Boob Tube Viewing Pleasures

What's a poor bastard to do?

Also, when in the hell did it get so expensive to watch TV? And on on earth are there 666 channels but most of them are dedicated to bullshit programming that I'm pretty sure 80%+ of the population won't watch.  However, to get that one channel that you do want to watch you have to choose a TV Package that includes 13 other channels that you will never turn on?  WTF?

I remember back in the day when we had just a handful of channels but we were pretty damned happy to watch what we had.  Hell, I remember having rabbit ears so that we could get more than 4 channels.  Picking up signals through the air just to watch NBC and ABC and liking it.

This new age of millions of programs of pure unadulterated garbage that I don't want to watch but have to pay for sucks. I am fully reminded why, when left to my own devices, I have not had any type of TV service for the past decade or so.  However, it's the other people who live here who enjoy watching.

So, as far as I see it I have 3 options.

I can go with Cox Cable.

I can go with Direct TV.

I can go with Dish Network.

Any other options that might exist have already been ruled out.

Also of note is that for various reasons I currently do not qualify for any special plans or discounts on any of these networks.

I have read bad and good on every single one of these and in the end, and I pretty much knew it, there is only one thing that matters which is why I ultimately sucked it up and went with Direct TV.

My wallet is going to feel a sting for a paycheck or two but in the end everything will work out and I'll be a better person because of it.

With all of that said, I am really looking forward to using the DVR feature on the system because there are a couple of shows going on right now that I really really really want to catch up on.

Breaking Bad Season 5 (Final Season).

The Walking Dead Season 3.

Doctor Who Season 7.

So, by the time I get home from work on Thursday it should all be set up and ready to go and I can begin filling up my DVR with a whole lot of goodness.

**This post was made over the course of about 4-5 hours while taking small breaks during cleaning and unpacking my shit.  I have The Mummy on the TV in my room and will be putting in The Mummy Returns as soon as it's over.  Back to your regularly scheduled day!

Playing Catch up with the Boob Tube

Since going to college I have basically stopped watching TV with the major exception being Football.  As a result I have missed out on a lot of really great shows over the course of that time and am probably still missing out on a ton.  However, this is something I have slowly been trying to rectify by picking up seasons of shows on DVD, Blu-Ray, Amazon Instant Video and watching through Netflix.  

Breaking Bad is currently my favorite show on TV and is probably going to go down as #1 on my all time list of best shows ever put out.  It is amazingly well done, well acted and is full of pure awesome and win.  Last night I finished watching Season 4 (received the package from Amazon on Saturday) and once again I was highly impressed and left wanting more after each episode.  Watching the changes to the characters that have been happening since season 1 has been one hell of a ride and I am stoked that Season 5 (but sad that this is going to be the last season) starts up here in July.  I now have to make a decision to either get a DVR or spend a few bucks a week to download the latest episodes from Amazon.com.  After finishing up Season 4 I don’t think it’s possible for me to actually have to wait until this time next year for Season 5 to come out on Blu-Ray to finish the saga.  I love this show and it will be sorely missed.
The season ended so great that I was elated to see things actually kinda sorta work out for once but knowing that there are still a ton of questions to be asked at the beginning of the new season.
For instance we are left knowing (but maybe forgetting because of the awesome finish) that Mike is still alive and had 100% loyalty to Gustavo.  He was left on an operating table in Mexico (isn’t that how all Mexican vacations end?) and should figure to be a huge factor into the final season.  So much more but I’m going to hold off my excitement until the new (final) season begins.

Next up is my #2 show which is The Walking Dead.  This has the potential to become #1 and out of everything I have watched recently is probably the only show that I can say that about. It’s going to depend on how much I love Season 2 (I have the Blu-Ray pre-ordered from amazon) and Season 3 (which I will follow in real time as well instead of waiting for it to come out on disc).  The Walking Dead also has the distinction of being the only show recently that has actually brought me to tears.  No matter how much I love the drama in Breaking Bad, I still watch the emotional scenes with distance and no hard core feelings - but for The Walking Dead I was hit really hard several times.  Kind of weird, but whatever.

Third is the only other show that I’ll probably be watching in real time (week to week) and that is the newest season of Doctor Who.  Yes - we’ve finally made it to a show that doesn’t take itself so seriously.  It’s still got some drama in it but mostly it’s a lot of goofy fun.  While David Tennant was great I really love Matt Smith and his two seasons have gotten me into the show more than anything.  In fact I feel that the last season might be one of the best scripted seasons of any show I have ever watched.  I’m currently going through it again and there is so much that I missed the first two times through it.  References that just went over my head, or references that I didn’t even know where references until after watching the full season and then coming back to watch the old episodes again.  Brilliant, f’n brilliant.

However, my viewing pleasure does not end there.  There are some shows I want to watch but just haven’t gotten around to.  There are some shows that I’ve started watching but have to catch up on and there are some shows that cause people to look at me like “you ain’t seen that yet? you retarded or something?”

Older Shows that I’ve somehow managed to skip (either mostly or entirely) and really want to watch.  Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel start off this long list of awesome.  Supernatural and Smallville also fall heavily into the rotation.  Those 4 series will last me a good long time but I’m waiting for some good sales before buying any of them (or I just renew my netflix and do it that way I guess.  Are any of them on netflix?)

I have only watched about 2 seasons worth of Dexter which is an awesome show but I’ve never had HBO or Showtime or whatever channel it’s on and just haven’t found cheap seasons when I’ve been looking.  On a similar note I have never watched any of the Soprano’s and I really want to watch that show. I also need to catch up on Damages - and with that in mind I am horribly disappointed that the company that puts it out only released Season 1 on Blu-Ray and the rest as DVD only. WTF? Seriously?

Some new shows that I will be watching soon thanks to Best Buy offering a 100% trade in bonus on video games recently.  Game of Thrones season 1, Hell on Wheels season 1 and Boardwalk Empire season 1.  They are all waiting for me, patiently I might add.  Now that I’ve finished Breaking Bad I have to figure out which one of these shows I’m going to jump into next.


I'm sure there are a lot of great programs out there that I've been missing, it's just that no one has pointed me in the right direction. So, if you all have recommendations just let me know and I'll probably test drive a few.