Posted on 01/24/2022 7:31:57 AM PST by dennisw
It’s nine in the evening, sometime during this endless post-lockdown liminal period, and I’m curled up on the sofa, clicking listlessly through streaming menus in search of my sedative of choice—dark teen dramas—when my vision starts to blur. Is Who Killed Sara? the new high school murder show I’ve been meaning to watch? Or Cruel Summer? The Wilds? One of Us Is Lying? The screen swims. I have to shut my overwhelmed eyes.
The condition is not entirely new, and though it only seems to flare up when I’m watching television, it has worsened over time. Which is concerning, because I am a TV critic. It presented, in early 2019, in the form of double vision: two documentaries, from Netflix and Hulu, about the disastrous Fyre Festival. Since then I’ve blinked through dueling originals on fashion design, Wu-Tang Clan, 9/11. Some of them are news-driven (proliferating Britney Spears docs), some seasonal (Baking Impossible, Bake Squad, Baker’s Dozen, Baking It), some the repetition of a microgenre (rich people at a resort in HBO’s The White Lotus, rich people at a resort in Hulu’s lesser Nine Perfect Strangers). I call this phenomenon—and the new era of television more broadly—peak redundancy. Every general-interest streaming service has a knockoff of every other platform’s breakout title or perennial favorite. But they aren’t just reverse-engineering one another’s hits; they’re also emulating one another’s ever expanding mix of content. Netflix has spent years stockpiling originals to serve every conceivable audience.
Now, other services that led with scripted series are dipping toes into reality and lifestyle, standup, sports and more. Each has at least one prestige murder mystery à la Big Little Lies, food shows, a trashy reality dating show (or five), creative competitions, newsy docs, teen dramas, children’s programs and true-crime fare. What might have begun as a strategy to court cord cutters looking to replace a whole suite of cable channels has escalated into a mandate to be everything to everyone. It’s exhausting. And now that franchises and other intellectual property (IP), from Star Wars to The Witcher, have proliferated on streaming services, it has contributed to my creeping sense that television is moving on from the merely overabundant era FX head John Landgraf dubbed “peak TV” in 2015.
We may still be deluged with viewing options, many of exceptional quality. But we also have too many shows that feel interchangeable.
Now the consensus among influential people in and around the industry is that we are reaching a tipping point. Peak redundancy can only sustain itself for so long before streamers start bumping up against the limits of viewers’ free time and disposable income. The measures they’re taking to survive the inevitable contraction of the streaming landscape—from the race to acquire or create valuable IP to the competition to win over international audiences
HUH?
So many streaming services I can’t keep up. Some friend is always recommending some series I have never heard of one of the services. But ... who cares? No one is forcing anyone to watch.
The new shows from the new streaming service, Paramont+
look to be generated in dark places (both literally and figuratively).Definitely, not my cup of tea.
However, as this service is now seen on ROKU, also found
are some old and loved favorites IE. Perry Mason with Raymond Burr, Mary Tyler Moore Show, and many others
from the past. Enough to keep us occupied and entertained for hours to come. Check it out. You, too, might find something you’d enjoy.
The “original” streaming movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBOMax are anything but original. We often have to turn them off because the stories, plots, even dialog have been done many times before with different actors. However, we give them kudos for production values that are as good as any major Hollywood studio. Yes, the wife and I are film critics...haha.
I find myself watching the Flatt and Scruggs Show (sponsored by Martha White flour) and The Jack Benny program more and more. Perry Mason is still as good as it was when I watched it in the 50s and 60s with the added bonus that I’ve forgotten most of the who-done-its.
There are some worthwhile movies and TV shows each year, but
they are few and far between.
Almost all action movies now have the kidnapped kid or family member plot. Every comedy makes fun of white men or replays Luci gags. Every crime show rehashes familiar plot lines while trying to be a soap opera. Even when a show has a new and interesting premise, the writers seem to believe that each episode must have a more fantastic plot line than the last. They quickly move the plot lines to pure stupidity and ruin the show.
There hasn’t been much fresh and new stuff since Get Smart (perhaps since Shakespeare).
The real improvement, however, is the DVR. My current streaming service, YoutubeTV, provides DVR for as many programs as I want, as often as I want, and saves everything for 9 months. The skip forward button on the remote means I never, ever have to watch a commercial. Even when watching a football game, I just start watching it 30 minutes late and I can skip every commercial. I can watch every second of a standard 60 minute show in 42 minutes. When Formula I gets boring, I can simply say, “Skip 10 minutes,” and Max Verstappan still leads by 5 seconds by Lewis Hamilton.
Oh well. Only three more NFL games until September.
People will stream (buy the service) if they like a few of the shows. Once the shows are not entertaining they will leave the streaming service. I bought showtime for Homeland, no longer need it. That's the future. I have P+ for 1883 and the future 6666. Same deal there.
cut the cable! also streaming is just the replacement for cable, like methodone for heroin addicts.
streaming is still a monthly bill, which right now, you don’t need!
Show me Flat an Scruggs with Joan Baez. This is on YT.
I liked the one with 10 year old Ricky Scraggs and Mother Maybelle Carter. The live commercials were a hoot as well.
I haven’t gotten into streaming at all yet. Article mentioned people’s free time and disposable income. I have a busy life, so just haven’t felt any desire to research what’s out there streaming. I haven’t taken the time to look into it. How much TV can anyone watch?
Ala Carte is where it is at. Many many FREE shows to watch.
You need a pc to get the apps easily.
I use a ROKU box that is plugged into my tv set. I have a network cable from there that goes back to my Motorola MG8702 cable modem/router. You can buy a router separately if you cable modem does not include one. ROKU box I have https://www.roku.com/products/roku-ultra
I have been watching the FREE Pluto tv channel using the ROKU app plus you can watch on the pc or your tablet or cell phone. They have every older show from 1950’s to maybe 10 years ago. https://pluto.tv/en/live-tv/johnny-carson-tv
Any app you get for ROKU you just go to ROKU settings and System and do an update and the new app icon will show up on the Home screen. You can also group the channels in the order you want.
I pay for Sling tv at $42 a month. You get all of cable and more. I also have Amazons ‘prime video’ as I use Amazon to buy lots of stuff.
I watch quite a bit of Youtube using their app as you can use your pc to quickly find channels you like and click on the subscribe button. Subscribe then go back into the ROKU and click on the Youtube app. If you have any issues with Youtube opening then go to the settings and update and the Youtube app will open.
I use a over the air tv antenna like MOHU and get many extra channels. Check out your area: https://www.tvpassport.com/tv-listings
A quick way to get the apps is to go to google and do a search or you can go to Roku and they will list the more popular ones up front. There are thousands to choose from!
List: https://channelstore.roku.com/browse
Categories. View the top list there:
https://channelstore.roku.com/browse/recommended
The next stage would be to have a service which content creators could engage with directly, and where instead of a monthly flat fee, you could pay for specific shows directly.
Content creators could make the first episode free.
A superior rundown!
I get torr__en__ts with and without VPN
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.