HBO needs to get with the times
- Thread starter Vaelic
- Start date
The experience of watching True Detective S1 once a week, and all the theorizing and philosophical rabbit holes viewers went down while anticipating the next episode, was a superior experience to binge watching on every level. The same can be said of watching The Wire weekly, or The Sopranos, etc;. Given the quality of Netflix's shows (or lack thereof, to be more specific), I think it's safe to say HBO knows what they're doing.
Netflix has yet to put out a show that can go toe-to-toe with HBO's best. Or FX's best. Or AMC's best. I'd love to binge watch a whole season of something as good as The Americans or Sharp Objects or The Good Place but Netflix hasn't found a way to get to that level yet, probably because their model encourages quantity over quality.
Netflix has plenty of good shows but it has yet to make a great one. Except maybe Bojack. And that's the price of their business model.
Netflix has plenty of good shows but it has yet to make a great one. Except maybe Bojack. And that's the price of their business model.
HBO's content and weekly release schedule works fine. I thought this thread would be about them not offering 4k streaming for their original shows and movies.
They need to up their stream quality to really keep up with Netlix.
They need to up their stream quality to really keep up with Netlix.
Nah, they don't OP.
The "one a week" method teaches you patience. I wouldn't want it going anywhere.
The GO / NOW stream quality is garbage though. They need to reconfigure that entire system to get with the times visually.
The "one a week" method teaches you patience. I wouldn't want it going anywhere.
The GO / NOW stream quality is garbage though. They need to reconfigure that entire system to get with the times visually.
Nah, as Netflix has shown, releasing all episodes at once kills discussion.
I like the batch model that Hulu's done.
I like the batch model that Hulu's done.
HBO doesn't have enough original content to release all episodes in a single go like Netflix. Netflix is churning out multiple originals on a monthly basis, they never have a gap in releases.
HBO, Showtime, Starz, whatever cable network you want to bring up, they don't have the same release output. If they released Game of Thrones all at once in April, they'd have a huge gap during their Sunday night for months before the next big show aired.
It has absolutely nothing to do with "getting with the times".
HBO, Showtime, Starz, whatever cable network you want to bring up, they don't have the same release output. If they released Game of Thrones all at once in April, they'd have a huge gap during their Sunday night for months before the next big show aired.
It has absolutely nothing to do with "getting with the times".
HBO is like coca-cola, a truly delicious beverage you can savor. Netflix is Shasta, you just guzzle it down after taking a shot of bottom shelf vodka.
Yeah seriously. You watch Insecure for 30 minutes and then you argue with motherfuckers on Twitter for two hours before calling it a night. I look forward to making that OT if no one beats me to it.
Netflix does what works for them, but it is in no way the new standard. Not to mention all the money they'd be losing.
I'm pretty sure that all of this binge-watching is harming us culturally in some way or another. Like fast food and music videos fucked up our patience and concentration.
Hell no OP! I hate the Netflix binge watch method. Show's get all hyped up and talked about for a week, than fall of the face of the planet. I love a weekly show. Gives everyone time to rewatch and digest each episode and leads to fun discussions. Can you imagine if they did Game of Thrones Netflix style? Show would be nowhere near the quality and popularity it is today. Netflix is the one who needs to get with the times.
Yeah, for most shows I agree with this.
Netflix shows are edited with binge watching in mind though. Most TV shows aren't and binge watching them would actually affect the viewing experience.
Here's the surprising fact no one likes to talk about much:
It works for Netflix shows because they are supremely less interesting ep-to-ep compared to HBO shows.
Netflix shows are made to binge watch. Each episode only gives you just enough substance to let the next one autoplay.
It works for Netflix shows because they are supremely less interesting ep-to-ep compared to HBO shows.
Netflix shows are made to binge watch. Each episode only gives you just enough substance to let the next one autoplay.
this is such a gross overgeneralization I don't even know where to begin m8
No.
For once I'm glad they're still a streaming service giving me time to consume their content. I hate this full season free-for-all that enables everyone to watch different amounts of different shows making social situations literal spoiler minefeilds.
That's part of the appeal and momentum of Game of Thrones. With each episode, and each week, audiences get to absorb and discuss the events at the same pace. This is how you build anticipation for each episode; with waiting. The hype wouldn't be near as high without the anticipation.
For once I'm glad they're still a streaming service giving me time to consume their content. I hate this full season free-for-all that enables everyone to watch different amounts of different shows making social situations literal spoiler minefeilds.
That's part of the appeal and momentum of Game of Thrones. With each episode, and each week, audiences get to absorb and discuss the events at the same pace. This is how you build anticipation for each episode; with waiting. The hype wouldn't be near as high without the anticipation.
Wait for the season to be over and binge it.
Boom. Done.
(Weekly is the superior method of discussing TV shows, anyway.)
I think Netflix will switch to the HBO (aka "everything else") model instead of the other way around.
Netflix has done a good job of making a season launch an event - that weekend, we're all binging. But it's junk food - you stare at the TV for a weekend and move on. Stranger Things S2 was over in a weekend, we chatted a bit about it, and then you wait 18 months for more. HBO does a better job of making every episode an event. People are hanging on threads together for months.
I like instant gratification as much as the next guy but I can see the dramatic value of having time to think on what you saw and anticipate what comes next instead of waiting on a 10-second countdown timer for the next answer.
Netflix has done a good job of making a season launch an event - that weekend, we're all binging. But it's junk food - you stare at the TV for a weekend and move on. Stranger Things S2 was over in a weekend, we chatted a bit about it, and then you wait 18 months for more. HBO does a better job of making every episode an event. People are hanging on threads together for months.
I like instant gratification as much as the next guy but I can see the dramatic value of having time to think on what you saw and anticipate what comes next instead of waiting on a 10-second countdown timer for the next answer.
There's actually something lost on binge watching shows. Yes, it's a lot of fun I would agree but what you don't get is all the banter and discussion between episodes about what different things mean.
"The times", of couse, being the way one company does it and literally no one else.
Also, weekly shows are way better than just throwing everything online at the same time. Better for discussion and a better watching experience overall. As multiple people have said posting everything online is great if you want instant gratification and allows you to watch it all in one go over the weekend, but it doesn't really stay with you. It's just 'Okay, that's done, what's next?'.
Also, weekly shows are way better than just throwing everything online at the same time. Better for discussion and a better watching experience overall. As multiple people have said posting everything online is great if you want instant gratification and allows you to watch it all in one go over the weekend, but it doesn't really stay with you. It's just 'Okay, that's done, what's next?'.
I don't know what "times" you are referring to but 99% of TV content is released serially instead of all at once.
They're not wrong though. Critics have been less forgiving for it as time goes on. The Netflix shows are notorious for dragging out plots to be longer than they need to be. Very few can do episodes in a meaningful way (OITNB does a good job here). The comment you replied to may be a bit broad in statement but it's a really common criticism right now. Especially for streaming shows.
This poster gets it.
Every show's initial release should be week to week.
The way Netflix releases their shows is one of the reasons why I feel discussions feel empty as everyone's watching it at a different pace and people trying to avoid spoilers as much as possible. No room for speculations and guessing what happens next which is part of the fun as you immediately watch the next episode immediately. It can also hurt the viewing experience overall also because it's a lot of content that needs to be processed so a lot of things won't be as clear, details that are missed in the show.
I thought this was gonna be about their UI. Horrendous, it is fine while playing, but navigation, painful. I haven't even succeeded using their favorite thing or whatever, I often need to word search to find the series I was watching earlier. Recently watched is a fucking joke. Shows some things, does not show other stuff.
Putting every episode out at once is occasionally nice, but IMO it really sucks at the end of the day. It makes episodes run together, it makes a lot of Netflix shows feel very samey, the pacing is really fucked.
Give me a week to week build of like Succession over anything Netflix has ever put out. If you NEED it all right now, wait the 10 weeks until the show is over. HBO has it 1000% correct.
Give me a week to week build of like Succession over anything Netflix has ever put out. If you NEED it all right now, wait the 10 weeks until the show is over. HBO has it 1000% correct.
I prefer to wait for the show to be done then binge it but I don't mind HBO doing the week to week thing. Plenty of other stuff to catch up on.
Catching the end of Sharp Objects, I thought this would be some prude complaining about HBO's sex scenes.
No thanks, I hate when Netflix puts the entire season out. Its like within 1 goddamn day people are online posting spoilers everywhere.
I prefer the weekly series. The whole binge a tv show thing is a fad and probably really bad for the industry. Netflix is going to keep raising prices and introducing advertisements because their whole model is "pay me monthly for something you'll finish in a few days". So they keep pumping out a lot of trash to keep people busy.
There is nothing wrong with either model. We don't have to force everybody to use the same model. It's really that simple.
I've really come to hate the idea of binge watching. I remember when the first season of Stranger Things came out, and I binged it, I thought it'd become one of my favorite shows of all time. Then when season 2 was getting ready to go up, I realized I hardly remembered much of the first season because I was done with it so fast and there were new shows that had been needed to be binged just to keep up with the conversation. It's just not for me. I prefer the week to week episode.
I really don't care for the all at once model with the vast majority of dramas. comedies, where the nature of the show means you don't really need to discuss it week by week? sure. documentary series? maybe.
Honestly I don't think the week to week discussion of a show at least as it is commonly done on forums excites me all that much either. I don't mind a little down time to potentially reflect on something myself but discussing something like Westworld on a week by week basis or Lost tends to actually detract for me from a show as you have to navigate potential spoilers, fan theories, etc.
Not saying I don't occasionally do it, but I don't think it actually brings any more joy to me. The only real benefit is that it tends to segment the discussion which is useful as binge watching sometimes focuses the discussion only on the end result rather than the journey.
Not saying I don't occasionally do it, but I don't think it actually brings any more joy to me. The only real benefit is that it tends to segment the discussion which is useful as binge watching sometimes focuses the discussion only on the end result rather than the journey.
Oh I thought this was about how HBO still has standard definition-only channels. Seriously in 2018, why aren't all channels HD?
Binge watching new series just makes you forget all of the smaller details that cumulate to make something truly great and then you're only left remembering the big plot points that might not have even impressed. No time to think about what you just watched in a finer detail or build any excitement for what you think might happen next. It cheapens the impact the content could have had. After 24 hours spoilers are everywhere and you have to avoid the internet if you actually had responsibilities and couldn't lock yourself in a room that day. And then you have to deal with people at work talking about stuff out loud like everyone else in the office had nothing to do that day and watched it all... I'd rather Netflix/Hulu/Amazon not dump everything in a single day mostly for that reason alone.
But yeah, at least I can control myself. I'll only binge watch old series I've already seen and have a 2ish episode a day limit on anything new depending on its length. It's just better that way.
But yeah, at least I can control myself. I'll only binge watch old series I've already seen and have a 2ish episode a day limit on anything new depending on its length. It's just better that way.