As I write this, the newest season of Orange Is The New Black is playing on my laptop. Those fools over at Netflix have given me a challenge I can't pass down: watch the entire season, perhaps in one 24-hour period.

We’ve all been there. We can all stand up and say, with a mix of pride, shame and exhaustion, that we have binge watched a TV show. 

The environment must be just right to watch a TV show. Perhaps you have a huge exam to study for and need to procrastinate more. Why not start Grey’s Anatomy? Only nine seasons on Netflix – seems like just enough for a study break! 

Perhaps you find yourself too hungover to drag yourself out of bed and face the sunlight. Hello, Law And Order: SVU. 

And don’t get me started on that random urge to once again hear Blair ask Chuck to say those “three words, eight letters,” which requires the two seasons preceding it as background and the angst-filled wait for them finally getting together that follows. 

Maybe you just happened onto Netflix and see the icon for a show that looks interesting. Whatever it is that brings you to the first episode of a show, you can bet your bottom dollar it won't be your last. 

Most of the time, I don’t even have to like the first episode. I just have to be mildly intrigued enough to hit play on the next episode, or let the clock countdown the seconds to my impending binge. The second episode gets you more invested, but it’s the third episode that really gets you hooked. What’s up with Leila and Riggins in "Friday Night Lights"? What will happen next on the story of a wealthy family who lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together? It's "Arrested Development!" 

Soon you’re two seasons deep. The show might even be falling apart. You keep going because you love the characters. Most of your favorites might have left. But the few that remain need you. You won't leave them like their hoighty toighty co-stars. The show may not be relatable and even a little weird — looking at you "One Tree Hill." I did not sign up to watch everyone get married and buy a house when I got invested in the high school drama of the Ravens. 

But now it’s a matter of pride. You WILL finish this show, and you WILL not admit that at times you didn’t love it. 

When you finish, a piece of you dies. There’s nothing left to hope for, nothing left to brood about, no more play buttons to press. Until that fateful moment when you think to yourself, "Now this looks interesting. Everyone talks about 'Lost.' Maybe I should get in on that." 

And you’re at it again. 

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I’m the only one who can work a full day, come home asleep on my feet, and somehow still find myself up until 3 a.m., watching my TV show with a zombie stare. 

Maybe, but I’m pretty sure you do it too. Just as long as you’re not doing it on my Netflix account because the allotted three streaming devices is already tearing my family apart.