Still Nothing To Watch
September 29th, 2019 by Proprietor
When it comes down to entertainment, not everything is good. Some shows appeal to some people, yet are unappealing to others. With the availability to watch almost anything we want at anytime, people have become jaded or compartmentalized. Relying on suggestions from an algorithm to find something different to watch.
My viewership harkens back to the primitive days of pre-cable, when ironically, we used antennas. People are now going back to broadcast to save money. Where I lived as a child, we had the option to watch Milwaukee or Chicago broadcast stations. Those stations were not very synched up on time, so I could watch Wonder Woman on a channel, if I missed something at the end, I could flip quickly to Chicago channel and catch what I missed. Sort of a primitive rewind.
Broadcast, and scheduled television watching caused people to be selective in what was watched. Shows could be good one week, bad another, but loyalists watched the show. When cable came, it was viewed as awesome, because there were options beyond the broadcast channels. Cable channels stayed within the niche of choice. HBO and Showtime did not offer original content, but a person could watch movies that were no longer in theaters. MTV played music videos.
As cable expanded and channels became more interested in producing original content, broad cast television began falling by the wayside. There were good shows, but not enough to overcome competition.
Eventually, my own viewing became focused on three channels at most. When I cut cable, I was viewing Animal Planet, Discovery, and TLC. For a while VH1 was in that group. Why was I paying so much money for very little content I enjoyed. Then I discovered Netflix streaming service, and I could watch shows from my past I enjoyed. Netflix created new content and the entire season was put up for viewers to watch at their leisure. Binge watching became a thing.
HBO and Showtime began producing original content that was superior to other channels. Shows, not reality shows, but actual shows with a plot line that had seasons. DVD sets allowed access to those shows. Granted, I was behind the times, but I could watch the shows at my leisure or binge watch.
Then Netflix began to become somewhat choppy, and the original content was becoming dilute. Shows I wanted to watch disappeared and were substituted with similar shows from off-brand networks. I jumped to Hulu. Though the original content was not as good as Netflix, the choice of back catalog was better.
Currently I debate about Amazon Prime. The original content seems interesting enough, but do I want to spend the money? There are shows on Hulu I have watched, and I am enjoying watching, but at my pace.
I know in the next few months DVD or Blu-Ray sets of some shows from other networks will be coming out. Game of Thrones, season 8, regardless of all the stuff I read about it, and even wrote about, has interest for me. Because, I read about it, I have yet to see how it all unfolds. Sometimes that gives greater insight into certain things other’s found lacking. Stranger Things, season 3, will also come out. I have read little about the show, so it will be more fresh for me.
Then there are the shows I watched a lot in the past, and after taking a break from watching them, have renewed interest. Rewatching shows allows for more critical and analytical eyes. I see why this decision was made versus another decision. Which leads back to being compartmentalized in what I watched. This is the irony of entertainment, so much to watch, yet nothing really worth watching.
Thanks for stopping by.
PS: Since I post the comic every Sunday, I have decided to do my best and write a blog post on Sunday as well as post to YouTube.
Done With Comics & More
September 22nd, 2019 by Proprietor
I have been collecting comics for over 40 years. The last couple of years, my collecting dwindled to a few titles. As those titles were cancelled, attrition took course, and eventually I was down to two titles. Walking Dead and Uber.
The Walking Dead ended. Uber, was a series produced by an independent publisher, and now on hiatus. Probably permanent hiatus. Which is a shame, it is a good series. So I had nothing on my pull list at Collector’s Edge.
After several months of just going into Collector’s Edge, with nothing to be pulled, and skimming through the comics to find something, anything, worth reading, I just gave up. With the exception of Doomsday Clock #11, I did not pick up any comics.
I had contemplated cancelling my pull list. Though I did not have the heart, my main reason, I wanted to get the invite to the New Years sale Collector’s Edge always had. As a subscriber, I get in an hour early. Though the last few years, I have found nothing to purchase, and went for secondary items.
Then I get a phone call from Collector’s Edge, stating that there is nothing on my pull list, and I have not had anything on it for several months, so my list was being cancelled. I am still a customer in good standing, if I want to add something to my pull list in the future, Collector’s Edge is fine with that.
So, in essentially doing nothing, I am no longer a comic book buyer. This does not upset me in the least. I am actually happy. Comics are becoming worse and worse, major companies are infected with the whole “must show diversity”, “orange man bad”, whatever Woke-ness, and it is dragging down quality. People do not mind a certain amount of politics or diversity in comics, yet, when it is shoved in their faces or becoming preachy, people are turned off. People read comics to escape the real world. People want idealized concepts, and idealized heroes, with good stories. Not the same stuff they see on television day in and day out or on the streets.
Comics used to be a form of escapism. When I went to major comic book shows, there were cos players, yet none of them fit the idealized images of the character. Which was fine. You looked at the costume, how well it was created, and wondered what the person saw in that character. A cos player obviously sees something in a character to a point where the person wants to physically idolize the character by wearing the costume. Women might see the sexiness of the woman or the femininity of the woman or the strength of the character. Men see the ideal male, strength, and ruggedness.
Comics are getting expensive, averaging $4-$5 a title, and even two comics costs over $10, with tax. Think about this. When I was first into comic books, I could buy everything Marvel produced in a month for about $20. Now if I were a Marvel fan, I might get four or five comics for the same amount. To get everything Marvel produced in a month… DC is producing 52 titles a month, Marvel a little higher, but keep it at 52 titles. 52 x $4 (low end of per comic book price) = $208 before tax. $208 is a lot of money. I pay a lot less for four months of water and sewer.
Why would I want to spend that type of money for something that is preachy, and poor quality in regards to story? Sometimes even the art is terrible. Why would I purchase something that sometimes insults me as a person?
Walking Dead for the most part was politically neutral. Though that did change when different groups or towns of people began interacting. Each town had its own system of ruling or doing things. Sometimes people from one town disagreed. People were free to leave and go live somewhere that was more agreeable to them. Sort of like America is today. Unfortunately, there is less and less good out there in comics. Even with independent publishers.
When it comes to reflection, there was an old journal I found, I had recorded my thoughts and feelings from time to time. In this journal there was an entry in regards to comic books. That day I had sold the vast majority of my collection for pennies on the dollar at a local comic book show. I had eight long boxes of comics. For $20 a person could grab a grocery bag, fill it with comics from the boxes, and that was all. I had several hundred dollars after the sale, and even sold the empty boxes to another dealer. With the entry, I had made a list of all the series contained within the boxes. Even some series I knew I had collected, but sold off or gave away years before. It was over 100 different titles, I am sure I could add more.
My comic book collecting days are now ended. As is the story of my life I am confronted with “Now What”. I will answer that whenever.
Thanks for stopping by.
AND MORE
YouTube video of Southfringe Sanctum posted on my channel.