Why I'll Never Binge-Watch in Public

To binge-watch, as according to the Oxford dictionary, is to ‘watch multiple episodes of a television programme in rapid succession, typically by means of DVD or digital streaming’.
This seems fairly straightforward and almost perfectly describes a typical Friday night at my house, so it was only natural that I was excited when Canberra Writer’s Noted Festival announced an event dedicated to this specialty of mine.
The event’s description promised an evening filled with the best examples of writing in television played out over two hours on a Friday night. It sounded like a dream come true.
However, what was not mentioned was that these examples would consist of 4 minute snippets delivered as a means to incite discussion between a panel of three writers.
I arrived late to the Ralph Wilson Theatre at Gorman Arts House but managed to find a seat among the 60 or so set up at the back of a large room.

To the front of the room a large projector was playing the last few seconds of a scene from a modern sitcom, and directly in front of this, lined up in the middle of the empty space were three armchairs. Filling these were Nick Delatovic, Khalid Warsame and Ebony Bennett, the writers chosen by Noted to select and examine the binge-watching material.
As soon as I had taken my seat the screen went black and the armchair individuals raised their microphones to their mouths. Thus began their discussion amongst themselves regarding the particulars of the scene, developing more broadly to the industry of television as it is today.
The entirety of the binge session continued in this manner: a short clip was played and a lengthy discussion would follow.
They provided enough thoughtful analysis of the writing styles and processes for each segment, and an interesting insiders perspective into the television industry, but I found the overall effect less captivating than anticipated.
There was no real engagement with the audience and by the end of the overdrawn experience I was no longer in the mood for any more TV, a strange feeling for me.
Perhaps this assessment is unfair because of the expectation I had for what the event would be. In all honestly I was really looking forward to settling down to sample some new TV shows which I could possibly add to my list of what next to watch. What I ended up with was a discussion panel assessing modern script writing.
The biggest thing I will take away is that perhaps binge-watching is an event best left in the privacy of one’s own home.
By Amy Sullivan