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« on: June 23, 2022, 09:23:34 pm »
IMDb ratings. A couple thoughts-
Comparing user ratings for movies with user ratings for shows is quite inconsistent.
Even across genres-
A comedy film with a rating in the 6s is probably a good watch, for a comedy. A drama film in the 6s is probably mediocre (for a drama), though if you’re a fan of a particular aspect of the movie (an actor, the writer/director, the book, the niche sub-genre, the type of art/cinematography) you will probably enjoy it.
For user ratings of individual show episodes, two quirks to keep in mind-
One is that the later seasons are watched and rated predominantly by the die hard fans (who will love everything, until they don’t); each season will have a smaller, more dedicated following than the previous, typically.
Two is that for shows which air one episode at a time, the ratings/reviews will be heavily skewed by the viewers at the time each episode aired (without the foresight of peers telling them it gets better, nor the hindsight of bingeing ahead and coming back to rate it). This is significant for long-form stories, shows that later have a big relevant “reveal”, and shows that later go through a change in style, pacing, direction, etc.
For example, I was once checking episode ratings of The Walking Dead season 10. I had almost finished bingeing two seasons, and enjoyed the last few episodes of 10, which were “bottle-episodes” mainly focusing on some of my favorite characters. I discovered that, when they aired on AMC, these were “bonus” day-in-the-life episodes tacked on after the main story’s full run (i.e. the main story still got the usual amount of screen time for the season). As they aired each week the viewers hated them. They were hungry for something meatier after waiting week to week. I didn’t care if they took some time to give some extra love to the show; by the time I got to these episodes, season 11 was already airing and I didn’t have that “what’s this crap I need to know what happens next” feeling.
