Around the world in 80 TV shows

[thistlechaser]

Since turning off my cable TV, I've reduced my television watching by... not much at all. Oddly, the only real difference is what I watch instead of how much -- and the quality of what I've watched has gone UP. How strange is that?

Before turning my service off, I had had no idea just how many TV shows were available online (from other countries, offered through websites -- no need to download anything, just watch through the site!). It's actually better watching things this way than cable TV, since I can watch what I want when I want. (Other than live TV. While there are ways to watch that online, they're spotty and for some reason always run on EST. Watching the evening news at 2 PM and primetime shows at 5 PM is just not all that workable for me.)

I watched a few seasons of Robot Chicken straight through (I had abandoned that show early on, driven away by its more immature and crude/violent moments, but the later seasons have fewer of those and more bits that are a match for my humor). Then I realized I had to catch up with the end of Master Chef Junior. Once done with that, I looked at what other Master Chef shows were available...

Master Chef South Africa Celebrity. Hm! In all my time watching TV, I never even wondered what a cooking show in South Africa would be like. Let alone a Celebrity version of one. So I settled in to watch it. While I didn't recognize even once single celebrity, it was still a very nice series! I enjoyed what I watched of the season! (Unfortunately a few episodes were missing.) There was so much interesting stuff -- getting to know these local-to-SA celebrities and, even better, seeing the kinds of charities that exist there. If the series had been based in the US, I would have been bored by the visits to the charities to see the people there and the work they do, but seeing that information from South Africa? So interesting!

Currently I'm marathoning Deadliest Catch. I don't know why I stopped watching the series, but it's great to get back to it.

So thank you, people of India. Who knew that most uploaded TV was done through your country? You keep poor, broke me entertained though my quiet times at home.

(I had wanted to include links to the shows and sites, but my bookmarks are at home and I'm at work. If anyone would like to see where I do much of my viewing, or have a link to any show mentioned here, just leave a comment!)

Comments

[resonant.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of good shows at cbc.ca

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I watch a couple shows at the US version of cbs.com. Assuming the CA version isn't locked to Canada, I'll check it out. :)

[kelen.livejournal.com]

Dunno if you have, but I recently watched an anime I'd recommend. And considering how I hate tv shows.. that's saying something. ;)

One Punch Man. It looks completely and utterly stupid, but sucked me in the first ep. Takes a ton of tropes and goes 'Nope! Turn on your ear!' No bullshit romance or anything. Handles situations in a very adult manner. Frankly I was shocked at the lack of drama.

The two downsides were no female characters that weren't either pure sex exploitation (And they didn't hit on anyone), or so annoying you wanted to shoot her. Just two females that had lines, and everyone else was background.

The second was the mockery of homosexuals. It was degrading once I started thinking about it. They put the homosexual male in the magical girl category, and was really badly stereotypical.

Yet neither was enough to make me stop watching. The story was that good. I haven't watched the specials yet, just the first twelve eps.

You can find it on http://animeflavor.me/ :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I haven't watched any anime in a couple years, but I had heard good things about One Punch Man, so I'll check it out.

The two downsides do sound annoying, but hopefully the rest of the show will make up for them.

[kelen.livejournal.com]

The last anime I watched was One Piece, and that was years ago. The two downsides didn't stop me from watching all twelve eps, so it shouldn't stop you. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a plan! I'll check it out. :D

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

We got rid of our TV five years ago. It was a good decision. I really dont miss it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Agreed, though I feel like I'm cheating since I just watch stuff online now. I sure do wish I had known about all the options sooner! I thought it was black/white cable/no TV at all.

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

HELL YEAH DEADLIEST CATCH. My best friend and I used to skype and watch it together when I first moved here, but we both stopped watching it after there was no more Phil. We missed him too much. :(

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I know, right? It still hurts that he's no longer with us. Doesn't help much that they keep referencing him in the later seasons...