25 TV Shows You Should Be Binge-Watching [We Ask You Results]

Sure, binge-watching existed when VHS was still in vogue, but DVDs, Blu-rays, and (especially) online streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Instant Video mean binge-watching television content is now commonplace.

Binge-watching is a new cultural phenomenon. So much so, the term is one of a handfulnewly inducted into the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.

What YOU want to know is which TV shows are worth binge-watching? A question to which WE have the answer, thanks to your fellow MakeUseOf readers.

Epic Episodic Entertainment

We asked you, What TV Shows Have You Binge-Watched The Most? We had a good number of responses, with enough of you answering the call to suggest TV shows worth binge-watching that we have been able to compile a long list you would do well to take notice of.

What follows are 25 of the television shows MakeUseOf readers have binge-watched and recommend you do too. There are plenty more included in the comments thread of the original post, so once you have exhausted this list you can always head there for more suggestions of what to binge-watch next.

The Big Bang Theory Orange Is The New Black True Blood Game Of Thrones Breaking Bad The Sopranos Stargate SG-1 How I Met Your Mother True Detective Fargo Seinfeld The West Wing Orphan Black American Horror Story 24 Battlestar Galactica Fringe Dexter The Wire Weeds Oz Bones Mad Men Lost Farscape

That little lot should keep you going for a while, but before you start watching any of the television shows listed above please do read our short guide to binge-watching. It’s not meant to be taken entirely seriously but you may find something useful there regardless.

Comment Of The Week

We received a lot of great comments, including those from Allison, Peter F, and Dan. Comment Of The Week goes to Katharine W, who won with this comment:

I watched three and a half seasons of Shameless (US version, Showtime) in about four days. At the time I was binging, they had aired up to about 4×05. It’s just really good and I could not stop watching. I um, “borrowed” the episodes to catch up.

Other things I’ve binge watched:
Doctor Who (still working on it, Netflix)
Orphan Black (two seasons in two weeks, Amazon Prime)
Orange Is The New Black (two seasons, 9 days, Netflix)
Bones (took me roughly 3 months to get through the first five seasons, Netflix)

Nowadays I binge watch a lot. It’s true that streaming services like Netflix and Amazon have made it much easier, but I’ve been doing it for years, ever since I learned how to “borrow” entire seasons of shows from the internet. Which I still do sometimes if someone recommends me a show that’s not available on streaming services, ie. shows from premium cable channels. I’m not going to pay $30 extra in cable a month for one show. The premium cable channels would be a lot better off just licensing their stuff to Netflix and Amazon, bc then at least they’d be getting some money, instead of nothing from people pirating it. HBO has kind of kicked this off with Amazon, but they don’t have a lot of stuff on there. I kind of understand delaying what goes on streaming, but HBO has gotta be losing out big time right now, since they could put S1 of GoT on Amazon and at least get some money from Amazon for it, rather than get cut out of the equation entirely by piracy.

We chose this comment because as well as listing a number of shows that are perfect for binge-watching and telling us the services she uses to watch them, Katharine also implores the cable companies to change their practices to better serve the ways which many of us now want to watch TV.

They won’t listen, but one day they will have to act or risk losing out altogether. It’s a matter of when, not if, so perhaps we should hold sweepstakes on when the cable companies will take cord-cutting seriously. Feel free to discuss this in the comments section below.

We Ask You is a weekly column in which you have your say about a particular subject. We ask you a question each week, with the results compiled and compressed into a follow-up article the following week. This column is nothing without your input, all of which is valued.

Image Credit: Gordonvia Flickr

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