Posted on 07/27/2013 1:34:53 PM PDT by ottbmare
We have never had cable TV, and it was the greatest relief to me when analog television broadcasting stopped so that my kids couldn't watch TV at our house. Nobody was going to study at all, much less do Algebra II and graduate from high school, if the temptation of stupid entertainment was available, so I always refused to pay for cable.
There were times I did miss television, though. When other Freepers would talk about news or sports events, when there was an election or an historic occasion, it would have been good to see for myself what they were enjoying. And there were, it seemed, movies and shows I would have liked to see.
Now both of my kids are grown and gone, and last week Verizon installed FiOS fiberoptic cable in my neighborhood. When they asked me if I wanted to sign up, I arranged for the lowest-priced package.
But 99% of what's available on the air appears to be about depraved people like the Kardashians, whoever they may be. Suddenly all those great movies have slipped my mind. May I have some recommendations from Freepers about what they find of value to watch?
My tastes run toward pretty sedate, cultural things, historical A&E productions or BBC things, but I do like movies like Master & Commander, Die Hard, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc.
Thanks for your input. There's got to be more to this whole television thing than just Fox News and Glenn Beck, right?
One time FiOS gave me the channels from India free for a couple of weeks and then cut it off. Darn them, I was actually starting to like a few of the shows!
I actually do get into the Novelas on Univision. I’d rather watch those than the dreck on the regular English channels.
are there subtitles?
You have an Internet connection. Get an Apple TV for $99. Sign up for Netflix ($8/mo, no ads) and/or Hulu (around $9/mo, has commercials). If this don’t have what you want, iTunes rents just about everything ($2-7/rental). Works for me.
Get a Roku box and watch your choice off the internet at a much lower cost
I had my satellite service disconnected a couple of years ago in utter disgust at the sleazy, mindless drivel that comprised it’s entire offering. I have been thankful that I did so. My phone provides all the current news headlines I need. I can scan them and delve deeper if I so choose.
I have a dvd mail order service that delivers all the bbc series, dramas and documentaries I could want. I haven’t had my peace of mind disturbed by seeing nutcases glorified, bad behavior touted as “individualism” or abberant philosophy presented as fact for a long time. I have also not missed the twenty-four-seven elevation dysfunction advertisements.
I get all the political discussion I wish to hear on talk radio without being distracted by big hair, cleavage, bad toupes or neon white phony smiles.
Be warned, however. The longer you remain out of the virtual lunacy of the mainstream media the more sane you will become. This will eventually make you incomprehensible to fully half of humanity and likewise, they will be incomprehensible to you for the most part. So has been my experience. Proceed with caution friend.
We evicted broadcast television 5 years ago and now only order movies from netflix...we’ll never go back. We were recently selected as a “Nielson Family”. I am anxious to be included in their stats.
dittoes.
A&E isn’t what it used to be.
For movies, TCM is in a class by itself. Everything else is going to be chopped up by ads. But if you have a package with a DVR, you tape the movies and then fast forward through the ads.
There is no "safe" place in the (m)ass media world. With even Disney catering to fags and perverts, there's nothing left that's clean and constructive. You can still find a nugget here and there, but it's not worth skin-diving in the cesspool to get it.
two things - get a “Leaf” TV antenna, you will be surprised by the HUGE amount of broadcast TV. In Dallas we get more than 25 English language channels, many are “old” movies and TV. Over the air Leaf also gives us two groups of Christian broadcasting stations with 7-10 channels - plus we get Netflix cd and streaming. Way cheaper than cable.
This "conservative sharia" attitude is an over-reaction. There is a huge amount of excellent electronic entertainment available and it's not hard to find. The big screen HD TV is the greatest human advance since double-entry accounting!
Go to http://tvfool.com/ to check on digital broadcast available in your specific location, as well as antenna recommendations. Broadcast has exploded, I can pick up 23 channels myself, with a variety of programming, from local network affiliates to music to a station with nothing but classic sitcoms.
That should cover a fair amount of your viewing wants and needs. Somebody recommended the Mohu Leaf antenna, I second that but go for the Leaf Ultimate, $79.95 or thereabouts, you can order it from their site if you want, or Sam’s Club carries it, probably other retailers. Indoor, wall or window mount, small, thin and unobtrusive.
For the rest, use your internet connection. A variety of decent, reputable companies provide means of streaming downloads to your TV. Roku, AppleTV, others.
You’ll cut your expense from around $50.00 a month for basic cable to $8.00 a month for online netflix, Hulu or other services. You can rent just about anything and download it online from iTunes also, $2.00 to $7.00 per each movie.
You’ll be watching only what you want. Takes some getting accustomed to not scheduling your viewing around when it’s on, but it’s better, really. Watch it when you want to watch.
get utorrent, a multi-terrabyte NAS (I like QNAP products so far), find a media player (western digitals WDTV works nice and is cheap)... then head to eztv.it
the site lists only first runs and has a list of prior episodes by series name (click the ‘Show List’ link at the top)
make sure to set up your utorrent to move completed dnloads to the NAS, thereby making it available to anyone on your home net. also make sure your utorrent stops seeding shortly after completion
if you’re concerned, set that machine to work through a Tor proxy and you’ll be set (tho no one really cares about tv shows)
and, of course, secure your home net properly
DISH = Blaze TV
Agree.
Too much sordid trash on TV. I have XM Sat radio for FNC broadcasts as well as Patriot Channel, and also check the net for news. Have a digital TV antenna for local broadcasts, and several Blu Ray players and HD TVs for films. Cannot stand to watch movies on cable, as they are overpriced and often oversaturated with ads.
Keep getting spam and trash from DIRECTV ssking me to contract. I might consider the neo-communist bastards if they didn’t iutright refuse to carry Blaze TV.
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