I'm not a T.V. guy. I was, back when there were three major networks and three premium cable stations. But now I find it all so overwhelming to the point of simply not caring. To be clear, I am not a T.V. snob. I don't think it's "poison" like some cranky old professor, though much of it actually is.
I watch movies, mostly those made before the year 1990, though I am not opposed to something new if the cards fall in the right place. I really enjoyed Del Toro's "Frankenstein." I watch the Yankees and the Knicks. I stream live broadcasts from the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans. I love a good documentary. I really loved "Only Murders In the Building" and 'Schitt's Creek," until it hit me. You have to commit and keep watching. It was easier when you had to wait a week for the next episode of a show. Knowing everything is there at your fingertips is too intimidating for a lunatic like me.
I can't do it. I can't binge.
This is what I hear when I am out with friends or family.
"Are you guys watching Phlegm? It's from the same people that produced Chicago Gout. It's on Ploob. Yes, Ploob is free if you have the ESPN Female Full Contact Karate Plus package. Phlegm is so good. It's got that guy from Chicago Chiropodist, Pascual Pasqualli. You haven't seen Chicago Chiropodist? Awesome show. I binged all 12 episodes. It's on Shemp, which is free, but only if your TV has an RCA plug input. Shemp also has that amazing doc on the boiling point of tin. It's called The Boiling Point Of Tin."
I sit quietly, sip my cocktail and wait for the conversation to change.
That said, a friend asked if I heard Aimee Mann's cover of "Rainy Days & Mondays." I hadn't. He said it's from the soundtrack of "The Chair Company." I thought, "La-Z-Boy" has a soundtrack? As it turns out, "The Chair Company" is another new HBO series. I've lost track since "Six Feet Under" was canceled.
8 comments:
here i was just going to tell you that Tubi has added the "Georgefest" tribute concert to its collection of music documentaries.
I'm so old I remember when HBO went off at 11pm. 😎
I would watch "The Boiling Point Of Tin" sounds interesting.
Rainy Days was good until the backup singers.
Ha, I've been watching that show. It's OK. I'm the opposite of you. There is so much good TV; much better than modern movies.
I pay an enormous amount of money for cable, Amazon Prime, Apple, and Netflix each month. My wife loves it but I'd rather listen to music, watch the disaster movies that are the Mets and the Giants and read a good book.
Hey Sal:
Stop stealing my life!!!
Captain Al
Very funny post, Mr N! I get it completely. And it's not that we don't mean well. Very often my wife or I will say "We ought to watch that show. Looks good." But then ... we both have to be awake and in the mood for that show and there's no game on that I want to watch and she doesn't have something to read for a meeting in the morning and on and on. And I don't want to subscribe to more channels when we don't watch half of what we get now. Like I need MORE options. Though I would like to see "Slow Horses" on AppleTV. But we don't have that. So like the true dinosaur that I am, I'm actually reading the BOOKS. (I've finished 3 of the 8 and they're absolutely excellent.) I can binge on books too.
Nobody forces you to binge things (well, they try). I'm an old fart that will still watch multiple TV shows concurrently -- but only one episode a week and it can take more discipline than is necessary. I do like that some networks (like HBO) are still dropping shows once a week as god intended! (And, man, that finale of Six Feet Under still hits after all this time, too!)
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