6/20/2013

Pop Culture Thursday: Bingeworthy

Remember the Seinfeld episode where they stop making Elaine's preferred birth control method, the sponge? And suddenly she gets a lot more picky about who she sleeps with, because she's hoarding sponges? And for a nano-second "sponge-worthy" became a way to describe a potential partner?

Being married, of course, removes this question from my life. I know I'm going to sleep with the same sponge-worthy guy every night. Er, not that I have to worry about the whole sponge issue anymore.

Anyway. Thanks to Netflix and Hulu, though, there's bingeworthy. As in, is the show bingeworthy? Should I wait until the season (or run) is over and binge watch the episodes? Should I catch up on that show I never started by binge watching it this summer? Or will watching ten episodes in a row make me hate it?

For example, we all know I love me some Real Housewives shows. Especially New Jersey, where not only is there drama galore, I get to look for locations I recognize. They are escapist trash; not stories that I care about. In fact, I didn't even binge on episodes last summer, when a Bravo marathon coincided with my being on post-tonsillectomy pain medication. . . and I actually enjoyed both Sex and the City movies during the same period. So, I think we can all agree that the Real Housewives, while entertaining, are not bingeworthy.

Downton Abbey, on the other hand, is totally bingeworthy. I watched the first and second seasons last summer and was so disappointed when it was over that I watched them again. Currently, I have a bunch of shows to binge watch listed in my Netflix queue. And I'm not really excited about any of them. Which makes sense for Friday Night Lights and the West Wing, because I've already watched them all more than once. But shouldn't I be more excited to watch Breaking Bad? Or Sons of Anarchy? Or Arrested Development?

I'm not excited for any of them. I was most excited for Mad Men, which I'm still in the process of bingewatching every time Hot Guy has a show. But I do other stuff when I'm watching it, like read web sites and check my email and what not. It hasn't grabbed me. I'm almost done with season two and while I do plan to catch up and continue watching the show, Game of Thrones it ain't.



What shows do you think are bingeworthy? Got any suggestions for me?


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