I love to watch LP's if only to have a good belly laugh. I mean most of the LP'ers out there make me believe i could do one so much better. One of my favs is a guy named Seamus (SSoHPKC) on Youtube. The guy rages on the littlest things and is totally oblivious to things in front of him. The only real reason i watch him is because he uploads a shitload of videos and makes me feel so much better at my own gameplay.

Depends on the game, a fairly long rpg like skyrim or the witcher, probably not. Something like minecraft, sure.

This

I only really watch Jesse Cox cause he is hilarious. And only games which I either don't care about (rage, skyrim) or won't play for a long time (crysis 2)
TW2 DEHR are games i did not play and don't want to be spoiled.

reason is because he is funny and entertaining. its just like watching a tv show.

Typically I don't, but I did watch quite a few movies of someone playing Europa Universalis 3... initially for a little guidance. I ended up watching almost a whole game. It was entertaining in a strange way. As the OP mentioned, it's fun in a MST3k sorta way. It's amusing seeing someone play the game in a totally different way in which you would... sometimes better, sometimes worse. The guy was JosefVStallin or something like that. Canadian dude who idolizes Stalin. Yeah, weird I know. But he has a huge page and now site dedicated to all the LPs.

His LP of Civ V, however, was so agonizing I had to stop. Just brutal.

As far as the question of watching games as opposed to playing them, I don't mind just watching. If I'm at a friend's house I'd rather just watch than deal with all the horseshit thrown at the guy with the controller.

I watch a lot of LPs, and my tastes are fairly eclectic.

I watch some LPs of games that I don't actually want to play because the actual game-play doesn't suit me. For instance, for me, watching someone else have 'fun' with Dwarf Fortress is much more entertaining than trying to micromanage my own dwarves. Also, real-time strategy games like Sins of a Solar Empire are fun for me to watch, but for some reason I can't ever get into playing one myself.

Another type of games I like to watch LPs of are of games that I have played to death, but I want to see someone else's take on them. Baldur's Gate 1/2, Master of Orion 1/2, and Master of Magic are prime examples. I have played them so much, I really don't know what else there is for me to do or try; watching someone else play them allows me to see things I never would have thought of attempting.