Well, it finally happened. The show you've watched religiously and loved intensely for years is coming to an end. Stranger Things has unleashed its last psychically induced nosebleed on Netflix. The kids finally know How I Met Your Mother. The detectives of Brooklyn Nine-Nine have collared their last criminal. And you're left on the couch to pick up the pieces.Â
Worry not, my TV-loving brethren. There is a way to quell your appetite for great storytelling, lovable characters and the magic that unfurls in the ecstatic space of a satisfying ending. All you have to do is ask the right questions.
There are thousands of shows out there. Here's how to use AI to find your next binge-watch.
Know what's coming next
Your favorite show ending might feel like a big loss, but the good people of Bollywood, Hollywood, certain parts of Georgia and beyond are still very much hard at work coming up with fun situations full of comedy and procedurals you'll never see coming. Unless you have a blanket subscription to every part of Penske's media empire, you're probably only aware of what's getting the hard-core ad dollars or big PR pushes.Â
AI systems like ChatGPT can do the dirty work of scouring the trades, forums and specific social feeds where rumour meets reality in the TV domain, so you can place your future binge-watching bets like a pro.
I prompted ChatGPT to generate a comprehensive breakdown of all that information that's milling around new shows with binge-watching potential. It's debatable whether limited series can be considered "binge-watching material," but it did produce a healthy list, including an animated series based in the Stranger Things universe that I had no idea was being made.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
Bingeables across the pond
The Twilight Zone was canceled long ago, and reboots have been less than successful in longevity, but that doesn't stop people from yearning for dark social commentary with clever twist endings. If American streamers and networks can't scratch that itch, you can use AI systems to identify bingeable shows from abroad that may not have bubbled up into the US entertainment ecosystem.
I asked Google's Gemini AI to give me some recommendations for shows in the spirit of The Twilight Zone and Stranger Things that have been produced in foreign countries and usually not big commercial hits in the US.
Meta AIÂ and ChatGPT were unable to resist providing US-produced shows despite explicit instructions to keep them all in the foreign realm, so Gemini seems to be the best fit for this type of prompt.
Creating a bite-sized binge-watch playlist
If you're not totally ready to let go but the pain of reliving a whole season is just too fresh, AI systems can build you a custom YouTube playlist of just the hits from your favorite series.
I used Microsoft Copilot to build a playlist of the best parts of the show Mad Men cobbled together from official clips and popular rips because I'm still not ready to leave Don Draper behind, but I also don't need to be reminded of just how terrible a spouse he was.
The result is a friction-free binge that soothes the soul and scratches the itch without the irritation. Copilot even asked if I'd like those clips curated into a single playlist for me.
Binge-watch by fandom
The best thing about impactful television is that it earns the rare distinction of being bingeable. Fans are sometimes lucky enough to be rewarded with a glut of episodes to keep them entertained in the lulls between discovering their next favorite show. But some series are more about the stars than the storytelling.
If you loved watching Dr. House solve medical mysteries and piss off interns on a weekly basis but have every line from the show memorized, you may be into other Hugh Laurie-centric media.
Pix by Likewise, an AI-enabled application built specifically to make personalized media recommendations, can provide a comprehensive overview of shows featuring your favorite talent and how to watch them, so you can admire more of their oeuvre.
