Time-strapped students find efficient ways to watch TV

For those students who always commit several hours a week to the enlightened hobby of watching television, the beginning of the fall semester typically brings with it two to-do lists: one titled “homework” and the other labeled “television shows.” For overscheduled students, though, the line between school obligation and recreational entertainment can get a bit blurry.

There is, however, an increasing trend among TV-savvy Columbians stressed about both doing homework and keeping up with all of their shows, which could be called “efficient TV watching.”

“I very rarely schedule time to watch TV,” Sam Yamshon, GS/JTS ‘11, said. “With the advent of streaming sites like Hulu, there’s no point.”

The appeal of cutting an episode created for a half-hour time slot to a mere 22 minutes has translated to huge volumes of traffic on streaming Web sites such as megavideo.com and sidereel.com, both of which allow users to watch their favorite series’ at varying degrees of legality. No matter the liability, though, students cannot resist cutting those valuable eight minutes. As Nava Kantor, BC ‘12, said, “those 22 minutes are key.”

Another appeal of watching TV series after they’ve aired, according to Sarah Roth, BC ’13, is that it allows viewers to “watch a bunch at a time.”

For reality shows, especially, the possibilities of catching up online are endless. Rather than suffering through two fluffy hours of an “American Idol” or “Dancing with the Stars” episode, an online watcher can skip over the more painful performances. (Think vocally-challenged Sanjaya Malakar from season six and ungraceful computer engineer Steve Wozniak from last season’s DWTS).
Another common use of the virtual fast-forward button is that viewers ignore the bulk of the episode and instead surge to the instant gratification of the results. “If I’m watching a reality show like Project Runway or America’s Next Top Model, I always skip through when the judges conference and go over the contestants, because who cares?” Mary Delsener, BC ’12 said.

But members of the remaining subset that doesn’t even have time to squeeze in an abbreviated viewing of such quality series’ as “The Biggest Loser” can take a page from their professors’ syllabi and turn to the age-old means of acquiring information. That is, by reading.

EntertainmentWeekly.com and TelevisionWithoutPity.com, among others, boast instantaneous recaps of major and minor shows. These sites provide minute-by-minute accounts of each episode, exhaustively recounting the show while weaving in elements of critique and review. Ranging anywhere from two to six pages, these articles can serve as legitimate five minute substitutes for lengthier shows for anyone who wants to be able to join a conversation about “Gossip Girl” without setting aside 43 minutes to watch it weekly.

Live blogs are also a must-have for those one-time events like sports games or awards shows. “I absolutely have to do that, because I don’t have a TV,” Delsener said. “When the Emmys were on I was reading live blogs of the show as it was on, and then the next day I watched the highlights.”