Your film/cinema and TV watching rules.

[FAST6191]

I will only watch a TV show if/when.....
I will only watch a film if/when.....

Most people I meet, myself included, have a few versions of that or things to make it a list. I am curious to see what GBAtemp members have here.

Personally I will not watch a TV show unless it has been cancelled or has at least two series already out*, though if I kill two series and it is still going I can go week by week. The Wire killed police procedurals for me so I am very picky about what I watch there. After that I will run from basically braindead right through to "I am going to need a dictionary and the cretin's guide to theoretical physics to make sense of this one".
I can and do drop shows and never look back though, this goes double in the case of anime.

*I occasionally break this rule and for the last two or three years then every time I have done it I have not necessarily regretted it (though Walking Dead is something I am never likely to finish I do not regret what I saw of it) but the shows I have done it for have not been something I am likely to pick back up.

I basically never go to the cinema and James Bond is the only thing likely to change that (though even then it is not a sure thing).

On superhero films then with very few exceptions ( http://gbatemp.net/threads/superhero-films-you-can-stand-to-rewatch-occasionally.349816/ ) it is one and done, similarly I can happily watch one of those 40 minutes with heavy spoilers reviews can call it done (I treat it like skim reading a book). I will pretty much watch anything though.

 

[pasc]

I only have such rule for a current long running series:

If you are getting close to watching the most new/recent episode:

Pause for some time to let some episodes accumultate.

As for watching in general:

Weekend only/Holidays for now.

I tend to get carried away if I watch mid week.

 

[pwsincd]

ill watch most things , never really a series week by week person cause invariably ill miss 1 or 2 episodes and lose track/interest. I sit through all sorts of crap that waste hours of my life ill never get back , especially when watchin tv with the mrs. So unless recommended to me , ill pass most of the series that i think may seem enjoyable.. Regarding the cinema , i love going but never do , life commitments and being generally bollocksed see to that , less i take the kids to watch the latest pixar/dreamworks release. Mainly ill trawl imdb , read a review and then hit the BT. i can take or leave 3D , i sat just the other day and watched the original superman movies , as they take me back to when i was a kid ,, i love em,, the nostalgia , and line quoting is fun. Espionage / spy thriller / a la bourne or military stuff , love the jack ryan stories.. ill make an effort for that kinda thing.. but other than that ill watch corrie or day time tv to pass the time .. not fussy at all.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I usually keep it a rule not to get into new shows with a plot before they have at least a full season out, but if I'm really interested I will break that rule.
Also, this is not really a rule, but I normally don't watch shows I know are cancelled. I hate it when I watch the last episode of something and there's a cliffhanger that will never be finished.

 

[FAST6191]

Also, this is not really a rule, but I normally don't watch shows I know are cancelled. I hate it when I watch the last episode of something and there's a cliffhanger that will never be finished.

There have been a few shows that have finished it in book, comic, film or something similar over the years? Should something like that happen do you go back then?

That said yeah I have had a few shows I quite like end on a cliffhanger.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

There have been a few shows that have finished it in book, comic, film or something similar over the years? Should something like that happen do you go back then?

That said yeah I have had a few shows I quite like end on a cliffhanger.

It's fine if they make a movie to finish it, but it still sucks when the only end is in a book or comic. I like to read books, but it doesn't have the same feeling to it as watching a TV show or a movie. In a way it feels like a completely different series.
I don't read comics that much.

 

[retKHAAAN]

Rules for watching film/tv? None beyond starting at the beginning...

 

[FAST6191]

Rules for watching film/tv? None beyond starting at the beginning...

Personally I will often grab/see a bit of series 2 of a show and then decide if I want to go back and watch the rest of it. Obvious exceptions for a lot of what HBO, FX and similar such channels do and when I encounter similar shows from elsewhere in the world.

 

[calmwaters]

If you're under 17, you're not watching a R rated movie or playing a M rated game. That's my view on film/media rules.

But as far as general TV, I like watching movies and if I see an episode of a show that looks cool, I'm likely to end up watching other shows and if I miss too many, get the series on DVD.

 

[FAST6191]

If you're under 17, you're not watching a R rated movie or playing a M rated game. That's my view on film/media rules.

But as far as general TV, I like watching movies and if I see an episode of a show that looks cool, I'm likely to end up watching other shows and if I miss too many, get the series on DVD.

You both trust the US censorship boards to get things "right" (I have serious issues with the idea of ratings but hey) and nearly all people undergoing a magical neurological transformation at what is ultimately a somewhat arbitrary point in time?
Interesting. If it is just laziness/shortcuts than by all means roll with it.

 

[calmwaters]

You both trust the US censorship boards to get things "right" (I have serious issues with the idea of ratings but hey) and nearly all people undergoing a magical neurological transformation at what is ultimately a somewhat arbitrary point in time?
Interesting. If it is just laziness/shortcuts than by all means roll with it.

Ninety five percent of the time, they get the info right. But obviously I am a much better judge at what my kids can watch.
And thanks.

 

[Satangel]

Well for TV series I tend to maintain a very strict schedule on watching episodes and I will NOT watch a whole season in 1 day or so. Especially for series like Game of Thrones that are very slow coming out and I hold in the highest regard, I usually only watch 1 every 3 weeks or so. I'm only in the middle of Season 2 in GoT, all my friends are much further and usually can't resist watching the next episodes.
The reason I do this is because it gives me much more time to enjoy/savour the story/setting and especially, that I never have to wait for new episodes. I decide when I want to watch GoT, or any other series, NOT someone else

For the cinema I don't really have rules, of course I don't eat or play on my cellphone during the movie, but that's it. I usually check out the scores of a movie beforehand, so I know it's worth seeing, but that's about it.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Normally if I see an episode or 2 of a show that I like I'll grab the entire series and watch/listen to it in the background while playing games or working and such, and I normally try not to watch 2 series at once because lol OCD. When it comes watching new seasons of shows, though, my brain lets me mix and match with them. For instance, I've been catching up on White Collar for the past couple weeks while also keeping up with Marvel AoS, The Blacklist, etc.

I usually watch movies right before bed. A nice hour 1/2 movie to help lull me to sleep.

 

[tbgtbg]

You both trust the US censorship boards to get things "right" (I have serious issues with the idea of ratings but hey) and nearly all people undergoing a magical neurological transformation at what is ultimately a somewhat arbitrary point in time?
Interesting. If it is just laziness/shortcuts than by all means roll with it.

In the US they aren't "censorship" boards. They have no power to ban anything the way boards in places like the UK and Australia can. All they can do is threaten to give you a higher rating.

 

[FAST6191]

Censorship may have been an ill considered choice of word but when that higher rating has a habit of then leading to a de facto ban in a lot of places and other slightly lesser troubles I will stand by it.

 

[tbgtbg]

You can still get unrated versions on DVD/BR though. That's a major difference.