Maybe I’m basic, but I love exposition over pretty much all else. I watched the entirety of Adventure Time despite not really being a fan of the humor or the main characters just because I craved more information about the history of Ooo.
Isn’t that what Wikipedia is best used for?
Wikipedia is information that’s already been interpreted and retold by someone else. Nothing beats going to the source for your info
When it comes to a TV show you don’t like but want to know what happens, I would say it does beat it because you won’t spend time watching something you don’t like.
One reason I prefer watching older shows is that the format made the writing so concise. They can fit two plots and some character development into 42 minutes, unlike newer shows where it’s twenty minutes of dialog and narration every episode. For example, the last season of Discovery had as much happen as two episodes of TNG.
On the other hand, those shows hit the big reset button every week. I’d love something episodic, but what happens in previous episodes still has an effect on future episodes. Star Trek started to do that a little with DS9, but even there… O’Brien is in a mind prison for what he thinks is 20 years and he’s fine in the next episode?
The internet really does have everything if you search for it…