You're Watching What, Again?

 How many times do you think you've watched your favorite movie or TV show?

And how many more times do you think you've watched it since the advent of streaming services?

Or, has your old favorite been replaced by something new that you found because of streaming services?

In some ways streaming services have shortened and lengthened our collective attention spans. When my husband and I are not in the middle of streaming some show, and he has no idea what he wants to watch, I usually wind up being the chooser. 

He will sit and go through every platform, and click endlessly because there are far too many choices. 

When left to my own devices, and no one else is watching with me, I will usually choose between three categories. True crime, musicals, or something I have watched far too often. Maybe there should be a fourth category here where I smash the first three together, think Sweeny Todd. 

When it comes to streaming services, I think we all fall into the trap of comfort viewing. Instead of putting the effort into finding something new, or taking a chance on something new, we go back to the old familiar. 

On the rare time that we do take a chance on something new, we power through it all too quickly. The first summer of the pandemic, we decided to watch a show that had 16 seasons to watch on Netflix. The medical soap opera had everything that we were looking for in a time-waster. The bad part though was watching the cast age those 16 years over the course of three months. 

A favorite show is like a favorite pair of shoes or a favorite meal that you wind up cooking when you can't find anything else you want to cook. You know what is going to happen, no surprises. I would make a marital relations joke here, but this isn't that kind of place, yet. 

I do get a lot of grief from my family when they catch me watching the same musical or movie for what could be the hundredth time. But, in the end, they have the same tendencies to watch the same things over and over. My son has watched a show about meeting a mother countless times, my husband and son watch a show about a burned CIA agent whenever just the two of them are at home alone, and my daughter is obsessed with a show about a mom and her daughter figuring life out in a small town. 

We all have things we watch whenever we are down, or whenever we just noise in the background. And there is nothing wrong with it. Comfort is comfort. Take it where you can get it. 

Music Corner

Sticking with the old favorites theme for today, let's go with a song that gets in my head at terrible times. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants. I can remember hearing this song for the first time thanks to a show called "Tiny Toon Adventures". The show itself was pretty unhinged. And this song fits right in. 

Later, my favorite late-night talk host, Craig Ferguson would use the song to dance with puppets as the show started. Also unhinged. I can't really put my finger on what makes me love this song so much, I think maybe the learning while listening to the music part. 

The song was written in 1953 on the 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans as a novelty song with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and music by Nat Simon. My favorite version, and possibly the best-known version was released in 1990. 

Shopping Corner

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - I don't know how many times I have read this book, or watched the movie (directed by Clint Eastwood)

Stranger Beside Me - Another frequent read. The author spent time with Ted Bundy before she knew that he was TED BUNDY.

Furiously Happy - This book will make you laugh out loud, and cry.