Where are my shows? At least I know where one is!

Season 2 of "Orange is the New Black" was released on Friday, June 6th. After 10 months of waiting, it was great to see Piper and the women of Litchfield Prison back. If you did as my family did, as it seems most fans did, you had yourself a marathon viewing over the weekend. One thing that I have to say that I LOVE about Netflix series' is that they release the whole season of episodes in one day. So you don't have to make a date with the TV every Friday night or whichever night a show is on to watch. In this day and age there is a lot to be said for both ways of doing things, but for Netflix I'd say this is optimum. It gives viewers time to watch at their convenience and they aren't constrained by ratings for ONE night a week. One drawback on network TV and even some cable channels, although it is a lot rarer, is that they have a habit of breaking up their seasons. In fact the breaking up is getting to be ridiculous at best and ruinous at worse. I don't know about you but I grow weary of wondering if my show is going to be on from week or if it is going to be a new one or another re-run. It used to be that TV shows would run a typical season of a certain amount of episodes, usually starting in August or September with a few weeks off for holiday programming, then they would run until the end of May or June. At that stage they'd have a summer hiatus. During the hiatus they would play re-runs or sometimes have new show they'd air to test out. The logic seemed to be that most viewers would be on vacation or doing a lot of outdoor activities, therefore they wouldn't be watching much TV. 

These days it seems as though we view TV entertainment in so many different ways, some of it is our choice or a sign of the times and some of it is network dictated. For instance technology has given us new ways in which to view our favorite programs, which I covered in my last post. These "On Demand" choices are great. What worries me is how new shows are unable to find an audience these days. And old shows? Good luck finding new episodes, it's pretty much hit and miss. For example, I have a few shows that I watch that seem to air 3 new episodes in a row and then re-runs for a month. I do not understand the logic in this at all. It makes it hard to even keep up with shows that I love. And with the new way of doing things I'm no longer sure if a show's episode is a season finale or not. It is frustrating as a viewer! Of course then you have the presto-chango, the show has been moved to another night and time. I hate that! I understand that sometimes that is done to test out new shows, but at other times it just seems arbitrary. For instance FOX's "Bones" for some unknown reason was switched from it's usual Monday night time slot, which it has had for years, to Friday night. This change only lasted a few weeks, perhaps a month, for no apparent reason. Why???? Humans are creatures of habit and TV viewing is no different. We don't like it when we have to search for a show that has spent YEARS on the same night! Stop it networks, just stop it!!!!

Now new shows are interesting. This last crop of shows that have been cancelled have been confusing, you have shows that are cancelled because of low ratings that are just awful shows and then you have shows that are cancelled that may have lower ratings but are critically acclaimed. THEN you have shows that are neither critically acclaimed nor highly rated, yet are NOT being cancelled. As I happen to be a fan of a few that aren't being cancelled but have low ratings, I'm happy about those but I am also confused because none of it seems to make sense. Now admittedly some of the ones with the low ratings that aren't been cancelled are CW shows. It seems to me that in some cases the CW seems to let shows find their audience. But then again, there have been a few that haven't. Not sure where the rhyme or reason is but at least they seem to try harder at the CW.

My 30 year old son and I took a chance and watched a show on HuluPlus, that had been cancelled a few years ago. The show was called, "Flash Forward" and it ran from 2009-2010 and racked up 11 various award nominations, including an Emmy and a People's Choice Award for Best New Drama. "The Vampire Diaries" won for the PCA, "V" is the only show, besides "Flash Foward", that is no longer on the air.  After watching all 22 episodes of "Flash Forward" we were stymied. It was really a great show, well acted with an intelligent premise. So with all of those things going for it, why was it cancelled? The show averaged 8.5 million viewers per episode. Not a bad amount considering all of the competition, but it was not good enough to save the show. Although I noticed that there are many shows on today that have averaged less viewers and are still on the air. Some are older shows, like "Bones" and then there are new shows like "Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", a freshman show, also on FOX that has been renewed. In fact they are planning a spin-off. Yet "Marvel AOS" averaged LESS viewers than "Flash Forward". But every network is guilty of it, although I'd be more inclined to invest in a CW show than an NBC, CBS, ABC, or FOX show. Even TV critics have a hard time understanding what moves executives to renews shows that average less viewers and cancel shows with better numbers. 

If any of you have an idea about it, I'd love to hear it. For now it makes it hard to invest in new shows, like I did with "Believe", only to have our hearts ripped out when they get cancelled. I know I'm not alone, I've heard it from friends and family. I just wish I could at least figure out their screwy formula.

RIP Believe...we hardly got a chance to know you.

I No Longer Have Cable...But There are Still Options Out There for Us!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted! Damn! It's not that I haven't wanted to, it's just that life got in the way. Anyway, lots of changes that may affect this blog but I will do my best to keep on keeping on. The biggest change and the only one that you really need to know about is that I no longer have cable. It makes it hard to write this type of blog but no longer impossible thanks to Hulu Plus, Netflix, and thanks to a family member, U-Verse online. Me without TV is like life without bacon, I know I will survive but it won't be near as much fun. So I've made adjustments because I CAN'T live without TV again in some form or another. I've lived without TV before and I DID NOT LIKE IT! Thanks to the internet and such, there is no longer a need to be completely without it. Adjustments just have to be made and sometimes these adjustments require more adjustments. 

Let's see with what is available to start with...

These are the usual suspects, of course. A great place to start. Hulu Plus and Netflix are the least expensive at $7.99 per month. I have both, definitely cheaper than the almost $200 a month I was spending for internet AND "almost every channel" cable. Back when I had cable I was dividing among 4 people, so the cost wasn't that bad until things went South with a couple of my roommates...that's a whole other story! Anyway, those are your cheapest options. Unless you want to count YouTube which is, of course, free. It is a good option BUT it is hard to find full episodes of shows and if you do it is usually parsed out as Part 1, Part 2, Part 3....well you can see where I am going with this. The other issues is that unless it is put out by a network there is a chance that you may click on it and find that it has been removed. The other issue, one that isn't all that bad sometimes, is that you may get clips only. The only time I see an advantage to that, and I do, is when you prefer only to see a certain part of a show. For instance, I like the Wendy Williams Show. The best part of her show for me is the "Hot Topics" segment and the beginning of the show. Wendy has her own channel on YouTube and she uploads these segments and others within 24 hours of the show airing, usually less. So I just use my Blu-Ray Player and go on YouTube and voila, it's like I'm watching TV as usual! You can also watch monologues and special bits of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as well off of his YouTube channel.

Back to Netflix and Hulu Plus. Netflix? Well unless you follow their Original Series' like "Orange is the New Black" (coming back this week!), which I do, then this may, or may not, be the best option for you if you like your TV viewing to be fresh. They have older seasons of a lot of shows that you may watch, some are even last season. If you are the type, say to have just discovered a show that has been on for a few years, and want to see it from the beginning this is a great option. Plus they still have movies. Hulu Plus? Well they are my favorite. Most shows turn up on Hulu Plus the day after they air, like all of the shows on The CW, shows on ABC, NBC, and a few on CBS. The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon is always on the next day, same with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. So to me this is a GREAT option. They also have tons of old shows, including "The Archie's" of all things! So if you like a healthy mix I can highly recommend Hulu Plus.

Now neither Hulu Plus, nor Netflix, nor YouTube, is going to give you everything you want to watch. There are legal wranglings and such that keep that from happening. One thing that I have to say SHOCKED me while looking for ways to watch TV online...some networks online REQUIRE you to have cable or satellite in order to view content. Now "Cable" networks like Lifetime and HBO, etc, I understand as they are pay services. But ABC?!!!!! Now THAT was a shocker to me as you can watch it free over the airwaves if you have a good antenna (mine is spotty at best). HOW they can justify this I don't know. It is something that truthfully pissed me off when I realized it. And the aforementioned Lifetime? Well if you DO have a cable service like U-Verse, well you STILL can't watch it because they don't have an agreement with them yet apparently, although if you have U-Verse you can watch Lifetime at home, just not online. There are other networks as well that have the same issue. *sigh* Another "pay" option out there is Amazon Prime, from Amazon of course. It costs $99 a year and lets you stream more than 40,000 movies and TV episodes. What that breaks down to as far as current TV episodes I don't know. I don't have $99 at the moment to plunk down to see how that works, if you are reading this and have it, please comment and let me and your fellow readers know. I do know that in desperation I PAID for current episodes of "Drop Dead Diva" because it is the last season and there was no other way for me to watch it. I opted for the SD $1.99 per episode vs. the $2.99 for HD episodes. Sad that it was the only way to watch the show, but I just had to do it! If you can get someone to give you their info, which is VERY sensitive info to have so I'd say family is your best bet and you MUST be trustworthy, then you can watch a good portion of TV via their cable company online. I am watching via a family members U-Verse. With U-Verse I am also able to watch HBO Go and Showtime Anytime as well as the other pay movie channels. I am eternally grateful as without this info I would have missed this season's "Game of Thrones" and that would have been tragic! As would missing the last season of my beloved "True Blood"!!!! A great option if you can get it. If not then you will have to pay for DVD's when they come out or episodes via iTunes or Amazon.

The final option if you want to watch TV on an actual TV is to invest in Google Chromecast, X-Box, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, or a Blu-Ray player like my son bought for us. All of these options are at various price points, the least expensive being the Chromecast at $35. Each has its own pro and cons so you'll want to research them to see what is right for you and your budget.

So there you have it, it is harder for me to watch TV these days but not impossible and I WILL NOT give it up!!!!

See you soon....