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Is Dropping a Season in Two Chunks the Worst of Both Worlds?

I prefer

  • One Drop: all at once

    Votes: 130 42.8%

  • Two Drops: give me a little build up between the two parts

    Votes: 11 3.6%

  • Weekly Drops: I like to disect & digest every episode for a week before watching the next

    Votes: 146 48.0%

  • Random Drops: surprise me

    Votes: 2 0.7%

  • Neither I watch tv shows when the cable channel happens to have the on; What is "streeming"?

    Votes: 1 0.3%

  • I don't watch shows, just Thor: The Dark World

    Votes: 14 4.6%
  • Total voters
    304
FliX

FliX

Master of the Reality Stone
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
9,876
Metro Detroit
For the record, I greatly prefer the OG Netflix model of just dumping a season in one go. I want to watch a show at my own leisure when I happen to have time and the desire to do so, not on a weekly schedule.
Now I realize many people prefer the weekly drops for hype/discussion/etc reasons...

However the recent trend of dropping shows in two chunks, e.g. Ozark or Better Call Saul just seems like a bad compromise between the two that is somehow worse than both alternatives...
What say you?
 
TripleBee

TripleBee

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,674
Vancouver
The worst is weekly episodes but then also a mid-season break.

I actually don't mind seasons being split in 2 big dumps.
 
Joe

Joe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,618
I agree. I know some people hate the big drops, but I love being able to watch a thing all at once. Stranger things season 4 was awesome, but I hate that I have to wait a month to finish it. Same with Better Call Saul.

I get that there's drawbacks to the binge-release model, as far as the whole cultural conversation goes, but I don't care about that too much. I just wanna watch the show.
 

mrmoose

Member
Nov 13, 2017
21,201
Why is it worse than one dump? If you want to watch it all in one go, watch it after the second dump...
 
Astro Cat

Astro Cat

Member
Mar 29, 2019
7,745
It pisses me off with Better Call Saul and Stranger Things. If it's a break for production fair enough but they're ready to go. At least do weekly.
 
jwk94

jwk94

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,424
I prefer weekly but split dumps isn't bad as long as we know when to expect the other half.
 
Liam Allen-Miller

Liam Allen-Miller

Member
Nov 2, 2017
6,811
Shibuya
I don't really think it's any worse than weekly for my tastes. The show's being held back artificially either way, with Disney's meant to foster aggressive wom marketing and Netflix' method meant to [I don't know what it's meant to do]. Disney's does feel more calculating and socially engineered to me, for what it's worth. I want to say that I prefer the two chunks method, but I think my opinion is coloured by the shows split in this way being way better than what D+ ever puts out weekly lol.

I can't help but feel like at the end of the day I just don't care. Best way to enjoy a show is whenever is best for you at whatever pace is best for you, so I still think Netflix' full dumps is peak.
 
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Sidebuster

Sidebuster

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,408
California
Streaming services need to try out something like one episode a day to 3 a week. but once a week is best for profit, so that'll never happen.
 
FinFunnels

FinFunnels

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,610
Seattle
I used to like weekly because I liked participating in discussions about every episode

But I don't have the time or energy for that anymore, so I usually just wait until the show has finished or there are a lot of episodes I can watch at my own leisure.
 

Deleted member 11637

Oct 27, 2017
18,204
Nah.

The best release strategy is the Hulu/HBO Max approach: three episodes for a mini-binge, then weekly.
 
Kalor

Kalor

Resettlement Advisor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,630
Astro Cat said:
It pisses me off with Better Call Saul and Stranger Things. If it's a break for production fair enough but they're ready to go. At least do weekly.
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To be fair with Better Call Saul it was split for production reasons since they had to shutdown at one point. So they're still working on the final episodes.
 
Seesaw15

Seesaw15

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,819
Nah a split for a good show is the best of both worlds. Ozark didn't because the last season was bad and no one liked the ending.

Stranger Things season 4 gets to be a binge and have cultural conversation for a month.
 
snausages

snausages

Member
Feb 12, 2018
10,360
I've never watched anything that did this 'chunks' thing. I mean Better Call Saul has a mid season break but it's still a weekly show (also I assume it had something to do with Bob's health scare?)

Now and then tho I like to watch the shit out of something and take a break, I don't think 'chunks' would annoy me too much
 
thisismadness

thisismadness

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,448
I prefer the single dump.. but I still think the Stranger Things model is far better than a weekly release.

Better Call Saul's schedule is trash.
 
Astro Cat

Astro Cat

Member
Mar 29, 2019
7,745
Kalor said:
To be fair with Better Call Saul it was split for production reasons since they had to shutdown at one point. So they're still working on the final episodes.
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That might be true but they're already all finished or they wouldn't have started airing the season. I'm pretty sure AMC confirmed it.
 
Hollywood Duo

Hollywood Duo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
42,042
2 parts weekly is worse or the old network way of multiple month long breaks through like a 10 month run
 

Deleted member 43

Account closed at user request
Banned
Oct 24, 2017
9,271
Sidebuster said:
Streaming services need to try out something like one episode a day to 3 a week. but once a week is best for profit, so that'll never happen.
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Hulu and Apple TV+ just did two big releases at one episode a day for a week, and HBO Max releases a bunch of their shows two episodes a week.

So there is a lot of experimentation going on.
 
Zippedpinhead

Zippedpinhead

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,740
In general, I prefer weekly.

However, I REALLY like it when the first two or three episodes drop on day 1, and then weekly releases after that.

I get a nice little binge at the beginning, but then can build hype weekly AND tell other people about it without saying "oh yeah its a 12 episode series".

I find people are a lot more accepting of recommendations (from me at least) when the show is still airing, as opposed to being a random full season drop
 
Mortemis

Mortemis

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
7,416
Genryu said:
I fucking hate what Netflix has done with Stone Ocean.
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preach. ain't nothing worse than "here's a chunk, we won't let you know when you're getting anything else for 6 months"

I prefer weekly, but if you're going for the binge model dump it all at once
 
Slayven

Slayven

Never read a comic in his life
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
93,180
Yeah, it is annoying. But I think it is deisgned for you have to go back and rebinge
 
Sheepinator

Sheepinator

Member
Jul 25, 2018
28,029
Whatever the service chooses to do, makes no difference to me. I watch at my own pace regardless. If my pace is faster than the drop rate of episodes, then I wait to start it. I'll start the latest season of Better Call Saul in a few weeks and get to the finale the same time as everyone else.

I'm not surprised streamers have been moving away from all-at-once drops. It makes no business sense at all. It encourages subscriber churn and discourages hype, as people can't join conversations until they're finished it all, and of course by then the people who binged it all on day one have moved on from the discussion to something else anyway.
 
Zeliard

Zeliard

Member
Jun 21, 2019
10,948
I remember this was a huge thing with the final Sopranos and Breaking Bad seasons.

To me it's just like, whatever, honestly. If I'm following it week-to-week like I was those shows and I'm involved in the on-going discussions and theorizing, it's really annoying, but ultimately it's like eh.
 
Zebesian-X

Zebesian-X

Member
Dec 3, 2018
19,766
Week to Week is the ideal for me. I've enjoyed having a week to digest each episode of Barry and Atlanta these past couple months, gotten a lot more out of them than I would have otherwise. Binge is fine too, I ruined my sleep schedule w ST4.

Splitting up the season is the worst. It's gotta be a consistent cadence of drops or everything all at once 😤
Matt said:
It's pretty much entirely for production and budgeting reasons. It's cheaper to make one season of 14 episodes than two season of 7 each.
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I've always wondered about this. Feels like they're just squeezing extra episodes out of these actors without having to renegotiate seasonal contracts. Not sure if that sort of loophole would even be permitted though
 
lunarworks

lunarworks

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,177
Toronto
Netflix dropped the first half of JoJo Part 6, the hype died shortly after people binged it, and no one knows when the second half is coming.

What a way to kill a series in one go.
 
Sieffre

Sieffre

Member
Oct 27, 2017
785
United States
I hate how often shows end on cliffhangers, so I refuse to watch them until the entire season is complete.

I watched the first half of Masters of the Universe Revelations, and didn't even know the second half dropped until months later. When I got to it, I had to rewatch the first half to remind myself what happened.

I was already tired of The Flash because of how awful the show had become, but this season they took like a 3-month hiatus in the middle. It's been 7 months since the season started, and it's STILL going. Fuck that.
 
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alphacat

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,932
Joe said:
I agree. I know some people hate the big drops, but I love being able to watch a thing all at once. Stranger things season 4 was awesome, but I hate that I have to wait a month to finish it. Same with Better Call Saul.

I get that there's drawbacks to the binge-release model, as far as the whole cultural conversation goes, but I don't care about that too much. I just wanna watch the show.
Click to expand...
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This
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,386
While there's fun to be had in weekly discussions, the trade off of having to wait (X) number of days / weeks to watch the completed & ready to publish content isn't worth the discussions. I'd rather just have it all at once, discuss it all at once, and move on.
 
Coolluck

Coolluck

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,414
Weekly in a row is best. Old TV with breaks all the time for holidays, events, and just because fuck you was the worst. All at once dumps or the Ozark dumps are bad too. Same issue of people talking about it for a weekend or so and then nada.
 
BringBackSonics

BringBackSonics

Member
Oct 27, 2017
45,262
Seattle
Zippedpinhead said:
In general, I prefer weekly.

However, I REALLY like it when the first two or three episodes drop on day 1, and then weekly releases after that.

I get a nice little binge at the beginning, but then can build hype weekly AND tell other people about it without saying "oh yeah its a 12 episode series".

I find people are a lot more accepting of recommendations (from me at least) when the show is still airing, as opposed to being a random full season drop
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Honestly I think that's my favorite as well. 2 episodes at drop and then weekly
 
andrew

andrew

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,906
FliX said:
However the recent trend of dropping shows in two chunks, e.g. Ozark or Better Call Saul just seems like a bad compromise between the two that is somehow worse than both alternatives...
What say you?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's not really a recent trend. Breaking Bad's "final season" came out in 2012 and 13. Sopranos final season in 2006 and 2007.

and even beyond that, shows airing continuously for entire 10-13 episode seasons is a much newer development than the way TV worked for decades, where there would be long breaks in the weekly schedule for mid-season holiday breaks or simply preempting due to bigger televised events.
Zebesian-X said:
I've always wondered about this. Feels like they're just squeezing extra episodes out of these actors without having to renegotiate seasonal contracts. Not sure if that sort of loophole would even be permitted though
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It's exactly what they're doing. It's a permitted loophole when the actors (and their representation) end up agreeing to it, in the interest of not drawing things out with negotiations. plus then the actors are under contract for less time and can pursue other opportunities sooner
 
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