“We are living in a golden
age of TV,” says pretty much everyone you know who has a Netflix account. And
they’re right. There is a glut of shows that are not only watchable, but they
consistently achieve the highest form of entertainment being produced today.
And these uber-shows are so available! They are so immediately available that
sometimes it takes me an hour to figure out which one of the many listed on my
queue (is it even called a queue anymore?) that I’m going to commit to next. I
have found myself wracked with anxiety as the credits of the final episode of a
show I have been watching start to roll, knowing that I have to decide which
show to commit to next. Because I have so many that I HAVE to watch. Yes. I
HAVE to.
When
did watching television evolve from being an entertainment to being an
accomplishment? “Hi, my name is Jay, I have a BFA from Emerson College and I’m
all caught up on Peaky Blinders.” It’s true!! (Well, not the Peaky Blinders
part! Only on season 2! Don't tell me what happens!!) I can envision that being my quick intro
for some panel of experts that I will be sitting on in an imaginary future
where people might care about what I have to say. Or if I weren’t married (I am
though, sorry ladies) [(and gents)], I could see this being on my Tindr
profile: “I’m a Libra, I have a cat and I just finished Orange Is The New Black.
I’m only three episodes in on Justified, however, so spoilers need not apply!!
[fingers in ears] LALALALALALALA!”
TV
shows have become such current events in the lives of my friends that I’ve
noticed a few times they’re the only things we talk about. And I don’t even
mean that in a “my friends and I have lost the ability to talk” kind of way.
It’s just so literally on our minds because we are all “doing our best” to
finish these shows. We are all forging ahead with the same goal: to accomplish
the watching of all of them. I sometimes feel more judged on which shows I’ve
CHOSEN to watch than I do on whom I’m supporting for president (don’t worry, HC).
“Oh, you hate Sleepy Hollow huh? This from the guy who can’t stop watching,
Gotham!?”
So
my DVR has become, not a variety of options for those times when I’m in the
mood for entertainment, but a “To Do” list. When items wind up on a “To Do” list, they inherently
become a chore, something that HAS to get done. And you know what? When I check
something off of that list, when I erase it from the list? It feels good. Just
like when I cross off “laundry” from a regular “To Do” list, it feels like an
accomplishment. It feels like I got something done.
But
did I actually accomplish anything? By watching a TV show from beginning to
end, did I improve my life? Do I really want to answer that question? Honestly,
who gives a shit? These new shows are often well crafted pieces of art that
give you that same feeling upon finishing that you might get from a great book.
They spark your imagination and keep you wanting more and, if done right, will
create an ending that you’ll discuss for years to come. I think it’s worth it.
But
when does it end? It used to be that you would hear of a new TV show for months
before it aired and the anticipation would be electric. Now, when I drive down
the same streets I drive down every week, I see a new billboard each time,
advertising yet another new show from Netflix that I’ve never heard a whisper
of, and most of the time it’ll be available in a few days thereafter. And so
I’ll pull over (because I’m not an asshole), tap on my Netflix app and add it
to my Queue. Because I’ve now come to trust Netflix, as I do HBO, in that, if
they produce something, I am going to give it a shot. They have proven that
they are smart, competent and interested in making good TV over making
profitable TV.
And
now that Hulu, Amazon, TV LAND for Christ’s sake (Chrissake? Christssake?) have
jumped on the content bandwagon with this same mantra of making excellent
entertainment, it’s really starting to become too much. These studios are becoming
too prolific. For example, I just watched the season 2 cliffhanger-finale of
Pan Handle on Epix. If you know what I’m talking about, then you’re a liar
because that show doesn’t exist but just for a second, you thought it did.
Because it’s conceivable there are a variety of shows out there that you’ve
never heard of that are way better Gotham (Just stop watching it, JAY!).
Anyway,
this is a happy problem. I don’t want to seem like I’m ranting about something
I dislike. I think I’m actually ranting about something that I’m afraid that I
don’t dislike. As you may recall from a previous post, I worry about wasting
time (fuck you Candy Crush), time that I could be spending on more productive
ventures and adventures. This worry
leads me down a worry hole that bottoms out at parenting. I want to set a great
example for my kid so he grows up looking for things to discover and explore,
not on the couch, but in the world. The other day, I found myself lamenting this
very fact and was appalled after I pondered how much TV my kid watches. I
explained this to my cousin who now recently has had a kid of her own. I was
just talking about how I was worried that he would grow up and watch too much
TV as an adult, because of the amount that I’ve let him watch as a young child,
to which she replied, “who cares? That’s what I do!” And I found myself completely
unable to argue with that point because as it turns out that is also, as I’m
discovering, in this “golden age” of TV, what I do as well.
Now
if you’ll excuse me, I need to get going because I have 9 episodes of Penny Dreadful to accomplish.
