# Binge Watching **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235 "2016-09-06T22:23:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yesanything](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@yesanything](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yesanything)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/1 "2016-09-06T22:23:07Z")
My online research has yielded terms like “Multiple” or “Marathon” Very little in terms of number or length of episodes viewed. How much/many episodes (hour length and half hour length) do you consider to be “BINGE” ? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/2 "2016-09-06T23:15:59Z")
3 or more episodes in one sitting I call a binge. ETA: I think I would only call it a binge if it a show I haven’t seen before. I regularly watch multiple episodes of futurama or simpsons that I’ve seen hundreds of times already, just to have something on and I don’t have to pay attention to, or decide on watching. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/3 "2016-09-06T23:30:59Z")
An entire season. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/4 "2016-09-06T23:41:21Z")
Multiple episodes viewed in one sitting over a number of sittings in a short period as measured by the total number of episodes watched. For example, watching a sixteen episode run over the course of a week would be a binge. Watching an eight episode run, say two at a time, over the course of a month would not be a binge. Completely arbitrary, but fun to think about. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/5 "2016-09-06T23:45:57Z")
I personally don’t binge watch. Even if it’s a show I like that I have available all at once, I limit myself to no more than one episode a day. I’d rather draw out the enjoyment over a period of a few weeks. (One exception: fifteen minute episodes like Adventure Time. I’ll watch those two at a time.) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/6 "2016-09-07T00:59:28Z")
Not a GQ. Moved to IMHO. **samclem** , moderator ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/7 "2016-09-07T02:04:51Z")
Six hours for television shows and 4 complete movies for those. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/8 "2016-09-07T02:07:57Z")
3 or more episodes. My last binge was the entire 8 hour first season of _Stranger Things_, in one day. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/9 "2016-09-07T02:08:33Z")
I used to call it marathon watching, but appeal to popular authority says it’s binging. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/10 "2016-09-07T02:54:50Z")
I would agree that marathon is the better term for one sitting. Binging occurs over several. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/11 "2016-09-07T17:17:58Z")
> [@Personal](#): > > I would agree that marathon is the better term for one sitting. Binging occurs over several. I’ll second this, with the caveat that those binge-days be close together. If you watch four episodes on Sunday night and then don’t watch again until Saturday, that’s not a binge. That’s … I dunno. There’s probably a name for it, but I’m an old person and don’t know hip things. I remember binging _DVDs_, you whippersnappers! ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/12 "2016-09-07T18:12:59Z")
Binge watching is when you watch the whole show, and it doesn’t happen in one sitting. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/13 "2016-09-07T19:00:03Z")
Binging is when you devote all (or perhaps the vast majority) of your available viewing time to a single product. Maybe you only an hour of television a day and devote that to three episodes of Kimmy Schmidt. Maybe you normally watch three hours of television a day and watch eight episodes at a stretch. So long as you’re overwriting your normal viewing schedule by finishing Kimmy Schmidt before you return to a more varied diet, I’d say you’re binge watching. I don’t think it requires you to watch more \*\*total \*\*television than you otherwise might - it’s more about the focus on a particular show. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/14 "2016-09-07T19:12:17Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Not a GQ. Moved to IMHO. > > **samclem** , moderator I’ve seen this episode before. Off to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/15 "2016-09-07T21:12:40Z")
The term is intended to delineate between people who watch a show as it is released - e.g., one episode per week - versus people who wait for a show to be complete and go through it as fast as they are able. How fast they are able will depend on the person. They might still end up only doing 1 episode per week, but in their mind that might be a “binge”. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/16 "2016-09-07T21:56:28Z")
I don’t binge, I marathon. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/17 "2016-09-08T14:15:11Z")
We “binge” watch an episode a night of a drama series and a sitcom. (E.g., the entire runs of _House_ and _Seinfeld_.) But … according to surveys from TiVo, they do not consider this binge watching. It has to be more than one in a row. The terminology is yet to be settled. Slow watching a series, once a week, is something else. Soon, watching a series in real time as it airs will have to have a special name. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/binge-watching/765235/18 "2016-09-08T17:46:06Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Binging is when you devote all (or perhaps the vast majority) of your available viewing time to a single product. This. 3+ episodes at a time = marathon. For the past month I have been both binge- and marathon-watching old episodes of _[St. Elsewhere](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083483/)_.\* \*Ask me how!