I have been reading a lot about how networks are trying to capture people, like myself, who have “unplugged” themselves from traditional sources of television. I can easily remember the last time I watched broadcast TV. It was Thanksgiving 2012, right after I bought a digital antenna last November so we could watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Other than that one instance, I rely on Netflix, Hulu Plus and the library to get my TV fix.
There are lots of advantages to being unplugged. I benefit from the reviews of new shows before I decide whether to watch them or not. Why waste my time on bad TV? I wait for the reviews from people who’s taste I trust and start watching the shows that get good ones. Hulu Plus lets me catch up a week or two into the season. The same is true with old shows that I missed.
I can watch multiple episodes at a time. I recently re-watched The West Wing (only the Aaron Sorkin years) and picked up lots of details I missed when there was a week or more between episodes. I no longer need to wait to see the result of cliffhangers, unless they are the end of a season (more on that in a moment).
Lastly, I get television from other countries. I have watched Australian, British, Canadian and Israeli shows that I have really enjoyed. Plus access to some original series like House of Cards or the revived Arrested Development.
As with everything in life, there are disadvantages as well. The worst one? Spoilers. I am still waiting for the second season of Game of Thrones at the library. While I have done my best to avoid spoilers, lots of folks assume that they can reveal all at the end of a season. There is also the discussion that happens after a particularly spectacular season opener. Once again, I am referencing Game of Thrones.
Then there are the unintended consequences. Occasionally, popular commercials (beyond just the SuperBowl ones that I watched on Hulu) get referenced, and I have no idea what people are talking about. So far, I have been able to find all of the commercials online people have told me about, so I eventually am able to catch up with the zeitgeist.
I had the weirdest experience at the airport the other day. Have you ever watched commercials from another country? Because they are outside our normal frames of reference, they are captivating in a way that our own commercials are not. Enroute to New York, I was sitting by a TV at my gate and happened to catch a commercial. I had the same feeling I get when I watch a foreign commercial. It was somehow “shinier” and not in a Firefly kind of way. I don’t quite understand it, but unplugging myself made American commercials feel foreign to me.