Aug 25, 2005

TV is dead. Long Live Television!

I'm editing wedding photos right now (post to come soon) but lately I've become aware of how frustrating it is trying to get to the TV for my favourite shows. Too much else going on in my life! However developments in how my shows are delivered promise to help me and at the same time "kill" traditional TV.

The problem is that there are four ways to catch my shows, and most of them suck.

  1. Be in the right place at the right time.
  2. Plan ahead and record them on tape (yuck) or with a "digital recorder" (don't have one).
  3. Catch them later (or earlier) on one of the digital "time-shift" channels.
  4. Maybe find them on my cable company's "on demand" digital channel (lousy odds).
Its the fourth option that will "kill TV" I think. What will actually die are the channels. There are just too many channels and times that a show can be seen on now. Its maddening trying to find when a show is on if you miss the official time. Better to cut the clock out of the equation and watch a show instead of a channel. I think we'll see more and more viewers switching to this mode of TV viewing. Five years from now (I boldly predict) most viewers will watch their shows when they want and without ever having to think about which channel it is on. But there will probably still be commercials.

Speaking of moving pictures, I went to see The 40-Year-Old Virgin with Sheryl and her sister-in-law on Monday night. I didn't have high expectations, but after a raunchy start it settled down into a not-bad film. After all the boner and slut jokes were trotted out Steve Carell's character actually underwent some emotional growth! Fairly sensitive direction from "newcomer" Judd Apatow, with Steve Carell and Judd Apatow sharing the writing. Perhaps having Catherine Keener in the cast managed to raise the tone. Steve's chest waxing scene was real by the way. Yow.

Listening to: Stupid (Hyper Remix) by Sarah McLachlan from Bloom (a remix CD of her older material).

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