On How DVD Killed the TV Star...
I know my delinquency has reached new lows of late. I should justify this as stating that my normal operating procedure is one of delinquency, or maybe a just delayed production. In other words, the first month and a half of my blogging was a massive over-achievement for me. So I’m going to make it up to you… since I know my words have become a life-blood to you…okay, maybe they’ve just become an interesting character study into my life. Whatever. The point is, I’m going to write two posts today. Try not to faint (I’m talking to myself here and not to you…but if you could also refrain from fainting that would be cool).
Finding something that both my wife and I agree we really like to watch on TV or Netflix is not an easy thing to do. That is one of the pleasures of marriage I’m told. I think I might have once expounded on the household remote wars that have been waged. To summarize that post, they were bloody. In addition, my wife knows my username and password on the Netflix account, but she rarely throws around her influence over the queue. That could be because I’ve filled the queue beyond capacity so there is no more room for her stuff. A clever defense, that. However, I have agreed to put “good Netflix steward” down as one of my husbandly duties.
That puts some pressure on me. Despite what you may think, I don’t really have much experience thinking like a woman. I also don't have mcuh experience thinking, but that's a blog for a different day... Even though my wife and I have known each other for over a decade, I still don’t know for sure what she likes to watch. I mean, romantic comedies exist for the X chromosome don’t they? They should be a sure thing. Apparently not. I have found out, to my great dismay, that many of these movies get a “lame” or even “this is dumb” from the peanut gallery I apparently married. Well excuse me Ebert, I’ll try better next time.
There have been successes however. Just about anything with Colin Firth is a go thanks to his BBC portrayal of Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice. Even if the movie stinks, I get a little credit for the try. There have been some odd successes too, Firefly and the movie follow-up Serenity being the major ones. Scifi does not usually go over well, although comic book hero movies do. Do you see what I’m saying…the woman is schitzo… I’m also finding anything that might fit the description of thriller or mystery works, although not universally.
To date, the one sure thing has been TV series that have been released to DVD. Recently, it seems that there really isn’t any show, past or present, good or bad, that hasn’t made its way onto those shiny discs. This is a good thing because neither my wife nor I really watch a lot of real time TV shows. I guess our lives are just busy or that we are actually that popular. I do know that Lost, 24, Alias and Firefly saved our marriage. Okay, maybe love and undying commitment had a little to do with it…
Except now I think I might be becoming unfaithful. I mean, I’m starting to not like viewing TV shows on DVD. Sure, there are major plusses to watching them via that media. The prime example is no commercials. The obvious breaks in the story still exist, but I don’t feel like my train of thought is being violently molested to buy some detergent that washes out dirt, grease and…blood. (As an aside, I’m thinking that anything that bled on me that much, or worse, if I bled on me that much…well, that’s not likely to be my favorite shirt anymore. It’s time to invest in some new threads). Another plus is you can watch multiple episodes at once and not have to wait another week…or you can devour the entire season in mere days rather than tuning in next week….
…but is that a plus? Take Scrubs. I find that comedy to be one of the funniest on television currently. I’ve only got through Season 2, but still, it has not worn out its welcome with me. One of my favorite characters is Dr. Cox the grouchy, sarcasm spewing, angry doctor that eats residents for breakfast. The problem is, a little Dr. Cox goes a long way. He’s funny in a couple of episodes, but by the third one in a row, it’s old. That character was meant to be seen once a week, but not for 2 hours at a time. If I allow myself to watch too much at one sitting, I’m afraid it would spoil it for me…
Which brings me to my real point. As stated previously, my wife and I have shows we like to watch together. That is starting to unravel though. Firefly was short lived. It’s dead, probably on the big screen too. Lost Season 2 won’t hit DVD for ages. Alias, decided to start sucking in Season 3, and Season 4 sealed it. So 24 was our last defense. Jack Bauer can save the country repeatedly in one day, he could definitely save our TV marriage, right?
Afraid not. DVD has spoiled 24 for me too. The problem is that my wife and I cannot keep ourselves from binging on multiple episodes at a time. We can't help it, we get nervous for poor Jack. A show like 24 really suffers from this inability for self-control. Taken in multiple hour installments at a time, the show becomes way too spastic, with Jack and crew going from one crisis to another. Taken in weekly doses it might be far more palatable. I also think a weekly dose masks how totally implausible most of these crises are. Furthermore, you can really see how formulaic each episode becomes when you see them back to back. That is not saying there are not major surprises from time to time, but you can rest assured that until hour 24 hits, Jack is going to go through a series of near misses, some major successes which only serve to thrust them into another impossible situation, and finally a major character development before the day gets saved.
Now, we are currently Tivo-ing Season 5 of 24. We have watched the first 5 episodes of it, and I will admit to being mildly amused once again. We are nearly caught up to the real time show, so it remains to be seen if watching it weekly will make a difference.
I certainly hope so, or it’s back to the drawing board once again…
Finding something that both my wife and I agree we really like to watch on TV or Netflix is not an easy thing to do. That is one of the pleasures of marriage I’m told. I think I might have once expounded on the household remote wars that have been waged. To summarize that post, they were bloody. In addition, my wife knows my username and password on the Netflix account, but she rarely throws around her influence over the queue. That could be because I’ve filled the queue beyond capacity so there is no more room for her stuff. A clever defense, that. However, I have agreed to put “good Netflix steward” down as one of my husbandly duties.
That puts some pressure on me. Despite what you may think, I don’t really have much experience thinking like a woman. I also don't have mcuh experience thinking, but that's a blog for a different day... Even though my wife and I have known each other for over a decade, I still don’t know for sure what she likes to watch. I mean, romantic comedies exist for the X chromosome don’t they? They should be a sure thing. Apparently not. I have found out, to my great dismay, that many of these movies get a “lame” or even “this is dumb” from the peanut gallery I apparently married. Well excuse me Ebert, I’ll try better next time.
There have been successes however. Just about anything with Colin Firth is a go thanks to his BBC portrayal of Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice. Even if the movie stinks, I get a little credit for the try. There have been some odd successes too, Firefly and the movie follow-up Serenity being the major ones. Scifi does not usually go over well, although comic book hero movies do. Do you see what I’m saying…the woman is schitzo… I’m also finding anything that might fit the description of thriller or mystery works, although not universally.
To date, the one sure thing has been TV series that have been released to DVD. Recently, it seems that there really isn’t any show, past or present, good or bad, that hasn’t made its way onto those shiny discs. This is a good thing because neither my wife nor I really watch a lot of real time TV shows. I guess our lives are just busy or that we are actually that popular. I do know that Lost, 24, Alias and Firefly saved our marriage. Okay, maybe love and undying commitment had a little to do with it…
Except now I think I might be becoming unfaithful. I mean, I’m starting to not like viewing TV shows on DVD. Sure, there are major plusses to watching them via that media. The prime example is no commercials. The obvious breaks in the story still exist, but I don’t feel like my train of thought is being violently molested to buy some detergent that washes out dirt, grease and…blood. (As an aside, I’m thinking that anything that bled on me that much, or worse, if I bled on me that much…well, that’s not likely to be my favorite shirt anymore. It’s time to invest in some new threads). Another plus is you can watch multiple episodes at once and not have to wait another week…or you can devour the entire season in mere days rather than tuning in next week….
…but is that a plus? Take Scrubs. I find that comedy to be one of the funniest on television currently. I’ve only got through Season 2, but still, it has not worn out its welcome with me. One of my favorite characters is Dr. Cox the grouchy, sarcasm spewing, angry doctor that eats residents for breakfast. The problem is, a little Dr. Cox goes a long way. He’s funny in a couple of episodes, but by the third one in a row, it’s old. That character was meant to be seen once a week, but not for 2 hours at a time. If I allow myself to watch too much at one sitting, I’m afraid it would spoil it for me…
Which brings me to my real point. As stated previously, my wife and I have shows we like to watch together. That is starting to unravel though. Firefly was short lived. It’s dead, probably on the big screen too. Lost Season 2 won’t hit DVD for ages. Alias, decided to start sucking in Season 3, and Season 4 sealed it. So 24 was our last defense. Jack Bauer can save the country repeatedly in one day, he could definitely save our TV marriage, right?
Afraid not. DVD has spoiled 24 for me too. The problem is that my wife and I cannot keep ourselves from binging on multiple episodes at a time. We can't help it, we get nervous for poor Jack. A show like 24 really suffers from this inability for self-control. Taken in multiple hour installments at a time, the show becomes way too spastic, with Jack and crew going from one crisis to another. Taken in weekly doses it might be far more palatable. I also think a weekly dose masks how totally implausible most of these crises are. Furthermore, you can really see how formulaic each episode becomes when you see them back to back. That is not saying there are not major surprises from time to time, but you can rest assured that until hour 24 hits, Jack is going to go through a series of near misses, some major successes which only serve to thrust them into another impossible situation, and finally a major character development before the day gets saved.
Now, we are currently Tivo-ing Season 5 of 24. We have watched the first 5 episodes of it, and I will admit to being mildly amused once again. We are nearly caught up to the real time show, so it remains to be seen if watching it weekly will make a difference.
I certainly hope so, or it’s back to the drawing board once again…
posted by Beeley at 12:57 PM
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