What makes some people TV fanatics and other folks movie hounds? It’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot recently, after a colleague came back from Sundance and described how fun it’d been to hang out with EW’s movie department and hear them speak as passionately about film as she and I do about television. I know most anyone reading EW appreciates both, but if you’re like me, you still know which way your scale tips. So which direction is it? And why?
I think I’m a TV person because I love the satisfaction I get when I watch a character respond to something exactly as she should. You know what I mean? It could be that I’ve remembered something she said on the topic three seasons earlier, or that I’ve simply grown to know her well enough that I, like the show’s writers, can predict her reaction. In short, even though I love the emotional extremes and grand spectacles you can experience on the big screen in two hours, I wouldn’t trade them for how I felt watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s (pictured) series finale after investing about 70 times that. Not every TV show is that fulfilling, of course, but the possibility is what keeps me tuning in.
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I think I am both as I love TV and also love rewatching my favorite mnovies (all for the wrong reason of course…). However, I agree with you, there is a “special bond” created while watching a tv shows on few years that I do not feel with movies (and they are exceptions like Lord of the rings). Just watching the Friends or the Buffy final was like letting your friends go! But there is nothing like watching a really good movie! I think I can’t make up my mind on this one!!
What a fantastic question! I’ve always considered myself a movie buff and a tv lover, but this is how I see it: I can patiently wait over 12 months to see a movie (The Nines, Blue Car), but it KILLS me to wait 3 months for my show to come back on.
Well, lately, I’ve been more a TV person because there’s more character development on a series than there can be in a movie, and I find that interesting to watch. Not to mention the richness and also quirkiness there to be found on TV right now, as opposed to the cut and dry stereotypes in too many movies. Granted, I also enjoy a singular stellar performance in a film (just saw Julie Christie in “Away From Her” – wow!), so yeah. I go through phases. And as far as junk goes, I’d rather watch ANTM or Survivor than see Deuce Bigolo anyday.
Well, lately, I’ve been more a TV person because there’s more character development on a series than there can be in a movie, and I find that interesting to watch. Not to mention the richness and also quirkiness there to be found on TV right now, as opposed to the cut and dry stereotypes in too many movies. Granted, I also enjoy a singular stellar performance in a film (just saw Julie Christie in “Away From Her” – wow!), so yeah. I go through phases. And as far as junk goes, I’d rather watch ANTM or Survivor than see Deuce Bigolo anyday. So right now, it’s TV.
I love both TV and Movies,but my DVD collection tells all – one shelf of movies, THREE shelves of TV shows on DVD.
Also, I can only think of one movie that made a good TV show – MASH, but lots of TV shows that made decent movies – Hopefully, the upcoming SATC movie will prove me right.
Well, lately, I’ve been more a TV person because there’s more character development on a series than there can be in a movie, and I find that interesting to watch. Not to mention the richness and also quirkiness there to be found on TV right now, as opposed to the cut and dry stereotypes in too many movies. Granted, I also enjoy a singular stellar performance in a film (just saw Julie Christie in “Away From Her” – wow!), so yeah. I go through phases. And as far as junk goes, I’d rather watch ANTM or Survivor than see Deuce Bigolo anyday. So right now, it’s TV.
I am definitely a TV person…I think it is because you really get to know the characters and sometimes it seems as if they are almost real people…And you can connect and relate much more to them…Many times me and my friends will have discussions about characters on a show and it will get heated and passionate and then all of a sudden we all start laughing once we realize what we are arguing about and we will say to each other wow we act like they are our friends or something…lol
Definitely TV. With really great shows I like being able to watch many episodes year after year instead of a movie being over in 2 hours.
I like TV because of the longer format. The arcs are longer, the twists come faster (out of necessity, thank you, sweeps months), the characters can develop over years and years, organically, like real people. Also, there’s the fact that when a movie’s bad, it’s just BAD–in TV, there’s room for recovery, for ups and downs. Just because there’s a bad season doesn’t mean the next season can be better. It feels more like life.
I’ve always been on the TV side. I find it easy to become emotionally invested in the characters that come into your living once a week. Buffy, Angel, Lost — they are all shows I found myself caring for the characters as if they were real.
TV person most definitely. I get invested w/ the characters and their stories, and with movies it’s over after 90-120 minutes. In TV there is more development and you have something to look forward to each week.
I’m with you Mandi. I think you described it perfectly!
Put me in the TV camp as well. As far as a complex story with character growth, the only thing that beats TV is a book. I get kind of angry when people look down on TV but are perfectly accepting of movies and music. TV can take you places that a 2 hour movie could only dream of. This is, of course, assuming it’s done well. There are plenty of stinkers in every category.
That’s like asking which is your favorite child. Both have their pros and cons. i just can’t pick!
Definitely TV. Definitely shows that are still on the air. I need to feel like there’s no end in sight for my relationship with the characters. Movie characters are guaranteed to leave me in a couple of hours, so why bother investing in them in the first place? I need the promise of continuity. That’s why I can’t deal when my favorite TV shows are cancelled (V Mars) or in danger thereof (FNL). Perhaps this signals some deep-rooted attachment issues. And it probably also explains why I truly believe that still out there, in the Obama press corps, Rory Gilmore is dutifully covering the campaign. That’s why she hasn’t been at Friday night dinners, you guys! She’s working, right??
tv.
TV for sure. I just went through all of the seasons of The Wire in preparation for season 5 and there’s no substitute. Movies are like short stories — good TV is like a novel or a series of novels. There’s nothing wrong with a good short story, but novels are more engrossing and compelling.
I think there is more potential in the TV medium to get truly invested in a character’s life…to feel their pain as if it were your own. I am a huge movie fan, but no movie has ever sent me to YouTube to watch shipper videos, or forces me to haunt message boards for hours at a time, debating episodes, characters, and plot developments. Buffy, Angel, the X-Files, Six Feet Under, Battlestar, Lost…these shows forced me to think and feel on a weekly basis, and cemented my relationship with tv forever.
Thinking about this, I realized that I considered myself a movie person for most of my life, but have become a TV person over the past few years. It’s probably no coincidence that in that time serialized dramas and comedies that callback to events that happened years before (“The Office” “Arrested Developmen”) have really come to the forefront.
So I’m a TV guy.
Oh, TV. How I love you. Never leave me.
It’s so interesting that the overwhelming majority of people so far are saying they’re TV people because, I think the perception is still out there (though not as strong) that TV is still an inferior format to movies (meaning that a major movie star who appears in a TV show only does so because his movie career is failing and is apparently “slumming it”)
TV much more accurately reflects our life experiences, with evolving characters and intertwined narratives that extend over years and across distances — shows are like novels that way, while movies are like tight short stories: even if they too span years, they still only give you a glimpse of the characters and their lives.
Seriously, what is it about Buffy? I was a movie person for years and then, one day, I saw the preview for Serenity and decided I’d watch Firefly. And Firefly led to Buffy. And Buffy led to Veronica Mars, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, How I Met Your Mother, Bones…the list goes on. So, thanks to Joss and Buffy, I”m a dedicated TV person now.
I would say TV. But that comes with the caveat that I’ll never love a TV show that same way I love my absolute favorite movies. If Gene Kelly were to show up on the deck of the Battlestar Gallactica, I think my life would truly be complete.
I would have to go with TV. I figure that if I can wait three months to see a movie on DVD, but must, simply must, watch the new episode of whatever show right away, I am more of a TV person. Sure, convenience has a lot to do with that.
But I also agree that with TV, a viewer can get much more invested in the characters than they ever could with a movie. So many times I’ve cried over the happenings on a show, and still, to this day, are affected by them. Movies tend to give me the immediate emotional attachment, but aren’t in it for the long burn. And that’s what I love.
Melissa: I with you on Rory being on that campaign bus. I think back to Rory when I read something about journalists’ experiences following the primaries etc. Gilmore Girls was only show I’ve held finale parties for, for each of the last three seasons.
Although film is a great medium and some films I rewatch year after year, TV has provided the most fulfillment in telling stories and giving us the compelling characters that we have time, most of the time, to get truly invested in: Gilmore Girls, X Files, Buffy, Doctor Who, Firefly (it my little heart of hearts, this show goes on). Now Lost, 30 Rock. As one commenter mentioned, a bad film stays crappy, but tv series can recover from stumbles and re-build.
TV all the way. Better stories, better actors, no crowds. It’s a win win….win.
Movies!! I love to go see a movie in the theatre. It feels like an event. Wheras when I watch TV, I feel a tinge of guilt like I should be doing somethign more worthwhile(for some crazy reason I don’t understand). Although I absolutely LOVE some TV shows (Lost, Battlestar, Heroes, etc), my biggest obsessions are still movies!
I guess I’m the only one!
Movies!! I love to go see a movie in the theatre. It feels like an event. Wheras when I watch TV, I feel a tinge of guilt like I should be doing somethign more worthwhile(for some crazy reason I don’t understand). Although I absolutely LOVE some TV shows (Lost, Battlestar, Heroes, etc), my biggest obsessions are still movies!
I guess I’m the only one!
I’m obsessed with the Oscars. I start following predictions, precursers, etc. a year in advance. On the other hadn, I don’t even care who wins at the Emmys, and I’ve never even watched it. There is something about movies that just seem so much more magical than TV.