Cable?

[bcholmes]

I've almost, but not quite, convinced myself to cancel my television cable service.

Ironically, I think that TV is doing much more interesting experimentation in storytelling than film is, and I don't think I can think of any other time I believed that. But the signal to noise ratio is too low. And most of the commercials they air, now, are sooooo annoying.

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

I've lived without cable for so long I can't remember the last time I had it - and in an area where the only broadcast channel I can get is Public Broadcasting. My television serves as a movie-watching machine.

Fortunately, most of the best TV story-telling is being released on DVD. And the slight delay gives me time to hear what my friends have to say about new series, and then watch them in great whopping marathons if I want to.

The only surprise has been to realize just how much of popular culture is derived from commercials and really bad TV comedy. I'm always running into catch-phrases and jokes that make no sense at all to me, and then discovering that they from TV.

[geekymary.livejournal.com]

Not to cause trouble or anything, but with my Tivo, I pretty much never see commercials and can pick and choose what I watch and when.

Just throwing it out there. >:)

[northbard.livejournal.com]

download shows you wanna watch, get reviews from friends. Fuck the cable companies. All they do is charge you money so you can watch advertisements they get paid for. Double dipping bastards are no better than banks.

Ok...that's not fair.

Duck-raping hell-goats with tertiary syphilitic psychoses are better than the banks.

Cable companies are somewhere in between.

[secretsoflife.livejournal.com]

i've done without for 2 years now. antenna + downloading = never needing cable AND being able to watch little mosque when it airs :)

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

I prefer satellite over cable, but I haven't had either for almost six months. And the local broadcast CBC signal gives me adequate sound but inadequate picture, with just the dead coaxial cable plugged in as an antenna.

I spend about $5.70 a week renting DVDs of recommended series, and attend about one movie and one play per month. I guess that's about the same total cost per month as satellite TV.

What I miss: Election coverage. The Olympics. New episodes of TV shows completely spoiler free, talking about them when they're fresh to everyone. Having 50 hours of stuff backed up on the PVR so I never run out. Spontaneity and serendipity.

[kat-chan.livejournal.com]

Have you watched Little Mosque on the Prairie? From what I've seen of it in the stories here in the States, it seems like it would be a good show. I can only hope it may filter down here at some point.

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

I'm there. I haven't really watched network TV since M*A*S*H was cancelled. Aside from the popular culture thing you mention, I haven't noticed a loss.

Since I've always felt like an outsider anyway, the feeling of "not belonging" when I run across one of those catch-phrases is not sufficient to convince me to hook the tube back up.

[bcholmes.livejournal.com]

I watched a part of the pilot, and I really wanted to like it. It has Sheila McCarthy, who's always been a favourite of mine (but more when she's working with Patricia Rozema (fellow Sarnian!)).

In my opinion, the writing for the pilot was pretty weak, and it seemed like it was based around one joke (yokels assume the Muslims are terrorists!) that couldn't be sustained for very long.