Monday, October 19, 2015

Why is TV So Addicting


***Grey’s Anatomy spoilers***

When you start watching a new show it’s like entering an entirely new universe. New characters, new plots, and thousands of possibilities. It’s also easily possible to get hooked on a show and want to binge watch it for hours on end. But why are TV shows so addicting?

                The first thing I can think of is suspense. This is part of how writers keep you coming back. You need to know if Meredith really dies, or if she ends up with McDreamy, or if Burke really leaves Christina at the altar. Cliffhangers are a great method of doing this. At the end of the season of the last episode, the season finale, a giant mega bomb is usually dropped and then not resolved by the end of the episode so you have to wait until the end of September to see what happens. This helps bring in ratings and explains why season finales and primers are the most viewed episodes. 

                TV shows also begin to feel like a habit to people who regularly watch certain shows. They know that Grey’s Anatomy is on on Thursdays at 7pm. This way people adjust their lives and their daily routines for a TV show without even noticing it. People make sure that they don’t work at a certain time and if they have to go to a kid’s basketball game or party the make sure to DVR the episode or plan to watch it on the app of whatever channel the TV show

               Soon enough you find yourself sitting in class daydreaming about 30 Rock and wondering what will happen on the next episode. Your mind is filled with the theme songs of the shows you watch and the plot twists and secrets that characters are keeping from each other. You begin to wonder if a big, dramatic change will happen in the next episodes and if you’re extremely dedicated to the show you will check gossip blogs, Instagram, Tumblr, and YouTube to see what other people are saying about your TV show.

                For shows that don’t are not dramas and don’t have regular cliff hangers at the end of each episodes it can be the unique characters that bring you back every week. For example, on Castle (A show I love, but haven’t had time to watch due to school and homework and work.) has a wide variety of characters that are lovable and, in some cases, relatable. My two favorite characters on Castle and obviously Kate Beckett and Castle. I’ve always loved to the friendship and romantic relationship between them and even though every episode ends with them finding the murderer and ending the day with the case closed and no loose ends, people still come back for the next case and so they can watch the relationship between Kate and Castle and the rest of the team.

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