At my job, I'm unlucky enough to be on the midnight shift, but lucky enough to have TV to help while away the hours. Now, I don't have TV at home, as such...what I do is find stuff to watch on the 'Net, download it, convert it, & burn the programming to a re-writable DVD to watch in bed. This works out pretty well, because I'm a fan of old movies & TV shows, & these are easily (& legally) available if you know where to look.
At work, however, we're at the mercy of the basic cable channels & all the garbage they foist upon the public. "Reality" shows are, of course, the worst, & I will not watch any of 'em. Ever. I don't give a flying one about "Children of Hip-Hop Legends", "Million-Dollar Matchmakers", or any of the other rich & obnoxious sh*tbirds featured on these freakshows. I truly believe that watching that kind of tripe lowers the IQ of those who watch.
What I do like are the dozen or so "secondary" networks that have popped up as a result of the giant entertainment companies utilizing their vast libraries of old shows & movies. Outlets like MeTV, Comet, Antenna TV, etc. really do feature some of the finest shows of the recent & distant past...stuff like The Outer Limits, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Tyler Moore, Taxi, & more. Comet even broadcasts (& I do mean broadcasts; most of these channels are available over-the-air, for free, as secondary digital channels) the original Mystery Science Theater 3000! Sure, there are a lot of not-so-great old shows on these channels, too...like "Ironside", or (eccch) "The Mod Squad", stuff I wouldn't have even watched as a kid, but having to avoid the old junk is a small price to pay to be able to see the old gold.
Whether they realize it or not, MGM/UA, Sony, Warner Brothers & the other giants are doing something worthwhile with these "little" channels, & I'm grateful that they're doing it.
I, too , am grateful for these channels. I get to see movies and retro shows I've missed in my youth. It's been an education
ReplyDeleteDitto. I have a friend who loves those old channels too, and as he's retired from the force he spends his non-hobby time enjoying them. Always has trivia questions for me about "The Rifleman" or "Car 54" or something.
ReplyDelete"How many bullets did Lucas McCain need to fire to finally kill Fred Gwynne?"
DeleteWe do not have broadcast tv per se either. We have an HDMI cable so we can hook up the tv with our computer. Whatever is on the computer screen is then on the tv. We mostly use youtube for this sort of thing - documentaries, old movies, old tv shows.
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