The Omnibox: all things television
- Thread starter Town Heretic
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Totally sensible especially 2nd hand DVDsI LOVE rummaging in the charity shops
Ive gotten some good video games and music cds at goodwill before.
Oh, that is so great, seems you always know what i need?
Its an easy way to keep up with it, no billing, when it runs out, just go to the store.Hulu plus has them also, we tried it, im not finding that much on it to watch compared to netflix (since we dont really keep up with tv shows), so im not sure we will renew that one when it runs out.
Ask Mr. Religion
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You would not be able to record anything from streaming services like Netflix given the DRM (digital rights management) controls set by the owners of the video content. This is because of piracy concerns where someone could burn the recorded content to a DVD and sell them to others. I know of know commercially available DVRs that allow recording of streaming content (I use TiVo's DVR) without some protection in place to prevent said content from being moved off the DVR machine to a removable storage device like a DVD, USB drive, etc. TiVo supports adding a unique external drive to increase storage capacity of recorded content, but even then, the content cannot be removed to another device.
Everything you do online requires transmission of bytes of data. The numbers of bytes that you can consume have limits set by cable operators who must regulate their network capacities by purchase of servers, network cable lines, etc. This means the cable operator will not just give a customer unlimited bandwidth.
So, as TH stated above his cable operator limits him to 150 Gigabytes per month. For a high definition video from Netflix, around 3 gigabytes are used per hour. Assuming a two hour show, this is six gigabytes total. In other words, the 150 gigabyte limit set by TH's cable operator would be consumed in only 25 high quality shows. This excludes all the other use of the internet, such as email, web browsing, etc.
Exceeding the limits set by the cable operator may involve extra monthly charges, so one must budget what one watches via streaming video services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video, etc. I often set my personal "binge watching" of an entire TV series near the end of the month just to avoid exceeding my cable operator's monthly quota (which is now at 600 gigabytes per month as I pay for one of the premium tiers of internet connection service—around $78 a month).
Many cable operators, and even Google, are deploying fiber optic networks which can carry much greater bandwidths of bytes. When and if that happens in your neighborhood, you will see a dramatic increase in the monthly gigabyte quota set by the cable operator...for an increased monthly fee for "fiber to the home", of course.
AMR
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Ask Mr. Religion
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I really enjoyed watching the first season of Fargo on Hulu this month.
Hulu plus has them also, we tried it, im not finding that much on it to watch compared to netflix (since we dont really keep up with tv shows), so im not sure we will renew that one when it runs out.
AMR
The IT Crowd...hard to really explain the charm of this one. For the most part you follow the misadventures of a woman named Jen who, desperate for a job, fudges on her computer skills (she hasn't any) while applying for one at a corporation run by a lunatic and becomes the head of a corporations tiny IT department, located in the basement. Her shocked employees include Moss, a genius with less real understanding of the working world around him than Sheldon Cooper and Roy, to whom all bad turns eventually happen.
It's a very funny show, frequently with at least one real laugh out loud moment. One of our favorites is when Moss discovers a site that predicts a persons death and Roy's is coming up (day and time given) in extraordinary short order. Couple that worry with an over-amped vibrating cell phone and a sudden date for a funeral Roy, Moss and Jen must attend and you have the set up for a mistaken, very funny moment.
The only downside with the show is that like so many BBC productions it's short lived, with a season (which they call a series) running a scant six or seven episodes. There are 25 episodes to the full run of the show, without a miss among them.
[Trying to put out a fire and having just set the fire to the extinguisher]
Moss: I'll just put it here with the rest of the fire.
It's that sort of show.
It's a very funny show, frequently with at least one real laugh out loud moment. One of our favorites is when Moss discovers a site that predicts a persons death and Roy's is coming up (day and time given) in extraordinary short order. Couple that worry with an over-amped vibrating cell phone and a sudden date for a funeral Roy, Moss and Jen must attend and you have the set up for a mistaken, very funny moment.
The only downside with the show is that like so many BBC productions it's short lived, with a season (which they call a series) running a scant six or seven episodes. There are 25 episodes to the full run of the show, without a miss among them.
[Trying to put out a fire and having just set the fire to the extinguisher]
Moss: I'll just put it here with the rest of the fire.
It's that sort of show.
Unless its a lot better than the movie, im not sure i would like it, i didnt like the movie.
It's almost that time. Time for the new and returning network shows and I'm already happy to see Longmire will be here on Netflix in five days.
A few others I'm curious about, beginning with the old:
Mindy: I thought it was neck and neck with Nine-Nine for funniest, smartest ensemble comedy. Glad to see it getting a chance to return with Hulu.
Late Show with Steven Colbert: Letterman's successor is a very funny and inventive fellow. I'm wondering what his angle will be on the genre.
Doctor Who: loved the first series by the new Doctor and I'm really curious about where they'll take it this year.
Big Bang Theory: I'm concerned by all the serious plot developments at the close of last year. I remember how often that's ruined a light hearted comedy and I'm hoping it doesn't happen here.
Castle: yeah, it's time to wind this one down, but I came late and found the whole thing charming.
Nine-Nine: bringing in Bill Hader as the temp. head of the precinct is a potential comedic windfall. A great ensemble piece that should be hitting it's peak for a couple.
The Blacklist: went into a strange series of turns that saw some audience drop-off, but as long as Spader is heading the thing you know you're going to get your money's worth from the performance. Here's hoping they don't drift too far afield with the plotting.
Madam Secretary: yeah, I was skeptical going it, but this turned out to be a solidly written and well performed ensemble piece.
House of Cards/Marco Polo/Daredevil: each excellent in its own peculiar way. I don't know when the next installments launch on Netflix but they (along with the newly acquired Longmire) make it the best ten bucks we'll spend cutting the cable.
Sherlock/Elementary: different takes on a classic and I enjoy both, though Sherlock more.
Luthor: another great BBC production that has an amazing lead and the most peculiar love interest ever crafted for television.
The new:
Minority Report: scifi hasn't fared well on the small screen, but this one has a solid premise at least and with Berry's series establishing a beachhead maybe, just maybe it might stand a chance.
Limitless: or maybe too many scifi shows will sink the genre boat. It was an entertaining film, but I wonder how long its legs are over extended time. Is it going to just turn into a sort of superhero show and compete with Shield? :idunno:
Heroes Reborn: until the writer's strike the first round had us. Can it recapture that magic or will it resemble the lifeless later episodes that ran that effort to ground?
The Grinder: I like Lowe and the premise of a TV lawyer insinuating himself into an actual firm, but his track record is spotty.
There's some show about an angel with Maggie Lawson that will probably be awful, which is too bad because her first post Psyche attempt was terrific, but no one noticed.
A few others I'm curious about, beginning with the old:
Mindy: I thought it was neck and neck with Nine-Nine for funniest, smartest ensemble comedy. Glad to see it getting a chance to return with Hulu.
Late Show with Steven Colbert: Letterman's successor is a very funny and inventive fellow. I'm wondering what his angle will be on the genre.
Doctor Who: loved the first series by the new Doctor and I'm really curious about where they'll take it this year.
Big Bang Theory: I'm concerned by all the serious plot developments at the close of last year. I remember how often that's ruined a light hearted comedy and I'm hoping it doesn't happen here.
Castle: yeah, it's time to wind this one down, but I came late and found the whole thing charming.
Nine-Nine: bringing in Bill Hader as the temp. head of the precinct is a potential comedic windfall. A great ensemble piece that should be hitting it's peak for a couple.
The Blacklist: went into a strange series of turns that saw some audience drop-off, but as long as Spader is heading the thing you know you're going to get your money's worth from the performance. Here's hoping they don't drift too far afield with the plotting.
Madam Secretary: yeah, I was skeptical going it, but this turned out to be a solidly written and well performed ensemble piece.
House of Cards/Marco Polo/Daredevil: each excellent in its own peculiar way. I don't know when the next installments launch on Netflix but they (along with the newly acquired Longmire) make it the best ten bucks we'll spend cutting the cable.
Sherlock/Elementary: different takes on a classic and I enjoy both, though Sherlock more.
Luthor: another great BBC production that has an amazing lead and the most peculiar love interest ever crafted for television.
The new:
Minority Report: scifi hasn't fared well on the small screen, but this one has a solid premise at least and with Berry's series establishing a beachhead maybe, just maybe it might stand a chance.
Limitless: or maybe too many scifi shows will sink the genre boat. It was an entertaining film, but I wonder how long its legs are over extended time. Is it going to just turn into a sort of superhero show and compete with Shield? :idunno:
Heroes Reborn: until the writer's strike the first round had us. Can it recapture that magic or will it resemble the lifeless later episodes that ran that effort to ground?
The Grinder: I like Lowe and the premise of a TV lawyer insinuating himself into an actual firm, but his track record is spotty.
There's some show about an angel with Maggie Lawson that will probably be awful, which is too bad because her first post Psyche attempt was terrific, but no one noticed.
Mocking You
New member
As a fan of Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, and other Brit-coms after reading your description I had to check out the IT Crowd. Oh boy, I love it! I've seen S1 and half of S2. So far my faves are The Haunting of Richard Crouse (the one where everyone thinks Jen is dead ) and The Work Outing (the one where they all go to "Gay, the Musical", and Roy has to fake being handicapped because he used the handicapped bathroom ("I'm disabled".)
Mocking You
New member
My favorite TV show of all time. Wait, was once my favorite TV show of all time. And I do mean all the way back to the Hartnell era. The Matt Smith era rankled me. Peter Capaldi seems like he would make a great Doctor, unfortunately the scripts for him have been (mostly) terrible. "Kill the Moon" was one of the worst stories I've ever seen, yes right up there (down there?) with Happiness Patrol, Silver Nemesis, and other McCoy stories.
Whenever characters in a sit-com quit antagonizing each other and give in to their attractions the show goes in the toilet. I offer you Cheers (Sam and Diane), Friends (Chandler and Monica), and there are others.
Guilty pleasure. I've seen a few episodes in syndication on Sunday nights. After I'm done watching I question whether I'd watch it if something else better was on.
Great, intense action/thriller. Spader is fantastic. In fact, I was about half-way through the pilot trying to figure out where I'd see him before. Finally, it dawned on me--Daniel Jackson in the 1994 Stargate movie. This caused me to watch that movie with my teenaged son, which caused me to buy the full series box DVD set of SG-1 on Amazon.
Haven't seen it but a friend of mine says he doesn't miss it. I would have never believed it if he didn't keep insisting he watches the show.
I like Sherlock, though I've only seen a half dozen episodes. I would never watch Elementary.
The new:
Agree with your assessment. I can't remember right now what the job occupation of the main character is going to be in the TV show, but I remember thinking it was somewhat trite.
Anyone seen "project afterlife" on destination america, ive been watching that lately, pretty interesting anyway.
Arthur Brain
Well-known member
With BBC or even just British comedies on whatever channel they're aired it's generally around six episodes a series. The IT Crowd was in part a project from the creative minds who wrote one of the funniest ever sitcoms; "Father Ted". The brand of wit and lunacy was evident even if IMO it didn't match FT overall though few sitcoms could.
Longmire is on tomorrow night.
Just started watching Walking Dead. Episode one was interesting enough, but I've never been a zombie guy. Hated what happened to the horse but I'd rather follow the Sheriff than his old best friend and wife in caravan.
Episode 2 coming up.
Just started watching Walking Dead. Episode one was interesting enough, but I've never been a zombie guy. Hated what happened to the horse but I'd rather follow the Sheriff than his old best friend and wife in caravan.
Episode 2 coming up.
Ask Mr. Religion
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Really enjoyed Longmire's new season. All I'll say is "Justice served" and leave it at a very satisfied that.
What's new? Watched the much anticipated The Grinder and thought it was mildly amusing. Could do well. Has an engaging cast, though I'm no real fan of Savage or the thankless character he's playing as the lawyer whose life is intruded upon by a sibling who confuses his former turn as a celebrity star of a television show about a lawyer with real life...and somehow gets away with it in a courtroom. Well, given the premise of the first episode the court in question is small claims, where you rarely find lawyers.
More impressive, if less well received critically, Grandfathered. The premise is that the gracefully aging owner of a trendy restaurant discovers he not only has a grown son but a granddaughter he had no idea existed. Within the context of getting to know them we discover the mother in question was the only woman our semi-shallow main character didn't immediately get over and move past. There's a surprising amount of gentle humor and sentiment in this mix and very little (so far) gratuitous nonsense that plays down and dumb as the central meal of too many comedies these days. I didn't tune in with much hope but left, on the whole, charmed a bit. I'll be keeping an eye on it.
The Player: entertaining action show with a peculiar premise. It seems there is an organization that's better informed (and likely better funded) than most countries operating under the skin of our own government, with the ability to move unmolested into any database, manipulate and direct most of what it finds. It's funded by a powerful, international captains of industry turned gamblers cadre toward a simple end, their entertainment.
The house finds the contest for their amusement and betting, one that pits a Player chosen by the House against some evil entity and aim. The Player is aided by the Dealer, who is the point of access to all that information and is the only edge the Player is allowed outside of his own abilities. The Player is something of an American James Bond who grew disenchanted with his role and, when we meet him, has found a successful haven as a security analyst for hire in Las Vegas. That is, successful until his ex-wife is murdered by people seeking to move him out of play and the House brings him into its web with the chance to exact vengeance.
Yeah, I'm in.
More of the new and returning to follow.
What's new? Watched the much anticipated The Grinder and thought it was mildly amusing. Could do well. Has an engaging cast, though I'm no real fan of Savage or the thankless character he's playing as the lawyer whose life is intruded upon by a sibling who confuses his former turn as a celebrity star of a television show about a lawyer with real life...and somehow gets away with it in a courtroom. Well, given the premise of the first episode the court in question is small claims, where you rarely find lawyers.
More impressive, if less well received critically, Grandfathered. The premise is that the gracefully aging owner of a trendy restaurant discovers he not only has a grown son but a granddaughter he had no idea existed. Within the context of getting to know them we discover the mother in question was the only woman our semi-shallow main character didn't immediately get over and move past. There's a surprising amount of gentle humor and sentiment in this mix and very little (so far) gratuitous nonsense that plays down and dumb as the central meal of too many comedies these days. I didn't tune in with much hope but left, on the whole, charmed a bit. I'll be keeping an eye on it.
The Player: entertaining action show with a peculiar premise. It seems there is an organization that's better informed (and likely better funded) than most countries operating under the skin of our own government, with the ability to move unmolested into any database, manipulate and direct most of what it finds. It's funded by a powerful, international captains of industry turned gamblers cadre toward a simple end, their entertainment.
The house finds the contest for their amusement and betting, one that pits a Player chosen by the House against some evil entity and aim. The Player is aided by the Dealer, who is the point of access to all that information and is the only edge the Player is allowed outside of his own abilities. The Player is something of an American James Bond who grew disenchanted with his role and, when we meet him, has found a successful haven as a security analyst for hire in Las Vegas. That is, successful until his ex-wife is murdered by people seeking to move him out of play and the House brings him into its web with the chance to exact vengeance.
Yeah, I'm in.
More of the new and returning to follow.
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Ask Mr. Religion
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The ending annoyed me as I saw no reason for this basic template of last season's cliffhanger. I am too invested in the character to the point that I could not wonder why the man cannot just catch a break even with a brief moment of happiness.Really enjoyed Longmire's new season. All I'll say is "Justice served" and leave it at a very satisfied that.
AMR
I'd actually excised that from memory. :chuckle: Maybe it was a dream...what the heck could it be? Or who? Yeah, I don't think this series is built around cliffhangers, so I don't see the necessity. Good show though.
I was more irritated by the romantic turn. I like the old angle better and the sooner they get through these side-bar romances the better.
Is this the end of the age of industrial media dinosaurs? In 2006 subscriptions to satellite and cable services was growing by around 2% a year and money was flowing into Comcast and Directv and the like. Now, almost a decade later, those numbers not only aren't growing, they've been dipping into the negative for over a year.
That's a powerful, if still small shift and it's accelerating at a pace that has industry insiders worried. And stock holders. It began with a Wall Street Journal piece noting the loss of subscribers related to the once untouchable ESPN. By the time Disney confirmed it stock prices for communications giants had begun their tumble. Disney's part alone lost 9% of its value in the market shaming that followed.
The first quarter of the year is typically the strongest one for subscriber based media companies. Not this year. Worse news, while over 1.2 million families were added to the nation in that period, none of them are reflected in the subscriber data, meaning the loses are on two fronts, cord-cutters and cord-nevers, or, people now in a position to begin their own cord shackled legacy who instead appear to be saying, "Thanks, but we're full."
By the second quarter of this year the industry had lost an additional 214,000 customers. In spite of this, more than a few of the companies impacted are still showing growth in profitablility. How? Glad you asked. Let's look at arguably the highest profile player in the public conscience, Directv. Here's what they have to say: "DirecTV has been increasing incremental customer lifetime value over time, reflecting a combination of price increases and careful customer selection".
That's right, they're admitting, to some extent, that they've seen it coming and that, that's why they've been incrementally accustoming the suckers to pay more. Not because they were being dragged kicking and screaming into the reality of higher prices, not because of local affiliates or particular partners demanding more money (though that happens), but to keep their margins healthy.
Meaning the main way these big players are continuing to grow in the face of subscriber shrinking will be to sell you the big candy lie. What's the big candy lie? Years ago candy sales declined a little and the cost for making a lot of it continued to inch up. The industry's response was to confuse the consumer, increase a candy by a percent that seemed impressive but was incremental in terms of actual candy involved while raising the price of the candy to cover both the size increase and the lost revenue.
Slick, no? Well, if you're still shackled to your cable/satellite provider that's what's been happening to you, why packages shift a bit and your bill keeps going up just enough so that you aren't mad enough to leave, only complain while they give you freebies and a cost of doing business shrug. Dish is one of the smarter candy companies, doling out free weekends meant to drive new numbers and mollify existing customers at a rate that makes an impression.
Suit yourself, but that 20% more chocolate they sold you for a dollar cost them five more cents to provide, by way of illustrating that you're the difference in their bottom line and thank you for playing.
Me? I left it behind months ago. Okay, by necessity once Jack hit preschool age, but with a growing boy it's easy to appreciate the extra sixty to seventy dollars a month we aren't handing a service provider. One powerful indoor HD antenna and less than twenty dollar subscription fees to Netflix and Hulu has us adjusting to life post ESPN and the dozens of channels beyond it that we never really watched.
But your candy looks swell too...if pricey. It's all about what you're willing to pay and how much you can actually swallow. Bon apetite. :chew:
That's a powerful, if still small shift and it's accelerating at a pace that has industry insiders worried. And stock holders. It began with a Wall Street Journal piece noting the loss of subscribers related to the once untouchable ESPN. By the time Disney confirmed it stock prices for communications giants had begun their tumble. Disney's part alone lost 9% of its value in the market shaming that followed.
The first quarter of the year is typically the strongest one for subscriber based media companies. Not this year. Worse news, while over 1.2 million families were added to the nation in that period, none of them are reflected in the subscriber data, meaning the loses are on two fronts, cord-cutters and cord-nevers, or, people now in a position to begin their own cord shackled legacy who instead appear to be saying, "Thanks, but we're full."
By the second quarter of this year the industry had lost an additional 214,000 customers. In spite of this, more than a few of the companies impacted are still showing growth in profitablility. How? Glad you asked. Let's look at arguably the highest profile player in the public conscience, Directv. Here's what they have to say: "DirecTV has been increasing incremental customer lifetime value over time, reflecting a combination of price increases and careful customer selection".
That's right, they're admitting, to some extent, that they've seen it coming and that, that's why they've been incrementally accustoming the suckers to pay more. Not because they were being dragged kicking and screaming into the reality of higher prices, not because of local affiliates or particular partners demanding more money (though that happens), but to keep their margins healthy.
Meaning the main way these big players are continuing to grow in the face of subscriber shrinking will be to sell you the big candy lie. What's the big candy lie? Years ago candy sales declined a little and the cost for making a lot of it continued to inch up. The industry's response was to confuse the consumer, increase a candy by a percent that seemed impressive but was incremental in terms of actual candy involved while raising the price of the candy to cover both the size increase and the lost revenue.
Slick, no? Well, if you're still shackled to your cable/satellite provider that's what's been happening to you, why packages shift a bit and your bill keeps going up just enough so that you aren't mad enough to leave, only complain while they give you freebies and a cost of doing business shrug. Dish is one of the smarter candy companies, doling out free weekends meant to drive new numbers and mollify existing customers at a rate that makes an impression.
Suit yourself, but that 20% more chocolate they sold you for a dollar cost them five more cents to provide, by way of illustrating that you're the difference in their bottom line and thank you for playing.
Me? I left it behind months ago. Okay, by necessity once Jack hit preschool age, but with a growing boy it's easy to appreciate the extra sixty to seventy dollars a month we aren't handing a service provider. One powerful indoor HD antenna and less than twenty dollar subscription fees to Netflix and Hulu has us adjusting to life post ESPN and the dozens of channels beyond it that we never really watched.
But your candy looks swell too...if pricey. It's all about what you're willing to pay and how much you can actually swallow. Bon apetite. :chew: