I told myself at the beginning of summer I would be all caught up on the Flash and Arrow while also starting Legends of Tomorrow. Unfortunately, this goal was way too ambitious. I had been trying to watch the newest season of the Flash and it’s been rather difficult for me to get through it. It’s not that the season is bad, but I’m just not as enthralled as I was in the prior seasons. Yet, I had been trying to force myself to watch it. This also applies to Arrow as I wasn’t a fan of the whole team splitting up which made me stop watching. Why do we force ourselves to watch TV we aren’t that interested in?
One reason I force myself to watch TV is based on a friend’s recommendation. They say the show is SO GOOD, so you feel obligated to keep watching even though you barely could get past episode #2. This was my exact reaction when I started watching Making a Murderer. I felt the show was too boring for me to keep up with even though everyone became emotionally invested in Stephen Avery’s case.
Another reason I force myself to watch shows is the cast. Stephen Amell who stars in Arrow seems to be a down to earth human being. I have watched how he has raised money for cancer research by selling his collectible tank tops and t-shirts. He is one of the few celebrities who seems to not let fame get to him. He’s also nice to all of his fans he meets. With that being said, I feel bad that I’m not caught up on his show even though I’m not as big of a fan as I once was.
Sometimes it’s overwhelming to get caught up on my shows. I still haven’t watched Luke Cage Season #2 or Iron Fist Season #2 and Daredevil is already releasing it’s third season this month. There’s so much TV and I’m trying to catch up on it all while still maintaining my social life, getting 8 hours of sleep and 5x a week for exercise. One reason why I have been watching less TV is because I have been spending all my time playing Marvel’s Spider-Man by Insomniac Games. I shouldn’t have to feel bad for watching less TV because I want to devote my time to something else.
Also I find myself re-watching shows I have already seen because I genuinely love them. This summer instead of watching the Flash or Arrow, I re-watched season #1 of the Punisher on Netflix and seasons #1 – #3 of Agents of Shield. It brings back memories especially watching Agents of Shield because me and my college roommate would talk for hours about the plot twists happening in Coulson’s helicarrier.
Eventually I do want to get caught up on the Flash and Arrow, but it has to happen on my own time. If that means I’m not going to be able to watch this current season, that’s fine. Forcing myself to watch TV is more tiring than I want it to be. My goal is to pick what I want to watch regardless of what friend’s think and what new season is airing in Fall. I’m curious if anyone else feels this way. If you do, leave a comment below.
Bizarre Brunette 
No, you are definitely not alone on this. The constant struggle I have these days is finding enough time for things. Watching shows is time consuming, and I often watch things because I follow a particular show. The thing is….every series sometimes has as season that is not as good as the previous ones. But then the season after that one, it can become good again. That’s pretty much the biggest problem honestly. And I often do find myself rewatching older shows too….just because I already know they are good….Haha, even though there might be better ones out there lol 😊😊
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Right? I feel like I put so much time in watching the other seasons of Flash & Arrow, it’s like I’m obligated to keep watching the show when I’m not..
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My complete lack of a social life allows me to keep up with shows live on TV so I don’t often have to catch up on full seasons, but I’ll admit that I’m not always excited for every show. Arrow and Supergirl aren’t thrilling me, so I do feel a sense of force there because I want to keep up with the shows and with the Arrowverse. To answer your question, I guess we do it to feel included and in the know and to, in some cases, hold on to something that at one point did make us happy.
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I definitely agree with you. Especially Arrowverse. I haven’t even watched the four crossover episodes from last year.
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There’s definitely a lot of stuff around! Fortunately the Marvel shows on Netflix can finally be downloaded for offline viewing, so I’ve been able to catch up during my commutes and at the office. I’m quite lucky that the nature of my work allows that 🙂
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That’s really nice! I drive to work so I can’t do that.
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I feel like this with The Walking Dead. Every season I watch seems to be getting worse, and I can barely stand to watch it anymore because its just not that interesting anymore. I constantly think that there are a million other things I could be doing, but I’ve invested so much time in the show, and so many of my friends watch it so its a regular talking point.
Emma | https://geekytourist.com
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I don’t even watch TV basically at all anymore. I have maybe 2 shows I actively watch still, and that’s cause I watch it with my brother and it’s our bonding TV. Otherwise, I never watch television like that. Thus why I fell out of Orange is the New Black and have never touched Stranger Things or Game of Thrones.
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I also fell out of watching Orange is the New Black, the show slowed down for me and I wasn’t invested anymore. I also haven’t watched Stranger Things or Game of Thrones either. Not sure when or if I will.
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This was a really great article! I as well was hoping to catch up on the many of shows I fell behind on last spring for the new fall tv season. I’ve always wanted to like Arrow, but my heart could just never really get into the show. I was on season four by the time I just decided I didn’t think I could ever really get into the series liked I would of hoped to. I mainly wanted to catch up because I watch all the other DC shows on the CW and I was like, “I have to watch Arrow, the crossovers!”, LoL. I really like the cast though, at the end of it I just decided for now to put that show to the side and maybe go back at some point in the future to maybe start watching it again someday.
I liked the last season of The Flash. I didn’t think it was the best season, it was just okay. Although, the season 5 premiere was really strong and set up a really interesting premise for this upcoming season. It’s definitely worth picking back up again at some point.
There’s so many shows out now every week that I still haven’t started the new seasons of Jessica Jones, Orange is the New Black, and the countless others on Netflix now. Hopefully at some point I’ll get around to watching the new seasons, but who knows when, LoL.
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Right?? Being invested in a TV show takes up so much time.
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