Binge watching of television shows has been around for a while and seems to go in spurts.  Winter seems to be a prime season as well as the dog days of summer when everyone is stuck indoors.   A rainy spring should also spur this activity.

          

The library certainly recognized that this was going on for a quite some time.  Since we try to purchase complete boxed sets of all the seasons of a television show or pick them up as they are released or on sale, we have noticed that viewers often move from one season to the next.  The big example of this is “The Sopranos” which was initially popular when it was first released but continues to attract new fans.  And currently, “Game of Thrones” is finding new viewers as the series heads to its last season.

 

Series that were shown on premium channels such as HBO and Showtime, particularly have a lot of fans among our users, but lately we see evidence of this with current releases such as “Outlander,” “Homeland,” “Veep,” “Silicon Valley,” “Masterpiece Theatre: Victoria,” “American Gods,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” 

           

The library’s vast collection of DVDs (over 7,000) lends itself to this phenomenon.  Older series that people are just discovering such as “The Wire,” or “Deadwood,” or currently running series that people learn about from friends and the media such as “Midnight, Texas,” “The Expanse,” and “The Crown” are popular.  Also, series that just returned for a new season such as “Gotham,” “This is Us” or “Homeland” garner re-viewing as new plot lines and characters generate interest. 

           

Older series are often like old friends that viewers like to revisit such as: “Seinfeld,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Columbo,” “Roseanne,” “Frazier,” and “True Blood.”

           

Television series are not the only contenders in the library’s DVD collection.  With the eminent release of “Avengers: Infinity War,” fans are preparing by checking out the earlier entries in the Marvel Universe such as “Iron Man,” “Thor,” and “Captain America.”  The Batman and Star Wars franchise often lead to binge watching as fans return to a favorite character or fantasy world, and, of course, the perfect example of binge watching is working your way through all eight movies of the “Harry Potter” series or the multiple series in the Star Trek universe.

           

So, for anyone who enjoys settling down in front of the television set with refreshments to discover a new television series or re-visit an old favorite, don’t forget the library’s vast collection of DVDs.