Insight - Easy Access

At least once a week  on Facebook, someone asks about dropping his or her cable company to live with antennas for local channels and move to streaming video with companies like Netflix and Hulu. We dropped our cable years ago, thinking it would be better if we watched less TV. However, I think that kind of backfired. 

 

There is a new dilemma people have that we never contended with before. With entire series on demand, I can sit down and watch episode after episode of Say Yes to the Dress without waiting a week for the next show. I’ve heard this from others as well. They sit down to a nice evening at home with their loved ones only to realize that it’s suddenly 1 a.m. and they have completed the first season of Orange is the New Black. Because, not only are the oldies, but goodies on those channels, but Netfix and Hulu have started creating their own series. The average person can blow through the episodes in under a week and be starving for more. 

I’ve done marathons like this with DVDs when Blockbuster was around. I watched Alias for a week straight to catch up to the new episodes on TV. Now I don’t have to wait or travel to the store to get the shows. They are all at the press of a button. My life becomes the show. I start watching for terrorists around every corner. Going out in the dark means that someone is waiting and I’ll have to use my karate moves on them. 

This week it’s Gilmore Girls non-stop. TV with breakfast, sarcasm before bed and many times I watch two episodes each evening. It’s crazy and fun and addicting. 

Access like this to non-stop entertainment is encouraging the immediacy we have come to expect. 

Waiting is so last year. 

Some shows are being cancelled because no one wants to wait a whole week to see what comes next. I can watch the show the next day on Hulu at my leisure. I’m not a slave to the TV guide any longer. 

I’ve found the enjoyment in cable when I’m in a hotel or at my parent’s house. They want to watch a show on Channel 13 and I beg them not to…I get that channel. Can’t we watch a little HGTV? 

The best part for me, other than the instant access, is the lack of commercials. I may not hear what the latest toy craze is 10 times during an hour show, but I think I’ll live. 

What shows are you watching that you can’t get enough of? Join us on Facebook at The Windham Eagle to find out what our friends consider “must see TV.”