Television: The Transition Into Online Streaming
Online streaming has greatly impacted the world of television over the past 10 years.
The majority of television shows still continues to expand over the course of months, with weekly episodes. Yet platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Xfinity TV, HBO Now, Amazon and even YouTube have changed the game for television. Among this list also includes television networks that have created online websites which viewers can access and stream tv shows. These companies allow viewers to binge watch entire seasons of episodes on their own time. This concept is known as binge watching, or the binge watching culture, which we have adapted into our society.
Two of the most well-known platforms that allow access to online streaming include Hulu and Netflix. Hulu was established in March of 2007, while Netflix was first founded in August of 1997. During the late 1990s and early 2000s in it's formative years, Netflix was originally created to rent movies on DVD. By 2007, Netflix moved into online streaming. In the 2010s, Netflix grew into a network, airing original content and television series. The network began hosting it's own series in early 2013, with the first Netflix original House of Cards. Now, even YouTube hosts their own original television series that consumers have access to with a subscription to Youtube Red.
Access to binge watching allows audience members the privilege of catching up on their favorite shows if they fall behind. Viewers also have the option to watch multiple episodes if available on programing sites such as Netflix or Hulu.
I remember growing up, sitting down at 4 o’clock on the dot to watch Full House or Gilmore Girls. As a teen, I recall watching whatever was on MTV, even if I wasn't interested in the program. MTV established one of the few channels that offered programs free from infomercials at 2:30 a.m. It kept viewers mildly entertained, namely audience members in their teens and early 20s during. This period of the early 2000s was before the convenience of Netflix and Hulu became available through devices such as laptops and iPads.
Now, individuals have the ability to access their favorite shows anytime, day or night, at the cost of $7 per month. This also offers economic benefits as well as convenience, providing viewers with a cheaper option than cable packages.
This new age of binge watching questions whether there is a loss of climatic build-up for viewers. Could the lack of on-screen suspense be the result of having access to watch a whole season any time the individual chooses? Audience members can now set their own pace, establishing a sense of control while watching their favorite shows.
However, this new age of total access to constantly watch our favorite programs also brings into question the quantity of television produced.
Is there a greater need to produce more because viewers have accessibility to watch more? How many television shows are produced now compared to 30 years ago? Reports state that television networks such as HBO and MTV aimed to diversify their programming during the 1990s. HBO, also known as home box office, originally intended to offer movies exclusively to viewers. Their aim was to provide individuals with the appeal of a home theater. Similarly, MTV, known as music television, also produced one type of content during the network’s establishment: music videos. MTV strictly aired music videos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It was the primary content and intent of the network’s programing that monopolized the 1980s.
One example of a booming area in television that continues to produce numerous shows is the crime/investigative genre in television. Some examples of crime-related television shows originating over the past 20 years that sustains programming with new episodes include: The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, Bones, Criminal Minds, Chicago P.D., NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Hawaii Five-O, Law and Order: SVU.
However, according to britannica.com, the criminal genre in television was considered to be inappropriate at the time. During the 1990s, NYPD Blue received criticism by adult figures.
“Parents, teachers, and religious groups complained that network television was no longer appropriate for family viewing. This became a major on-going refrain in the 1990s.”
At that point, television was evolving. The shared, family-friendly experience that television originally intended to be during the 1940s and 1950s was changing.
Networks welcomed the diversification of programming and television content. As a result, viewers could see the real, raw words and actions that mimic the world around us. Television is no longer set in this dream land that falsely portrayed perfect lives, as seen in the Cleaver clan and the Anderson family.
Now, the diversification of television is shown through its platforms in addition to its content.
The accessibility and convenience of online streaming is a privilege that we just can't deny.
After 5 Years, Shameless Finally Hits Netflix
After over 5 years of being on the air, Showtime's series Shameless finally makes its way to Netflix.
In it, a family of six siblings who live on the South Side of Chicago, straddling the poverty line. The Gallaghers "head" of the family includes an alcoholic father (Frank) and a mentally ill, run away mother (Monica); this leaves the sibling, consisting of Fiona, Phillip (Lip), Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam, that are alone to fend for themselves. Everyday brings new challenges for this Back of the Yards based family. Each of the four older siblings has their own strengths that they bring to the table in order to put food on the table, maintain a livable household, and keep their family together. But with those strengths, comes weaknesses in each sibling.
No spoilers though, you’ll have to watch to find out these character arcs and relationships with one another. The question now arises: why this widely popular 2011 series is just hitting Netflix?
According to IMDB, Shameless has received average ratings of between an 8 and a 9 out of 10. And from season 1 to season 4, the ratings have only exponentially increased.
According to tvseriesfinale.com, Shameless’s viewership drastically rose from 1.36 million to 1.65 million between its second and third season. By its fourth season, Shameless was at an all-time hight with a season average of 1.71 million viewers. This decreased in the series’ fifth and sixth season, with season average ratings between 1.56 and 1.58 million viewers.
However, this doesn’t dismiss the fact that this popular comedy/drama gains so much attention because it feels real. Shameless is filled with real and raw scenes that evokes a strong sense of emotion in both the characters and the audience. Whether you are laughing or crying, these characters come together to form a genuine depiction of striving and struggling. The Gallaghers show how this familial bond is stronger together than apart. Whether they are battling these endeavors personally or collectively, Shameless demonstrates to the audience what “family is everything” really means.
Shameless should have been available on Netflix long before 2016 for long-time fans to binge watch; but we are grateful that fans new and old can enjoy such a phenomenal, almost tangible television show.
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Final July 2015 Update
The end of July is here, and with it comes an assortment of new Netflix Instant additions! As well all know, the highly-entertaining BoJack Horseman has returned for a second season (of which Bridjet reviewed recently). The other major addition to Netflix Instant is the Netflix-exclusive series, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, which is a prequel to the 2001 cult classic. Another personal recommendation is The Skeleton Twins, starring Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig.
Find all of the latest additions to Netflix Instant below!
BoJack Horseman: Season 2
The Business of Being Born
Cantinflas
The Human Experiment Invizimals: The Alliance Files
Tig
The True Cost
Glee: Season 6
Java Heat
Peace After Marriage
Je suis Femen
Set Fire to the Stars
Jim Norton: Contextually Inadequate
Teacher of the Year
Zero Motivation
The Avenging Eagle
Come Drink with Me
Hercules
Martial Arts of Shaolin
Out of the Dark
The Road to Fallujah
Shaolin Martial Arts
24 Days
The Guest
Sword of Vengeance
Dial a Prayer
52 Tuesdays
Comet
Marvel's Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.: Season 2
Almost Mercy
Donde Esta Elisa
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Season 5
Of Girls and Horses
Relaciones Peligrosas
Staten Island Summer
Still
Victoria
The Wrecking Crew
The New Black
The Skeleton Twins
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
[Review] Bojack Horseman Season 2
Cartoons can be bleak. As adults, we still chase that same joyful escape from the real world with the familiarity of cartoons. In an age where cartoons have taken a turn from being imaginative to more realistic, we strive to make even the darkest realities funny as a way to cope. Bojack Horseman brings something else to that dark reality: emotional struggle. The struggle we all dismiss when engaging in fantasy such as watching cartoons or lying to co-workers at the bar that, “everything is going great,” even when it’s not. The story about a washed-up, '90s sitcom star pulled at our heartstrings in season one, which aired on Netflix in 2014. One year later, we return to find Bojack in seasons two going through the familiar motions of trying to date, reviving his dead career, pushing away his friends, regretting life decisions and finally being taken seriously enough to land his dream role of playing Secretariat. The tagline for season two, “Don’t look back, you’re not going that way,” symbolizes Bojack’s constant struggle to feel happiness.
It seems too far and few in-between that we find cartoon characters who have realistic lives like the rest of us; they fell in love with someone who didn’t love them back or they felt betrayed as as a child by their neglectful parents just as Bojack did. The rawness of Bojack Horseman, a alcoholic, narcissistic horse-child with a bad attitude, has it better than most people as a former TV star and especially so as an upcoming dramatic actor with a best-selling novel. Yet, like the gleaming stars we know to envy, their lives are like any other behind the scenes: somewhat depressing. It’s the lighthearted quips in the darkness of season two of Bojack Horseman that should bring audiences to laugh and maybe cry as the helm of characters navigate through Bojack’s actions once again.
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The show blends in familiar slapstick situation comedy like Mr. Peanutbutter hosting his own wacky game show, Todd being mistaken for the dictator of war-torn Cordovia and Vincent Adultman revealing he actually is just two stacked children under a long trench coat. Yet, with season two, we see these characters develop more as they try to get their self-worth in check. Bojack and the gang look for validation of their lives from others in season one, whereas in season two it’s the other way around. Coupled with the crazy antics only cartoon characters can get into, Bojack Horseman continues to make people laugh.
In episode three, “Still Broken,” the cast of Horsin’ Around are at Herb Kazazz’s funeral, Bojack’s former best friend and creator of the show. It’s an excerpt from a speech by Henry Winkler that summarizes the show perfectly by being able to bring laughter into the worst situations:
“In his last days, Herb’s cancer had gone into remission; he was full of hope. But on the drive home from the hospital, his brakes gave out. He crashed into a truck full of peanuts. He survived the crash, but he was allergic to peanuts. He died instantly. Let us now read his final tweets:
I’m gonna live forever #cancerfree #invincible #tweetingwhiledriving
Oh no, I think I’m gonna hit that truck #hopefullyitisntfullofpeanuts
#ohnoitwasfullofpeanuts“
The way the all-star cast (Amy Sedaris, Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, Aaron Paul and Kristen Schaal) take real-life situations like death, rejection, betrayal, brokenheartedness and failure while trying to be the best versions of themselves shows how struggle can define us. It can work out for the best, it can be the worst thing that has ever happened to you; but you can get through it. Or in Herb’s case, at least enough for a tweet.
#gowatchbojackhorseman
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Mid-July 2015 Update
Sorry for missing last week's Weekly Netflix Fix - I was afflicted with a mild case of strep throat, and being sick in the middle of the summer is the worst thing to ever happen to man. This week, we have an extra-sized installment combining all of the latest Netflix Instant additions from the past two weeks. Spike Lee's most recent film, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, has been added, the indie darling Faults starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), and Mark Duplass' Creep are my personal recommendations. Take a look at all of the new Netflix Instant additions below!
Changeling
Plague
10 Questions for the Dalai Lama
An Act of War
Carita de Angel
The Comedian
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
El Chavo Animado: Season 1
El Chavo Animado: Season 2
El Chavo Animado: Season 3
El Chavo Animado: Season 4
El Internado: Season 1
El Internado: Season 2
El Internado: Season 3
El Internado: Season 4
El Internado: Season 5
El Internado: Season 6
El Internado: Season 7
Eugene Mirman: Vegan on His Way to the Complain Store
H2O: Mermaid Adventures: Season 2
Penguins of Madagascar: The Movie
The Physician
Rebelde
Todd Barry: The Crowd Work Tour
Vandal
XH Derbez
A Year in Champagne
America's Book of Secrets: Season 3
An Amish Murder
Bad Ink: Season 1
The Bible Rules: Season 1
Bible Secrets Revealed: Season 1
Carnal Innocence
Christie's Revenge
Creep
From the Dark
God, Guns & Automobiles: Season 1
Goodbye to All That 2014
Human Planet
Human Planet: Behind the Lens
Imaginary Friend
The Killer Speaks: Season 2
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau
MonsterQuest: Season 1
MonsterQuest: Season 4
Pastor Brown
Preachers' Daughters: Season 2
Storage Wars: Texas: Season 1
The Unwanted
WWII From Space
Corvette Nation: Season 1
Corvette Nation: Season 2
Hard Drive
Adventures of Pepper and Paula
Opposite Field
These Final Hours
Chris Tucker Live
The Expendables 3
Violetta: Season 1
Violetta: Season 2
Are We Done Yet?
Deep in the Darkness
The Last Unicorn
Monsters: Dark Continent
The Phoenix Project
Serena
Baby Boom
Knights of Sidonia: Season 2
Faults
Hell on Wheels: Season 4
White Collar: Season 6
Superfast!
Bitten: Season 2
Underwater Dreams
Alien Outpost
Dark Summer
Gerontophilia
A Gesar Bard's Tale
Loitering with Intent
Monster High: Scaris, City of Frights
The Pact 2
The Search for General Tso
Wild Canaries
Witches of East End: Season 2
Genocide
Hjørdis
I Have Never Forgotten You
The Long Way Home
The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers
Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny
Are We Done Yet?
Deep in the Darkness
The Last Unicorn
Monsters: Dark Continent
Serena
[Weekly Netflix Fix] First July 2015 Update
Coinciding with the release of the amazing Creed trailer this week comes the return of the Rocky films to Netflix, which are the main highlights for this week. Some other highlights include the cult classic The Warriors, Adam Sandler's Big Daddy (a personal favorite of mine), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, and the classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
You can find the full list of new Netflix Instant additions below.
My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes
Twin Warriors
King of Comedy
Ballet 422
God of Cookery
Hasee Toh Phasee
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Cupcakes
Young & Hungry: Season 2
Katy Perry: The Prismatic World Tour
Dragons: Race to the Edge: Season 1
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Ralphie May: Imperfectly Yours
The Barber
NCIS: Season 1
NCIS: Season 2
NCIS: Season 3
NCIS: Season 4
NCIS: Season 5
NCIS: Season 6
NCIS: Season 7
NCIS: Season 8
NCIS: Season 9
La Reina del Sur
NCIS: Season 10
NCIS: Season 11
El Señor de los Cielos: Season 1
El Señor de los Cielos: Season 2
La Patrona
Camelia la Texana
The Pope from the End of the World
If You Don't, I Will
Born to Fly
The Day My Butt Went Psycho!: Season 1
The Day My Butt Went Psycho!: Season 2
Hard to Be a God
Toobys in English
Black Butler: Season 1
Sirius
Below Dreams
Next Goal Wins
An Honest Liar
The Immortalists
Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist
Mary Kom
Plot for Peace
El Crimen del Cácaro Gumaro
El Cartel: Season 1
Operación Jaque: Operation Checkmate
Octonauts: Season 3
El Secretario: Season 1
Made in Cartagena: Season 1
La Promesa: Season 1
El Cartel 2: Season 1
Las muñecas de la mafia: Season 1
La Ruta Blanca: Season 1
Worms
love and other catastrophes
The Widowmaker
Death in Paradise: Season 3
Dancer and the Dame
Dancing in the Light: The Janet Collins Story
Sweet Blackberry Presents: Garrett's Gift
Sweet Blackberry Presents: Henry Box Brown
Love & Engineering
How I Got Over
Xiaolin Chronicles: Season 1
Xiaolin Chronicles: Season 2
The Father's Love
Velvet: Season 2
Bad Hair Day
Man Up
Dave Attell: Road Work
Rocky V
Piglet's Big Movie
Road House
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Browning Version
Underworld
Alive
You Got Served
Thumbelina
Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid
In Enemy Hands
Hostage
The Beverly Hillbillies
Kung Fu Hustle
Dutch La Usurpadora
Underworld: Evolution
Grandma's Boy
Renaissance
Teeth
Some Kind of Hero
Saw V
Unstable Fables: Goldilocks and the 3 Bears
Hell Is for Heroes
Bionicle: The Legend Reborn
The Concert
House of the Rising Sun
Rubi
Para Volver a Amar
Captive
Inami: Season 1
Yakari: Season 1
Chicken Town: Season 1
XH Derbez
Foreign Letters
When Day Breaks
48 Hrs.
Batman
Conan the Barbarian
Mr. Mom
The Net
Rob Roy
Rocky
Rocky II
Rocky IV
State Fair
The Terminator
WarGames
Shooting Fish
Pi
Silence of the Lambs
Bulworth
Star Trek: Insurrection
Big Daddy
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Drive Me Crazy
Scary Movie
The Secret of Roan Inish
The Delta Force
Almost Famous
Chocolat
The Warriors
How to Marry a Millionaire
Flashdance
From Here to Eternity
Rocky III
Street Smart
The Turning Point
Uncommon Valor
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
Bandits
Hombre
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Final June 2015 Update
The final Netflix update of the month doesn't offer too much. However, one title, All the Wilderness, is well worth a night in. As I wrote in my review this past February, the film " will appeal to indie film darlings that can't get enough of coming-of-age films." Indeed, it was an early 2015 favorite of mine. Also of note is A Most Wanted Man, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2014 and is the last of Philip Seymour Hoffman's films released before his untimely death.
You can check out the full list of new Netflix Instant titles below!
Cedar Cove: Season 1
Cedar Cove: Season 2
Earth From Above: Season 1
Earth From Above: Season 2
Earth From Above: Season 3
Earth From Above: Season 4
All the Wilderness
Revolver Rani
16-Love
A Most Wanted Man
Gori Tere Pyaar Mein
The Birthday Boys: Season 2
Some Assembly Required: Season 1
Daddy's Home
Supremacy
Cake
GasLand
Ugly
Walking with the Dead
Confessions of a Prodigal Son
Advantageous
Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle
Beyond the Lights
Green Street 3: Never Back Down
Total Siyappa
After the Ball
Twin Warriors
King of Comedy
Ballet 422
God of Cookery
My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Champs, Orange is the New Black
It's been a week since the surprise early release of Orange is the New Black's third season on Netflix. I'm sure you've all binge-watched the entire 13 episode season, but if not - why haven't you? Our other main highlight for this new installment of Weekly Netflix Fix is the boxing documentary Champs. Keen readers will remember we not only reviewed the film back in March, but we also interviewed Champs director Bert Marcus. I highly recommend watching the documentary, then reading our review and interview!
You can find the full list of new Netflix Instant titles below.
Life of Crime
When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism
Life with Boys: Season 1
If I Had Wings
Champs
Orange Is the New Black: Season 3
The Cobbler
Austin to Boston
High Fidelity
Snap
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Vengeance of an Assassin
Antarctica: A Year on Ice
Grey's Anatomy: Season 11
Scandal: Season 4
Avengers Grimm
The Radio City Christmas Spectacular
Danger Mouse: Season 10
Danger Mouse: Season 9
Danger Mouse: Season 8
Danger Mouse: Season 7
Danger Mouse: Season 6
Danger Mouse: Season 5
Danger Mouse: Season 4
Danger Mouse: Season 3
Danger Mouse: Season 2
Danger Mouse: Season 1
Hawaizaada
Toby's Travelling Circus: Season 1
InuYasha: Season 2
Vecinos: Season 2
Vecinos: Season 1
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit: Season 1
Bite Size
Know How
Rita: Season 3
Rodney Carrington: Laughter’s Good
Wizards vs. Aliens: Season 1
Wizards vs. Aliens: Season 2
Wizards vs. Aliens: Season 3
Really Me: Season 1
Really Me: Season 2
Bindi's Bootcamp: Season 1
Team Toon: Season 1
Black Friday
Death Note
Paa
Nana / Season 1
Cuidado con el Angel
Teresa
Isa TKM
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
Miss XV
Eastern Boys
3 Nights in the Desert
Vampire Knight: Season 1
Vampire Knight: Season 2
B.B. King: The Life of Riley
Leprechaun: Origins
Little White Lie
Gukjeshijang
Monster
Venus Talk
Curious George
Lee Daniels' The Butler
Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of