I’ve never been one for binging TV, which has put me at a real disadvantage when there seems to be a couple of dozen shows (and uncountable movies) I want to watch coming out every year. The backlog of shows to watch, like my “to read” book list, grows even as I pace my way through them.
I’ve always been haphazard in my approach to shows, from old favorite sitcoms I keep meaning to rewatch, to the hottest new British murder mystery my wife and I are keen on watching together. With AI chatbots promising to help organize so much else in my life, I decided to ask ChatGPT to help.
The idea was simple: I wanted to build a spreadsheet of every show I was either currently watching, planning to watch, or intending to at least check out an episode of. More than that, I wanted to organize them.
I needed to be able to sort by genre, streaming service, episode length, and wanted to further sort them by watch partner. In short, I wanted a spreadsheet that could adapt as I encountered new shows or completed current ones.
Show spreadsheet
I started with a basic prompt for ChatGPT.
“Help me create a spreadsheet to track TV shows I’m watching or want to watch, with columns for genre, streaming platform, whether I watch it alone or with my wife, episode length, tone, and whether it’s ongoing or finished.”
ChatGPT had some follow-up questions about the kind of shows I was interested in tagging. Then it came up with a sample table to gauge its understanding. After a little more back-and-forth discussion, ChatGPT came up with a structure for Google Sheets and even tossed in a few formula tips for sorting by multiple categories. I copied the format into Google Sheets, and it looked good. So I started listing some shows, and ChatGPT filled in the details as best it could.
Only after several minutes did I realize I’d made a crucial mistake by not accounting for the shows I’d already finished. That matters because I want to remember what’s worth recommending or what I might want to revisit when my kids are older.
“Add a column for the status of completion, and another for personal rating out of 10. Also, add a notes column for comments, such as who to recommend this to or whether to watch it again as a family show in the future.
It updated the structure again, adding in the new columns and suggesting I use dropdown menus for the status column to make sorting easier.
TV concierge
With everything in place, I soon started wondering what ChatGPT could do to enhance the spreadsheet even more using its web searching capabilities. After a few dead ends, I came up with a good question to ask the AI to apply to the spreadsheet. Each of these variables could be tweaked for different results, or I could just ask for a smaller number of possibilities. I asked the AI:
“What’s the best way to sort the sheet so it shows me quick solo comedies I haven’t started yet, that are under 30 minutes, and available on streaming services I currently subscribe to?”
More formulae followed, along with useful tips about removing any shows marked “Abandoned” from the list. Finally, with (most) of my shows in their proper place on the spreadsheet (136 and counting), I asked ChatGPT to go the extra mile and suggest new shows for me and slot them into the spreadsheet with the right labels. Specifically, I requested, “Based on my current watchlist, suggest five shows I might like that are cozy, under 40 minutes, and available on Hulu or HBO Max.”
Each suggestion had a genre, tone, and a short blurb included, and they were perfectly fit into the spreadsheet. Now, when a new show comes out that looks intriguing, I can ask ChatGPT to fit it into my spreadsheet, and say goodbye to (almost) all aimless scrolling.
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erichs211@gmail.com (Eric Hal Schwartz)
