# Does anyone else suffer from not being able to find things to watch?



## Bramandin (May 10, 2022)

It's like everything I saw that was interesting was on streaming services that we don't have (or I have the DVD) and everything I did find either was or looked dumb.  This morning I had to turn off the animated version of King and I, Idiocracy, and some anime that didn't have a dubb.  Previously I tried to watch Shark Tale and I passed over Bold Eagles because it just seemed like one of those movies that are thrown together because kids will watch anything.


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## Ray Zdybrow (May 10, 2022)

My next door neighbour asked "Is it true you don't have a telly?"
I admitted it was true. 
"You're weird!" she said, "what do you WATCH?"


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## magpie Asylum (May 10, 2022)

I have found the more I've gotten in to writing the more critical I've become of new fiction. Maybe I became a snob, or maybe new media sucks its kind of hard to tell. 

Shows I have liked in recent years.

Russian Doll
Altered Carbon 
The Expanse
Peaky Blinders
Maniac
Peacemaker
Reacher
The Great
Sense 8


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## Bramandin (May 11, 2022)

magpie Asylum said:


> I have found the more I've gotten in to writing the more critical I've become of new fiction. Maybe I became a snob, or maybe new media sucks its kind of hard to tell.
> 
> Shows I have liked in recent years.
> 
> ...


I've heard of some of those, but I haven't watched them.  Netflix titles?  Maybe it's just Prime that sucks.  I did find a documentary about the history of invention.  Not as great as The Day the Universe Changed, but still pretty watchable.


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## BAYLOR (May 11, 2022)

*Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea * tav series Hokey but fun to watch.

The original *Kung Fu *Tv series with David Carradine and Key Luke  

*The Wild Wild West 

Quatermass and the Pit* 1958 six part tv serial 

And other great old shows. You just can't beat a classic.


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## KGeo777 (May 11, 2022)

BAYLOR said:


> And other great old shows. You just can't beat a classic.


"In a time of decadence it is often better to stand by the old--which still has possibilities--than to plunge into the hapless welter of unformed barbarism which is the sole available alternative." Lovecraft


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## Rodders (May 11, 2022)

I'm bored with modern content. Occasionally something decent comes along, but generally its the same. I think it's more to do with my age than anything. I find myself looking back to older TV for things to watch. To be fair though, I remember channel hopping a lot when there were only three channels. It stands to reason that with more channels, finding something to watch is no more difficult. Most modern multi-series modern TV can be quite a commitment, so I suspect that it boils down to the end of the work day and the need for "casual" viewing.


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## Droflet (May 11, 2022)

I know what you mean, Rodders. I just finished watching seasons 1 and 2 of Star Trek, TOS.


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## Bramandin (May 12, 2022)

And now I've got "The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism" and toddler entertainment in my Prime suggestions.  Yes I have varied tastes, but I don't know how I made it so confused.


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## BAYLOR (May 12, 2022)

KGeo777 said:


> "In a time of decadence it is often better to stand by the old--which still has possibilities--than to plunge into the hapless welter of unformed barbarism which is the sole available alternative." Lovecraft



*Tales  from the Gold Monkey *was an Indian Jones knock off but I loved it.


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## KGeo777 (May 12, 2022)

I would love to watch new stuff if it appealed to me but the plots don't.


In 1962 an hour show was 55 minutes.
 In 1972 an hour show was around 52 minutes.

Now it is something like 35 minutes if that long.
A  Coca-Cola can has more air time than the special guest star.


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## KGeo777 (May 12, 2022)

BAYLOR said:


> *Tales  from the Gold Monkey*


I have been meaning to revisit that one.
I remember the show well-especially the pilot movie.


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## BAYLOR (May 12, 2022)

KGeo777 said:


> I have been meaning to revisit that one.
> I remember the show well-especially the pilot movie.



I still enjoy it. I wish  it had gotten more than the one season.


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## Elentarri (May 12, 2022)

Ray Zdybrow said:


> My next door neighbour asked "Is it true you don't have a telly?"
> I admitted it was true.
> "You're weird!" she said, "what do you WATCH?"


I don't have a TV either... and people keep trying to buy/give me one... persistently.  There is absolutely no reason what so ever for me to have  glorified wall decoration (aka TV)  since there is nothing to watch (IMO).  If someone does decide I need to see something, they can send it over on a flash drive or invite me to their place to see it.
Even my mother (who does NOT read anything more extensive than the newspaper) has decided that there is nothing to watch and can I lend her a book.   Yesterday she finished Miss Benson's Beetle, and has started Bill Bryson's The Body.


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## Harpo (May 12, 2022)

I don’t watch telly. I watch DVDs, which I get for 50p-£1 from local charity shops.

Currently piled nearby are series 1&2 of Spaced, and Terminator 2 housed in a metal case and with a bonus disc of extras.
Plus some Simpsons and Family Guy series


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## paeng (May 12, 2022)

Streaming services, library holdings, etc., has led to the opposite: I have too many to watch.


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## Mon0Zer0 (May 12, 2022)

I find the opposite - too much stuff to watch and too little time to watch it in. 

Just this year you've got:

Severance
Outer Range
Better Call Saul
Tokyo Vice
Uploaded
Moon knight
Halo
Resident Alien
Russian Doll
Snowpiercer
Ozark
The Pentaverate
Reacher
Invincible

and so on...


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## Harpo (May 12, 2022)

Mon0Zer0 said:


> I find the opposite - too much stuff to watch and too little time to watch it in.
> 
> Just this year you've got:
> 
> ...


I have heard of three of those


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## Bramandin (May 12, 2022)

Harpo said:


> I have heard of three of those



I've only watched Upload, which I recommend if you like a humorous take on dystopia.  I guess I'm putting Resident Alien on my list.


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## Please Be Nice (May 14, 2022)

Bramandin said:


> It's like everything I saw that was interesting was on streaming services that we don't have (or I have the DVD) and everything I did find either was or looked dumb.  This morning I had to turn off the animated version of King and I, Idiocracy, and some anime that didn't have a dubb.  Previously I tried to watch Shark Tale and I passed over Bold Eagles because it just seemed like one of those movies that are thrown together because kids will watch anything.


Perhaps your interests could be broadened and then you may see new things that are then interesting to you.

I've known people that hate fictional content. So, they endlessly watch engineering and how-to videos and then build the things they see. Yet, would not spend one second watching anything for entertainment. even within their seemingly narrow band of interests they had infinite content fo rthe interest that they did have.


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## Bramandin (May 14, 2022)

Please Be Nice said:


> Perhaps your interests could be broadened and then you may see new things that are then interesting to you.
> 
> I've known people that hate fictional content. So, they endlessly watch engineering and how-to videos and then build the things they see. Yet, would not spend one second watching anything for entertainment. even within their seemingly narrow band of interests they had infinite content fo rthe interest that they did have.



That's true.  We also have passport so there is a ton of documentaries, I just keep forgetting about it because it's not in my face, but most of the time I hit youtube for artist channels.  I finally figured out that my library has some things that I've been wanting to see.


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## JunkMonkey (May 14, 2022)

Ray Zdybrow said:


> My next door neighbour asked "Is it true you don't have a telly?"
> I admitted it was true.
> "You're weird!" she said, "what do you WATCH?"



Or to quote (I think?) Joey from Friends : "What do you point your furniture at?"


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## JunkMonkey (May 14, 2022)

Harpo said:


> I don’t watch telly. I watch DVDs, which I get for 50p-£1 from local charity shops.
> 
> Currently piled nearby are series 1&2 of Spaced, and Terminator 2 housed in a metal case and with a bonus disc of extras.
> Plus some Simpsons and Family Guy series



Me too.  In addition to the local charity shops my village has a swapshop, leave stuff - take what you want shed and people have been getting rid of DVDs like crazy over the last year or so.  I picked up a seven disc Werner Herzog boxset in there the other day .  I currently have about 500 DVDs in my To Be Watched pile.  It's finding time to tackle the bloody thing that is frustrating me. 

@Bramandin "The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism", by the way, is based on a Poe story and is weirdly dreamlike and somewhat terrible.


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## mistri (May 14, 2022)

I watch a lot of TV with my husband. It's probably the main activity we do together . And so we often run out of TV that we are both happy to watch. There just aren't enough comedies, for example. He loves Star Trek and I have loved it in the past, but find the current versions a bit tedious. I'm fussy about antiheroes - I can find it hard to root for people doing bad things (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) when I know there's never going to be a redemption. So yeah, fussy. But when you find something you both like - perfection! We love watching all sorts from Taskmaster (comedians doing stupid tasks) to Bridgerton (I liked season 2 best) to Severance or This is Us. It's annoying when shows end badly after years of investment though (Game of Thrones, I'm looking at you).


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## Bramandin (May 14, 2022)

mistri said:


> I watch a lot of TV with my husband. It's probably the main activity we do together . And so we often run out of TV that we are both happy to watch. There just aren't enough comedies, for example. He loves Star Trek and I have loved it in the past, but find the current versions a bit tedious. I'm fussy about antiheroes - I can find it hard to root for people doing bad things (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) when I know there's never going to be a redemption. So yeah, fussy. But when you find something you both like - perfection! We love watching all sorts from Taskmaster (comedians doing stupid tasks) to Bridgerton (I liked season 2 best) to Severance or This is Us. It's annoying when shows end badly after years of investment though (Game of Thrones, I'm looking at you).



Might I suggest watching the first episode of Happy.  It's pretty much Roger Rabbit but off the deep end as far as grittiness and filth that gets worse until the climax.  But 



Spoiler



the detective cleans up a bit at the end.


  I think there might have been a second season, but I didn't watch it.

Eureka and Warehouse 13 are pretty old, but they're meant to appeal to Star Trek fans; they even bring in a lot of Star Trek actors.  SeaQuest DSV is like Star Trek underwater and it seems to be available on free services.


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## PadreTX (May 14, 2022)

magpie Asylum said:


> I have found the more I've gotten in to writing the more critical I've become of new fiction.


I wonder about that too. With all that is read and discussed here about writing, does it make a Chronicler more critical about writing in books, TV, movies? An example: before joining Chronicles, I don't remember thinking about how a sentence could be done different. Now, I seen to do it at least once per day.

Then there's age. Someone likes more things when a child, teenager, young adult than when older adult. Like music, not enjoying todays tunes but go back and listen to the songs from decades ago.

Also, what's new would be compared to what came out this century. When I think of TV shows this century that are scifi/fantasy, I think of Game of Thrones and The Mandalorian. So many things came together in the right way on those shows. I don't see anything else nearly as good. 

The Bobba Fett showed seemed to be needing Mando and Grogu come in to save the day because the writers couldn't come up with anything original. 

The new Targaryan (spelling?) show trailer is giving thoughts of season 8 of GOT, not seasons 1-6; hopefully I'm wrong and it will be good.

Marvel. Don't kill popular characters (Iron Man, Black Widow), because odds are your new ones won't be as good. In fact, your new ones may be terrible, which is what happened.


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## magpie Asylum (May 14, 2022)

PadreTX said:


> I wonder about that too. With all that is read and discussed here about writing, does it make a Chronicler more critical about writing in books, TV, movies? An example: before joining Chronicles, I don't remember thinking about how a sentence could be done different. Now, I seen to do it at least once per day.
> 
> Then there's age. Someone likes more things when a child, teenager, young adult than when older adult. Like music, not enjoying todays tunes but go back and listen to the songs from decades ago.
> 
> ...


It's not just being a writer, but that is a big part of it. Also shows are getting dumber and studios are less likely to take chances on new ideas. Publishers do the same thing. Just look at Hunger Games. That book was a success and was followed by more post apocalyptic authoritarian YA novels about kid revolutionaries than you could shake a stick at. the result is a flooded market and a dive in quality.


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## paranoid marvin (May 15, 2022)

There is so much great tv on BritBox that it would take a very long time just to get through the best shows. Survivors, Secret Army, 26 seasons of Doctor Who, Terrahawks, Blakes 7, Monkey, Cracker, Thunderbirds, Sapphire & Steel, The Prisoner, Joe 90, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Catweazle. The list goes on and on and on. Incredible value for the equivalent of about 20p a day .


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## Rodders (May 16, 2022)

I joined a few weeks ago just to watch Blake's 7 and THHGTTG. I intend to binge Space 1999 and perhaps Sapphire and Steele after reading the thread on it, here. 

Ultimately, i intend to binge all the Doctor Who.


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## paranoid marvin (May 16, 2022)

Rodders said:


> I joined a few weeks ago just to watch Blake's 7 and THHGTTG. I intend to binge Space 1999 and perhaps Sapphire and Steele after reading the thread on it, here.
> 
> Ultimately, i intend to binge all the Doctor Who.



If you like the shows above Quatermass is definitely worth checking out.


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## Elentarri (May 17, 2022)

Fringe?  I quite enjoyed it after I got past the we-will-watch-it-to-see-what-other-down-right-weird-stuff-they-can-come-up-with phase.


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## BAYLOR (May 17, 2022)

Elentarri said:


> Fringe?  I quite enjoyed it after I got past the we-will-watch-it-to-see-what-other-down-right-weird-stuff-they-can-come-up-with phase.



*Thriller *Hosted by Boris Karloff . A horror anthology series and fun to watch . Among the stories they did was an adaptation of Robert E Howard's story  *Pigeons From Hell  *and William Shatner guest stars in two very good episodes , one of them with Natalie Schafer o*f Gilligan's Island* Fame.


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## Orcadian (May 18, 2022)

Mon0Zer0 said:


> I find the opposite - too much stuff to watch and too little time to watch it in. Just this year you've got:
> Severance, Outer Range, Better Call Saul, Tokyo Vice, Uploaded, Moon knight, Halo, Resident Alien, Russian Doll, Snowpiercer, Ozark, The Pentaverate, Reacher, Invincible


I've only heard of one of those (Resident Alien).  I haven't had a TV for 18 years and I do not miss it at all. Partner has a TV + basic Virgin pkg - but at the weekend, when I'm at his flat, we still can rarely find anything on live TV that we both want to watch. (Occasionally there's something on catchup.)  It seems to me that the 1960 - 1980s was the golden age of British TV. The offerings remained quite good while we had the 4 'terrestrial' channels only, but once everything went onto satellite & cable there was suddenly nothing worth watching unless you wanted to see a cop/detective show or a popular/family/blockbuster film. Gone were Horizon, The Ascent of Man, Chronicle, Omnibus, Arena, World in Action, Man Alive, Armchair Theatre, Play for Today and serialised versions of novels by the likes of Tolstoy, Hardy, Austen, Lawrence, Eliot, Delderfield. It was so rich and the list seems endless. Today there is nothing of this quality and depth. It is all "en-ter-tain-ment". I don't WANT entertainment - I want substance, I want to feel engaged, educated, enriched, encouraged to learn more.


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## Bren G (May 24, 2022)

magpie Asylum said:


> I have found the more I've gotten in to writing the more critical I've become of new fiction. Maybe I became a snob, or maybe new media sucks its kind of hard to tell.


Agree! Agree! Agree! I totally identify!


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