Peak TV: A Spoilt Rotten Rant

I wrote this a few years back...

So Much Good Shit, So Little Time

Ladies and gentlemen,
What a time to be alive. The quality of TV is absofuckinglutely amazing. And we are spoilt for choice.
This can actually be a problem when it comes to what series to watch next. There's so much good stuff you can spend an hour browsing Netflix before deciding it's time for bed — without actually watching a single episode. They're all good. Just pick one.

Grab Me or Get Lost

And the shows better grab you straight away, unless you've had some prompting from others saying, "Stick with it, it's worth it." Otherwise, it's too easy to watch ten minutes, say "fuck this," and move on before giving it a chance to unravel.

After flooding my noggin with dopamine from all the exciting stuff being streamed into my eyeballs, I eventually run out of supplies of those feel-good brain chemicals.
At these times, nothing feels interesting, despite there being plenty to watch. That's when I have to go sit in a dark corner for a couple of hours and reset.

Attention Span? What Attention Span?

The internet and social media have destroyed my attention span.
I'll be watching something fucking epic and still decide to scroll Facebook. What's up with that bullshit?

And how many times have I been told I have to watch The Sopranos?
That's a lot of episodes to get through. A lot of TV. I have a child. I can't just lock myself in a dark room for a week.
I refuse to watch anything that's gone beyond three seasons before I've even seen the first episode. That's a retirement thing — to go back over all the shows the bulk of the audience voted "yes" to while I was too busy wiping noses and making sandwiches.

Watching TV the Lazy Man's Way

Here's my trick if a show runs too long and I'm not that invested:
I just watch the first and last episode of each season.
Sacrilege, you say?
Well, I did it with Breaking Bad — and based on what I watched, that show was overrated.
Maybe I missed some of the important bits. Oh well.

The 90s Haven't Aged Well

I've gone back and watched some TV from the '90s and... gotta say, it hasn't held up well.
We've come so far.
The production quality, the stories — they don't even compare to what’s come out in the last ten years.
Makes you wonder how they're going to top it in the future.
Have we reached peak TV?
Or are there different methods of storytelling that haven't even been uncovered yet?
Will we look back in twenty years and just go, "Meh"?

Streaming Services: Death by a Thousand Subscriptions

Currently, I'm paying for two streaming services.
I cough up around $30 a month — which the bastards have normalized for me.
I'm still stuck in my "$8.99 a month is good value" mindset.
What will it be in five years?
Probably back to what it used to cost for the old Pay TV — or worse.
If I subscribed to all the main services out now, I'd need to sell a kidney.

So I try to stick with what I've got.
If a "must-watch" show falls outside my subscribed services, I just embrace the guilt of torrenting that particular gem.
Judge me all you like.
I'm not a rich man.