How many TV shows do you have sitting unwatched on your DVR? How many movies?
Don't know about anyone else, but I have entire seasons and multi-part miniseries gathering electronic dust on my DVR, probably taking up billions of 1s and 0s.
While I eventually get around to watching all of them, it may take months before I open the first one.
Shawn RyanThis past week, I watched the eight-episode miniseries for Stephen King's "11.22.63." It originally aired in February 2016. I didn't record it then, but it has been sitting on my DVR for more than three months.
"I've got to get around to watching that," I'd tell myself. Then the lawn would need to be mowed or the floors mopped or the laundry done and whoosh! - "11.22.63" would vanish from my mind.
(As I get older, I find that I'm more easily distracted. I believe it comes from circling the drain age-wise; as you get closer and closer, you start spinning faster and faster, and getting more and more dizzy and confused. Just a hypothesis.)
While "11.22.63" is gone, I still have Season 2 of "Outcast" and Season 1 of "American Gods" waiting to be watched. (If you detect a horror/fantasy/science fiction cast to my TV watchings, you're not incorrect.)
One of my other problems is that binge-watching is impossible for me. I can watch one, maybe two episodes of a show, then I must get up and do something (see "circling the drain" above).
For instance, I've watched most of the five seasons of "The Wire," although it has taken me more than a year and I've still got a season and a half to go. And yes, it is hard to keep up with what I've already seen, especially when a show has as many twists, turns and characters as "The Wire."
I can record a single episode of a show and watch it, no problem; so, perhaps my main issue is the commitment it takes to watch several episodes. I'm wary. Suppose I watch three episodes before I realize that the show reeks? I've wasted three hours with nothing to show for it but three wasted hours.
What's also true - and maybe a tad odd - is that these recorded shows are about the only television I watch these days. There are a few programs I make an effort to see when they first come on - "The Walking Dead," "Preacher," "Legion," "Jeopardy!" - but that's about it, be it broadcast or cable.
So that leads to the question: If recorded shows are all I watch, why don't I watch them? What's wrong with me? My bloated DVR is wondering, too.
Contact Shawn Ryan at mshawnryan@gmail.com.