Questions to people who watch any TV show or movie more than once

I'm just wondering, is it normal for me to watch somethign the first time for the plot and the second time for the characters and all of the humor? More than half the times I watch things more than once, I find myself cheering for different characters (often teh villains) each time after the first.

 

I've probably seen every episode of MASH 20 times. The same with X-Files. I never gets old for me. TV Land is your friend.

 

I do that too, if I like the movie/show. The first time is for the general feel of it, plot, characters etc. Second time around is either looking at different characters and usually more often the costuming in it.

 

First time's just to see it. Second time I consume everything in. No wonder I had to see ROTS and GOF so many times this year. After that on DVD or repeats, it's just for fun.

 

I tend to be the opposite. Sometimes I'll watch the first time for characters first, and then plot.

 

I can watch a movie hundreds of times and still enjoy it. First, I watch for the main plot - to see if everything works. Then, I usually just watch it for my favorite character. Sometimes I just listen to the music and ignore the dialog to see if everything works that way. Then I watch for the small details, and then after watching a lot of times, I just watch it to enjoy it.

 

I tend to watch things for the characters and stories, and then go back to nitpick things. Camera angles, lines, seeing how everything is tied in together.

 

I think the great films/television shows (albums and books too) are the ones that you can experience several times.

You tend to get more every time.

And if you're like me and watch movies for the experience, then it's understandable.

 

I lost count how many times I've watched Firefly and Serenity.
Both my husband and I watch most of our dvds over and over which is why we don't mind spending the money on them. (We don't get 'normal' tv here in Ticino and we don't speak enough Italian to understand it even if we were to go ahead with cable)

so I think it is very normal to repeat watch a show especially when it is really well written...

right now we are doing our second run through of Babylon 5.

but then we are also self acclaimed geeks

 

I never thought much about a reason to do it. I don't even know one. Why do I watch something that I know more often than, say, 2 or 3 times? Why do I enjoy some scenes more when re-watching them than just by memory?

 

I think it's like a drug. Based on your personal history, perceptions, like/dislaikes etc. You are getting your natural high off watching something that clicked with you.

 

I just watch to watch. I only watched for any other purpose was rewatching much of Highlander as I was trying to do a fan fic, many moons ago. I wanted to be sure I had all my facts straight and this was before I had a computer to use the net.

 

I saw RoTS a bunch of times (as I did AoTC). Since the closest digital cinema to my home here in the UK is up in London (about 30-45 minutes travel by train and then a Tube ride) I only got to see AOTC once there before Minority Report pushed it out. I did that viewing as a 'scenery' viewing, especially the Coruscant night scenes. I had about four RoTS viewings before War of the Worlds kicked it out and each time was more of a 'scenery' viewing than a plot or main character viewing. I saved the plot and character viewings for the local cinema, where both films stayed around about a month longer.
There are a few TV shows I never tire of - MASH is one. Usually the number of repeat viewings depends on the episode.

 

First time, I watch it for the plot. Second and any subsequent, I usually watch the costuming, characters and dialog. I love watching for pointers to future episodes or events when I already know what's coming. That's why watching Babylon 5 again and again is so rewarding. A throw-away line in one episode can clue you in to something universe-shattering a few episodes or even a season later.

 

I'm reminded of the one scene of Twelve Monkeys that I've seen, with Bruce Willis in the movie theater, talking about experiencing things over again, like movies, and it being different from the last time you saw it because you were different the last time you saw it. I think it's a valid way of looking at the question.

 

I've probably seen every episode of MASH 20 times.

Gods, me too...my mom watches it all the time, so I've seen just about every episode of it...

Some people don't get the same enjoyment out of watching a movie over and over again, but to me, everytime I watch a movie again, I always find something in it that I didn't see the first time, so to me, it's like watching it again for the first time.(if the makes sense... )

 

I like watching episodes of Law And Order: Criminal Intent the second time around, because you understand the pre-credit teaser sequences so much better! When you watch the opening scenes of each episode, it cuts back and forth between all the activity leading up to the commission of a murder or horrible crime, but it's out of context and we don't quite know what's going on. It's left up to the viewer to try and figure out exactly how each participant is involved, and for what reason they would have to commit the crime. And usually there are unexpected twists and turns, and details that were conveniently omitted from the prologue, so for the most part the viewer would be wrong!

 

I'll probably never watch my 24 DVDs again, however my Red Dwarf DVDs are never far from the DVD player.

No matter how many times I see the funny bits I still like to see them again.

 

^^^ Exactly. (the 24 part I mean). It's such a great show; one of my favorites. I myself beleive it's one of those shows that you can watch once...maybe twice...but then all the dramatic tension that the show is based on is just "LOST" (same thing with that show as well)