The months of September and October are usually great as far as television is concerned. Yes, my fellow television series addicts, summer is on the way and it’s the start of new seasons of all types of TV series. The following is a check-list to see if you have an overly-attached relationship with your favourite TV series and embrace it as being part of your personality.
1. You cannot stop thinking about what a new episode will entail. You’ve read previews, watched trailers and re-read Wikipedia links just so that you have an idea of what’s going to happen. Your mind goes into overdrive thinking of the possible story-lines that will be explored. The good part here is that maybe some sort of mental exercise is involved for you – it does involve concentration, let’s face it.
2. You have dreams about you being in a specific series as one of the characters. You have already graciously accepted that you are obsessed with the show and its plot, but this is where things get a little weird. Due to the late nights you spend binging on many episodes, it should come as no surprise that these thoughts are perpetuated in your subconscious and lead to the craziest dreams. And it’s not even fun, because you’re too busy being intimidated by the thought that this is an out-of-world experience.
3. You ‘use’ episodes as a time-frame for getting things done during the day. These episodes usually work relatively well, as you can cheat your way into watching an episode before carrying out an important task. “I have to have a study break to eat supper, so I might as well watch a Friends re-run,” seems like a perfect plan until it’s two hours later and you realise you’re stuck in a binge-watching cycle all over again.
4. You find it easy to cancel plans when you find out that your friend has somehow managed to get you new episodes of a series you enjoy. The worst part is that you don’t even feel bad about it. You would rather be seeing a drama unfold in front of you instead of making an effort to go out and actually interact with ‘real’ people you may or may not know. Whereas, while watching your TV series, it’s familiar faces all the time.
5. When someone asks you what series is your favourite, it’s a difficult question. For you, it’s hard enough to keep track of the number of series you actually watch, let alone figure out which one you like best. There is usually too much going on for you to be able to pick one specific series.
If you’ve found yourself nodding along to all the items above, you do have a problem. Good advice in this instance would be listen to other people and maybe try to do something else for a change; like reading, for example. “The book is always better than the movie / series!” could be true if you gave it a chance. However, if you’re set in your ways, then you’ll probably carry on feeding your addiction!
Choosing a series to binge on is even more fun than being stuck in a sweet shop. There is no closing time! And if you think there is one, you’re not a true series junkie. The junkie life is ‘vampire life’ where sleep is overrated and TV takes precedence over everything else. Watch on, my friend, watch on!
