Do you commit to a series before starting it?

[Marter]

This is something I was just thinking about, considering my From Dusk Till Dawn sequels (there are two of them) finally came in the mail.

I've never seen From Dusk Till Dawn, though I've owned it for a while now. I wanted to wait until I could see all three of them together before watching any of them, because I feel that's the best way to treat the material.

Do you do that, too? Be it games, movies, books, or whatever, do you plan to consume all that a series has to offer before you've even begun? Or will you judge the first before deciding whether or not the others are worth your time?

Additionally, if you do commit to a series prior to starting it, do those plans sometimes change? For instance -- and I'm sure you knew this was coming considering it's me -- the Scorpion King franchise. If I wasn't so dead-set in my determination to see the series through to the end, I would have stopped after the second one, for it was a dreadful experience. More than likely, I would have stopped part way through Scorpion King 2, because it's just that bad. (And I then never would have seen the masterpiece that is Scorpion King 3. <3) So, are you that kind of person? Or are you like me, and once you make a commitment to something, you're going to see it through, regardless of the quality of future installments?

These are the things I ask of you, Escapist people. So tell me already!

 

[Esotera]

After seeing the first few episodes of Jericho, I made an eternal oath that I would see it through to the bitter end, including any comics the crew have produced. I'm currently soldiering on through season 2.

If a series gets ridiculously bad (like Ultimate Force did in its second to last episode) then I definitely abandon it.

 

[Andy Shandy]

I commit to half of a series/a series of something before judging a TV programme.

Don't particularly think I do it for anything else though.

 

[Fappy]

I guess it depends. I usually come into something just as it's starting up, so I don't really have to think about it that way. I'm hipster like that.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I give it a few episodes. If the hook doesn't catch, I give it up.

 

[ronald1840]

I never commit to something without checking it out a little bit. Back when The Walking Dead AMC TV show's first season was ending I watched all six episodes in one-sitting after the first episode. I enjoy the series, but I wasn't sure if it'd ever continue so I put it out of my mind until I heard the show did well enough for a second season. Now I've watched that and along with the upcoming third season I will follow this series on TV for however long it goes on till the end. If the TV show gets cancelled or stops airing then I'll pick up the comics, but I will finish this series.

Game of Thrones is another thing I just blindly jumped into and am now a committed fan. I blazed through the second and first season I can't just end now seeing as there's four more books of story ahead of me. I'm committed to this series and will watch it till the finale and if the show ends then I'll pick up the books.

Whether it's a video game series (Uncharted, Persona) or a TV show, I'll watch or play the first episode and couple hours, see how I feel about, and then I check to see if there's any upcoming material of the series that I can look forward to.

 

[The Wykydtron]

To be fair if a series fails to keep me interested in itself then it only gets maybe two episodes of goodwill time before I piss off entirely.

It's why I dropped Deus Ex after a few hours, you'd think this apparently godlike game would be able to keep me involved in it no?

Ok the controls got slightly fucked when you're playing on a laptop because a lot of controls are bound to the number pad which you don't have so that adds to it just a bit. Hilariously, the screenshot button was bound to the same button as the night vison so after a session there would a load of poorly lit holes, rooms and corners sitting in my Steam folder.

Though I am good at picking out the good stuff apparently out of the ether with no prior knowedge of the series, particularly anime and manga.

I suppose quality has a way of calling out to me in a sense... Or i'm just clicking on all the catchy sounding titles at random.

 

[ErwinGodfrey]

Most of the time when I start a series I watch it to the end, because you know how an ending can effect your entire view of a series, so I'll give even lack luster series a chance to surprise me, but only if the series hasn't repulsed me at the beginning, because if the beginning of the story sucks it takes me out of the experience and I'm unwilling to slog through so much shit even if there is a giant diamond at the end. It's very much what Yahtze's policy on whether or not to finish a started series, except I'm much more forgiving than he is.

How ever, my mood at the time, spare time available, and previous experiences with a genre probably have more effect on how far in a series I'm willing to go than any self-enforced "rules".

 

[Swyftstar]

No, I have the attention span of a hyperactive puppy. I will watch the first few eps of a show, really like it and then start watching something else. Finishing shows just isn't important to me. I'm in the middle of like five shows now and that's a conservative estimate.

 

[Trivun]

I tend not to, but I'm picky enough that I only start series that I know I'm likely to enjoy. It's worked for me so far, even if I do have a massive backlog of books, games, and TV shows to get through...

That being said, I bought Bioshock and Bioshock 2 together because they were on offer at my local game store, but I haven't played either yet (well, I played Bioshock up until just after that crazy plastic surgeon, and thought it was awesome, but then put it on hiatus for a brief period that hasn't yet ended as I work through my ever increasing backlog...). Otherwise though, I'd rather not commit to something when I don't know if I'll enjoy it all the way through. I'm one of those types who likes to understand the entire plot of something when I start getting interested in it...

 

[4RM3D]

Yes and no.

Yes, I want to start watching a (movie) series when I got everything complete. But in practice that is nearly impossible, except for anime. I am not going to wait 3 years to see The Hobbit in one go. And I wouldn't have waited 7 years for House M.D. to end.

- Movies I watch ASAP.

- Series I usually get into at season 2-3 (after they escaped the first cancellation round). Then I would watch the first season(s) in a month time and after I would follow the new episodes on a weekly basis as they come.

- Anime series I almost always wait till the end. But that is because I know there are only going to be a fixed amount of episodes and because the episodes are usually continues (not stand alone). E.g. watching The Big Bang Theory on a weekly basis is fine; watching an anime on a weekly basis is just annoying.

 

[Casual Shinji]

No way!

Something needs to earn my attention, I won't just blindly give it away. When something sucks I stop watching it and start watching something I actually like.

 

[Jedoro]

Nope, I take 'em one episode at a time. Unfortunately, this has led to me missing out on Breaking Bad, because I didn't even stick around to finishing the first episode, so I should at least watch the whole thing before quitting.

 

[Olas]

Dexter, Battlestar Galactica, and The Walking Dead are all examples of shows I went into expecting to follow through to the bitter end, and then gave up before even finishing the first season.

 

[HardkorSB]

This is something I was just thinking about, considering my From Dusk Till Dawn sequels (there are two of them) finally came in the mail.

I've never seen From Dusk Till Dawn, though I've owned it for a while now. I wanted to wait until I could see all three of them together before watching any of them, because I feel that's the best way to treat the material.

The first one was a stand alone movie. The sequels have (aside from the setting) nothing to do with the original. 1st one is good, 2nd one is OK, 3rd one... skip that one.

If the first movie was never meant to have sequels (like, for example, The Highlander or The Matrix) then watching the sequels is entirely optional.

 

[Marter]

The first one was a stand alone movie. The sequels have (aside from the setting) nothing to do with the original. 1st one is good, 2nd one is OK, 3rd one... skip that one.

If the first movie was never meant to have sequels (like, for example, The Highlander or The Matrix) then watching the sequels is entirely optional.

They're still part of a series, and therefore I feel compelled to watch them. It's almost a completionist mindset for me; I'll feel unfulfilled if I do't watch it, regardless of how tangential the relation is.

 

[C F]

I'll wet my feet before deciding to commit to something, and I have every right to abandon it if I don't like it. Mainly it's the whole "I have other things I can be spending my time on" sentiment I often find myself thinking.

"Completionist mindset" is right. Not sure why you'd do that, Marter.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I stopped reading all the other books I was going through, non-fiction included, before I started Game of Thrones. I will not read others until I've finished the 4 my Dad has.

I commit to a series before going through it, yeah.

 

[DugMachine]

I'll watch an episode or two to see if it caught my fancy, none of this IT GETS GOOD HALF WAY THROUGH THE SEASON crap.

But when I do find a show I like oh boy. I will watch nothing else but that series. Kinda like Breaking Bad I got all caught up and then season 5 started and this whole waiting a week between each episode and now a year is killing me.