Streaming may have made the “binge” model a common tv release schedule, but James Gunn just issued a defense of weekly episode rollouts, claiming that they’ve been better for his show.
The rising of streaming (Netflix in particular) has dramatically changed the way series are released, with many streamers dropping an entire series or season at once, essentially encouraging viewers to “binge” new episodes in a short amount of time. It’s a major change from traditional tv and cable series’ history of weekly episode releases, and remains controversial despite the commonality of the practice.
In a thoughtful exchange over X (formerly Twitter), James Gunn just gave a hearty defense of weekly releases in an answer regarding the Creature Commandos release schedule.
To binge or not to binge, that is the question
In his response (below), Gunn began by specifically mentioning how Creature Commandos benefitted from a weekly release. “Because it affords a quality show an opportunity to be discussed and grow from week to week,” Gunn explained. In a series built around lesser-known DC characters, the logic makes sense.
Because it affords a quality show an opportunity to be discussed and grow from week to week. CC has gotten more popular from episode to episode because of the positive discussion around it and has cultivated an enthusiastic audience. If we had dropped all the episodes at once who…
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 23, 2024
It’s proven a successful strategy for the series. “CC has gotten more popular from episode to episode because of the positive discussion around it and has cultivated an enthusiastic audience,” he continues. “If we had dropped all the episodes at once who knows what would have happened.”
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Weekly release schedules certainly have the advantage of building excitement and encouraging anticipation, deeper engagement, and series discussion between episodes versus the bulky immediacy of binge watch models. “I will likely always be in the one-a-week camp for our shows,” Gunn explained.
Of course, series binges have been possible long before streaming, thanks to marathons and home releases. Streaming’s innovation (for better or worse) was making them a major strategy for brand new releases. Gunn’s last word of advice echoes the traditional binge model: “For people who want to binge all at once they can wait until the end of the season.”
You’ll have plenty of time to get accustomed to the weekly rollout for Creature Commandos, as it was renewed for Season 2 at Max.
