What this tool does
A TV and film watchlist: title, type, genre, a watched box, five stars to rate and a notes column. 8 to 30 rows.
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Feedback
Spotted something off with this tool?
What is on it
One row per thing you mean to watch. Title, whether it is TV or film, genre, a box to tick once you have watched it, five stars to fill in, and room at the end for a note.
Eight to thirty rows a page. The default of eighteen is about a season's worth of intentions.
Why write it down
Because the thing you meant to watch is never the thing the algorithm shows you.
Every streaming service has a queue and every queue is invisible the moment you open a different service. A film recommended over dinner in March is gone by April unless it was written somewhere, and the twenty minutes spent scrolling before every evening's viewing is time you have already lost this week. A list on paper is one glance and no scrolling, and it survives a cancelled subscription.
The stars
Rate it straight afterwards. The score you would give a week later has been contaminated by everyone else's opinion, and your own first reaction is the more interesting record by far.
Five stars is enough resolution for this. Anyone tempted to write half-stars in the margin is welcome to, and will end up with a very slightly less usable list.
The notes column
This is the one people underuse. Who recommended it, why you wanted to see it, what you thought.
Six months on, "Dad, said it's slow but stick with it" is far more useful than a title on its own, and a one-line reaction is the difference between a list of things you have watched and something you can actually recommend from.
Ways to run it
Some people keep one long list and tick down it. Others print a fresh page each month, carry over anything unwatched, and treat the rest as honestly abandoned — which it usually was.
Households can share one sheet, with initials in the notes column for whose suggestion it was. Book groups and film clubs use it for a season's programme. It works just as well for books, or games, or albums, if you ignore the TV-or-film column — which is only a letter in a narrow box.
Related
For a book-shaped version of the same habit, try the reading log.
FAQs
Quick answers
How many shows or films per page?
Anywhere from 12 to 25. Fewer rows give you more room for notes.
Can I use it for TV only, or films only?
Yes. Switch the default type to TV, film, or mixed. The subtitle updates to match.
Can I track whether I watched it alone or with friends?
Use the notes column for that. Write "w/ Ben" or "solo" and it stays with the entry.
What paper sizes can I print on?
You can print on A4 or US Letter. The table of rows scales to fit either paper size, so you get the same number of tidy watchlist entries per page whichever you choose.
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