Luckily for me, while I was checking in materials in my volunteer job at the library, the season five DVDs were returned. It was all I could do to keep myself from yelling, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” So, without skipping an evening, I was able to continue feeding my addiction by watching yet another episode of the bloody funny Doc Martin last night.
Watching multiple episodes of a TV series in rapid succession is called “binge watching.” Some of you may remember the days of “appointment TV.” You might have raced home to watch your favorite Sunday night show at 8pm. I remember doing this for the Ed Sullivan Show when I was in high school. I would do the same now for Downton Abbey, but there really is no need because of our ability to record shows or simply watch a show anytime “On Demand.” Now we can control what we watch and when we watch it 24/7. Some people really "binge" and watch a marathon of many episodes in one day.I learned about the craziness of binge watching while volunteering at the library. Wild-eyed people would come up to the desk saying that they couldn’t find the second season DVDs of Breaking Bad or True Blood to name just a couple. If I told them the DVD was out on loan, they would then ask if I could find it at another county library. Then could I put a hold the DVD while they dashed over to get it. Not that they were obsessed or anything.
Now I get it. I am totally immersed in the little Cornwall (fictional) village of Portwenn where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Each character in PBS’s Doc Martin series is richly developed: from Bert Large, the over-sized plumber to P C Penhale, the clueless police officer. Of course, the ever-so-blunt Doc Martin and lovely Louisa are my favorites. Interesting how the whole village comes to love the curmudgeonly doctor over time.
Well, I’m off to watch episode two of season five. The library has season six, but will there be a season seven? What will I binge watch next? I’m not sure, but I may have to Call the Midwife.
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| Portwenn (Port Isaac), Cornwall |
4 comments:
I've been bitten by the binge watching bug. I can't get enough of The Big Bang Theory.
I like Big Bang Theory too, but I have just seen an episode here or there. It was the same for Doc Martin until I binged on it. It is so much better watched in the proper sequence.
I love Doc Martin, and I follow a bunch of other shows that are on CD or streaming, but I prefer to dole them out to myself a few at a time. I feel that most mass media is tedious and cloying in large doses, so I'll keep my favorites spaced out. I know, how old fashioned can you be!
Good point, Marti, I forgot about streaming videos. So adding a laptop to the mix, we choose, what, when and WHERE we watch our favorite shows. I generally watch only one or sometimes two episodes a night. It's like watching a bedtime story chapter by chapter.
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