TV Watching : Entertainment or Accomplishment?

“We are living in a golden age of TV,” says pretty much everyone you know who has a Netflix account. And they’re right. There is a glut of shows that are not only watchable, but they consistently achieve the highest form of entertainment being produced today. And these uber-shows are so available! They are so immediately available that sometimes it takes me an hour to figure out which one of the many listed on my queue (is it even called a queue anymore?) that I’m going to commit to next. I have found myself wracked with anxiety as the credits of the final episode of a show I have been watching start to roll, knowing that I have to decide which show to commit to next. Because I have so many that I HAVE to watch. Yes. I HAVE to.

When did watching television evolve from being an entertainment to being an accomplishment? “Hi, my name is Jay, I have a BFA from Emerson College and I’m all caught up on Peaky Blinders.” It’s true!! (Well, not the Peaky Blinders part! Only on season 2! Don't tell me what happens!!) I can envision that being my quick intro for some panel of experts that I will be sitting on in an imaginary future where people might care about what I have to say. Or if I weren’t married (I am though, sorry ladies) [(and gents)], I could see this being on my Tindr profile: “I’m a Libra, I have a cat and I just finished Orange Is The New Black. I’m only three episodes in on Justified, however, so spoilers need not apply!! [fingers in ears] LALALALALALALA!” 

TV shows have become such current events in the lives of my friends that I’ve noticed a few times they’re the only things we talk about. And I don’t even mean that in a “my friends and I have lost the ability to talk” kind of way. It’s just so literally on our minds because we are all “doing our best” to finish these shows. We are all forging ahead with the same goal: to accomplish the watching of all of them. I sometimes feel more judged on which shows I’ve CHOSEN to watch than I do on whom I’m supporting for president (don’t worry, HC). “Oh, you hate Sleepy Hollow huh? This from the guy who can’t stop watching, Gotham!?”

So my DVR has become, not a variety of options for those times when I’m in the mood for entertainment, but a “To Do” list.  When items wind up on a “To Do” list, they inherently become a chore, something that HAS to get done. And you know what? When I check something off of that list, when I erase it from the list? It feels good. Just like when I cross off “laundry” from a regular “To Do” list, it feels like an accomplishment. It feels like I got something done.

But did I actually accomplish anything? By watching a TV show from beginning to end, did I improve my life? Do I really want to answer that question? Honestly, who gives a shit? These new shows are often well crafted pieces of art that give you that same feeling upon finishing that you might get from a great book. They spark your imagination and keep you wanting more and, if done right, will create an ending that you’ll discuss for years to come. I think it’s worth it.  

But when does it end? It used to be that you would hear of a new TV show for months before it aired and the anticipation would be electric. Now, when I drive down the same streets I drive down every week, I see a new billboard each time, advertising yet another new show from Netflix that I’ve never heard a whisper of, and most of the time it’ll be available in a few days thereafter. And so I’ll pull over (because I’m not an asshole), tap on my Netflix app and add it to my Queue. Because I’ve now come to trust Netflix, as I do HBO, in that, if they produce something, I am going to give it a shot. They have proven that they are smart, competent and interested in making good TV over making profitable TV.

And now that Hulu, Amazon, TV LAND for Christ’s sake (Chrissake? Christssake?) have jumped on the content bandwagon with this same mantra of making excellent entertainment, it’s really starting to become too much. These studios are becoming too prolific. For example, I just watched the season 2 cliffhanger-finale of Pan Handle on Epix. If you know what I’m talking about, then you’re a liar because that show doesn’t exist but just for a second, you thought it did. Because it’s conceivable there are a variety of shows out there that you’ve never heard of that are way better Gotham (Just stop watching it, JAY!).

Anyway, this is a happy problem. I don’t want to seem like I’m ranting about something I dislike. I think I’m actually ranting about something that I’m afraid that I don’t dislike. As you may recall from a previous post, I worry about wasting time (fuck you Candy Crush), time that I could be spending on more productive ventures and adventures. This worry leads me down a worry hole that bottoms out at parenting. I want to set a great example for my kid so he grows up looking for things to discover and explore, not on the couch, but in the world. The other day, I found myself lamenting this very fact and was appalled after I pondered how much TV my kid watches. I explained this to my cousin who now recently has had a kid of her own. I was just talking about how I was worried that he would grow up and watch too much TV as an adult, because of the amount that I’ve let him watch as a young child, to which she replied, “who cares? That’s what I do!” And I found myself completely unable to argue with that point because as it turns out that is also, as I’m discovering, in this “golden age” of TV, what I do as well.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get going because I have 9 episodes of Penny Dreadful to accomplish.