The Clash: Are all these TV options really a good thing?

Opinion

There are an overwhelming amount of TV options these days - but is that good or bad? Chris Schulz and Joanna Hunkin have their say.

Chris Schulz says:

There's a great Portlandia skit about bingewatching that I must have seen 20 times. In it, a couple settles in for the night with a boxset of Battlestar Galactica and some popcorn.

Three weeks later, they've lost their jobs, the power's been cut, there's no food in the house, and, when they reach the end of the show, they kidnap creator Ronald D Moore and force him to make more episodes.

I love that kind of passion. It reminds me a little of myself. I'm constantly on the hunt for that next fix. And I know I'm not the only one. Is there anything better than finding a TV show that you can't stop thinking about, that you want to rush home and turn on as soon as you get there, that you want to watch so badly you're not sure what you ever did without it?

Right now, it seems, there are more options than ever. Bring it on, I say. Whether you want brooding Netflix dramas like Bloodline and Daredevil, or Lightbox fare like Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, or Soho, with its selection of HBO standouts like Game of Thrones, The Jinx, as well as Banshee and Silicon Valley, I want it all - and I want it all now.

So if you find me unshowered, unkempt, and surrounded by toast crumbs on the coach at 4am, don't call for help - because it's exactly where I want to be. Too much TV? There's no such thing.

Joanna Hunkin says:

I watch a lot of TV. I'm basically paid to do it. I have Sky, Netflix and Lightbox - and use them all regularly. I watch free-to-air and on-demand. And yet, there's still so much "must-see TV" that I've never seen.

Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Mad Men have all passed me by. Despite intentions to catch up eventually, now the very thought is overwhelming.

It would take 92 hours alone to watch all seven seasons of Mad Men. That's two full working weeks. Who has that kind of time?

Because while I do love a quality drama - Fargo, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black were last year's favourites - there's only so much brain power I can commit to the gogglebox. Sometimes you just need mindless drivel.

TV viewing used to be a way to unwind. Light entertainment at the end of a long day. Now it's become a kind of competitive sport.

"Have you seen The Wire?.. No??... Good Lord, you philistine. I must end this conversation immediately."

It's too much. Television's become too good, too clever. It's exhausting.

As the president of NBC Universal said: "What used to be the golden age of television has now become a gold rush."

But too much of a good thing is bad for you. And just how long can this glut last? What happens when all those networks chasing the pot of gold realise no one is watching and pull the pin?

There is definitely such a thing as too much TV - and we're watching it right now.

- Timeout