Are you really that lazy?

June 8, 2007 7:06 AM

Why on earth is there a 'play all' option on dvds of episodic TV shows?

I like my TV on dvd as much as the next guy, and I have definitely done marathon sessions of 8 hours of TV, but I can't figure out why this option exists (or why it is usually the default). Picking episodes one at a time gives you a natural break for bathroom/food/whatever, it lets you see the titles of the episodes (which I like), and at worst takes three or four button presses more than the 'play all' option.

What gives? Does anyone actually use this option? Why?

posted by underwater to media & arts (47 comments total)

Two reasons I can think of:

(1) Sometimes, you actually do just want to make your own marathon of your favorite TV show. I've done it.

(2) On some DVD players (especially if you can't find the remote), there are no buttons to move the menu cursor... so "Episode Selection" is unreachable. However, you can still find what you want by clicking Play (which defaults to Play All, at least when I've done it) and then fast-forwarding or using next scene to find what you're looking for.
posted by Zephyrial at 7:09 AM on June 8, 2007

I use it because I fall asleep at night to DVDs and play all prevents it from flipping back to the main menu and jarring me awake with the damn music. I get mad now when I buy a set and it doesn't have play all.
Course this is probably a unique reason so I have no idea why people would use it besides this.
posted by beautifulcheese at 7:09 AM on June 8, 2007

I use it so I don't have to be interrupted to select another episode, since I am usually (folding laundry, knitting something, underneath 60 lbs. of dog, pick one) while I watch TV-on-DVD.

Not laziness so much as efficiency.
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:11 AM on June 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

Um not everyone needs to go to the bathroom or get some food after an episode. Most comedies on DVD are only around 20 minutes away which is really pretty short. When I've watched 24 on DVD it also keeps the suspense going whereas going to the menu and choosing the next episode may have deflated some of that.
posted by thelongcon at 7:15 AM on June 8, 2007

I do it for similar reasons as fiercecupcake - and I don't want to watch the titles every 21 or 42 minutes. I know who is on the show and obviously don't need a recap of the last episode I just watched. Also, I tend to watch them while on the treadmill (on a tiny TV, so I turn the lights off to see better) and I don't want to stop to find the "next" button on the tiny remote.
posted by blackkar at 7:18 AM on June 8, 2007

Its because there are a lot of people who are turned off by all the DVD gimmicks and prefer to think of a DVD as just a kind of newer VHS tape. You put the disc in and you play it. No fuss, no muss. Studios probably explicitly made DVD producers include this for the technophobes out there (which must be the majority for people buying tv shows).

/knows someone like this.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:18 AM on June 8, 2007

"Play All" doesn't mean you have to watch all. Like thelongcon says, it's nice to watch 2 or 3 episodes back to back without interruption. Until they invent a "play just as many as I feel like watching in one sitting" button, Play All will have to do.
posted by sonofslim at 7:20 AM on June 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

A lot of modern DVD players have a Pause option.

Often, the "Play All" mode skips the "Previously on..." section at the beginning.
posted by MarkAnd at 7:24 AM on June 8, 2007

Because your preferences are not superior to other people's preferences. You prefer natural breaks and reading titles. I prefer to sit back, relax, and minimize remote clicks. I'll go to the bathroom when I want to, not when the DVD player tells me to. I hate theme music, so I always fast forward through it. I couldn't care less what the episode is called. And I find using my DVD player remote remarkably unintuitive (especially compared to my TiVo remote), so I prefer to use it as little as possible. That's why both Play by episode and Play All are available.

Play All is stupid amirite.
posted by decathecting at 7:24 AM on June 8, 2007 [2 favorites]

I love Play All... especially for Simpsons and Seinfeld where one episode just seems too short. I don't have to sit there intensely watching, it just plays through like it was on TV.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume Four has the best Play All function: it plays them all at the same time. It also has a "Play None" function.
posted by ALongDecember at 7:25 AM on June 8, 2007

I personally dislike having to dig through animated menus to select another show. It's nice design and all, but I think we'd all like the option to cut to the chase.
posted by cowbellemoo at 7:25 AM on June 8, 2007

I wish all episodic dvds had the play all feature.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 7:29 AM on June 8, 2007

From someone who has just polished off the entirety of X-Files and Angel, I'd have loved a 'play all' option - especially if that skipped the titles and 'previously on...'
Especially with Angel since for half the DVDs I had to look up an episode guide to find out which order they were supposed to play in - someone really needs to learn about interface design!
posted by missmagenta at 7:30 AM on June 8, 2007

Also, for the dvd player to succeed it had to be technophobe friendly. DVD players also store where the player was at when it was last shut off. Just like shutting off the VCR. I'm willing to bet that the usability requirements for DVDs are patterened after VCR usage.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:31 AM on June 8, 2007

I've seen a couple of businesses that have TVs in waiting rooms - they use the play all function. It's mildly disturbing that my doctor's office is showing Scrubs, though.

It's useful for some people, and definitely not worth complaining about. There's some serious AMIRITE? going on in this question.
posted by zamboni at 7:33 AM on June 8, 2007

So you can watch as many as you want without interuption, and can pause when you want to take a break.

Shocking.
posted by chunking express at 7:37 AM on June 8, 2007

it lets you see the titles of the episodes (which I like)

'Play All' lets you skip the button presses and title screens (which other people like).
posted by phatkitten at 7:43 AM on June 8, 2007

Short answer: The Play All option exists because some people like it. The Play By Episode option exists because other people like it. Isn't it great that we live in a world with such freedom of preference?
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:49 AM on June 8, 2007 [1 favorite]

mostly because I am the laziest human being alive, and I dislike having to select every. single. episode. Far better to just hit one button and not have to worry as I knit/spin/clean/do whatever.

If I desperately need to pull myself away, well, that's why the Good Lord gave us the pause button. (And usually if I just hit power, the dvd will pick up right where I left off when I come back.)
posted by kalimac at 7:59 AM on June 8, 2007

I have definitely done marathon sessions of 8 hours of TV

But here on planet Earth, dvds hold only 2--3 hours of tv episodes, so sitting through an entire disc worth is not a big deal.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:02 AM on June 8, 2007

At first I thought I read your question wrong. OF COURSE there is a play all option! Do you know how annoying it is to find the remote over and over again just to go back to the main menu and click on a new episode. Haha. My friends and I frequently watch a disc all the way through. It is especially helpful if we're having a party and want some constant noise.
posted by thebrokenmuse at 8:03 AM on June 8, 2007

Often, the "Play All" mode skips the "Previously on..." section at the beginning.

This is something I didn't realize.

And guys, I'm not an idiot; obviously it's there because some people like it. I wanted to know why some people like it. The title was a joke, and I can't believe what people will take offense at. I was just curious! I'm not complaining! I don't think I'm morally superior to you! It's just a DVD! No need for the snark...
posted by underwater at 8:09 AM on June 8, 2007

It also allows you to avoid "spoilers" when going on to the next episode.

When you select an individual episode, on some DVD TV sets, you'll either be brought to a "chapter selection" or a brief description of the episode before moving forward. Which could reveal some things you don't want to see yet.

By selecting "play all" (and "restart from the last place I stopped" when you take a break), you will never be in danger of ruining the suspense/surprise of the next episode.
posted by jozxyqk at 8:13 AM on June 8, 2007

eh, I was wondering what it was all about as well. I'd probably also like a feature that was more "play some" which would play groups of two or three at a time.
posted by sweetkid at 8:17 AM on June 8, 2007

The title was a joke
Based on other phrasing in your question ("why on earth", "Does anyone actually use this option?"), it seemed serious. The thing about jokes/sarcasm on the Internet is that they don't work, unless you have context to know it as a joke.

And next time, please use the title to actually describe your question - the RSS feed and the page URL use it. It's really not a place for a joke or casual quip, despite what others may think or do.

As mentioned, I use Play All when I'm doing other things and don't want to be hassled to pick the next episode. I think it'd be neat to have a "shuffle episodes" option for non-linear shows, like South Park or Seinfeld, again to eliminate the need to manually pick.
posted by Meagan at 8:37 AM on June 8, 2007

When you select an individual episode, on some DVD TV sets, you'll either be brought to a "chapter selection" or a brief description of the episode before moving forward. Which could reveal some things you don't want to see yet.

This makes sense--I do avert my eyes when this happens. The Sopranoes are a key offender here.
posted by underwater at 8:38 AM on June 8, 2007

Not to mention, folks who have motion control issues, mobility issues, and so forth, might want to avoid the tedious process of button-punching if they're clenching a wooden dowel in their teeth or something.

I fully intend to make use of "Play All" when recovering from surgery soon.
posted by adipocere at 8:43 AM on June 8, 2007

Seconding that it's often for use in waiting rooms. True story: I was in a planned parenthood waiting room (picking up birth control, if you must know)... If you've never been in one, they've got buzzers on the door to let you in, and it's enough to make anyone a bit jumpy, as well as being filled with women who are there for things like pap smears (again, more then enough to make anyone edgy). And the DVD menu screen kept repeating an animation... over...and over...and over...and over... While everyone just stared at it nervously. My (now ex) boyfriend just casually walked over and hit play, and the entire waiting room burst in to applause.
posted by anaelith at 8:47 AM on June 8, 2007

On my DVD player, if you turn it off or remove the disc, it goes back to the last place you paused the next time you start up that disc. So, if I use the 'Play all' option, I know I'll be at the right place to start back up when I go back to the disc. On the other hand, if I let it drop back to the menu, I might not remember which episode I watched last, and I have to start up the previous one again just to make sure I saw it, etc.
posted by mcguirk at 8:51 AM on June 8, 2007

Because when I'm hungover and want to watch endless episodes of Peep Show, I don't want to go through the huge effort of reaching for the remote, thinking about which buttons to press and then pressing them.
posted by TheDonF at 9:06 AM on June 8, 2007

Yes I'm that lazy.

Plus I like to stick something in the player while I'm messing with the computer and not be bothered for 2-3 hours. LotR is great for this.
posted by Mitheral at 9:09 AM on June 8, 2007

Hah! I curse the DVDs that don't have this option to the lowest levels of hell. It's all about the full immersion marathons. Now, if they could only fit all 13 episodes of The Wire on a single disc with a play all button, so I wouldn't have to stand up to change the discs every three hours.
posted by slimepuppy at 9:11 AM on June 8, 2007

DVD navigation menus often suck. Some reasons:

1: They can't just show a menu, the menu has to come with an over-produced animation that's cute the first time but annoying on repeated visits.

2: Looped audio and effects on menus always seem to be louder, and more annoying than the feature audio. The blessed silence of the pause button superior during breaks.

3: "Creative" choices make it difficult to figure out how to get from selection to selection, or even which item is selected.

4: As mentioned above, scene selection can include spoilers.

Also, I watch a fair number of serials, so if there is a cliffhanger I can just hit skip forward on the credits and the opening title.

("Laziness" is a virtue in HCI, if "laziness" is defined as "reaching the desired objective in the smallest number of steps.")
posted by KirkJobSluder at 9:18 AM on June 8, 2007

slimepuppy - don't worry, you'll be seeing "whole season/whole series on a single disc" on HDDVD/Bluray sometime soon...
posted by jozxyqk at 9:21 AM on June 8, 2007

When I watch DVDs on my laptop, it remembers where I have stopped playing a given disc, even if I eject that disc and play others in between.

Using "play all" allows my laptop to resume viewing wherever I left off without me having to select an episode or chapter. Freaking awesome.

Bonus "play all" points: today, I'm bedridden with back pain. If my Angel discs had a "play all" feature, I'd pop one in for almost four hours of entertainment and distraction. Since they don't have it, and there's no remote for the laptop, and I can't get up to click the next episode title, and I can't sit in the living room to watch on the DVD player with remote, I can't watch them.
posted by Elsa at 9:31 AM on June 8, 2007

Sometimes I like to put on a DVD of a show I've already seen for background noise while I clean or sew or surf the web. The "Play All" function means I don't have to find the remote again every twenty minutes.
posted by bluishorange at 9:33 AM on June 8, 2007

and at worst takes three or four button presses more than the 'play all' option
it's still more - as you can see above lots of people do watch more than one episode at a time, it makes sense to provide both options. As for why it's the default, what else would be? If you're only going to watch one episode then how's it supposed to know which one you want?
Although at least one series will move the selection to the next episode when it dumps you back to the menu. Which is nice.
posted by muteh at 9:36 AM on June 8, 2007

Ditto the pro Play All comments. You can pause any episode any time you want, you know, for breaks and the like.
posted by iguanapolitico at 9:56 AM on June 8, 2007

Based on other phrasing in your question ("why on earth", "Does anyone actually use this option?"), it seemed serious.

I though my over-the-top language about an obviously trivial topic was enough of a clue, but obviously I was wrong. Sorry if I ruffled feathers.

Thanks for a VERY thorough answer to my question!
posted by underwater at 10:22 AM on June 8, 2007

Play All and a stack of Arrested Development DVDs is a new breastfeeding mama's best friend.
posted by peep at 10:25 AM on June 8, 2007

Probably for the same reasons CD play all the way through.
posted by Ookseer at 10:32 AM on June 8, 2007

Especially with Angel since for half the DVDs I had to look up an episode guide to find out which order they were supposed to play in - someone really needs to learn about interface design!

Godalmighty, yes. And Buffy, too.
posted by WCityMike at 11:10 AM on June 8, 2007

Some people may want to watch them back to back. More options is better; you can always select the option that suits you.
posted by Caper's Ghost at 11:22 AM on June 8, 2007

It's a nice option for people who watch DVDs through their Xbox. The Xbox controller (aka, "remote") shuts off after 5 minutes. The "play all" feature lets me get to the next episode without having to power up the controller just to select it and then drain the battery for the next 5 minutes.
posted by iamkimiam at 11:57 AM on June 8, 2007

Isn't this kinda like "So, what's the deal with [blank]? Pretty [bad characteristics], AMIRITE??"
posted by !Jim at 12:04 PM on June 8, 2007

How does it work with Battlestar Galactica? I'm almost at the end of Season Two on DVD, and they've had scenes in "previously on" that weren't actually on previously.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:24 PM on June 8, 2007

I'm a big fan of the "Play All" feature, because sometimes I'll play DVDs in the background while I'm working from home. I hate when a DVD doesn't have the option to Play All.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:48 PM on June 11, 2007 [1 favorite]