It’s no news that the popularity of streaming services has changed the way in which most people watch tv. In recent years I, too, had become a person who sits down to watch several episodes of the same show in a row. However, some weeks ago I noticed that this wasn’t really working well anymore. The list of shows I was interested in kept growing and growing – including new seasons of tv shows that I already loved. Not to mention that many of them were rather heavily dramatic, detailed and narratively rich shows, which meant that watching more than two episodes in a row was almost a disservice to them.
I should probably mention here that tv is my favourite format of visual storytelling. I love having time to get to know and fall in love with the characters and watching stories develop and unfold over time. I’ve been a tv girl since before its current golden era started; I used to have written schedules to catch shows on the pre-streaming television, and tape shows if two favourite ones were on at the same time. Along with games, it’s been an important hobby that has enrichened my imagination.
So to fix my current tv viewing troubles, I went back in time and made a tv schedule. There’s a tv show for each day, and two shows for some days. It’s not a very strict schedule. If I don’t have time to watch tv some day, it’s ok to do it later. It may not initially seem very efficient to go back to the habit of watching only one episode a week, but I’ve had great success with progressing on several of the shows I’m interested in, rather than struggling with trying to prioritize one or three. It also allows me to really appreciate the show and what’s happening in it. Last week I finished catching up with Westworld, something that otherwise might have taken much longer even if I had the freedom to do it at any time. It’s nice to always have an idea of what to watch; no decision power is wasted because the decision has been already made.
So what are the tv shows currently on my plate? Better Call Saul, The Good Fight, The Crown, Preacher, Deadwood, Rome (filling the spot freed by Westworld), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and The Chi. All of these shows are very enjoyable (the one that makes me hesitate the most is Preacher, but even that one is rather entertaining in all its ridiculousness). Better Call Saul has become one of my all-time favourites, like watching a glorious trainwreck in slow motion while simultaneously loving the train and hoping nobody gets hurt (but they will). The two I would love to highlight now are The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Chi because in comparison to the other shows, they are the ones I’ve heard and read the least about elsewhere although they are very, very good (well, I’m only about 5 episodes into The Chi, but considering it’s highly rated I have no reason to believe it will drastically drop in quality).
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is delightfully different from the other shows I’m watching. It’s about a housewife trying to break into stand-up comedy in the turn of 1950s-1960s. You might already guess that it’s hilarious. The dialogue is great, the casting for each role is perfect (including the tiniest supporting roles), and it’s a feast for the eyes with its fashion and stylistic choices. Because it’s not violent, I can even recommend it to friends who’d shudder at many of the other shows I watch. It’s definitely a show to fall in love with.
The Chi, on the contrary, is closely connected to violence in the sense that a boy’s murder starts a kind of a chain reaction of events that affects the lives of many in the community. On one hand, the viewer feels anxiety fearing the dark turn that the lives of the characters appear to be on the verge of taking, but on the other, we also see resilience and defiance against expectations, and efforts to atone for one’s actions. One of the characters I’m especially invested in is Emmett who suddenly has to take responsibility for raising his baby son. He’s a young man unequipped, unprepared, and at least at the beginning entirely unwilling to take on this role, but ends up accepting the responsibility. Where this responsibility takes him, however, remains for me to be seen (I’m still at episode 5 of season 1). Like in real life, the best intentions don’t seem to always have desired outcomes on this show. The narrative thread connects the characters and their stories beautifully together. The characters are complex and I can’t wait to see more of their layers peeled in time.
Since the tv schedule plan has been working so well, I’m going to keep it up for now and hopefully enjoy more of these worlds and characters, and introduce myself to new ones once I’m all caught up!