I’m 41 and I’m utterly baffled by my 24 year-old SO’s interest in binging an apparently infinite litany of TV shows from streaming services. I’ve watched the first six seasons of Game Of Thrones, the first season of Dark, all of The Expanse (reading the last book of the final trilogy now), His Dark Materials (because I read the books) and Andor. That’s it. I watched some Star Trek TNG & DS9 as a kid and was horrified by what snippets of Discovery and Picard I came across. I find the bulk of modern entertainment to be an utter insult to viewers.
First off, probably don't date a 24 year-old. I realize there is no strict correspondence between age and taste, but I'm 42 and my wife is 41 and, well, our shared experience is quite a bit more similar. She can relate when I get nostalgic about the 80s and 90s. She even reads! Complete novels, more than she watches TV. She doesn't have TikTok or Instagram. It is entirely possible to go full-time mutual old people yelling at clouds in a blissful bubble in which the river of bullshit may as well not exist, but probably not if you insist on staying cool and regularly interacting with young people.
Second, watch the rest of Dark, Better Call Saul, and House of the Dragon. Don't watch the last two seasons of Game of Thrones. Just pretend it ended at 6.
> baffled by my 24 year-old SO’s interest in binging an apparently infinite litany of TV shows … TNG & DS9 as a kid and was horrified by what snippets of Discovery and Picard I came across
The thing that bemuses me is those who hate the new trek shows with a passion, and find the time to keep watching and constantly bitching about it online. It is like complaining is a hobby in itself and they are almost looking for something they don't like or to feel superior about their judgement to those who do like it. Other franchises have similar subsets of “fans” too.
I used to watch too much TV/films IMO, I probably still do though I'm a lot more selective since getting into more varied hobbies that can easily consume a lot of time (running (usually off-road), baking, HEMA). But even when I had the free time to watch that much I found there was enough out there that if something didn't work for me I could find a list of other things to try instead of sticking with something I wasn't getting much out of.
Though be careful passing judgement on modern Trek: I'm slowly rewatching TNG with a friend and while some of it has aged well, fair chunks of it was more massively ropey than rose-tinted memories prepared me for! Also, if I hadn't at least passively consumed (i.e. had on TV while I was doing other things so not particularly concentrating on) other parts of recent Trek and Starwars, I might not have bothered to try some of the better stuff like Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, and Andor (the latter probably being the second best TV thing recently for me, the first being Severance).
> The thing that bemuses me is those who hate the new trek shows with a passion, and find the time to keep watching and constantly bitching about it online.
Very meta of you to watch these people and find the time to complain about them.
Though I like to think there is a difference between myself and them: they have a choice to keep experiencing the pain they perceive, I have it thrust upon me when I visit certain places (which I visit less often because of those people – once the SNR drops to a certain low I'm out).
I don’t understand it either… if you don’t like it, walk away. Don’t contribute to the toxic commentary and above all don’t contribute to the viewing numbers, because if they can hold your gaze you’ll get more of the same.
I find the meta-content this generates pretty funny thought. I haven't watched any of the new Trek content since the last movie (Beyond), but I love watching Mike and Rich tear it apart on RedLetterMedia.
I part way understand it. There is a certain tribalism in the way their views are presented, like they feel they are fighting for their own kind in a battle that means something worth the effort. There is also a certain amount of 4-year-old-who-wants-the-green-one-not-the-yellow-one too…
I've dived back into anime recently because of the aggressive sameness of everything on streaming TV. I don't know whether something changed about how "western" media is written or I've just watched so much TV that I can't help but roll my eyes at commonly deployed tropes. At the risk of outing myself as a huge "weeb", I find anime still manages to surprise and entertain me where western programming does not.
EDIT: Forgot Breaking Bad.
EDIT2: Forgot For All Mankind