Crossing The Streams

I feel like streaming is a new part of my life but, if I cast my mind back, I have been using the Internet to access television programs for well over a decade. Here I will trace my use of it and make some observations of TV from the comfort of your lap.

It may have started with YouTube and focused on old TV shows shared by fellow users. It has been a wonderful if patchy way of finding old stuff to discover or re-discover. All that culminated in me collating these lists for friends. Another old show I have since watched was Man About The House (70s share household comedy that was comfort food during lonely lockdowns). Over time my use of YouTube has shifted away from TV and towards original user-generated content (albeit some of it celebrating those old shows).

Another kind of streaming I moved into was using the websites of free government TV stations ABC and SBS. There is a lot of worthwhile stuff to find there and has included Upstart Crow, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Death In Paradise, Wellington Paranormal, Cavendish, Whiskey Cavalier, The Orville and Vagrant Queen. A diverting mix of mystery, comedy and speculative fiction can still be had for free at any time. That free aspect of the experience is important because all my life TV had been free. That was even true for the commercial channels.

Sure you can tell me that I was supposedly 'the product' because TV stations were selling advertising space to attract my custom. However advertising has never had that big a draw on me. A fast food ad was as likely to send me to the kitchen to have some toast. So all my life TV was free and hence I resisted the big concept in streaming - paying for ad-free content.

I did spend some money now-and-then on renting specific items on Apple. This was just an extention of purchasing songs online and the concept of buying separate things is nothing new. Subscribing to a service that just sits there in the ether was something I resisted. But the pandemic changed that.

Everyone had been talking about the many cool shows that could now only be seen on these boutique services. Here is an exception to the power of advertising because peer groups are powerful. And I knew what they were telling me was true because the odd video night with friends would demonstrate what I was missing. And then I was stuck in my room and could easily transfer some money to access these cornucopiae of entertainment. But I have standards and so set a limit of paying for between zero and one streming sevices at any one time. I will stay with one for a month and then have nothing for another few months and then dip into the next. So far I have mostly rotated through Disney, Prime, Paramount, and Netflix.

Disney drew me in so I could see what was happening in the Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universes. Once there I would stay for random things like Only Murders In The Building and Burn Notice. But what of the big effects-laden shows that drew me there? So far I have most enjoyed The Mandalorian (among Star Wars programs) and Loki (among MCU fare).

Prime is home to a few things I return to every now-and-then. The misguided but visually stunning Rings Of Power is one. Gritty yet inspiring The Expanse is another. And the Legend Of Vox Machina is vulgar animated fun in a roleplay-inspired setting.

Paramount is the home of Star Trek and so far the version I feel stikes the best balance between gravity and levity is the retro yet fresh Strange New Worlds. I'm sure I enjoy other things there but one problem with all these services is keeping track of who serves what. None of them have a particularly firm station identity in my mind.

I am however aware that Netflix is the oldest and biggest of popular streaming services and it is one I will return to soon. I was suprised how much I enjoyed the remake of Lost In Space. Likewise The Witcher is way more fun than I expected for something that looks that gloomy. And I get why Stranger Things is such a sensation - while I was enticed by its mix of nostalgia and horror I truly did become attached to its characters.

This is all part of my media diet and I try to limit its use. Of an evening I will watch one episode each of a few distinct programs. This works better for me than binging an entire season of one show. I also have a hunch that slowing a story helps one remember it better. I reckon that the days of seeing just one episode a week very much helped memory. Mind you I was much younger then.