Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday March 3, 2015
The definitive TV marathon binge-watching survival guide
With House Of Cards season three launching on Netflix on 27 February, legions of Frank Underwood fans around the world will be limbering up to binge-watch 13 hours of brooding political drama.
The act of thundering trough an entire season of television in a short period of time has boomed in popularity since the rise of Netflix, other streaming services and DVD box sets.
Whether it is House of Cards this weekend, True Detective next weekend or Mad Men in the run up to the final few episodes that will air in April (my own personal TV goal for the next month) there’s a fine art to binge-watching television and some important warnings to be dished out.
Start Small. If you’ve never marathoned a TV series before, it is probably best not to start with 50 years’ worth of Doctor Who or the accumulative 204 episodes of 24. At 13 episodes, a season of House Of Cards is a good place to start.
Break it up. Breaking a TV marathon up over the course of a weekend will not lose you any street cred. There is no street cred associated with this kind of nonsense anyway and I am not even sure if street cred is a thing people say anymore, so go at your own pace and stop every now and then just to rest your eyes if nothing else.
Binge-watching is stupid by its very nature but laying or sitting there doing literally nothing while you watch is plain dumb. You may leave an arse groove that would out-last the Sphinx but it is unhealthy and you will only feel uncomfortable laying around for so long.
So find something to do while you watch – ironing, dusting, tweeting about the colour of ugly dresses, something to split your focus for a while. Starring at a TV set uninterrupted will turn your eyes into squares. (Continued: International Business Tiimes)