In these days of lockdown, many people have developed an even closer relationship with their television sets and particularly with the services of Netflix and Amazon Prime. When I’ve asked what people have been watching, occasionally I hear about a movie, but more likely I will hear about a limited or extended series that they are binge watching.
When did streaming services move from primarily being a source for movies and being a venue for rerun and original series? I watch very few movies on the streaming services any more, partially because it’s hard to find good movies consistently, and more because there is something very reassuring about watching episodic shows (even if I watch all the episodes in one sitting).
I think this comes down to three things that are particularly important to us right now. First, and most obviously is time. We have loads of it, and it a 11/2 hour to 3 hour movie just doesn’t cover enough. An 8 episode series (assuming just one season) can take between 8-16 hours to watch. That’s practically a day. Second, I believe that we enjoy the consistency of characters and setting. Even in a highly dramatic and violent show where vital characters appear and disappear, there are always lynchpins to hold the viewer and to carry from episode to episode. Finally, though there ware exceptions, episodic TV is often not as intense as a one-shot movie. There may be the cumulative intensity over the course of the season, but to have that spread over numbers of episodes can blunt its force in a time when we need it. In a word, there is a reassurance to the form that isn’t present in a traditional movie.
Whether you are watching Ozark, Tiger King, or Shitts Creek, I hope there will continue being another episode to ferry you through another hour toward our eventual release.
Be safe, be strong