How do you decide what to watch? (1 Viewer)

If I never left my house and watched DVDs for the rest of my life I wouldn't have time to watch all of the collection. So, how to decide? Unless I happen to get a craving for a particular show, I sometimes pick out shows according to the guest stars that I like. Curious as to how others decide what to watch. When you have most of TV history and your fingertips, its a nice problem to have.

It's usually a highly scientific method that involves me standing in front of my shelf going "Uhhh...." for far too long, and then eventually picking something!


When it comes to watching TV shows on DVD, it depends if I'm watching alone or with my girlfriend. My girlfriend and I have gotten into a habit of watching a couple "classic" shows together ("classic" not necessarily meaning old old, just not live on the air anymore), so we'll just go with an episode of whatever we're going through. For before bedtime viewing, we're currently working through "I Love Lucy" - we're in the middle of Season 3 right now. Considering that we watch usually one episode at a time, about 3-4 nights a week, we should have a while before we have to decide on the next show. (I want it to be "Honeymooners" and she wants it to be "Dick Van Dyke" - we'll end up watching both eventually, just a question of which.) We've been going in order rather than selecting episodes at random, it's fun to watch the evolution of the show. We go through non-bedtime viewing in the same way - there are shows I've never seen before that she wants me to watch, and vice versa, so we take turns picking out a series. Earlier in the year we watched "Alias", and now we're starting with "The West Wing". Both of us talked about liking "Battlestar Galactica" (the newer version) when we first met, so I think that'll be the next one up.


When it's just me on my own, that's a little trickier. I tend to go in order rather than picking out random episodes (not to mention to save myself from decision making in the future), but I'll sometimes have a couple things going at once. I'm putting the finishing touches on the "Batman" 60s series that came out on disc late last year - I watched a whole bunch when the set arrived and then took a little break from it, and now I'm watching the last couple discs worth of episodes. I finished "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" a few weeks ago (it was something I had only seen the beginning of when it originally aired, and I finally decided to see the entire thing). I can't decide what show to do next on my own. I might go with "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" because of the new Terminator movie coming out, but I've already seen the show a couple of times so I might wait. Part of me wants to watch "Star Trek: Voyager" because it's the only Trek thing I have left that I haven't seen, but I keep remembering that I saw the pilot when it originally aired and hated it so much I never watched another episode again, so I'm not sure if I'll actually like it and if it's worth giving it a try.


When I've got things picked out and shows I'm in the middle of, it's really easy to decide what to watch. When I'm between stuff, I spend way too much time trying to decide instead of just throwing something on.

My method is pretty simple. I have a list of about 40 shows that I own, but haven't watched yet. I make my way though each show in chronological order. Once I'm done with a show it comes off the list and by then I've got a new one to replace it. However, there are some shows (like Little House On The Prairie and The Waltons) where I'll upgrade and then watch again. There are a handful of shows that I'll go though a second time (like The Sopranos and Dark Shadows), but those are few and far between. For a change of pace, I'll also throw in the occasional theatrical film.

I usually pair two (or sometimes three) shows that aired together, and watch them
in chronological order as they aired. Classic examples would be Six million Dollar Man,
and The Bionic Woman, Love Boat and Fantasy Island, as well as some comedies
that go well together like Three's Company, Happy Days, and Laverne & Shirley,
eight is enough, Charlie's Angels, Vega$. Yeah, I watch a lot of ABC shows!

There is always a very easy, pleasant, fallback position that I can take if too tired, hurried, or confused, to make a decision. And that is to flip a coin, where heads means choosing a Jean Simmons film not viewed in quite a while, and tails means playing something with Julianne Moore that has not recently been seen. At least, in either case, there will be the experience of hearing the voice and seeing the face of someone that embodies one of the purposes of movies, fantasy.

Events of the day, a sudden memory, a book I'm reading will trigger a specific viewing. A really nice summer's day requires a summery movie, Dazed and Confused, or Where the Boys Are, or A Summer Place. Reading a book on WWII necessitates a viewing The Guns of Navarone or Von Ryan's Express. Getting cut off in traffic, definately a Charles Bronson night. At the moment, because of an online course I'm taking, a lot of film noir.

Right now, I just cycle through two groups of shows that are mostly on unwatched sets I've purchased, or stuff I haven't watched in a long time. I have a half-hour group and an hour group, that I mix together. Typically, on an average night, I'll put on two half-hours (different series), back to back, followed by an hour-long episode of something else, in the order they are presented on disc (usually chronological). I try to keep the genres varied, so I'm not watching, for example, all westerns in one evening, and I don't binge-watch, unless it's a Dark Shadows (1960s) disc I've rented (which almost requires binge-watching to get through it in a timely manner).


Other than a couple of things I regularly screen on weekends, there's no set day that I watch a particular program, I get to them when I get to them. Here's what I'm going through right now--


Half-hours, mostly combos:


Leave It to Beaver and Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Zane Grey Theater and The Naked City (Season 1)

Gunsmoke (1950s) and Batman (Part 1)

Yancy Derringer and Batman (Part 2)

Barney Miller and WKRP in Cincinnati

Ultra Q and Lupin the 3rd (Late-1970s version) (Saturdays only)

Lee Marvin Presents Lawbreaker (Sundays only)


Hours:


87th Precinct

Hawaii Five-0

Combat!

Rawhide

Stoney Burke

Route 66

Mannix


Any of these can be temporarily put aside if I choose a movie instead, or am catching up with the latest episode of a modern series I've DVRed (presently, that's Halt and Catch Fire), or am binge-watching (one episode a night, but several nights in a row) some recent series on Netflix streaming (that are usually about to expire soon) or disc-by-mail rental (currently, it's Season 4 of The Shield).

Neil Brock said:

If I never left my house and watched DVDs for the rest of my life I wouldn't have time to watch all of the collection. So, how to decide? Unless I happen to get a craving for a particular show, I sometimes pick out shows according to the guest stars that I like. Curious as to how others decide what to watch. When you have most of TV history and your fingertips, its a nice problem to have.

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Neil,

I make a "retro" line up according to nights of the week. For example:

All my tv watching starts at 9 PM

Sunday-Brady Bunch followed by Giligans Island, and then Gunsmoke


Monday-MASH and Star Trek TOS


Wednesday-Bonanza, and Father Dowling Mysteries


Thursday-Welcome Back Kotter, Barney Miller, and Hawaii Five 0(original series)


Friday-The Incredible Hulk, and The Dukes Of Hazard

A hectic schedule means haphazard watching these days. Currently, most of my movie watching is work related (historical feature films are an important course component--this summer term is focused on US Civil War films). With my kids, I'm going through Batman (60s) and The Wonder Years with my 9 year old son and 13 year old daughter, respectively (started at Christmas but it's been slow going as we limit TV considerably during school months). With my wife, whatever sitcom we've DVR'd and haven't watched yet (we're still in February with Mike and Molly, though we've finished Big Bang). Alone, I've been watching House of Cards and Daredevil on Netflix (thank goodness for shorter episode counts). Soon I'll have a few weeks off for the summer--hope to fill some rainy days with stuff from the (all too big) unwatched pile.

I keep at least one season of everything I own, but haven't yet opened, easily available and will simply look over those series selecting the one that "jumps out" the most. When one season is finished I'll sometimes put the series on hiatus and start another one but sometimes I'll move on to the next season. That's all a matter of my mood when the season ends and a choice is made. It makes for lots of "ummmmm...." sessions. Watching episodes of a show I've completed (watched all available seasons) is generally done due to a hankerin' to revisit the series because it's been far too long since I've seen a episode.


Outside of that it'll be something one of the grand kids wants to watch or something I feel they *need* to see/experience based on conversations we've had or me remembering how much fun a particular series was when I was their ages.

In the past I have done the guest star thing as well picking out a favorite character actor and watching a whole night of programming featuring that actor. I recently did a Jack Cassidy night where I viewed eps of 77 Sunset Strip, Wagon Train, Cannon, Get Smart, 2 He and She eps, Columbo, and a Password appearance. I have done similar nights with other favorite character actors such as Albert Salmi and Jason Evers.

Once an month I go through the more daunting task of trying to recreate an entire night of programming based on what I would have watched if it were that date. Armed with my TV guides, proper DVD sets, "alternate" sets, and 16 mm prints, I pick out one night and put the programming together. I have found that I can recreate most nights of my preferred programming from 64-70 with little difficulty. That of course doesn't account for local shows, commercials, and shows that are just about impossible to get, but it goes pretty well and it's fun. I can even account for some of the original commercials with my 16mm prints and old commercial compilations. Sure it's not exactly the same, but who would have thought 15 years ago that something like this would even be possible.

Josh Steinberg said:

It's usually a highly scientific method that involves me standing in front of my shelf going "Uhhh...." for far too long, and then eventually picking something!


When it's just me on my own, that's a little trickier. I tend to go in order rather than picking out random episodes (not to mention to save myself from decision making in the future), but I'll sometimes have a couple things going at once. I'm putting the finishing touches on the "Batman" 60s series that came out on disc late last year - I watched a whole bunch when the set arrived and then took a little break from it, and now I'm watching the last couple discs worth of episodes. I finished "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" a few weeks ago (it was something I had only seen the beginning of when it originally aired, and I finally decided to see the entire thing). I can't decide what show to do next on my own. I might go with "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" because of the new Terminator movie coming out, but I've already seen the show a couple of times so I might wait. Part of me wants to watch "Star Trek: Voyager" because it's the only Trek thing I have left that I haven't seen, but I keep remembering that I saw the pilot when it originally aired and hated it so much I never watched another episode again, so I'm not sure if I'll actually like it and if it's worth giving it a try.


When I've got things picked out and shows I'm in the middle of, it's really easy to decide what to watch. When I'm between stuff, I spend way too much time trying to decide instead of just throwing something on.

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About Voyager: if it's a Doctor or Seven of Nine episode, odds are it's a pretty good show. Otherwise... good luck.


I mean, really... the pilot says it all. Do they not even have timed detonators in the 24th century? Even in the 1930s, bombers had a frigging alarm clock wired to dynamite! Did they lose the schematics for timers during the Romulan/Earth war of the 2150s?


Anyway, I also sometimes find it difficult to find something new to watch after finishing up a show. I've got plenty to watch, but sometimes, it's just impossible to pick something.

It always depends on my move in terms of what I watch for my entertainment. I like the fact I can run my own network and pick what I want to air on tv.

My choices either stem from 1: events happening in the world (e.g. a new Star Wars movie makes me want to watch the other ones); or more times than not, 2: some insecurity (e,g. I am missing my days as a youth when my family was whole and end up watching shows we used to watch); or 3: I get on a kick and want to watch every episode of a series in order. What determines that series probably relates to cause number 2, pining for something in the past.


Of course there is another reason: because my wife wants to watch it

For me, new purchases are watched before anything else, then I go back to which ever series I was watching. I'm trying to re-watch all of my completed series a second time. I usually choose older purchases and smaller number of seasons first then move on to larger sets. I binge watch them, some are easier to do than others.


With movies, I either pull them out for marathons (Vacation movies, Halloween, Christmas and Comic Book) or whatever I feel like watching.

Sometimes I'll watch something for pure nostalgia purposes. When Leonard Nimoy died I watched two Star Trek episodes that weekend in memory of him. And when Peter Falk died I of course had to watch Columbo that weekend. When I purchased the Saint from Shout back in April I watched the first eight episodes over two weeks or so just to break the series in and get the feel of it (great series, by the way). But usually it's the embarrassment of riches that others have referred to. I can normally make time to watch 5 hours of tv a week. With all the great shows I have collected on dvd over the past 10 years I cannot go wrong no matter what I choose.

I generally try not to purchase so much that I have an overwhelming amount of unwatched titles. For TV shows, right now I probably have the largest inventory of unwatched items I've ever owned, as I recently got good deals on Get Smart, Hill Street Blues, Batman and the BD of The Dick Van Dyke Show.


My wife and I will usually watch a 30 minute episode while eating dinner, and we have just started working our way through Get Smart after having finished WKRP in Cincinnati. We will also watch an hour long episode if we want to watch something but do not have enough time for a feature length film. Right now we are going through Hill Street Blues (currently on season 4), with the occasional Batman tossed in -- I consider this an hour long show due to the "cliffhangers".


I was considering picking up Married With Children since it is being re-released at an attractive price with its music intact, but I know I will not get to watching it for many, many months -- until we are done with Get Smart and Dick Van Dyke -- so I see no reason to buy it just to sit on a shelf.


For films, our inventory of unwatched titles is pretty low. I just bought a few items over the past couple of weeks, so we have about 5 or 6 unwatched titles. I have become much more selective on what I purchase over the past few years, and also wait for price drops before buying. I have enough to watch, so I can be patient.

I'm retiring this summer and I recently made a list of TV series which I have either in their entirety or a significant majority of episodes and I only picked ones that I've either never watched or only watched the first few episodes of. It came out to 103 anime series; 25 live-action Japanese series including lots of Ultraman and Sentai (Japanese Power Rangers) series; and 14 American live-action. (And that's not counting all the American series that I only have sample seasons from.) Some of these series have 52 or more episodes. I figured that if I watched five episodes a day for two years I might get a majority of this list viewed, but not finished.


And this doesn't include the thousands of movies I want to watch, including some very long ones. Plus, all the stuff I've seen and want to watch again!


How do I choose? If I'm not in a current phase for one genre or another (which often happens), it's painful trying to choose. On Saturday night, it was 7PM and I figured I could start one anime series and watch at least four episodes on a disc. So after a lot of consideration I took out KEY THE METAL IDOL, a sci-fi series about a robot girl who embarks on an idol career, which has seven eps. on 1 disc and I figured I'd try to watch at least four that night and then finish up the disc the next day. After the first episode, I was too tired to continue and just laid down on the couch, down for the count.


But I was tired. Still, I have to work at picking up the pace a bit.

I run my own network but stick to it so it makes the decision much easier and I like variety. So I have different shows I watch different nights of the week. Only 1 episode a week. As I get new shows I squeeze them in when a show is finished. When I actually have nothing new to add I go back and re-watch a favorite. This doesn't happen very often though. I have so many shows to watch and I only watch an episode a week as originally shown so it takes me awhile to finish a show. Don't really like binge watching. I prefer variety. I watch a dark shadows episode 5 days a week since that is how it aired. Saturday morning shows only on Saturday and Sunday Mornings.

I add an extra level of nostalgia I guess.

younger1968 said:

It always depends on my move in terms of what I watch for my entertainment. I like the fact I can run my own network and pick what I want to air on tv.

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