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Watching Game of Thrones & Other Things on TV
What was I thinking?
Honestly, tell me now…
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What was I thinking when I thought I could watch just one or maybe two episodes of Game of Thrones?
My friends have been talking about this show for years. My sister watched it on demand. My daughter secretly watched it last year when a school friend downloaded it to his iPod. {Mental note: monitor what my kids watch a bit more carefully… there are scenes in this show that my husband was not even comfortable watching. You die hard fans know which one I’m talking about, I’m sure}.
It was Friday night and I figured Saturday I could sleep in catch up with some laundry and maybe write a few blog posts. Who knew I would be watching season one obsessively until 4:30 am. I am a night owl, and I don’t mind working in the quiet of the night. Sometimes with the radio on, sometimes with the TV. Rarely, do I just sit and watch a TV show obsessively (that may be a tiny white lie if you are talking about Downton Abbey 
). I am new to this watching-a-whole-series-in-one-weekend. I have a great friend from my book club that posts on Facebook: “What should I be watching next?”. I got her hooked on Downton Abbey, I am not ashamed to say it.
I found out that my husband had started watching Game of Thrones when I changed around our TV channel package. He wanted less “Say Yes to the Dress” and more HBO. I wanted to make sure that he and my daughter still got the sports package that they have come to adore and I wanted to watched a channel that I discovered while I was in South Africa – Al Jazeera. Yes, Al Jazeera… Don’t go getting all crazy on me… if you actually have ever watched Al Jazeera you’d know that it is akin to CNN or BBC or CBC but based in the middle east. The biggest difference is it actually takes the time to disclose world news in full, not just snippets of what goes on in the US, Britain or Canada. It talks about all sorts of news throughout the world.
In one sitting they covered elections in Sir Lanka, the tragedies in Paris, cloth donations that is being sold in Senegal. They also have sports news from the Dakar Rally, The Asian Cup (soccer) to UK Premier league summary (a big deal in this soccer player house). If you had wonder what other tennis or golf tournaments there are in the world outside of the majors, watch Al Jazeera.
O.k. back to Game of Thrones… what nuttiness is this show? First and foremost, I am only on Season One so you are NOT ALLOWED TO PUT SPOILERS in the comments. I know it is hard, trust me, I have wanted to Google “What happens Next in Game of Thrones” but I have manage to stave off that temptation. What I was not able to do was to wait for my hubby to get back from the basketball game to watch episodes 9 and 10. I blame that squarely on my daughter that was with me Sunday afternoon. Ugh, when a series is this good how can you stop watching?
My daughter has been watching series in their entirety for a while now. No need to watch just one episode when you can watch a whole season with 8 – 10 or 12 episodes. I recently read a comment on-line that our children are watching TV completely differently than how we would watch it. I think it is very true. Do you remember growing up when there was only one launch season? It was in the fall and you anxiously awaited it with the start of school. It would drive me crazy that during the summer you could stay up really late and watch whatever you wanted (even though it was always re-runs) but then you would start school and you could never stay up late any more.
Those were the days that if you didn’t watch an episode, you were out of luck because… well, they didn’t usually show it again until the summer if at all. Those were the days you could set your social calendar by the programming. Sunday nights was the Wonderful World of Disney, Mondays was the Carol Burnett Show, Tuesday nights was Happy Days and Lavern and Shirley. Then there was the Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda. My family along with thousands of others watched the Ewings on Dallas and the Carringtons on Dynasty. I remember watching St. Elsewhere (the original ER/GreyAnatomy hospital drama show), starring current mainstream stars like Denzel Washington (The Equalizer, Training Day), Howie Mandel (America’s Got Talent), Mark Harmon (NCIS), David Morse and the quirky Ed Begley Jr.. As I grew into a teenager I still remember going over to the McMillan’s house every Thursday night to watch Hill Street Blues. Those were the days when men were cops and women were… well not cops. Am I bring you down memory lane yet?
I laugh because I think of how many of you were not even born in the seventies or just born in the eighties. You have no idea what I’m talking about do you?
Regardless, those were the days when you watched a show and if you missed it you so very sad. There were not PVR, Vibe or Rogers On-Demand. There was no Netflix Shomi or Crave TV to call up your favourite shows on-demand. Where those simpler times or not? I often wonder.
In this day and age, you can watch TV on your computer, your tablet, your cell phone, heck, on your TV if you want AND you can pretty much watch it anywhere you want. You don’t need to be sitting in front of a TELEVISION. You have to wonder, when will that device become obsolete? I have to admit, I have enjoyed getting HBO and Netflix. I love movies and I love TV. It is entertaining, informative and just plain fun. I don’t really think I will stop watching TV I just need to NOT watch it until 4:30 am.
Is there a series that you have watched obsessively over in just one sitting or over a weekend?
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Fairly frequently I’ll get sucked into a series and binge watch — and I love it! It’s hard to go back to watching a show weekly. I’m impatient and just want to see what’s going to happen next.
I think that wanting to know what happens next is the problem we all have these days. I hate having to wait a year to find out what happens next. I’m pretty sure Mad Men had a 2 year hiatus once… well, they lost me as a viewer. Way too long.
Hey, at least you didn’t pull an all-nighter! I think you couldn’t have picked a better series to binge on… it’s my husband’s and my favorite series. It’s so fast-paced, seductive, funny, thrilling, scary… perfect escapism. Right now we’re running through the Downton Abbey series which is lovely, but quite a different pace from GoT. Enjoy!
xo,
lauriel
EyeForElegance.com
I have heard quite a ton about GOT – I wish I am able to watch, I tend to either forget or too lazy to do, but whoa.. haha!
Game of Thrones seems to be a huge phenomenon but I was late to the game. Just catching up is a lot of watching. What shows are popular where you are?
That is one show that I have not watched before!! I can’t believe we used to handle life with out dvrs and streaming netflix its crazy how time changes!
I think it is all relative. Like I said in the post, don’t you remember the days that you just waited for the new season to begin? We don’t live in those time anymore but that’s o.k. with me. progress is go I say.
I can’t get into game of thrones. I watched two episodes bc friends were having get togethers, and those two episodes apparently were the two bloodiest with my luck.
I just need to be done. I understand if you didn’t have the stomach for it. I fast forward often!
I have definitely heard so many different things about this show! it is getting so popular. Although I have never watched it myself, I have definitely searched up a little bit on it.
My husband and I used Netflix earlier this year to catch up on Game of Thrones and enjoyed it for the most part. We actually just used it recently for my MIL to catch up on Pretty Little Liars 😉
I think I’m the only person alive who hasn’t watched Game of Thrones, lol!!! It sounds amazing but I’m just not ready to get into it! I HAVE on the other hand, watched an entire season of Orange Is The New Black in one day 😉
We have a few of the Happy Days series DVD sets. We went through a phase of watching them. We have the Flintstones series too… and hubby has one season of Mash. 🙂
Honey you’re not alone, I got addicted to watching korean dramas/movies with my friends so much that when we were meant to be revising for our final university exams we sat down and watched 48 hours straight of the dramas.
Haha! I have television show marathons too! I’ll usually pick a series that has a few seasons that I know my friends and family enjoy, but I haven’t had the time to watch yet. I think it’s fun to do every once in a while. Especially Game of Thrones. It’s so intense that you *have* to find out what happens next!
My parents watched Game of Thrones and although it’s a little too graphic (sexually) for my liking, it sounds like it has a great story line! I binge watched the first couple seasons of Downton Abby though when it first started! LOL. Love that show 🙂
Hahahaha I haven’t watched this show before…. But this has been me with Once Upon a Time…. I’ve been hooked ever since discovering the show on Netflix….
I don’t know that show. I’ll have to check it out. I love Netflix too.
I am like this when the marathons of First 48 Hours or any marathon true crime show comes on. I can sit and watch them for days and sometimes I sit down and start watching then next thing I know it is dinner time and more than half the day has flown by LOL!
I’m not a big TV watcher mostly reality shows like Survivor and Amazing Race. I used to watch the housewife shoes but then they started getting on my nerves but now Nashville is my addicting guilty pleasure. I could watch it for hours for sure!
I think the only show I watched in a continuous sequence like that was Peep Show but it was just too hilarious to resist. My other half loves Game of Thrones.
I have had marathon viewing sessions of House and Lost. I watch TV on my computer so it’s very easy to watch what I want when I want.
I have NEVER been able to get into either of those shows. I have to say, have a whole lot on a list but not them. LOL.
That’s not too bad…I watched the whole series of LOST in less then two weeks haha.
OMG. Randa, I would be a zombie!
I laugh at this BUT I have NOT ever watched an episode so maybe it is that good. I don’t know. What I do know is that – it is true kids watch TV completely different than we did. Completely. My kids watch Youtube. There is No TV anymore. None. Ever. My husband watches it and I occasionally do but I have no time. So I believe that for sure. I see how my kids consume media and I think wow this is a whole different world. One watches entire series on an iPad and it is usually a Youtube series – animal planet or something peculiarly unique. Current obsession – Gator Boys. Oh and Pitbulls and Parolees. I am not even sure why I own a TV actually now that I think about it. I might need to look the series up But I won’t be watching Game of Thrones at 4:30 a.m.
Make sure to Block Game of Thrones for your daughters it can be very graphic sometimes . Like I said even Paul was repulsed.
I *may* know something about watching an entire series over the course of a few days. BBC’s Top of the Lake was also surprisingly good. I had never heard of it before but found it on Shomi. It’s only one season so far and only 7 episodes, I.e., it was a manageable obsession 🙂
I do have Top of the Lake on my list. I’m having trouble holding back on GoT as hubby is watching it slowly. I’m, like, hurray up, I need to get to the next installment.