Press "Enter" to skip to content

Evolution Fail: These 6 Early Attempts At Binge-Watching Will Make You Glad You Live In 2016

Humanity has been trying to binge-watch effectively for thousands of years, but due to uncomfortable seating, lackluster viewing options, and poor snack choice accompaniments, had been unable to—until recently.

1. Anthropologists believe that members of the close human relative Homo habilis were attempting a Pleistocene-period version of binge-watching when they improvised an early form of television by trapping a weasel inside a hollow tree stump and watching through a small eyehole until it turned into a skeleton.

2. To take their minds off the 1066 Norman conquest of England, the Anglo-Saxons invented the tuba, put it on a stool and all gathered round to sit in chairs and look at it for hours.

3. In 1590, Shakespeare fans were despondent after learning there was only one play out by him, Two Gentlemen Of Verona, and, insatiable for Shakespeare, they forced actors to perform the play 4,872 times in a row without stopping until he wrote a new one.

4. Back in 1812, binge-watching was actually considered one of the most dangerous options for a date night, as hundreds died after calling their girlfriends over to their canoe and paddling out into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to spend all night watching naval battles between the United States and British forces.

5. Throughout the 1920s, Prohibition laws led to a rampant increase in binge-watching, which at that point consisted of going into a public square with a partner, putting your mouth near their eyes, and loudly telling entertaining stories.

6. In 2014, binge-watching was done standing behind your television for some reason.

Brought to you by Totino’s