDOM_ level with.

(and the only reason i like it is because of how absolutely preposterous everything is)

while i have watched some other shows over the years, it's mostly been because something is music-related. i did something very rare and marathon`d atlanta last year for the finale, but other than that, i can't remember the last "new" show i watched. when i lived with a partner, they did like to marathon shows regularly, but more for the sake of having background chatter.

with movies, idk. i've never all the way liked them, be it at the theater or on the couch. certainly have had some enjoyable experiences, but now more than ever, i have to be aware of my ptsd/mental health stuff and sometimes movies are just not the healthy choice. the last time i was in a theater was for jurassic world. before that, dark knight. i have still never seen the dark knight rises. oh well. movies just aren't that important.

(and besides, isn't dark knight rises basically the same length as listening to mama's gun twice? i'd much rather do that.)

also no, i've never even seen five minutes of a single episode of game of thrones, the office, or breaking bad.

(not bragging, just making it very clear how little i care about "SHOWS")

Bring back cheaply-made daily soaps!

these still exist, no?

i think there's several hundred hours minimum of shows id enjoy favourited on the ahem service i use and i just dont want to watch any of it a lot of the time.

if the humour takes i can do a few weeks and catch a few seasons of something but its rarer than id like that mood of concentration hits me

lots of good posts itt about why this might be, personally i always find being overwhelmed by the mental overhead of choice leaves me questioning the commitment. its very similar to my love life that way nb this isnt true.

tl;dr i liked andy's description upthread of their television on a cart, wheeled into the closet with a cloth draped over it

I too liked this, and am wondering also if they keep their telephone under a bell jar.

lol

time to use the radio
*unties the ribbon*

is pornography shows

hey siri

That weird phenomenon of message boards, particularly one where people are constantly saying there are only 4 people left, where there are television threads where it feels like *everyone* is watching all the telly all the time saying shit like 'it gets good in season 12!' and I have no sense of how there is so much time available in the world for people to fill. Then you step into the next room where no one is watching anything at all and I feel like my brain is going to pop.

― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski), Thursday, March 9, 2023

haha yes :)

https://i.imgur.com/9gxcmzL.jpg

don’t talk to me about things i don’t already know about, i don’t wanna hear it

oh c'mon, it fits here

Honestly I’m sick of hearing about shows

Shows are the new podcasts

I always said I would buy the box set after it was over.

I sometimes did, but then managed to never watch it and it's still waiting. Maybe when I'm retired.

Lol since my posts itt I've actually watched two series to completion

I go for long stretches without watching shows, then something will catch my attention and I'll dive down the rabbit hole headfirst.

TV is a comfort thing for me so if i’m sick or hung over or tired i’ll put on Trek or Simpson or Blackadder cos it’s just there, i don’t have to concentrate. So for years i pretty much never watched tv, just a few dvds and youtube. my current partner though ughhh he is obsessed with bingeing tv and always talking me into things i “gotta see” like the wire/the sopranos/etc lately he’s on me to watch Last of Us and i just don’t CARE,god i just slogged my way thru all of deep space 9 and that took
six months. i have a job and housework to to!? i don’t have time and the time i do have is for video games. still, somehow the tv goes on anyway and next thing I know I’ve seen all of Endeavor, Poker Face and Severance by osmosis somehow.
… not sure what my point was there really. I’m visiting my folks interstate this weekend and woke up this morning to a TV blasting away and no one watching it or even in the next room listening. wtf.

shows suck ass

my current partner though ughhh he is obsessed with bingeing tv and always talking me into things i “gotta see” like the wire/the sopranos/etc lately he’s on me to watch Last of Us and i just don’t CARE,god

dump his ass, Trayce

One of my best memories of adolescence is watching "MASH" every night in reruns with my mother and brother. The final episode can still bring me to tears if I just think about it.

“so, are you watching any good shows?” is the modern “how about this weather?” It signals that the social event is over. Conversation topics are exhausted.

I do watch certain shows, but am not into the communal way of watching them popular today.

There's a channel/free streaming app called Comet that shows hours of Outer Limits, Buffy and the X-Files every day, where was this shit when I had sick days from school. I had to rewatch the 6 X-Files episodes we had on VHS over and over and over.

shows suck ass

― flopson, Saturday, April 22, 2023 1:55 AM (eleven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

You take that back about WKRP In Cincinnati!

I think I'm just kinda generally wiped out by the insistence to share the same experience as other people, TV shows are a big offender here but also certain movies and records*** (much less so fortunately, except here lol) and live theater, like "have you seen Hamilton??" was maybe the question I've heard the most over the past decade. And it usually becomes this pressure where you're expected to go along with liking something.

***Probably why after awhile I started to dislike random access memories more than I might have otherwise, everyone telling me this pretty okay hodgepodge was the greatest album of all time.

I loved The Wire… and yeah, it’s possibly my favorite show, but I cringe around people who, when TV comes up, tell everyone who hasn’t seen it that it’s the best show ever made. It’s always a certain sort of dude, too.

shows suck ass

― flopson, Saturday, April 22, 2023 1:55 AM (eleven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

Shows
How many of us watch them?

I watched Beef cuz wanted to be a part of the conversation man that show sucks ass

The reason I don't like show discussions is the average uninteresting person only wants to talk plot points, plot points, plot points, but steer the convo to themes, symbolism, and characters and they get bored and take it back to plot plot plot. I know what happened, I saw the show!

So you admit that you watch shows

OH NO

Shows

Why are they so bad & hated

I saw a show today oh, boy

So ya

Thought ya

Might like ta

Binge-watch a show

To feel the warm thrill of confusion

That space cadet glow

Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel

To binge on Season 4 of "The Handmaid's Tale"

i watched lorirocks777's new train ride video by "team france" last night, it's a good one, kinda trippy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEVs8M0sYto

Maybe the thread title should be "does anyone watch 'shows'?"

Umm... I guess I do watch 'shows' but not in some sort of bingey quasi-religious way. I have to actually be interested in the premise of the show, you know?
Video games now take up more of my sofa time than before. When I had a partner I used to watch a lot more TV and films, but I don't love watching films on my own unless I'm at the cinema for some reason.
I was berated by Facebook friends recently for having let Succession pass me by. I started watching it and I admit, it is brilliant and I am enjoying it a lot.
So, yay, 'shows'

Umm... I guess I do watch 'shows' but not in some sort of bingey quasi-religious way. I have to actually be interested in the premise of the show, you know?
Video games now take up more of my sofa time than before. When I had a partner I used to watch a lot more TV and films, but I don't love watching films on my own unless I'm at the cinema for some reason.
I was berated by Facebook friends recently for having let Succession pass me by. I started watching it and I admit, it is brilliant and I am enjoying it a lot.
So, yay, 'shows'

I watch shows because I like learning about new things and also just being straight-up entertained. I have no problem not telling you about it.