A Year in TV
Let it suffice to say that due to current “circumstances”, Mrs P and I have watched a lot more TV this year. However, rather than just reiterate what we’ve viewed, which is already covered in my recurring blog post The Idiot Box, I thought I’d take the time to reflect upon some wider issues. TV has become a major source not only of entertainment but psychological support during this year’s social restrictions. The closure of cinemas for the majority of the past twelve months has meant that TV has had little or no competition. Furthermore, many of the films that may well have drawn audiences away, have come to the smaller screens a lot quicker. Never has so much TV been voraciously consumed. There’s also been a degree of nostalgia as viewers have watched popular shows at broadly similar times, reviving that sense of a shared experience that was so common in the seventies and eighties. However, the pandemic has also caused a slow down in TV production. Will the shortage of new content that many have predicted finally manifest itself next year?
Binge-viewing
During the seventies I watched TV programs as and when they were broadcast. This was not through choice but because that was the only means available. Therefore the advent of the VCR in the eighties was a very liberating experience. However although I was free from having to watch at a specific time, I still tended to view recorded programs on a weekly basis, rather than allow them to accumulate. All the technology was doing was freeing me from the broadcasters schedule and allowing me to create my own.