When I was growing up in Texarkana back in the 1960s, we had three TV stations.
If it wasn't on 3, 6 or 12, you just didn't see it. They started their days early, 5 or 6 a.m., with farm reports and the news, and ended around midnight or 1 a.m. to the tune of the National Anthem, Elvis Presley's "American Trilogy" or a video of the poem "High Flight," depending on the channel you were watching.
My parents subscribed to "TV Guide" like most people back then. And it was frustrating to see all the channels we didn't get here in the Twin Cities, with all the shows and old movies those in other places could choose from.
So it was exciting when cable came to town in the early 1970s. I was maybe 12 or 13 and couldn't wait until our neighborhood was wired and ready. When that box made its first appearance on top of our big, bulky console TV it was like another world had opened up. Now we had about a dozen channels to choose from, including one that showed nothing but the same old 20th Century Fox films over and over. I watched 1939's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and a couple of the Peter Lorre "Mr. Moto" films more times than I can count.
The cable company added more channels over time, and when I moved back to town after a decade's absence, I subscribed. A few years later I got married, and a few years after that my wife and I switched to Dish Network and then to DIRECTV.
I liked both of them. All of the sudden I had hundreds of channels to choose from. But as the years passed I realized I was paying about $140 each month for hundreds of channels I never watched or even wanted. Give me Turner Classic Movies and some of the documentary networks and I'm happy. My wife likes different channels, but her preferences were similarly few in number.
So a year and half or so ago we cut the cord and bought Roku devices for our TVs. We already subscribed to Netflix and Hulu, so our bill dropped to less than $20 a month. Yes, we had to pay for high-speed internet, but we had been doing that all along, so it didn't cut into the savings. We soon added a few more subscription channels, as well as a load of free options.
Our monthly bill is still under $60, and now I'm faced with another problem-I have so many shows and films I actually do want to watch and can't find the time.
Both Netflix and Hulu are loaded with films and TV programs old and new. They've given rise to the practice of binge watching TV series. I used to laugh at the idea, but I have to admit I've done it, watching one episode after another of shows such as "Breaking Bad," "Sons of Anarchy" and "The Walking Dead"-shows I never watched in real time-because I tried them out and got hooked. (I know what you're thinking, but, no, "The Walking Dead" is not just a stupid zombie show. I used to think that, too.)
Now there are many other series I've never seen but want to try, and I can't decide where to start. Get hooked on one and then your other options take a backseat. And that's just Netflix and Hulu-the two tips of the streaming iceberg.
Two subscription services we both really like are Acorn and Britbox. Acorn has programs from the UK, Australia and New Zealand, with a lot of mystery and comedy shows, which they seem to do better than the U.S. or any other country. They all look good, but so many choices can be a bit intimidating. I start watching one series and another catches my eye and then another and I can't decide which to watch next. Good thing most seasons are shorter than the 22 or 24 episodes each year we are used to.
Britbox is the BBC's online app for streaming and carries a lot of their programming. And like Hulu or broadcast network apps, you can watch some shows a few days after the air in the U.K. That presents another dilemma. Get hooked on a show and you have to keep up, or soon you'll have to spend a weekend binging the episodes you missed.
Fandor is a service that streams a lot of foreign and independent films. And Shudder brings horror films you aren't likely to see at the local theater or even on Netflix. You can even stream YouTube to your TV, and there are a surprising number of old films and documentaries available there and nowhere else. It's not just cat videos.
When I was a kid and had the time I used to wish for more to watch. Now I don't have the time but have more options than I could ever have imagined or ever get around to watching. Talk about First World problems.