Ties Have Been Severed

Well, we did it. We no longer have cable TV or digital phone. I took what I needed to take back to the Spectrum place in Hanes Mall. The irritating thing, they moved the Spectrum store. So, I ended up hiking upstairs where I had to rest there at the Hanes Mall summit. Once my strength had been replenished, I finished the rest of the hike through the J.C. Penny’s and around the corner where I could see the Red Robin through the glass doors. I was a bit perturbed that the location hadn’t been changed on the Google Maps. Yeah, I checked before heading out.

I managed to have it all and we’ll only be charged for Internet from here on out.

If you know me then you may have an idea that I’m a bit of a TV junkie. We finally went with YouTubeTV for our live TV needs. The indoor antennas just weren’t cutting it and plus, I need some DVR like service. And I just didn’t want to hoist up a pole with an outdoor antenna. I’m sure that all of the adjusting for maximum picture quality would drive the MIL into thinning her already thinning hair out even more. Believe me. If you handed a laptop to an Aborigine child that has never seen one and have him race against the MIL to turn it on, the child would win. Just learning how the Roku remote worked turned out to be a few hair-thinning moments for me.

We ditched Hulu. They have some things that I liked, but the only real use of them would be for watching the OTA (over-the-air) network shows because we don’t have a DVR for that. We definitely kept Netflix and the MIL is watching so much on there that I’m astounded. ASTOUNDED! She’s binge-watching all kinds of things. She really got into ‘Grace & Frankie’. And finished up just before the new season drops in a few days. She’s also found a good stash of murder porn on there too. But I just couldn’t get her on ‘Mindhunter’ or ‘Breaking Bad’. She tends to have problems with series that aren’t linear and have to explain things like ‘Criminal Minds’ does to the audience. While watching ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ she felt confused and clueless. So, I would pause things and ask, “What do you think is going on?”

Most of the time, she was on it. But since the timeline was spread out all over the place, she was having a hard time knowing where she was in the storyline. She’s not dumb. But she has gotten so used to being spoon-fed every tiny detail from the characters of ‘Criminal Minds’ that her ability to think while watching a television show just needed to be dusted off.

Overall, the transition from cable TV has gone over smoothly. When I called to cancel, oh they had a deal for me. I could get all the locals and ten channels of my choosing for a comparable price. I asked, “Where was this deal when I asked about the lowest tier available after losing my job?”

“This offer only recently became available,” he said.

I politely declined because I’d still have to pay the rental fees on the boxes. Plus, I love having six profiles on YouTubeTV with no hardware to pay rent on.

If you’re thinking about ditching the cable company, I cannot recommend getting a Roku along with Netflix and YouTubeTV enough. Now as streaming apps are on the increase with things like DC Universe and the Disney app, content will greatly diminish on Netflix. But Netflix has some really strong original content and I just don’t expect that to change.

I’m so pleased with it what we have now that I don’t miss the cable at all.

Your Television Premiere Dates for the week of March 28 - April 3, 2016

My apologies for the lateness of this update. There's not a whole lot going on, but there is at least one new show that I plan on checking out. Again, all times are Eastern.

PREMIERE DATES

Wednesday, March 30
- ‘The Path’ debuts on Hulu. Aaron Paul’s (Jesse Pinkman ‘Breaking Bad’) latest series that looks good on the surface. It certainly has my attention along with Chigger’s.
- ‘Empire’ is back for it’s Spring premiere on FOX at 9pm.
- ‘Lopez’ debuts on TV Land at 10pm. This is yet another George Lopez vehicle that the majority of the public may ignore. But you gotta give the guy credit; he gets knocked off and hops back on the horse every time.

Thursday, March 31
- ‘Rush Hour’ debuts on CBS at 10pm. Yes, it’s based on the series of popular movies. And the CBS audience tends to dig police procedurals. This should do well despite my lack of enthusiasm.

Friday, April 1
- ‘The Ranch’ debuts on Netflix. This sitcom is about two brothers running a ranch in Colorado. Will it be as funny as Francis’ time running a ranch for a German couple on ‘Malcolm In The Middle’? I seriously doubt it. But I’ll give it a shot.
- ‘Banshee’ returns for its fourth and final season on Cinemax at 10pm.

Sunday, April 3
- Season five of ‘Call The Midwife’ returns to PBS. Check your local listings for time.



NETFLIX

Monday, March 28
- Season 10 ‘Trailer Park Boys’

Friday, April 1
- Season 5 ‘Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown’
- Season 1 ‘Beat Bobby Flay’
- Season 5 ‘Bob’s Burgers’
- Seasons 3 & 4 ‘Cutthroat Kitchen’
- Season 2 ‘Fixer Upper’
- Season 7 ‘Giada At Home’
- Seasons 1 & 2 ‘The Great Food Truck Race’
- Season 1 ‘Kids Baking Championship’
- Season 1 ‘Lost & Found Music Studios’
- Season 4 ‘Love It Or List It, Too’
- Season 1 ‘Property Brothers At Home’

'11/22/63' Review

I have caved. I gave in. I waved the white flag. I surrendered. I’m a Frenchman.

I have tried it before and I didn’t care for it.

But since they added the new series ‘11/22/63’, I signed back up with Hulu.

So let’s get to that… A quick review of ‘11/22/63’

Based on the 2011 novel by Stephen King, ‘11/22/63’ is a new limited series on Hulu.

Jake Epping (James Franco) is a much happier teacher than portrayed on most television programs. He finds out that Al Templeton (Chris Cooper), owner of a local diner, has a fantastical secret. A secret that requires Epping to venture into a closet located in the diner.

Epping finds himself dropped into the same place back in 1960. And when he transports back to present day, he’s only been gone a few seconds.

A sick with cancer Templeton spills his entire can of beans to Epping. He made it his mission to save John F. Kennedy from being assassinated in Dallas. He presented Epping all he needed to get the job done. The facts, the theories, and money-making know how in sports betting. Templeton had to give up on his plan since cancer will take him before getting the job done.

Epping, of course, finds the whole idea insane and doesn’t take up Al’s plan to thwart the assassination. That is until he finds Templeton the next morning dead.

So off Epping goes on the trail to find Lee Harvey Oswald.

Hulu is different than other streamers. They will release this series over 8 weeks.

The first installment clicked in at less than one hour and twenty minutes. But it certainly didn’t feel that long.

The pilot moved quickly with moments of the usual brand of King humor. And be sure to look for the Easter Eggs. Here's a pic that I snapped from my television.

‘11/22/63’ is beautifully shot and works on many different “butterfly effect” theories.

“If you f*#k with time, time will f*#k with you”

“You don’t belong here”

Not to giveaway too much, but time is a very real antagonist for Epping. Time is the unseen monster that doesn’t like change. And that will definitely add some intriguing scenarios during the course of this limited series I’m sure.

I found it to be riveting and a pleasure to watch. The first episode left me wanting more. And I’m being threatened by a friend to stop watching now and begin reading the book.

I’ll try it on Amazon Audible, while I’m at work. Or something like that.

Now back to Hulu…

I signed up for a free week of Hulu back when I got my Roku device. I felt like the commercials were too much. And I couldn’t watch ‘Green Acres’ (amazed that they actually had it) on my devices. It was only allowed to be viewed online. I cancelled before the week was up.

On this past Sunday, I resigned with them for the series ‘11/22/63’. I had a pleasurable experience even with the commercials. For one thing, I found that I can now watch seasons 4 – 6 of ‘Green Acres’ on my streaming devices!

Those haven’t been released on DVD and as far as I know, there are no plans to release them on DVD. So that was WONDERFUL to see!

I also found ‘WKRP In Cincinnati’ (the syndicated versions, but I’ll take them), ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’, ‘Taxi’, and a slew of other older television shows worth revisiting.

I’m also toying with the idea of “cutting the cord”, so we’ll see if it fits my needs for that.