Current Watching

[Amor de Cosmos]

I'm rapidly growing tired of Netflix, and — to a lesser extent Prime — the obviousness of the concepts and repetitiveness of storylines is making my brain crawl. The non-English language content used to make it worthwhile, but even that is becoming rote. (I never want to see another drone shot of a car driving through a forest to lonely farmhouse with a decomposing corpse in the cellar.)

It seems as though in their first year or so they give us the good stuff, The Orange is the New Black's, the Mrs Maisels, then the pickings get leaner and leaner by the month. I really do have the feeling I've been cheated.

[WOM]

Yeah, this. We sometimes thumb around the menu for ages looking for something vaguely interesting or different.

And it sure as fuck won't be Chappelle's new transphobic comedy special.

[pebblethefish]

I think it's to do with how long you've had the service. I've had Prime for two years now, and I'm really struggling for things to watch. I may soon make the switch to Netflix, where I can watch all the stuff I've spent the last few years hearing about. In two years time, I'll probably be bored with Netflix, and ready to jump back.

[DCI Harry Batt]

The sound on Prime doesn't sync properly on my telly, so if I want to watch things I have to hook up a laptop to it, which is annoying, so I don't do it a lot.

[Hot Pepsi]

Prime is fine because I get free shipping on random shit I can't find anywhere else, so there's no point in getting rid of it. And it has The Expanse and occasionally something else of value, including old shows that used to be on some cable channel I don't get.

I get Netflix off and on. Mostly off these days. It occasionally has something good like Stranger Things and is trying to make Oscar bait that is worth seeing, but it's mostly shit that's no better than broadcast.

Hulu is mostly the shit that's on broadcast with a few other things. Hulu's best asset is the FX shows.

By far, the best service is HBO Max. The library of old movies alone is worthwhile.

[Lang Spoon]

We have one episode left of Mad Men on Prime (Jiminy Christmas, what a show). Then we might give The Expanse a go sometime, once in a while they might have half decent films (and more old films than Netflix, though Easy Rider was on there last week). Mostly Netflix seems to be awful shite these days, Now Tv Entertainment package (especially their HBO library) is the best app for over here I find.

[ad hoc]

I object to paying for more than one. So, we've got Netflix for now. I get the idea that things seem to be thinning out on that, so it maybe before long we'll switch to something like HBO for a couple of years, etc etc and so on

[Hot Pepsi]

The Expanse can be a bit confusing at first. But like most genre shows, you can easily google it and get an easy explanation of the characters and what is happening.

[Amor de Cosmos]

I object to paying for more than one. So, we've got Netflix for now. I get the idea that things seem to be thinning out on that, so it maybe before long we'll switch to something like HBO for a couple of years, etc etc and so on

HBO is several cuts above any of the streaming services. It's fundamentally a premium cable channel, so spends money on quality, and/or originality over algorithm derived quantity. It means their catalog is thinner than Netflix, for example, but if you've never watched it before that might not matter as they've been around for decades.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Then we might give The Expanse a go sometime, once in a while they might have half decent films (and more old films than Netflix, though Easy Rider was on there last week).

Yeah, Prime wins over Netflix at present. As you say their back-catalog is very deep, the music section alone could keep me interested for months. Prime is also willing to mess with it's formats, there are currently making more series in half-hour episodes, which allows for more dialogue heavy, stripped down, productions. The currently running Limetown, for example, began life as a podcast.

[ad hoc]

I've just had Maid on Netflix recommended to me very highly (by someone I trust). Anyone seen it?

[Simon G]

I'm currently binging It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. 6 seasons in and I can't stop watching it. It's both terrible and amazing all at the same time.

[Jon]

With the limited amount of time I have to watch TV it just doesn't make sense to pay for a regular streaming service. I did have Netflix for years but rarely watched it. Then I binned it off and watched more in that last month than I had done in years. Since then I have been mostly using the iPlayer. There really is so much stuff on it and getting rid of Netflix has made me appreciate and use it a lot more. I do also have access to a Disney plus log in for free which my son uses a lot (he's currently in the middle of a big MCU phase) but I certainly wouldn't pay for it.

Now Tv Entertainment package (especially their HBO library) is the best app for over here I find.

I sometimes get really cheap offers for this which I take up for a month or two. So recently I have been enjoying Succession plus the first series of 30 Rock.

[Hot Pepsi]

I object to paying for more than one. So, we've got Netflix for now. I get the idea that things seem to be thinning out on that, so it maybe before long we'll switch to something like HBO for a couple of years, etc etc and so on

You can switch month to month, but you might get a better deal if you agree to sign up for multiple months or a year. Not sure how it works there.

[Jon]

"So recently I have been enjoying Succession plus the first series of 30 Rock."

There's a running joke towards the end of the first series that laughs at the incongruity of Tracy Morgan wanting to play Thomas Jefferson in a film which seems so strange in a post-Hamilton world.

[Ginger Yellow]

I've just had Maid on Netflix recommended to me very highly (by someone I trust). Anyone seen it?

It's in my queue, also because of recommendation, but I haven't started it yet. May do so this weekend.

[Uncle Ethan]

I am possibly the last person in the privileged world to get into Billions. Hooked now.

[Sits]

The latest series is a bit all over the shop but some allowance should be made for COVID-19 and Damien Lewis’ bereavement.

In general terms I can see the points made above about flipping streaming services. We too are getting very little from Netflix lately, currently just On the Verge a US/French sitcom with Julie Delpy and Elizabeth Shue which is OK if a bit frantic. Otherwise we have started and dropped three or four series since we finished Halston. We are getting a lot more out of Stan, a local streamer which carries Showtime content. That’s where we are watching Billions and previously Rectify.

Otherwise we have BBC First and Britbox which are good for now simply because we can hoover up a load of British content which didn’t make it to network TV here over the last decade.

And finally terrestrial channels ABC and SBS still have a few worthwhile things on now and then.

[Uncle Ethan]

Will be a while until we get there.

[WOM]

You're going to feel filthy all over for how much you enjoy it. We just finished the last episode on Sunday.

[RobW]

Been watching Twin Peaks and Black Widow which is now on Disney +. Pretty decent I thought, despite Ray Winstone. Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz both great.

Caught the second half of The Crystal Skull was on Film 4 (they are doing a Spielberg season). Still bloody awful.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Just watched the first episode of Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution.

I suspect it might be more than some OTFers could bear.

[slackster]

Lambs of God miniseries (BritBox “exclusive” in UK) was good. In the magical realism style of an Angela Carter novel, with the Catholic Church playing the baddie up against a feral trio of nuns played by a very strong female cast. Nice Oz settings too.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Just watched the first episode of Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution.

I suspect it might be more than some OTFers could bear.

I gave it 10 minutes. FIVE fucking parts... !!!!

[Lang Spoon]

We just finished They Shoot Horses, Don't They? On YouTube (great quality picture, closed caption unfortunately French). Fuck me that's hard going, and we are appropriately knackered now. It's well directed, Jane Fonda is amazing, but I couldn't tell you if it was really any good, I certainly didn't enjoy it. A 1930s Squid Game.