PORTAGE la PRAIRIE, MB –
A struggle most couples endure on a nightly basis was taken to the extreme by Barry and Darlene Compton of Portage la Prairie as they spent 28 days trying to figure out what to watch on Netflix.
“All our friends have Netflix so we decided to sign up for the free month,” Darlene Compton said. “Once we logged on it was like we opened Pandora’s Box, although I’m not sure who she (Pandora) is.”
The Comptons buckled under the pressure of making a viewing selection from the online streaming service’s thousands of choices.
“We started with the suggested viewing and that took us a whole evening to scroll through,” Barry Compton explained. “Most of the shows and movies I’d never heard of so it was real hard to decide. We noticed that every night the list seemed to change so we felt we needed a plan.”
Famous for making informed, calculated, albeit slow decisions in every area of their lives, the couple devised a plan to help them wade through the multitude of options.
“I started scrolling and calling out potentially interesting shows and Barry entered them in a spreadsheet,” Darlene shared. “From there we looked up trailers and descriptions online and made notes on the spread sheet.”
With hundreds of potential selections in their database, the couple spent over two weeks analyzing and prioritizing their list before rendering a decision on what to watch.
“We not only factored in our personal tastes but also the recommendation friends made on social media,” Barry said. “By day 28 we felt confident we could start watching effectively.”
Starting with the highest ranked programs on the list, the Comptons committed to watching a minimum of three minutes of a program or movie before deciding to keep watching or move on to the next option.
“We could tell quickly whether it was something we would enjoy,” Darlene said. “We spent most of day 28 culling through the list we made, but by day 29 we were bingeing on The Crown, Stranger Things and Downton Abbey before passing out during day 30.”
After doing the calculations on how much viewing they had remaining on Netflix versus how much recreational time they had budgeted for television, the couple decided to cancel their cable subscription.
“We enjoy the interface and selection Netflix offers and can’t envision requiring other viewing options,” Barry said.
“Most of our young friends talk about wanting to watch Netflix and chill so I guess we’ll just do that from now on,” Darlene added.
Notice to readers/disclaimer – click here to read the full disclaimer and explanation of the fictional and satirical nature of this story and website. We all know it takes a long time to pick something to watch on Netflix once you have binge watched your favorites already but this story could not possibly be true. No one could take more that 14 days to decide what to watch. We recommend odd British TV shows that are shot extremely close or some of the endless selections of stand up comedy shows.
