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.
38 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!)
Of course no one forces you. That's not the point. It's just that you didn't need to binge anything when there were six total stations. Now, HBO alone has six stations. If I watch one show a week, times the amount of shows the people around me watch, I'll still be on Season One of all of them when I'm 80.
"Very funny post, Mr N!"
Thanks Ken. That's what I was hoping for.
Except when there was six total stations, if you missed something, it was likely missed for good (pre-VCR days). I watched a lot of TV when I was younger (and probably still too much today) and had to have two VCRs so I didn't miss anything. The invention of the 4-tuner TiVo was a game changer. But I digress... How about that new Dom Mariani album? :-)
That’s a great conversation! I like a good TV series or reruns or a movie on TV, and I still prefer movies in a theater, but there’s just way too much TV content for me to consume. I don’t feel intimidated, it’s just an overload, and I have other interests. And how many “Premium” channels am I supposed to subscribe to just to watch 10 episodes?? That’s a little pricey. Like you, I grew up with three channels & PBS, then a few UHF channels came in, and now I have hundreds of channels I can watch with my cable package, and I’m just not interested in the extras, except for the movie channels. But I still have to pay for those unwanted extras.
I finally signed up for Hulu to watch “Reservation Dogs” and “Only Murders”. A bonus is that they have “My Name Is Earl” and a few other shows I liked, “Sly Lives”, and others. I had a deal for a year, stayed when the price normalized because it was worth it, but now I’ll have to pay almost double next year because they’re combining it with Disney+, which I’m not interested in.
Binging a TV series is weird- I did that with the last season of “The Bear”, but only because I was tired of looking at sad Carmy. It used to be that you’d talk with people about what you saw the night before, but you can’t do that when someone else watched the first four episodes in one night, and I only watched one, or maybe two, if it’s a half hour show.
Same - I haven't watched TV / Satellite / Cable / DVD / Anything on a home screen in almost 30 years. Other than the odd show here and there. But I'll go months with not only not catching anything on any of those, but not even having it cross my mind.
Which means I am often doing the same thing you mention ... "Hey guys, did y'all see the latest XYZ? So good!" and I have nothing to say. I used to at least be aware of the names of the shows - now I don't even recognize any, much less actors' names.
Oddly, I'm the same about podcasts. I've never listened to one. This is frustrating to many friends who send me podcasts or shows to check out!
What I do is listen to music. And read books.
And occasionally watch a video or live clip on Youtube.
That's it.
I've never owned a TV and quit watching sometime in the 1980s, except when I lived with a pal in the 90s and watched The Simpsons and X Files. I'm not a TV snob, either, and I believe there's great stuff on it; I've seen clips of Sopranos, Game Of Thrones and Breaking Bad that tell me I'd love to see those, but I lack the time and the sufficient interest in making the time for it/them. I also have only a flip phone, being none too enamored with phones, either (Didn't have a phone, either, til 2014; also not a phone snob, I see the value of smartphones but I just don't care if I don't have the world at my fingertips 24-7). So, eschewing those two things (smartphone and cable) saves me bundles a month, and I can't figure out how folks afford the money or time to indulge in these seemingly necessary things.
C in California
I'd rather have root canal than listen to a podcast.
Fascinating! I thought I was the only one.
I think with TV - and even movies - and podcasts, the general problem for me is having to sit and listen/watch someone's creation.
I like music because it's more like breathing - it blends into so many other activities. And I always insert myself in it. I'm never just watching someone do something. I'm involved, somehow. It's more personal.
Thanks for the best laughs of the day. It's always funnier if you know it's true about yourself too. Btw where can I sign up to the ESPN Female Full Contact Karate Plus package? Great Aimee Mann track as well. Cheers!
I've been watching "The Chair Company" each week. Still undecided. It's funny at times but mostly bizarre. I hadn't noticed the song, never mind the fact that it's Aimee Mann. I think it's a great version!
"Frankenstein" was really good. I hope you saw it in the theater and not on Netflix.
As far as bingeing goes, I do it. Just finished "The Diplomat", which was great. Just think of it as an 8 hour movie and you'll be good.
I rarely go to a theatre anymore. I am sure the experience is a lot more enjoyable anywhere but NYC. Here it's both a fortune and nightmare. I watched it on Netflix. The only moron in the house was me.
"Just think of it as an 8 hour movie"
Is that a selling point? First question I ask when someone recommends a film, "How long is it?" I'm topping out at 150 minutes these days.
57 channels (and nothing on).
Bruce said it best.
I watch plenty of TV including premium stuff but try not to bore people who obviously are not as into it as I am. And I'm with Sal on podcasts. No use for them whatsoever. They're glorified radio, for heaven's sake. If there's no visuals to add to the audio, I'd rather just read it, which I also spend quite a bit of time doing.
It did? I don't remember that!
Hey, some podcasts are good! :)
Hahahaha. The "have you watched" conversation caused a spit take from me at a Pret in London. Very funny and spot on. Jolly good, mate!
As for binging, I don't think it counts as musical binging unless it's like ten Dylan albums in a row. That's akin to gulping down a season. I feel very few shows benefit from binging. If I really like a drama, I try to watch just one episode a night. Even that can be too fast; some stuff really benefits from being spaced out. Sitcoms, depending can maybe do two in a row, but after that you're just gorging and spoiling the pleasure. When I'm in a TV mood, I'll pick a different drama for each night, a la primetime tv and try and rotate a little . Plus many outlets now avoid the Netflix model and do like two episodes to start and then one a week. Better all around! Even with music, when I'm doing a deep dive on an artist, I tend not to listen to more than two in a day, just to give them some breathing room.
It's really all about the guest.
I wouldn't go see any movies in NYC but the AMC pass makes it viable for me.
;)
"I don't think it counts as musical binging unless it's like ten Dylan albums in a row."
That's a vaild distinction.
My son has been trying to get me to listen to podcasts for a year now. I actually tried, but found it was too tedious to actually have to listen to every word. Besides, it cut into my tune time .....
Oh my god that was funny. Thank you!
Hi. i read every day and something almost always strikes a chord (pun intended). i absolutely hate binge watching as much a listening to a pod cast. thanks for making me feel normal.
I'm a fellow non-binge-er. But that's why I finish shows when they're old news. I want to start that show Phlegm you mentioned. I'm the hold out who still goes to the movie theater to see movies. Any movie watched at home becomes a mini-series for me, 3 or 4 parters, depending on my staying awake. Not to be a contrarian, but I love podcasts. They are my morning radio. You can find shows dedicated to artists you thought nobody but you cared about. And I've always been holding out hope for a Burning Wood podcast.
There are intermissions every 60 minutes :-)
This cracked me up! (I just kept thinking "nutjob".) There have been some winners since "Six Feet Under" but now each series has what, 7 or 8 episodes per season? And then years, sometimes, in between seasons? Eff that! (I still watch-I'm a glutton for punishment.)
"Phlegm" is really good! I've watched it twice.
I subscribed to Peacock last November just to watch Homicide: Life on the Street. It ran for 7 seasons with 122 episodes. 5 of the seasons had over 20 episodes. Great writing from start to finish.
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