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The Slow Binge

I'm not a good binger. Oh, I can binge a book, knocking down hundreds of pages in a day, but when it comes to TV...I can't do it. I love TV, always have, but I like to have some space between episodes of shows. Occasionally, I'll go two or three episodes of something in a row, but that's very very rare. Instead, I'm always on the slow binge, watching an episode a day or every other day or longer. Here are a few shows on I'm currently slow binging...

Game of Thrones - When we cut our cable a couple years ago, one consequence was not being able to keep up with this show as it aired. We'd watched the first 4 seasons, but missed the last 2. However, our current package gives us HBO and that fact, combined with The Ringer coming out with a new podcast called Binge Mode focusing on GoT, has lead me to go back and watch the show again from the beginning before getting to the stuff I haven't seen. I've really enjoyed going back to the start; I had forgotten some plot points and characters, but I also notice the threads that were put down through the benefit of hindsight. I've also really enjoyed listening to the corresponding episode of Binge Mode after watching the show - it's a really fun podcast (around 35 minutes per episode) that can get super in-depth on the series. Honestly, it's part of the reason why I'm taking my time going through the series - just watched the first episode of Season 2 this afternoon. I also checked A Feast For Crows out from the library, thinking I'll get back to reading the books before watching those corresponding seasons. Season 7 premieres on July 16, which is only a month away. I'm averaging an episode a day and have 49 to go...so I know I won't quite be caught up by then. Maybe by the time Season 7 ends, though! Either way, I am happy to have this show as part of my regular viewing rotation this summer.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Coincidentally, the most recent episode I've seen of this show is the first episode of Season 2. Maybe a little less coincidentally, I am also listening to a podcast for this show after every episode; Buffering the Vampire Slayer is a really fun podcast done by Jenny Owen Youngs and Kristin Russo, who bring a feminist, lesbian point of view to the series, as well as an original song at the end of each episode. Those songs are really good. Anyway, I started this rewatch of the series when it celebrated its 20th anniversary back in March. I came to the show in Season 2, and have never done a rewatch. I was a huge fan of the series and have had fun going back to the beginnings of the Scooby Gang. I only have 132 episodes to go, so who knows how long it will take me...plus, I'll eventually catch up to the podcast in real time (they are almost through Season 2 as I type this). I'm ready to see Cordelia become integrated with the group, the introductions of Spike and Drusilla and eventually Oz, and the Halloween episode, for which I've always had a soft spot.

Twin Peaks - I wanted to rewatch this series before the new season started up. I have very fond memories of watching this show with my friends at Penn State, always searching for a dorm TV where enough other people were interested; I especially remember walking out into the night after the crazy series finale, our voices echoing around the quad. I think I rewatched the first season some time in the 90s, but don't think I've seen the second season since I watched it live. Anyway, my student teaching took up a lot of my time and I only started my rewatch a few weeks ago. I finished the first season maybe two weeks ago, but haven't yet gotten to the second. It's not that I'm not interested either - the show is just as weird and compelling as it was back in 1990. And guess what? I've also been listening to a podcast after watching each episode (addictions, right?). The podcast is called Damn Fine Podcast and Ron Richards from iFanboy is one of the two guys running the show. It's a good pairing and I hope to restart both show and podcast this week.

Happy Endings - Hey, it's a show I've been slow binging without listening to a podcast afterwards! I jumped into the show during its second season (and wrote briefly about it way back on 2/14/12) and really fell in love. It's a show in the Friends mode, with six friends hanging out and getting into misadventures. Those six characters are well-defined and the cast is great (Elisha Cuthbert is awesome). I'd never seen the first season episodes and while it is definitely the weakest of the three seasons, I still think it's worth watching. And watch it you should, if you're looking for something fun. I started a few months ago and I only have 4 episodes left of the series...and I don't quite want it to end. I need to, though, because I have a lot of shows in the queue...

In the Queue - I got behind watching Arrow this year, so now that all of Season 5 is on Netflix, I need to go back and pick up where I left off (I have maybe 10 episodes I missed). I want to get to it soon, because I was really liking this season. Similarly, I fell behind on Supergirl and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and need to finish out their seasons. I've watched 6 episodes of Speechless and would like to watch the rest of the first season. After reading Seinfeldia last summer, I had jumped into a Seinfeld rewatch - I made it as the first episode of Season 3 before falling off, and I'd like to get back to it. I'm somewhere in the middle of Daredevil Season 2 and haven't yet seen Luke Cage or Iron Fist. I've been slow binging Cheers in spurts the last couple years...think I'm in Season 5? I'd plowed through 3 seasons of Adventure Time and would like to get back to it too. I still have two seasons of Bojack Horseman to watch and two of Better Call Saul and the last 7 episodes of Mad Men and so on. Oh yeah, I'd started a Young Justice rewatch too. I guess I should stop typing and turn something on, huh?

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