I feel like a bit of an outlier here. But I just don’t care for them. I much prefer playing video games.
I like all sorts of escapism. TV, Movies, Games, Books are all doorways to me.
TV shows all have the same safe plot now. I don’t even own a TV anymore after Netflix became slop. For the really special stuff that comes out once awhile I’ll just find a pirate stream.
I play multiplayer indie games on Steam with friends, roleplay in second life, or read books.
Should be doing our phasmophobia playthrough for Halloween soon.
A collegue actually sent me a clip about this, and how the producers are dumbing down / over-simplifying plots because they know the audience is watching while on their phone.
I cant find anything to watch either, its all so dumb. Im on my 5th repeat of Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, IT Crowd because nothing new is good… Sigh.
I couldn’t disagree more. We’re in a golden age of TV and have been for a while.
The Pitt? Severance? Hacks? Succession? The Bear? Ted Lasso? Euphoria? The Crown? Schitt’s Creek? Killing Eve? Barry? Veep?
I liked succession and severance. The bear was just ok, I didnt think it was amazing and was surprised at the ratings. The pitt was actually boring. Killing eve was ok first season, then very boring. Barry was decent first season, then got boring.
I will try the others you mentioned. Of course we are not gonna agree but I really want to find a good tv show.
I don’t watch TV. I actually can’t. I haven’t had cable or an antenna to receive anything since I bought my house in 2011.
I have a media server with movies and TV shows. If I really want to watch something I’ll watch one of those. I do like movies but only watch them if they interest me and that’s getting a lot rarer these days.
I don’t play video games at all or have any game consoles.
I’d consider watching TV shows on a personal server watching TV. TV doesn’t need to be live airing. I just saying cuz I too mostly self host, but wouldn’t tell people I don’t watch TV. I think it’s more whether you’re consuming that medium at all or not.
I should be more clear. I don’t mean I consume TV like most people but do it through my media server. I meant that I have the media server and if I get the rare feeling that I want to watch TV I will watch some old show I have on there.
I upgraded my system in 2023 and looking at my history since then, it shows me watching a few episodes of Letterkenny after the update. I actually spent several months before that “binging” it. That was an uncharacteristically lot of TV for me and I actually skipped over every scene with only the Skids in it. I couldn’t stand them
After that, I’ve watched 5 episodes of The Super Dave Osborne Show which came out in the 80s, 3 episodes of Kim’s Convenience 5 episodes of Peep Show and 12 episodes of the comedy Children’s Hospital.
Without commercials those are 22 minutes each, except Children’s Hospital which are 11 minutes, or two episodes in 22/30 minutes. So 19x22 minutes= 418, or 7 hours in two years. I average watching 17.5 minutes of old TV shows per month.
I consider that not watching TV. I don’t keep up with new shows. I don’t finish a show and start looking for a new one to watch. But if I got really interested in a new TV show I’d watch the hell out of it then go back to not really watching anything.
I think around here you’re more likely to find folk who play video games rather than watch TV or movies, but I might be wrong.
I personally never play video games. I have nothing against them, just never got into it beyond old Atari ST games in my early teens.
From what I hear from friends and colleagues at work I know I’m missing out, so I’m planning to make an effort to get into some sort of game when I have the time, probably when the sprogs are older. It is sort of intimidating and I don’t really know where to begin, but I’m sure it’ll be interesting.
Triple AAA games are pretty mediocre, imo, but if you liked the Atari ST/Amiga era, there’s plenty of stuff like that that’s amazing coming out. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance are a couple of highlights I’ve played recently. Also, a Steamdeck is a great thing for limited time gaming. Just turn it off mid-session, and it’ll be right there at the same place in the game when you turn it back on.
I’m interested in how gaming has become immersive to the extent that the narrative is so deep they make decent TV shows after them.
I’m aware of the like of The Last of Us, purely from watching the show. It’s fascinating to me that you can have an interactive experience of that quality, so I’m told, so that’s something to look forward to.
I should add that I have played a handful of PC games over the last 30 years, such as Alien Vs Predator, Duke Nuke 'em and Portal. But that’s where my experience ends.
There are a fair few games out there with world building that is on par or even exceeds most films and novels. With films and TV shows you only get a limited time to experience the world in which they reside and so many details about the world or context don’t make the cut. With novels you get more capacity for background information but often fewer descriptions of the smaller things in the world. With games you get the best of both where everything down to the smaller details are displayed visually but with a runtime that can sometimes go into hundreds of hours allowing for plenty of time for backstory/lore.
It’s been a fucking meme for the last decade at this point but the Witcher 3 is one of the more memorable ones. I’ve played the game, read the books and watched the Netflix series, and the game is the best of the three.
Another example is Red Dead Redemption 2. It’s set in the wild west so you get all the iconic visuals and action of the best cowboy movies but the amount of detail included also beats many novels. The story of the game goes into a level of gritty detail and complexity that could easily be a book, but you can also bunk off and go hunting, fishing and camping and just live in the world in a way that you can’t experience in any other medium aside from actually being in 1800’s America yourself.
Hell, if you just wanted a video game version of a Tarantino film then GTA 5 (and upcoming GTA 6)has you covered.
I never really watched a lot of movies growing up but then at some point realised there was so much that I was missing. Now I view the history of cinema as a smorgasbord and I am really enjoying jumping all over it.
I’m guessing you’re a good bit younger than me, but this is encouraging to hear. Find your favorite genres, watch what inspired them and you have so much amazing artwork and storytelling to explore.
For everyone that grew up with 10 marvel movies a year its not surprising that modern films don’t speak to them.
Challenge yourself and you’ll find your own rewards. I love video games and watching youtube too, but it’s not the same thing as turning off the lights and watching something like Apocalypse Now, Chinatown or a Kubrick movie without distractions.
Good luck on your cinematic journey!
Nope, I just watch Youtube now, specifically things that interest me.
I go through phases, cycling though comics, books, games, movies, TV, etc depending where my interest and curiosity takes me. I tend to watch more TV and movies when playing/practicing music or playing slower or turn based games.
Does YouTube count as TV?
I would say it does not. Well, I guess it depends on what you watch. The stuff I subscribe is nothing like TV.
Yes
I can’t stand most television anymore. Especially now that most streaming services have brought back ads.
You can’t prove anything!
Truthfully it’s my wife who really likes to watch TV. I mostly prefer reading or gaming haha.
I’m the same, it makes it even harder for me to socialise with other people though, “Have you seen the new (Blank) show?”…
Don’t you worry about blank, let me worry about blank.
Pretty much. I’ve got a bunch of entertaining YouTube channels (some of which are, ironically enough, movie and tv show reviewers that I’d rather watch than the stuff they’re talking about), a huge backlog on my Steam library, and plenty of music to listen to and books to read.
I avoid passive video media almost entirely. I too prefer interactive media best.
Don’t watch it passively then!
You are not alone. I have a handful of movies and shows I like to watch, but my excess time is usually spent reading books, browsing thrift stores and library shops for books, or reading articles about books. I also splash a little World of Warcraft, gardening, and house chores in there too.
I’ve always got music on in the background. Less gaming nowadays, doing my best to read more books.
In my circle this doesn’t seem uncommon. I feel like more of an outlier because I don’t really watch YouTube or anything similar.
