IS a populist cabal of remote-control-wielding, DVD-obsessed fans controlling the Emmys?
OK, not quite. But heading into tonight's ceremony, it's indisputable that "24" -- the fifth season of which earned 12 Emmy nominations, more than any other series -- owes much to viewers like Starlee Kine who consume entire seasons in a few short days.
"That show is like crack," she said. "I don't know how you watch that show and \o7not\f7 binge."
It didn't start out that way. Back at the end of its first season on Fox, "24" ranked as one of the most expensive shows on television and was a critical and cult favorite -- but it was only a moderate ratings success. To recoup some of its costs, 20th Century Fox Television ditched the traditional four-year wait and released the series on DVD in September 2002, six weeks before the second season premiered. The results were unexpected: Not only has the first-season set sold 1.7 million units, but the return of the series averaged 3 million more viewers than the previous year. "That seems to be the way people find the show," said "24" executive producer Howard Gordon of the DVD success. "It's been a great enhancement."
The trail-blazing DVD release boosted the number of Jack Bauer-worshipping viewers and -- along with the show's cardiac-arrest-inducing cliffhanger endings -- contributed to a new phenomenon: binge-watching.
Serialized narratives such as "24" are tailor-made for such back-to-back-to-back episode viewing -- and their release on DVD has altered the way we watch TV by giving consumers the freedom to view shows on their own schedules, all at the flick of a fingertip. Just a few of the binge-watchers' favorites: HBO's "Six Feet Under" and ABC's "Lost" (which netted nine Emmy nominations each), as well as lighter fare such as HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Entourage" (five nods apiece) and Fox's "Arrested Development" (four nominations).
Clearly no one's going to raise a silver disc overhead during tonight's acceptance speeches at the Shrine Auditorium. But it's impossible to look at these series' showings this year without noting the intersection between the Hollywood awards culture and this evolving consumer behavior.
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An obsessive compulsion
