Turns out it takes a few episodes for most “TV” shows to hook you in, and Netflix has the data to prove it. Here’s how many episodes you should give a popular Netflix show before you drop it from your queue.
Did you watch the first episode of a Netflix show and feel like it didn’t quite live up to the hype? Well don’t give up on it yet! Netflix took a look at their data for over 20 shows across 16 different markets — including Australia — and found that people rarely get hooked on the pilot episode.
They also found, however, the point in each show where most viewers got “hooked” and continued to watch the rest of the season (and then series). Mary Beth Quirk at Consumerist organised everything into a list to make it easy to follow:
Arrow — Episode 8
Bates Motel — Episode 2
Better Call Saul — Episode 4Bloodline — Episode 4
BoJack Horseman — Episode 5
Breaking Bad — Episode 2
Dexter — Episode 3
Gossip Girl — Episode 3
Grace & Frankie — Episode 4
House of Cards — Episode 3
How I Met Your Mother — Episode 8
Mad Men — Episode 6
Marco Polo — Episode 3
Marvel’s Daredevil — Episode 5
Once Upon a Time — Episode 6
Orange is the New Black — Episode 3
Pretty Little Liars — Episode 4
Scandal — Episode 2
Sense8 — Episode 3
Sons of Anarchy — Episode 2
Suits — Episode 2
The Blacklist — Episode 6
The Killing — Episode 2
The Walking Dead — Episode 2
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt — Episode 4
So if you’re watching a show and you’re wondering when it “gets good” now you know. Of course, this information is really only helpful when you’re just on the edge with a show. If you know you don’t like a show right from the get-go, a plot twist or new character is unlikely to make you go from love to hate. Go, relax, and make some headway in your Netflix queue this weekend.
Do You Know When You Were Hooked? Netflix Does [PR Newswire via Consumerist]
Comments
3 responses to “How Long To Give A Netflix Show Before Dropping It From Your Queue”
Screw that. If I don’t like the first episode, it is gone. Couldn’t even get through the first half of an episode of the Kimmy Schmidt one.
Some shows REALLY get better after the first episode, though. Sense8, Mad Men, Marco Polo and the US Office I really struggled with at the start but I got to liking them after a few episodes. I do watch (way) too much TV, but
I don’t know all the other metrics Netflix uses, but couldn’t the argument also be made that for any show with a ‘your hooked’ episode of 6 and above, it’s the classic case of “I’ve invested a fair few hours on this show now, I may as well see it through”. You then proceed to smash through the last half of the season in a joyless binge session just to say you finished it! Because I’m not a quitter!
I always give new shows a few episodes to get settled/introduce everyone etc. I don’t expect a show to grab me and make me want to see what happens next straight up, especially if it is a series that intends to run for several seasons. Every show is different, and I find comedies take the longest to get aquanited with, some are immediately funny, whilst others take a while and are a slow burn but bam out of the blue you can’t get enough (Bored to Death comes to mind)