Or, What Is There To Watch?
If you are like me, Summer isn’t all about being outside and spending loads of time away from home. Even when there isn’t a pandemic. I don’t do well in heat and my allergies just won’t accommodate all the outdoor flora and fauna.
All that being said, I like to find something I can dive into during the summer months. A few years ago I discovered Agents of S*H*I*E*L*D and it was a magical time! In past years, there was the possibility of catching up with reruns or finding new shows to capture my imagination. And the movies! Oh, my!
Now, we all know this past year has been not only chaotic for pretty much everything, it has kept many of us hanging when it came to series or films. I have no idea how much I’ve lost track of – and there was a time when I had 2 – yes 2 – VCRs fully programmed for each week. Sadly, I miss those days. It says a lot about the state of TV when that isn’t an option.
A Game Plan
Why am I thinking about this now, you ask? Simple. The other day I was browsing Disney+ and discovered, quite by accident, that a film I’d been looking forward to had already dropped on the platform and was waiting for me.
In what can only be described as a ‘head slap moment’, it occurred to me that if I’d overlooked my Watchlist there, what else have I been missing out on?
If you are like me, your Watchlist is probably tucked away, ignored or forgotten.
If you are a long time visitor here, you know I often talk about “Reset Days” – those times when we reset the modem, the Roku box(es) and revisit what we have lined up for channels or services. Well, here is an addendum to the Reset Days.
I’m going a bit old school and sitting down with pen and paper to collect my various Watchlists and combine them into one source where I can keep track of, and hopefully sit down to watch, what is on that master list.
One of the things that stands out about the various platforms is the variety of material they offer. Disney+ covers so much it is almost (?) overwhelming. Acorn and BritBox carry a lot of things most of us in the US are used to seeing on PBS, but they have more available in an easy to access format. PlutoTV has a wide variety of material including music videos and sports – and speaking of sports – Amazon has a lot of sports as well as Paramount+.
I mention this if you are contemplating cutting the cord but someone in your household is devoted to sports. There are a lot options available to help you curb that cable bill and you might not have to pick up a sports platform to do it.
There is also a bit of overlap. America’s Test Kitchen, for example, has its own Roku channel, but you can find episodes over on PlutoTV, Amazon, and PBS. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there are more options out there, either.
Which brings me back to the free streaming platforms. There are several free options that provide a lot of material covering a wide variety of categories. I’m going to be sure to add them to my Master List as I contemplate summer viewing.
I fully realize that some will think this is a bit silly, and it might be, but I challenge you to take a look at what you’ve added to your own Watchlists and see what you’ve missed or forgotten or ignored. I do have one series (Murdoch Mysteries – AcornTV) that I’ve deliberately tucked aside. The entire season (14) is there, along with all the others, so if you are new to the show, you can watch all of the earlier seasons and dive into the movies, too.
With Summer upon us and everything up in the air, I can now schedule my viewing so I don’t miss things I’ve wanted to see while not getting stuck in that boredom rut where I have no idea what’s on.
Care to join me?
