The Omnibox: all things television

[Town Heretic]

It took me awhile to convince my family that we could be happy with Netflix, Hulu, and an aerial antennae.

So, I made them a deal: Try it for one month, and if you don't like it, I'll change it back. We set up originally with Netflix, then Hulu on a trial basis. We were watching enough regular television and Netflix, that we let the Hulu subscription slide. That was a year and a half ago.

Hulu is for the wife since the Mindy Project will be moving to it. I didn't see much there that really grabbed my interest. Netlfix is amazing and I like the Smithonian channel, have my heart radio going when I'm writing. Just scratching the surface at this point.

The cost per month leaving cable and satellite is about $50 a month that includes internet and phone (we were over $120 a month with Dish and higher with cable). It is really a lot better than paying for that overpriced premium package. I don't get some of the shows the rest of you get, but haven't really missed them. It is cheaper to buy a series than to pay that extra $70-110 more a month or use that thousand or so, someplace else. It has been a great switch for us.

We were trying to trim expenses and here's how it played out. The indoor HD antenna ran about fifty. The Ruko 2 only set us back about the same because of a Prime discount. We have HS internet so that's an ongoing. Dish ran close to ninety a month. So we lose ten dollars the first month. Month two is a free preview month for both subscriptions and every other channel I've subscribed us to is free. So that takes care of he ten dollars and saves us nearly eighty. From there on it's about seventeen dollars for the two subscriptions instead of the old near ninety.

Pretty good deal. So we could tack on a couple of paid channels for the fun of it and content if we ever want it (like for ESPN or maybe the BBC stuff) and still not come near half the expense we carried prior.

We're very happy.

 

[Ktoyou]

No, all shows recorded by my old dvr in HD. I've left that behind now for better, less expensive venues. I have my Winegard HD antenna pulling in crystal clear local channels and I have my Roku streaming Netflix and Youtube and the Smithsonian and Hulu Plus and a lot more into my living room for less than twenty dollars a month (Net and Hulu cost nine and eight dollars, respectively, with Netflix being higher because I wanted the larger HD content).

Oh I see now.
Most of the little bu-ray players will stream Netflix, and more. Some use wyfi and some use the Ethernet cable, and some have both.
Oppo BDP-103D Darbee Edition is one of the best players, but not cheap, nor is the 105D
A little Sansung 5100 has netflix and hulu; their top 7500 has 4K , 7.1 and 2 HDMI, a lot less than Oppo

I had the mail form of Netflix, some years back

I had the Sony ,(?) model, a silver unit which had problems after TV guide menus stopped. They are free, no monthly fee, but are a pain without cable.

I have not had cable in , oh I can't remember when?

I find is easier to buy Blu-rays

 

[Town Heretic]

Watched the first few episodes of Daredevil on Netflix. Took until the second before I was on board. The fight scene at the end to save a kidnapped little boy was one of the best I've seen. Not flashy and ridiculous...brutal and tired and perfect.

 

[Town Heretic]

The BBC can really nail a series and I love the way they don't over produce a thing that's popular. Just so with Luther, the tale of a brilliant, troubled, honorable man up to his elbows in the worst criminal filth of London.

Idris Elba's turn as the detective/protagonist is by itself worth the price of admission, but he's far from the only thing this series has going for it. Ruth Wilson, as the psychopath who can't resist Luther's gravitas, the goodness and complexity drawing her back to salvage and save him...a couple of interesting bosses, with the latest being a perfectly troubled sort of father figure, and, of course, the naive young up and comer struggling to reconcile what John does with the inarguable good he accomplishes.

And this is a show that won't shy from taking surprising corners (and the odd character you've grown fond of) for the sake of the narrative.

Highly recommended.

 

[Arthur Brain]

"Humans".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4122068/?ref_=nv_sr_1

IMO one of the best series (so far at least) that I've seen over the last few years. An intelligent, thoughtful take on the 'Artificial Intelligence' phenomenon that immerses and involves with the characters involved. Based on a venerated Swedish series but handles well in its own right. The balance of drama, tension, ethics, quandaries, action etc has been first rate along with the performances of all involved. I wish TV would offer a lot more like this as 'standard viewing' instead of having to hang about for something decent to come along...

IMNSHO of course...

 

[Town Heretic]

"Humans".

I'll have to look about for it. I started watching Arrow on Netflix recently, just for the heck of it. Hit and miss tv, really. Mostly miss for me. I keep watching to laugh at the writing of Arrow's ex fiance. Seriously the worst written character I've seen in a while. I almost admire the actress stumbling through the mercurial changes put out on a weekly basis.

The guy playing Arrow is passable in action sequences and so long as he remains in angry mode and greasepaint. Outside of that it's soap opera caliber acting with rare exception. Very funny.

I suppose this isn't really a recommendation then. Unless you hate trains.

 

[Tambora]

Two shows that I really enjoy, mainly because of the funny and manipulative mothers:

The McCarthys
Mother played by Laurie Metcalf (played the sister in Rosanne, and the mother of Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory).

The Millers
Mother played by Margo Martindale (played a family clan mom in Justified).

Both of these shows crack me up!

 

[Town Heretic]

I hate it when I watch a series and it ends abruptly and unsatisfactorily with some sort of lame wrap up, if that. The worst offender in memory was Deadwood, that ill fated western that launched its lead, Timothy Olyphant, into the role of Justified's complicated and dark hero, Raylan Givens.

Other examples of horrible truncation and/or ending?

Little House on the Prairie blows up its own town to thwart a RR tycoon who owns title to the land. lain:

Quantum Leap, where inexplicably the writers extend a middle digit to everyone who followed the series by concluding, “Dr. Sam Becket never returned home.” Why? Because up you, that's why. :mmph:

 

[Lighthouse]

I hate it when I watch a series and it ends abruptly and unsatisfactorily with some sort of lame wrap up, if that. The worst offender in memory was Deadwood, that ill fated western that launched its lead, Timothy Olyphant, into the role of Justified's complicated and dark hero, Raylan Givens.

Other examples of horrible truncation and/or ending?

Little House on the Prairie blows up its own town to thwart a RR tycoon who owns title to the land. lain:

Quantum Leap, where inexplicably the writers extend a middle digit to everyone who followed the series by concluding, “Dr. Sam Becket never returned home.” Why? Because up you, that's why. :mmph:

To be fair Deadwood only ended that way because HBO cancelled it after the third season was done.

 

[PureX]

I have no cable or satellite dish. I watch TV through a Roku box and the internet. Mostly I watch the Netflix and Amazon Prime channels.

I get all the same stuff the cable people get, but usually a little later. But then I get it without the advertisements and for only 8 bucks a month (each channel). So it's well worth the delay.

Started watching Narcos last night. That looks like it could be a good series.

Have been enjoying the whole series of Rockford Files. It's been so long since I've seen them that I don't remember any of them. So it's like watching a new show.

Been watching Royal Pains. It's mildly entertaining. Nothing special.

I tried Savage Empire and Bloodline, but they're too dark and goofy. Soap operas for brooding twenty-somethings, I think.

Stumbled on a series called Filthy Riches that was quite interesting.

Otherwise, some movies, some documentaries, and when it comes back on, I'll watch the Voice on broadcast TV.

That's about it.

 

[Ktoyou]

Having read some of this thread, let me say most of my television viewing is local news. and a few other programs, no serials, and have not watched any serials, directly, since 2000. I do, however, watch TV programs; the main difference is I watch purchased DVDs of the whole series. thus usually I am viewing serials years after the program began the newest seasons.

I never buy any of these; members of my family purchase them and usually offer the season to me, yet I seldom request it until it has been out several seasons. or the series has finished.

There is one thing I would consider, if possible, which is, having Netflix, if possible I could record the movies to a digital hard drive?

 

[Town Heretic]

Having read some of this thread, let me say most of my television viewing is local news. and a few other programs, no serials, and have not watched any serials, directly, since 2000. I do, however, watch TV programs; the main difference is I watch purchased DVDs of the whole series. thus usually I am viewing serials years after the program began the newest seasons.

I never buy any of these; members of my family purchase them and usually offer the season to me, yet I seldom request it until it has been out several seasons. or the series has finished.

There is one thing I would consider, if possible, which is, having Netflix, if possible I could record the movies to a digital hard drive?

The great thing about Netflix is that you don't need to store or even have a dvr, since the functions of pausing and continuing and rewinding are built in. I don't miss the old DVR and I have a BR player for movies that are more current or that I want to own. Netflix has a few original series worth watching. House of Cards is a spellbinding portrait of a Richard III like ascent by a character who is on his best days amoral and then there's the surprising Daredevil, entertaining and direct, Marco Polo and, as of this coming month, Longmire.

My only qualm with online involved use and caps on GBs. AT&T, in my area, has a 150 GB cap with ten dollars for each additional 50GB you use in a month. Highest quality Netflix was burning 3 GB per hour or nearly and so that was untenable. My solution was to push the Netlix setting down to the 750 range and let my television make up a little of the difference. The result is crisp (but not 1080p) pictures and no cap problems. Hulu has a better signal at that setting and is similarly cap friendly, but it still has commercials for paying customers, which is why it's a sixth the size of Netflix and they need to address that if they want to challenge. Raise their rate a dollar and match Netflix, kill the ads.

 

[Rusha]

Two shows that I really enjoy, mainly because of the funny and manipulative mothers:

The McCarthys
Mother played by Laurie Metcalf (played the sister in Rosanne, and the mother of Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory).

The Millers
Mother played by Margo Martindale (played a family clan mom in Justified).

Both of these shows crack me up!

The McCarthys is hilarious! It's one of the only two comedies I view. The other is Fresh Off The Boat.

 

[Ktoyou]

The great thing about Netflix is that you don't need to store or even have a dvr, since the functions of pausing and continuing and rewinding are built in. I don't miss the old DVR and I have a BR player for movies that are more current or that I want to own. Netflix has a few original series worth watching. House of Cards is a spellbinding portrait of a Richard III like ascent by a character who is on his best days amoral and then there's the surprising Daredevil, entertaining and direct, Marco Polo and, as of this coming month, Longmire.

My only qualm with online involved use and caps on GBs. AT&T, in my area, has a 150 GB cap with ten dollars for each additional 50GB you use in a month. Highest quality Netflix was burning 3 GB per hour or nearly and so that was untenable. My solution was to push the Netlix setting down to the 750 range and let my television make up a little of the difference. The result is crisp (but not 1080p) pictures and no cap problems. Hulu has a better signal at that setting and is similarly cap friendly, but it still has commercials for paying customers, which is why it's a sixth the size of Netflix and they need to address that if they want to challenge. Raise their rate a dollar and match Netflix, kill the ads.

My reason for wishing to record movies off Netflix is I know there are only some movies I would care to see, however, unlike most persons, the movies I like, I enjoy watching them again.

My greatest concern with having Netflix is, any monthly bills I have are assigned in another account where I have no direct contact with the billing. I am able, however, requesting more than essential electronic payments is too time consuming, for those who manage it. I would pay the account myself, yet I know I would not remember, unless I had it only a few months and then copied the movies I liked onto a hard drive.

I would not expect more than three good movies in a month after the original month, such being, there is a diminishing return in value having the service longer.

I am not sure what you are saying in the rest of you post.

"My only qualm with online involved use and caps on GBs. AT&T, in my area, has a 150 GB cap with ten dollars for each additional 50GB you use in a month. Highest quality Netflix was burning 3 GB per hour or nearly and so that was untenable. My solution was to push the Netlix setting down to the 750 range and let my television make up a little of the difference. "
I am not up on what this means?

 

[Ktoyou]

I have two Oppo players and would use a inexpensive Samsung to stream. I did this once with a free trial with Hulu Plus

 

[Angel4Truth]

No DVR, nothing i wouldnt be ok with missing, just watch whatever is on, when i feel like watching TV, or pick something on netflix if feel like watching a movie.

 

[Angel4Truth]

My greatest concern with having Netflix is, any monthly bills I have are assigned in another account where I have no direct contact with the billing.

We just get a gift card (Netflix) at Kroger and pay with that for 3 months at a time, (card is for 3 months) when it runs out, we get another one and apply it.

 

[Ktoyou]

I hate it when I watch a series and it ends abruptly and unsatisfactorily with some sort of lame wrap up, if that. The worst offender in memory was Deadwood,

This was one of those series i received from family. I could not stand its slow pace and had them take it back after I watched it a few hours:mmph:

 

[Totton Linnet]

I bought a dvd and dammit it was on regular tv a cuppla nights later


3 bucks down the drain.

 

[Totton Linnet]

No DVR, nothing i wouldnt be ok with missing, just watch whatever is on, when i feel like watching TV, or pick something on netflix if feel like watching a movie.

Yeah that's how I am cept I buy dvds [I like rummaging] I bought the first series of Hill St Blues which I had never seen before for 4 bucks it was hilarious....Renko lol

What is good is to hook up to Youtube, some serious documentaries on Youtube