I’ve had no internet for the past few weeks and my neighbor let me leach off hers until mine is sorted. There’s so much stuff I’ve missed, so I put on Cobra Kai for a bit of Karate soap-opera action.
As the first episode came on, it showed everyone from the end of the last season. I sat there and realized that I could barely remember who was who, or which dojo was which.
I have seen the previous season, but honestly, I remember nothing about the end of the last run. Are Daniel and Johnny friends now? Who’s the Asian guy again? Will Kreese ever finish that cigar?
I don’t want to admit it, but I’m getting older. My mind isn’t what it used to be, and when a new series of a show like Cobra Kai comes out, it’s hard to pick up where the last season left off. I don’t think it’s just me though, there’s just too much content out there.
Too Much Content?
Browsing Twitter the other day, I saw a post from friend of LMO, Cecil Trachenburg:
He’s right, there is just too much content these days. If you want to keep up with the MCU, you have to have seen 6 episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, 2 episodes of Hawkeye, and the twerking scene from She-Hulk to understand why Nick Fury wears a black coat.
You don’t understand why there are whip lightsabres now? Well, you obviously haven’t seen the interview with the showrunner explaining why Sol is gay. Then you would understand, you n00b.
OK, so I’m going over the top here, but when it came to watching Cobra Kai, I could just barely piece together what had happened in the last series. Since then, there has been 3 Body Problem, a spin-off of Game of Thrones, a new series of The Boys, Fallout, Shogun, and several other shows. This is without even touching on movies.
With so much content being spewed out, it’s hard to keep up with anything. Sure, as you watch the series you can pick up what’s going on, but it is getting harder and harder to keep up these days.
Back In My Day
Yes, I know how old this is going to make me sound, but, back in my day, there wasn’t as much to focus on, not so much content. Take Friends for example. At the end of each season, you could easily pick it straight up again the following year. OK, Friends isn’t exactly swimming in subplots, but also when it was on TV there just wasn’t as much choice.
Before my prime TV watching time, although I still remember it, the UK had four TV channels, BBC 1, BBC2, ITV, and Channel 4. I remember the launch of Channel 4 and we all thought it was amazing…four channels! Today, there are over 100 channels on Freeview alone, not to mention the streaming services, of which there must be a dozen of.
I guess if you are a big fan of a show, you will remember who is who and what is what. Casual viewers like myself, who are happy to binge a series for the fun of it, aren’t all that committed to the characters.
When a Star Wars movie came out, you had to wait 3 years for the next one. There was no major TV series, and only one Christmas Special. When Return of the Jedi ended, that was it. There was no more. Nothing to look forward to, no series, no shows, just the end.
It wasn’t until 1999 that we finally got The Phantom Menace.
Finding Something To Watch
Are you like me? Do you spend more time finding something to watch than actually watching something? I browse through Netflix and it’s something I’ve seen before, something I just don’t fancy or a new show so wants a commitment to 10 episodes at 1 hour each.
Often, I look at a series and fancy watching it, but since it’s so long I just can’t be arsed to start it. But most of the stuff out there is just content.
We live in the TikTok age. Videos are short and snappy but you have to see a new one every day or every minute. Most of the streaming services just want to keep you subscribed, so they just put out more and more content. This way, things look busy.
The more content they add though, the less special something becomes. Star Wars isn’t a special movie in the cinematic landscape anymore. It’s just new episodes that are puked up to make sure people stay subscribed to Disney+.
The Solution To Content?
I have no idea. Personally, I try to limit what I watch by picking things I’m hoping are going to be good. I never finished 3 Body Problem, I gave it about 3 episodes, but slowly lost interest.
Or, like Game of Thrones or House of Dragon, you get invested in something and then it totally poops in the bed towards the end. This then makes you distrust things, so you never want to start them.
What are your thoughts? Is there too much content? Do you cull your own watchlists?