With the avalanche of ‘must-see’ TV around these days it can be hard to keep up. But the fear of falling behind can be so bad for some that almost half of us have lied about seeing a show – with one or two cult favourites leading the way in a Radio Times survey that asked people to own up about their TV related deceptions.
FOMO, or the Fear Of Missing Out, is a form of social anxiety whereby someone fears missing out on an opportunity for social interaction, and consequently acts to ensure they aren’t left on the sidelines while there’s a chance of something, anything, worth talking about happening. (New Year’s eve might have a case for the FOMO night of the year, such is the mass engagement with a night that it seems most people aren’t too keen on but daren't miss). Modern technologies, and in particular the near constant activity and interaction of social media, has significantly heightened general FOMO levels all over the place.
One of the universal social conversations these days is the TV box-set. Whether it be Game of Thrones, The Wire, Breaking Bad or Love/Hate, these shows, and the immersive nature of the box-set watching experience, have made devout followers, hyper-attentive analysts and even ferocious entertainment partisans of us. If you’ve seen it, and loved it, you share a bond with fellow fanatics that you will plumb the depths of at any opportunity. And then there’s the no less intense, ‘I preferred...’ sub-debate that sees entire series pitted against each other in hushed tones over cooling printed pages.
And if you haven’t seen it? Well, there’s always the weather.
For some, it seems, the FOMO surrounding TV shows gets so bad they’re willing to lie about what they have seen, with some shows attracting a far higher number of imposters than others.
The Radio Times survey, of 1,500 people, found that 42% of us have lied about watching a TV show, with Breaking Bad first choice of the peddlers of TV white lies.
The drama about a chemistry teacher turned drug dealer, starring Bryan Cranston, has been one of the greatest examples of the devotion a TV series can inspire in its watchers, with last year’s final episode assuming a sort of social mega-event feel (our own Breakfast team watched it amongst a crowd of fellow fans at a late night cinema screening in Dublin). It’s perhaps no surprise then that in the clamour to get in on the action, 13.2% of people surveyed had lied about seeing the show.
Next up was Game of Thrones, the fantasy epic that has turned George R.R. Martin’s novels into a global phenomenon. Such is its near-ubiquitous place in social interaction these days that 11.7% of people have bent the truth about seeing an episode of the show.
RadioTimes.com editor Tim Glanfield told the Press Association: "We love talking about TV almost as much as we love watching it but with so many channels, plus on-demand options, keeping up to date with it all can be tough. It's no wonder that from time to time some of us feel the pressure to bend the truth a little bit.
"Breaking Bad is a universally acclaimed show, filled with twists, turns, shocks and great performances - not having seen it is a crime any self-respecting viewer would certainly want to cover up."
This survey was for a UK audience, but we're guessing a similar study done with Irish viewers might see Love/Hate challenge for the top spot. There may also be ample scope for a survey to ascertain how many of us have lied about not seeing The Late Late Show and Winning Streak.
The top five shows people have lied about seeing are:
Breaking Bad (13.2%)
Game of Thrones (11.7%)
Lost (5.5%)
Orange is the New Black (5.2%)
The Sopranos (4%)
Other cult shows such as House of Cards (3.1%) and Mad Men (3.9%) were also high on the list.
