Appointment television is so back, baby! (Streaming, take note!)
It has been a great time to be online (if you like television). Why? Because appointment television has made a comeback and it is about time!
Back in my days (the 90s and the early 00s), we used to have shows we watched every week. It was part of the idea of a “water cooler” conversation and if you missed your favorite show, you better not talk to anyone at work the next day because you’ll end up getting spoiled. I remember canceling plans to watch Pushing Daisies. It’s just how we all functioned.
Now, with streaming, the way we talk about media has shifted, especially if the show is being released as part of the binge model. Binge-watching means you sit and watch a show from start to finish in one sitting. It leaves little room for conversation on specific episodes and plot points and it erases any ability to theorize about what is to come.
Binge-watching a show isn’t a bad thing but recently we’ve all but gotten rid of the idea of “appointment viewing” and force everyone into watching a show as quickly as possible and then moving on to the next. Which is why the sudden rise in talked about television with a weekly release schedule as excited me (and many online) so much.
Each week, fans were upset if they couldn’t be home in time for The Pitt. Apple TV+ had Severance dropping every Thursday and if you weren’t watching it, you’d have to avoid the internet. It was kind of nice to be back in the thick of it, all talking about television.
We clearly miss this!
Prior to the recent boom in television shows being must-see week after week, we saw fans engaging in shows like Loki. If you missed an episode, you had to hide from anyone else who watched it. That’s how it always used to be. Getting to see people literally run away from people trying to talk about White Lotus because they weren’t caught up? That’s the good stuff.
We have a lot of good television shows airing right now. While The Pitt and Severance just ended, many are watching The Studio on a weekly basis and we still do have network shows like Abbott Elementary and Doctor Odyssey airing week after week. But I do like that the way people have been talking about television recently kind of sends a message: We want to slowly watch shows.
Seasons are shorter and the binge-model takes over how we view things but it is clearly something we miss. I hope that studios and streaming platforms take notice of this. Sure, streaming a show in one sitting is fun but look how word of mouth got everyone talking about The Pitt. Would the mystery of who died on The White Lotus matter nearly as much if we sat and watched it all in one go?
We at least have Apple TV+, Paramount+, and HBO still doing weekly releases but let’s hope this allows us to return to the model.
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