Welcome back to another week of Questions of the Day. I hope you all had great weekends. Today's question comes from Bob who asks.
"Do let yourself watch the first season of a show, or do you wait until it is more established?"
Interesting question, that I'm looking forward to seeing your responses in the comments especially in this age when tv shows are given very little time to establish themselves before getting cancelled.
Me personally, yes, I watch a show as soon as it airs, rather than waiting to see what happens with it. Yes, it's given me a few disappointments when it gets cancelled too soon, Firefly, Dark Skies, Drive, Smith etc. The reason I do is to a) support the show and b) it allows me to join in the conversations here at SpoilerTV and other sites after the show has aired. I would probably not have found great shows like Rubicon if I had not.
So what about you? Do you wait or watch immediately? Sound off in the comments.
You can see previous Questions of the Day here.
I definitely watch first seasons of shows. It's not worked out well sometimes, but I started in season one with a lot of shows I love - Supernatural, Chuck, Mike and Molly, H50, HIMYM, and probably more that I can't think of.
ReplyDeleteThere are other shows I didn't watch until they were over, or late in the run. (Friends, NCIS - which I started watching in season six, etc.)
Depends. There are a few shows that I just had to see as soon as they aired - The Walking Dead to name the latest example or Game of Thrones to name one of the next - but quite often I tend to wait at least a few episodes in or even the whole season and decide then based on reviews and other opinions.
ReplyDeleteSadly I rarely discover great shows on my own. I'm told about them through family members and friends and they're usually a few seasons in by the time I know about them. If it weren't for my brother I wouldn't have discovered Fringe as early as I did (and that would have been an absolute shame).
ReplyDeleteIt depends, some shows I simply can't wait. I will watch Game of Thrones as soon as possible. I waited until the 3rd season of NCIS, and didn't need to. Just don't want to go thru another Firelfy.
ReplyDeleteOh wow...I haven't thought about Dark Skies in so long! It was so good! Wish they would re-boot that somehow. There are some shows that I know right off the bat that I'm going to love, like Fringe, so I will watch them immediately. I saw one commercial for Fringe and knew it was right up my alley, so I've watched every episode religiously since the season one premiere. Some other shows have taken me a while to get into, like Bones. I only recently started watching it and to be honest, I'm still kind of 'meh' about it. My other two favorite shows were The X-Files and LOST and I got into them by season two, though not intentionally. For some reason, I didn't hear too much about LOST, but it sounded interesting, so I bought Season 1 on DVD. The X-Files started in 1993(?) when I was 9 and had no clue about what was on TV and when, but obviously by age 10 I was a cultured child with superior taste. ;)
ReplyDeleteI discovered many great series before they were broadcast here, in France: Fringe, FlashForward, Lie to me ... watching the first season; but I also discovered some series in France, like NCIS ( it was about season 3 ) ; Desperate Housewives ( it was season 1 in France ) ... and now, I follow the new seasons at the same time as Americans :) Another good reason to love English lol
ReplyDeleteYes, I will. Sure it is quite interesting to see quickly several season like I did with True blood in January this year. But if the story is interesting or I want to see my favourite actors I'll give it a try.
ReplyDeleteBut actually there are other shows that I discovered many time after they were broadcast : 24, LOST ... The good thing is that I didn't have to wait until next season, I had all of them lol ! In fact, before discovering ( and love ! ) those 2 shows, I thought they weren't good, and I said " a [bad]show like LOST last 8 seasons damned ! " LOL but when I watched the first episode I said " that's pretty good, let's watch another one!" and in
ReplyDeletesorry for the end of the comment I was too fast lol I wanted to say that finally I just LOVED both shows :D
ReplyDeleteIn other words, to allow myself to get attached, only to grieve when it's cancelled? No, that's not a factor. I might not watch a show until I hear more about it, read reviews and all. My experience has been the same as other commenters have shared, I just don't always discover shows until they've been on for a while and there's been publicity or word of mouth. However, I did watch The Event from the beginning, because there was enough information before the first airing and it looked like something I'd like. I didn't hear about The Walking Dead until the third episode and jumped in then, and had no trouble catching up because of reruns. My favorite show now is The Good Wife, but I didn't start watching until mid-year one. I took my time getting into Lost, because I was afraid I'd get obsessed and waste all my time. Well, that eventually happened anyway.......
ReplyDeletedefinitely, if the premise of the show is interesting enough for me then I watch the first season to decide whether to keep watching or not .. sometimes when I'm not too certain of a show's destiny I avoid it for sometime & decide later to catch up (Dexter, HIMYM .. those are examples of shows that worked really well for me after some years) but sometimes in the middle of a first season I get bored or dissatisfied that I can't watch after that first season, worst thing, is feeling it after the pilot x( (Breaking Bad, Damages, Hellcats, Off the Map & Parks & Rec are such shows)
ReplyDeleteI watch a show from the very beginning. I was dying for something new and refreshing anyways, when The Defenders came along. I missed out on the last six years of long running shows that came and gone.
ReplyDeleteI passed on Raising Hope, $#*! My Dad Says and Mike and Molly to the hour-long shows but quickly picked up interest over Christmas. That alone speaks to their strengths.
I watch shows the old way. I want to give my VCR a break so I tune into The Cape, Harry's Law, NCIS, Bones, Fringe, Stargate Universe, Smallville on a regular basis, with Castle, No Ordinary Family, CSI waiting in the wings in rotation. Reruns are great for that. And then there are movies on TV.
No, too much first season pain already :/
ReplyDeleteI have seen the first season of pretty much all the shows I watch except for Parks and Recreation. I first saw the pilot when it originally aired and I thought it sucked so I gave up on that season. Then, just before the third season began, I watched season 2 and fell in love. I don;t wanna watch that first season so I don't ruin it for myself again
ReplyDeleteYes, I do.
ReplyDeleteAnd Rubicon was way too incredible to end that way :(
I generally don't hear about shows until they've already become popular, not because I'm unwilling to risk first season pain, but because I generally only watch TV shows which have been recommended to me. The only exception (very, very happy exception) to that rule is 'Supernatural', of which I picked up the first season on DVD on a whim. Other than that, I don't really have time to be sussing out new TV shows, so I tend to let others do the hard work for me, and then I take a look if I hear enough good things about it.
ReplyDeleteYeah sort of if I force myself. I'll try anything once but I'm what you would call picky when it comes to tv if it's fairly clean and all that. And exciting. Then I'll give it a shot and I like to be surprised when it turns out great. :)
ReplyDeleteSame here. I didn't discover 24 till season 6 and heroes till season 3 and lost after it ended and I adored all three.
ReplyDelete:) I actually had some prejudice about Lost until I watched the first episode, long time after it ended and loved the show finally :D
ReplyDeleteSame for 24, I am currently following, I discovered it very soon, and after watching the very first episode, I said " damned I need the next one " lol
That came out wrong and looks like I meant it was a waste of time. In NO WAY was it. Every minute of Lost was great and enhanced my life. I just meant I could tell the show was compelling and knew once I started I would fall head over heels, which did happen :)
ReplyDeleteditto same story for me. :)
ReplyDeleteI try to catch every show that sounds even remotely interesting to me in the pilot stage. Then of the shows I have found I like enough to keep watching, I look at ratings and I archive those with the lowest ratings . That way I can still enjoy the series, but I do not get so into the series and face disappointment if it's cancelled. Plus the beginning of the season is so busy with so many shows to try... it let's me have more time to try other series.
ReplyDeleteThere are exceptions, Rubicon was one. Some I like so much that even though I know they will be cancelled, I watch because they are just that good.
I usually start watching from the beginning, depending on advance reviews and/or whether I like someone in the cast. Sometime I stick with it throughout the season, sometimes I give up after a week or two. The main exception would be NCIS; which I picked up in 2008.
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeletedepends on the publicity. often tend to find while flicking then have to go back
ReplyDeleteNormally, if I hear of a new show I will watch it from the start but often I just switch channels randomly and see a new show for the first time and I just love it
ReplyDeleteIf I watch it on tv wherever it's up to and am really enjoying it (this is what happened with supernatural) then I'll go back and watch from the very start.
But in aus we don't get access to many shows so often I hear reviews from others and then go watch the show
Nowadays, I wait around for the show to air atleast a few episodes to join in, especially in network shows as most new shows (non-procedural) on network end up being canceled in one season or two. The show that I watched from the beginning without waiting around to see its fate was The Event as I was really impressed with the promos and the show seemed promising. The show hasn't delivered as much as I expected, mostly in the writing department (the writing is really terrible); during the hiatus I have all but forgotten about the show and I am very confident the show will not return for another season, but I will watch it till the season ends anyway.
ReplyDeleteI find it better nowadays to watch cable shows, as they usually get renewed and it pays to keep yourself invested in the show (I hate it when I start watching a show only to know that it's gonna be taken off because enough 18-49 year olds aren't tuning in for the first broadcast). All cable shows I have started to watch are renewed and are doing great.
I am however going to watch Johnathan Nolan and J. J. Abrams's 'Person of Interest' and J. J. Abrams's 'Alcatraz' from the beginning as I think they are really promising.
ReplyDelete