15 best TV shows to binge-watch

July 5, 2013 2:34 PM

Netflix, HBO Go and Showtime Anytime offer enough catnip to make potential TV bingers of us all. But all shows are not created equally bingeable — that is, suitable or even advisable to sit in front of episode after episode, hour after hour. That can quickly turn into a form of bondage, or even torture. Most TV is suitable for grazing only, if that.

Qualifications for the most bingeable of shows? 1.) Must have an ongoing narrative; in other words, when one episode ends, like a chapter in a compelling book, you should be left with a burning desire to know what happens in the next episode. 2.) You should care about the characters, preferably care about them in positive terms as opposed to negative ones. 3.) You should always have an abiding assumption that this long journey you'll be embarking on will have an end, and that each episode will be a step toward finality. 4.) That it is fun. This is absolutely the most important qualification. You are going on a long trip. You are foregoing sleep. You are forcing the kids to make their own pancakes. This trip had better be fun — or you will begin to suspect that you have just wasted a monumental amount of time, because you have. -- VERNE GAY