The Wire is the same way. Most I've talked to who lost interest never made it more than three or four episodes in which you generally need to the 5th or 6th episodes to really get a feel for the characters.
Then there's shows like Arrow where you spend almost half the first season not giving a fuck for the pay off to really start hitting in the last half to third of the season and just solid after that mostly.
[–] sniper98g 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago (edited ago)
I've had a similar experience with books as well. The first time I started reading the Dresden Files, I though book one was kind of stupid, put it down and didn't come back to it for a while. Later on I went back and decided to give it another try, I thought it was OK and read on a bit. Once I hit book three, I was hooked. I binge read right though book 12 in the series (the latest one at the time) in about two weeks.
[–] hectavex 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Cool idea. It's what you usually have to tell friends when pitching a show to them anyway, especially when they come back a day later and say they watched the first episode or two but it was kinda meh. "No I promise dude, you gotta watch like 5 episodes before it gets real good."
That would change the math though right? Now more people watch Pinkman and proto-Heisenberg through two episodes and still figure out that bathtubs full of flesh dissolving acid aren't really their thing.
I still like the idea but I think it has its own Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
[–] twitch1982 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I've very interested in how they figured this out. They say that people were hooked after 2-3 episodes, and watched the rest of the series, but no one was hooked after the pilot. But how would they know the difference? If I watched 3 episodes, and the whole season, I also watched one episode, and the whole season.
[–] SlappyHo 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
I would guess that they can see how many people stopped watching at a certain point. So they can take the total number of people who watched the pilot but didn't continue vs the total number of people who watched the first few episodes and didn't continue. At some point that number is going to drop off significantly and that would be when the people go hooked. In other words, the episode that hooks people is when the number of people who stop watching the next episode drops off significantly.
[–] twitch1982 ago
I guess that makes sense, but the statement "no one got hooked at the pilot" Still seems odd. WEhen you're looking at populations rather than individuals, I don't know that you can make the argument that no one did something.
[–] dontnation ago
Why does everyone hate on season 2 so much. I liked it. Sure the acting wasn't quite as good as 1, but I mean shit, mcconaughey is at his prime and harrelson is no slouch. Season 2 was well done neo noir, sure they could have cut a little bit of sub plot here and there, but overall I enjoyed it.
[–] Doomking_Grimlock 0 points 10 points 10 points (+10|-0) ago
As long as the shows are good, I don't mind. I came to Netflix for a few very good reasons. They are ten times cheaper than any cable provider, they produce quality shows of their own while maintaining a library of tons of other shows I've missed over the years, and I don't have to pay for a bunch of reality TV drek that I'd never watch in the first place.
Keep being awesome, Netflix. Don't fuck us, Bros.
[–] SlappyHo 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Right, now if someone can provide live HD sports that doesn't lag like most streams, then there would be no reason for me to have cable at all. Those assholes at Directv know that I only want sports so they charge me out the ass and give me 300 shit tier channels just to give me the live sports I want.
[–] barset ago (edited ago)
Tried SlingTV? I want to give it a go, but it's still on time slots although it does have AMC options and CN as well. Their big hook is ESPN.
The problem I have is its like $25 a month so between it hulu, netflix, and prime I'm almost at the cost of a monthly cable sub but the advantage being the majority of the content is on my schedule and far more options than cable.
[–] Doomking_Grimlock ago
Yeah, buddy, they've got you hook line and sinker, and you have my utmost sympathy for that. Personally, I don't go in for sports. I'll play them, but watching bores me. Guess I'm kinda lucky there.
[–] CatInTheHat ago
Its probably limited to Canada but CBC will stream hockey, maybe other sports but I have only watched hockey there. I watched most of the playoffs on their website last year, quality was decent and worked pretty well compared to other streaming sites I have tried.