Thanks to the glory of NetFlix, over the past month or so we've become fans of Alias. Based on a recommendation from a friend, we queued up the 18 discs that comprise seasons 1-3, and have been making our way through them...
This is the first television series I've watched this way -- binging on one episode after another, without having seen them before. I'm finding three things kind of odd... First, episodic television is designed to create addiction, week to week and season to season. When we finished season two (when Sydney discovers she has no memory of the past two years of her life), we just popped in the first disc of season three to see what the hell happened. Second, episodic television is also written with the first-time viewer in mind; it's amazing how much dialog is used to fill in the uninitiated on back story plot lines ("I was married to your mother for 18 years without realizing that she was a Russian spy...").
Third, watching the shows on DVD like this kills the water cooler effect. There's no one to talk to about what you're watching. My friends who are long-time Alias fans are most likely tiring of my emails to them asking about particular plot twists or characters -- depending on what episode I'm watching, we're two or three years out of sync. They're having trouble just remembering the episode, much less the scene that spurs the question.
I wonder if there's an opportunity here for subscription services like NetFlix or TiVo or for retail outlets like Amazon or Blockbuster to create micro-communities of episodic entertainment viewers. Folks who aren't watching the shows "as they happen," but who are catching up. Netflix knows who else is watching Alias Season Three; could those users be connected for some watercooler conversation? Because I'm dying to talk with someone -- anyone -- about Sydney's missing two years, while season four piles up on the TiVo...
Been thinking about axing DirectTV and going the DVD route altogether, particularly with our kid being nine months old and tons of other stuff competing for our attention. Besides which, it seems TV shows on DVD are becoming all the rage with networks.
As for Alias, my wife and I have been watching since it debuted and love it. Favorite episode intro: Sydney in the lingerie on the airliner. Man, oh man. Of course, the first Season 4 episode just broadcast kind of did an homage to that episode.
We could start a Google Group on the subject... a bit geeky and maybe not what you're looking for, but talking about the show is always fun.
And you are watching LOST, right? That thar is good TV and also an Abrams creation.
I just wish I could subscribe to particular shows (like RSS) and ditch the rest. Hate paying for a ton of channels, most of which are noise on my Tivo guide. There's only 12 shows (tops) I really enjoy.
Amazing the work that some fans are doing with their shows and Bittorrent, btw. I missed the season premiere of Smallville (which I have, in the past, enjoyed) and a good friend of mine dropped me a DVD copy of it he downloaded literally the day after the broadcast. No commercials, either. Nice.
Posted by: Anthony Baker | Jan 07, 2005 at 02:50 PM
On another related note, I do wish Netflix (and iTunes) did a better job with their sites. Amazon, for me, is still one of the kings of back-end data on their products. I'm able to find things I might not have heard about and get a ton of info on it (editorial reviews, customer reviews) and items like it in a way that far surpasses Netflix and iTunes.
Have to say, if Amazon matched Netflix pound-for-pound on price, delivery speed, and reliability and added in their DB and usability, I'd use their service.
Would be great if Metacritic paired up with Netflix (at least).
Posted by: Anthony Baker | Jan 07, 2005 at 02:53 PM
totally happy to contribute to your alias discussion fix. let's get lunch sometime. we can pretend it's business-related.
Posted by: judith | Jan 07, 2005 at 04:44 PM
I guess we were lucky: when we were catching up with Alias seasons 1-3, our friends couldn't wait until we got to a certain point so that they could discuss the twists and turns of the series. It's all part of the "season box set" syndrome. As I plow through season after season, I do feel sorry for all those who had to wait an entire summer to even get a hint to Sydney's missing two years. And just why the hell Vaughan married so quickly.
Enjoy season 3...we're now following season 4 via Torrents (as we live in Europe) and if you want to discuss any twists and turns, drop me an email.
Posted by: Kinga | Jan 09, 2005 at 02:08 AM
Amazon does DVD rental by post in the UK. I can only assume they're using it as a trial for offering the service to the much larger market in the states. I've been a subscriber since December. It has been very easy to use and quite reliable. It has basic recommendation features built into it, and I'm sure that more features are in the pipe.
Posted by: Joshua Kaufman | Jan 09, 2005 at 08:31 AM
This is what HBO has got right. In fact most cable networks have realized that there is far more money in DVD sales than in the advertising revenue acrued during the initial broadcast(s). Of course, HBO makes no money from advertising, so perhaps this is moot, but If you watch any HBO show like Deadwood, Sopranos, The Wire, Carnivale, Curb Your Enthusiasm, or you-name-it, it is assumed that you have been following the show - no time is wasted on meaningless dialog. The shows therefore, for me, take on a more realistic and plausible tone. Furthermore, HBO shows stand up to repeated viewings. It is amazing how many details you miss in one season of the Sopranos, and especially The Wire. I have picked up an occassional episode of The Sopranos on Tivo and had numerous, "holy crap, I totally missed that - now it makes sense" moments.
But I digress... The Sci-Fi channel has also learned about the value of the DVD market. They have started to film more and more "shows" as a 2-5 part mini-series. In stead of budgeting 20 million on 30 episodes, they budget 20 million to produce 44. Doing so raised the production quality of each "episode" and makes for some pretty amazing television. Think: "Taken" or "Battlestar Galactica" or "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars."
But another reason why I hate network television - with rare exception - is commercials. I don't mind fast forwarding through them, but commercials have to be written around. This produces such a artificial rhythm to most network shows because suspense has to build at just the right moment to keep you from changing the channel. Network shows can't have slow, complex, evolving story lines the way HBO shows have evolved.
All that being said, I do feel like I have missed out on Alias and Lost. Perhaps I will have to get them on DVD.
Posted by: Byrne Reese | Jan 09, 2005 at 09:55 AM
You might check out forums.televisionwithoutpity.com. They have forums organized by season and/or episode of a number of shows and go back at least a few seasons. (And their recaps are quite amusing to read, also, and can be helpful if you're watching live and miss an episode.)
Posted by: Leslie Turek | Jan 09, 2005 at 06:39 PM
Last year I was living in the UK and my now-wife was living in the US. So that we could talk about what was happening in Alias and The West Wing I followed both shows using torrents. This past few months we've gathered with a group of friends to watch old Alias episodes on DVD to fill in some gaps.
That for me has been the closest equivalent of the 'water filter moment'. It's not been so casual, but TV divorced from network schedules (whether by VCR, DVD, PVRs or the net) does allow people to connect by making it simpler to arrange a time to get together and watch. Or for social groups which are geographically distributed to all be watching the same episodes. I've appreciated that a lot.
Posted by: James | Jan 11, 2005 at 08:03 AM
I was just thinking about this today since everyone here watches 24 and I have yet to watch the previous seasons. Normally, I download shows days after they air and you tend to miss the watercooler convo that way.
Posted by: chris sivori | Jan 12, 2005 at 11:30 AM
It has been a long time Sip...ahhh yes the Alias DVD catch up via Netflix. I too happily went thru this with my remote in hand. I am working with a client (a network) at the moment on monetizing programming content as ealry as possible, not just DVD sales but subscription services to fan based sites, downloads etc. It is interesting now that Tivo and other similar technologies have become ubiquitous that some of the old gurad in Media are finally ready to leverage the technology to improve (dare I say save!) their profit margin. Along the same vein, I work with a company that operates in the prgaramming guides space, for example they are partnered with Microsoft Media Center to supply the programming guide interface and data feeds that let people pick what shows to watch/record and because they already work with the braodcasters directly they have developed some IP around back casting tv programming. Essentially this would allow people to call up older programming stored at the local broadcaster level and enable a secondary audience to jump onto the bandwagon and get caught up mid season versus waitng for the DVD. I think this service would be a huge boon for the type of serial/reality shows that now make up most of the hits on television, however they still need to figure out how to handle the advertisng or monetization of the service. Should be fun to watch...finally, I went to CES in Vegas and saw ecast at the Microsoft booth. It was billed as an excellent representation of embedded Windows XP, who knew?
Posted by: Mark Gray | Jan 12, 2005 at 01:33 PM
Hey Michael - The Well has been doing that for decades. It's the best place in the world for television conversation. Just look in the archives for conversations on the older episodes.
Now that you are enjoying the wonderful show "Alias," let me recommend an even better series to watcn DVD: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." After that, "Angel."
Really.
Posted by: rebecca eisenberg | Jan 12, 2005 at 05:28 PM
I'm going through this now, just waiting on season 3 disc 6 to be completely caught up. :) I've never watched a show this way either but it sucked me in and sucked my friends in. :)
Posted by: Carla | Jan 22, 2005 at 10:17 PM
Totally agree on the "addictive nature" of the way episodic programmes are structured - case in point: my wife and I watched Series 1 of 24 (taped on.. wait for it.. VHS) in one sitting. We were up all night but just couldn't NOT put in that next tape.
The advent of PVR meant that last night we didn't watch the start of the new series of 24 but waited a half hour to watch it sans adverts. I COULD download future episodes but I DO miss the conversations at work when I've done that in the past. Mind you, we don't seem to be getting LOST over in the UK so that's in my Torrent queue as I type (seen the first episode and gripped already!)
Posted by: Gordon | Jan 31, 2005 at 06:47 AM
I had to watch the final 3 series of the x-files the same way as the tv chgannel here in the UK (sky) had no respect for the running order and the advert breaks killed any suspense. So I just let it rot on tv and bought the box sets and watched them over a couple of days and you know what I loved it, no adverts, drink breaks when I wanted, great. The same channel inadequacies go for Desperate Housewives it's a 40 minute show and we get nearly 20 minute of adverts, so I have bit torrent/emule the series so far (episode 13) no advert breaks and HD tv is simply breathtaking even watching it on a PC monitor.
I am preparing myself a whole day to sit and watch again the Lord of the Rings series all extended DVD, now thats something I'll have to get into training for.
Posted by: glad | Feb 03, 2005 at 07:04 AM