There's too many fucking shows to watch, how do you decide?

[M. Wallace]

I'm currently watching around 4 different shows and I've been told by people irl and online to watch this show and that show...there's just too much.

I tend to give a new show about a 15 minute grace period before I say "i'm in" or "fuck off". How do you decide?

 

[hiredhand]

By ignoring them all and just watching films. I haven't watched a drama series that is not a limited or a mini series since Mad Men ended.

 

[Speevy]

I watch the show for 10 minutes. There are two things which determine whether I like a show, characters and tone.

If a show is too serious or goofy, I'm out. If I don't like the characters, I'm out. Characters need to be big and memorable. Generally speaking the best way to make me press the back button on a show is to make it too topical or too self-aware.

 

[mrmickfran]

User reviews

I don't have time either so I usually watch the highest rated

 

[Strings]

If you watch at least two episodes of TV every day (which is what I do), you see 730 episodes a year, and that's more than enough to keep up and go back to older stuff. Those kind of daily quotas are how I handle all my media consumption and get through a ton (at least one film, two manga chapters, 40 book pages, etc) / how I run my life in general.

I'll nope out of stuff after an episode if I'm not feeling it (most of an anime season crop, etc).

 

[echoshifting]

I don't subscribe to everything at once. I pick a service or two and when I start having trouble finding things I want to watch I switch.

 

[Burt]

Passing on anything Disney+ at this point helps

 

[odiin]

I watch the ones that interest me.

 

[nsilvias]

Wait until they end to see if the payoff is worth it so I don't waste my time. Damn you himym

 

[Wrexis]

I dropped stuff like CW. Am I really loosing out on not watching the Flash? Nah.

These last few months have been a feast for sci-fi and Marvel fans though. Obi-Wan, Strange New Worlds, Orville, Ms. Marvel, For All Mankind, Stranger Things, The Boys, From, Severance, Halo, Picard, Raised by Wolves.

 

[Mirage]

Right now there's some shows that sound interesting, but I'm already watching stuff I'm enjoying. So I will either get around to them when I have time, or I won't. Last thing I want to do is turn it in to like a chore or work to keep up.

 

[latex]

Honestly the run time alone of a lot of new shows is enough to keep me from watching.

If I see anything above an hour my first thought is I might as well just watch a movie.

 

[NickatNite]

When it comes to TV shows, I can only do 1/2 new(new to me) at an time, and usually wait until the whole seseaon is out.

I do have a few that are my favorites for background noise or just when need to watch something; and I rotate those in and out.

There's a few series I'm interested in, but do I want to start an whole new series with 6+ seasons, 12+ episodes per season, and 45 minutes per episode? No.

 

[Lord Fanny]

I just focus on the stuff that interests me the most and go from there

 

[Speevy]

The critics will generally tell you if there's a gem among all the streaming garbage there is out there. Although you should probably find something that speaks to you since you're going to be the one investing all those hours.

 

[Zeliard]

15 minutes seems a bit harsh haha. I have to give it at least a couple episodes for the "grace period" but even then it's hard to say, since some of my favorite shows ever started rough, including for the entire first season. I have no real set criteria; if I feel like continuing to watch it I do, and if I don't, I don't. Sometimes it probably is like halfway through the pilot. Depends on a lot of things including my particular mood at that time.

But yeah the general question is a tough one - what to watch as the next show? I dunno. I don't like browsing the various streaming libraries cause it's very cumbersome and rarely gets you anywhere. Usually I'll hear from a friend or review or forum that such and such is worth watching. Other times I'm in the mood for a particular genre, so that at least narrows the choice, and I often use the JustWatch app to see where a certain show or movie I'm thinking of is streaming.

It's kind of an embarrassment of riches. We have so much choice and we analyze things so much it becomes paralyzing. Why, they should give that a name.

 

[pswii60]

Wait until they end to see if the payoff is worth it so I don't waste my time. Damn you himym

Click to shrink...

Is it not often more about the journey than the destination though? Especially for a sitcom where the story is only really a vehicle for the gags. That last season of HIMYM was truly painful though, as was Ted's endless navel-gazing throughout the series.

 

[Nemesis121]

I used to have your problem, then i decided to drop many of my shows..
Keep the ones I truly like, and the ones was watching on auto pilot, dropped..

Went from 6 shows to 2, and one of them got cancel, and season 3 of Superman and Lois ain't starting until next year, i have nothing to watch..

 

[Night]

Nowadays I wait until it's got 3 seasons and a huge following and it seems likely it won't be canceled.

There's too much shit to catch up on to be picking up new shows. This has been my way for years now and it's so relaxing.

 

[The Deleter]

Watching the stuff I'm interested in or my friends recommend to me

 

[Lothar]

I usually just give a series a one episode watch or watch a few and stop if I'm not hooked unless people pressure me to keep going

What are you watching? I don't have anything to watch at the moment now that I'm caught up with Cobra Kai, Better Call Saul, and Westworld.

 

[subpar spatula]

Basically I watch just generally extremely well regarded shows or films, or shows and films that tickle a certain joy in me like Stranger Things. This basically means a lot of cable shows are out, Disney+ is pointless, and 99.999999% of anime doesn't exist. Just not enough time in the day to really allocate towards investing time in something mediocre.

 

[Lv99 Slacker]

Word of mouth + trailers. If a show is getting hyped up in various forums and I like what I saw in the trailer, I'll give it a shot.

 

[BrightLightLava]

It's pretty easy. I just look at all the different new shows that I could watch, and instead I rewatch Taskmaster.

ezpz

 

[Boy]

I tend to watch mini series more. They seem to have better pacing, storytelling, and actually have an ending. Most tv shows these days start off decent, then it goes into long drawn-out filler episodes and eventually get canceled.

 

[ClivePwned]

at some point you realise that you don't have to watch everything. Just try things that appeal to you. Watch a full ep and if not, move on.

 

[Plywood]

I have the opposite problem, I can binge through shows easily, but am fidgety as hell and typically have to watch movies in bits and pieces if I'm watching by myself.

 

[Rijapega]

I have three methods to choose what I watch. It depends on what you actually want to get out of those shows.

Friend recommendation (To have something to talk to):
A friend who lives in Ireland just told me about this show called Derry Girls, which is about some girls from Ireland. I think he heard it from some of his coworkers, so in his case, it's probably like a topic of conversation or something. I remember back when I used to work in an office this guy recommended me an anime called Yowamushi Pedal, it's about bikes (Amazing anime, totally recommended if you like sports anime), anyways I started watching it because of him and we had some conversations about it.

So those two shows were recommendations and were like conversation starters, so basically shows that I watch because I got them recommended, I liked them (of course I wouldn't have watched a 100+ anime if I wasn't into it lol) and talked about it with my friend in the office.

Critically acclaimed:
This is how I choose mostly what manga to check out next or series to watch. Go to imdb in case of series and check the top rated tv series or episodes. (Don't mind the indian Tv series, those were just people from India spamming likes). In case of manga or anime go to myanimelist.

The problem with this method is that maybe the types of shows won't be your thing. Like Breaking Bad can be the top rated show of all time, but if you don't like drama-thrillers... Well, you probably won't like it.
If you are for example looking for a comedy, look for the top rated ones, even within the top rated comedies which are probably Community, the office and Friends, you should check out an episode of each and see which you prefer. Their humans are super different and yet I enjoy all three of them.

Current hit:
Not too difficult to understand. It's currently trending shows.
I like to engage in discussions online, and sometimes watch theory videos or stuff like that. Which is not possible for netflix shows due to their binge model which I kinda hate lol. But it's doable for series that are still weekly like The boys.

 

[Ashdroid]

I just add things to my queue and then never watch them.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I go by how frequently I see a thread for a show bumped and how long that thread is.

 

[MobileSuitReactor]

Someone brought a meme and I just decided out of nowhere to watch the related show to understand it better.

I will load up on shows by adding them to my playlist but hardly ever touch them. For kdrama I usually give myself a break that lasts months then dip into something interesting or trending whenever I'm in the mood again.

 

[Grunty]

Don't let yourself get stressed over it. The shows aren't going anywhere and there's always going to be more coming. Not going to end. Just pick a show, finish it, and then move on to the next.

 

[Veelk]

I am currently trying to read 6 books at once. I kind of just bounce between them.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

There aren't that many I care about

 

[Hu3]

Always go by your gut. Always

 

[Ashhong]

There are so many shows I want to watch and yet I find myself starting a rewatch of House. Makes no sense

 

[Zeliard]

I am currently trying to read 6 books at once. I kind of just bounce between them.

Click to shrink...

See this one I just can't do, and I have friends who do it and I think they're aliens.

If I'm reading a book I have to either read that one till the end or drop it and move on to the next; I can't read more than one at once. There's actually no exception to that. And to a large extent I do the same for TV shows, which is why I usually like waiting until at least the first season is over to get into something. But in some cases I do watch a few on-going shows at a time, like I'm doing now with The Boys, Evil, and The Man Who Fell to Earth. And even that's rough.

But with books? I just can't do it.

 

[Strings]

I am currently trying to read 6 books at once. I kind of just bounce between them.

Click to shrink...

The most I can do with books is one non-fiction, one short story collection and one novel. Kind of like games (one on a handheld, another on console, etc).

 

[kirby_fox]

I pickup and drop shows all the time. It's gotta be enticing for me as a drama and funny enough as a comedy.

I also just plan to go back to series and binge when it's over. Like Better Call Saul.

It helps in choosing because I only keep 2 streaming services at a time. It's impossible to keep up.

 

[Veelk]

See this one I just can't do, and I have friends who do it and I think they're aliens.

If I'm reading a book I have to either read that one till the end or drop it and move on to the next; I can't read more than one at once. There's actually no exception to that. And to a large extent I do the same for TV shows, which is why I usually like waiting until at least the first season is over to get into something. But in some cases I do watch a few on-going shows at a time, like I'm doing now with The Boys, Evil, and The Man Who Fell to Earth. And even that's rough.

But with books? I just can't do it.

Click to shrink...

I used to be the same way, and I honestly kind of don't like that I'm doing it. But idk, now that I've started them all, I find it hard to just stop any one.

 

[UltimusXI]

There aren't that many I care about

Click to shrink...

Same. I guess my interests aren't that broad when it comes to shows. I've only watched like 8 shows in the past five years or so. And even so, when scrolling through the endless list of Netflix shows, I can't find many that really interest me.

Now watching (and enjoying) the Sopranos, never watched it before. Also waiting for the last episodes of BCS. After that, eh, don't know yet.

BTW, I'm happy I don't care for most shows as I wouldn't have time for much more when I'm also playing games.

To decide what to watch, I check the premise and IMDB scores. I usually don't care about friend / colleague recommendations tbh.

 

[BringBackSonics]

Trailers, genres and word of mouth. We're currently watching as either just us (adults) or family: Adults: severance, umbrella academy. Family: Ms Marvel, Stranger Things

 

[antispin]

1. Read up on it. Interesting? Watch it
2. 1st episode good? Keep watching. Else drop

There have been shows that need a revisit after Step 2, since not all shows will have a good ep 1; those are generally backlogged.

Sometimes it's just a thumbnail that needs investigating (e.g. The Baby).

Sometimes it's word-of-mouth.

Sometimes it's trailer(s). But always start at Step 1.

 

[kurahador]

Words of mouth and if the show makes me excited to keep on going, I'll prioritize that one.

 

[J75]

My tastes are incredibly picky, so I don't really have this problem of overwhelming choice.

 

[Smoolio]

Oh this is easy, if they have lesbians I watch. Quality may vary... Looking at you First Kill :(

 

[Jaymageck]

Reviews + at least a full episode. Some things are slow burners, 15 minutes isn't enough.

 

[TaySan]

Watch the first two episodes and if I like what I see then I'll keep watching.

 

[Khanimus]

What mood am I in
Do i need to get back to work late
Do i want to do things after this
Are we about to eat
Do i actually want to be doing something else

 

[hateradio]

I only watch the following

Drag Race and its adjuncts.

Life on the Spectrum (AU and US).

Very few random items here and there.



I've been burned out from TV because of the pandemic. It was way too much. I just want to live my life, you know?