MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Do you miss "Water cooler shows"?

Do you miss "Water cooler shows"?

posted 17 days ago by M1sterDoct0r (3900)
23 replies | jump to latest

And have you been in any fandom of those types of shows? Or experienced them when they actually airing?

Shows that captured people's minds & created discussions on a weekly basis.

I hate that the "binge model" has kinda killed that honestly. Also, people don't seem to discuss the streaming shows that become popular, they just do trends pertaining to the show.

And nobody discusses episodes anymore but the whole show instead. So if you didn't binge it over the weekend, you're screwed.

I think the last true one in the streaming era might've been WandaVision. That shit was fun to talk about.

I miss the discussions & theorising what of what might happen in the next episodes.

The era of Lost was wild, man! And the early seasons of The Walking were a HUGE deal. A lot of people don't realise how big that show used to be.

People used to have freaking neighbourhood watch parties for The Walking Dead.

Heroes season 1 was fun as hell.

Even though it wasn't THAT huge, I loved Fringe when it was on. The fandom & discussions were fun.

[–] Skavau (9434) 17 days ago

To a degree, although there's so much more content now that it's much harder for shows to stand out now. Lost, and Game of Thrones, for instance, was competing with so much less content than shows compete with now. Lost wasn't competing with K-dramas for people's attention, for instance.

[–] M1sterDoct0r (3900) 17 days ago

Also, people would tune in at a certain time, each week.

Nowadays, a lot of people would rather just wait for the season to wrap up & THEN watch it.

[–] davodikum (5987) 16 days ago

I sometimes wait for the whole series to wrap up.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72081) 17 days ago

That's a very good question.
For shows like Breaking Bad, True Detective, Game Of Thrones or The Walking Dead there was the fun ritual of either getting together for a watch night party with friends or at least gabbing about the episodes the day after with coworkers.

But I also arrived very late to some great series like Peaky Blinders and The Wire and binge watched nearly of the episodes and they kept me very happily busy for weeks of watching.

I guess the week to week schedule is more sociable what with wild fan theories and all but sometimes I just need to know what happens next!

Honestly, I'm not sure I have a concrete answer, it's a good question though!

[–] M1sterDoct0r (3900) 17 days ago

Thank you for appreciating my question but next time, think of an answer, you rat bastard! 😆. Sorry. 😅

But on a serious note, I feel like the discussions have made it online thanks to the rise of social media.

Heck, most of our discussions of Fringe happened online. I was in like 3 Facebook groups dedicated to the show.

I don't mind online discussions. But I feel like even those are rare nowadays. Especially for weekly releases. I miss those kinda communities, man.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72081) 17 days ago

I prefer an entire season to drop all at once. There is just SO much good to great content to watch on the various streaming services that if I were watching several weekly shows plus multiple movies a week PLUS listening to music my head would start spinning lol!

[–] sslssg (28032) 17 days ago

Until you binge watch whole seasons of Murder She Wrote when you are off work and stuck on the couch. Then a show you used to love becomes a show with a character whom you no longer love, and think she's a really nosy busy body that should have probably been killed off.

Not that that was my experience or anything.... 🤣🤣🤣

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72081) 17 days ago

Hey, stop hating on Jessica Fletcher!

I haven't seen this show in ages but I remember really liking it. Old ladies do tend to be all busy with other people's stuff and nosy though:)

[–] sslssg (28032) 17 days ago

I used to love the show. This is not a slight on Angela Lansbury as I still admired her and loved her in other roles, but since that experience I don't binge watch like that anymore. It was right after my first big MS attack, and I think I watched like 10 seasons straight.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72081) 16 days ago

I hear you. I hope with all my heart you are doing well, the modern meds are pretty solid and they will only continue to improve. The experts I've spoken with say that 40 years ago MS was a real horror but it has become a manageable though difficult condition and science is figuring out how to manage it more effectively.

[–] sslssg (28032) 16 days ago

Thank you. I hope all is going well over in your neck of the woods as well.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72081) 16 days ago

The fam is cool, as I know you are. Lots of love Sis.

[–] M1sterDoct0r (3900) 16 days ago

I honestly think the binge model hurts the show. Because unless that show ''goes viral'', it gets dumped all at once on a friday & almost completely forgotten in a week or two.

I've noticed that some creators have started speaking out against the dumping of entire seasons at once.

I like how some streamers release the first 2 or 3 episodes at once & release the next like 5 or 6 weekly.

Or they could just drop 2 episodes a week. Give the show time to breathe & pick up momentum, ya know?

Netflix did just that with the tv show, Arcane. They dropped 3 episodes pe week for 3 weeks.

[–] DemBonesThemBone (177) 17 days ago

Water cooler show?

[–] M1sterDoct0r (3900) 17 days ago

''Indicating an event, television programme, etc, sufficiently controversial or otherwise noteworthy to provide subject matter for workplace conversations.''

Best explanation, thanks to Google.

[–] Stratego (29278) 17 days ago

Yes. I just watched the finale of Dallas season 3, where JR gets shot. Typical water cooler moment.

[–] Kowalski (58945) 17 days ago

YES...I DO...I ALSO MISSED THE SHARED SCREEN EXPERIENCES THAT ARE LESS AND LESS...WHEN I WAS A KID IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL...IF YOU MISSED TGIF...ON MONDAY YOU WERE A LOSER WITH NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT.

[–] FredBurroughs (19770) 16 days ago

And how! There were staples like Family Matters, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Step by Step, but what was your favorite short-lived TGIF series?

Right now I think it's a toss between Genie (aka You Wish) and Teen Angel.

[–] tcrum (29811) 17 days ago

There's still a little of that. They're releasing Chucky one episode a week.

[–] sslssg (28032) 17 days ago

I do miss it a little bit. I remember when Twin Peaks came out that it was all that anyone could talk about at school.

[–] FredBurroughs (19770) 16 days ago

There was an article written about this topic not too long ago, lamenting the shared cultural experience of appointment TV:

https://vincemancini.substack.com/p/i-miss-casual-tv-and-casual-friendships

Nowadays we have to make do with self-sustained systems of social viewing... like MovieChat Movie Club!