Television

	If we're going to talk about television, then I need to mention Poldark -- I admit it: I’m hooked. All three seasons are on our amazon account and Ross and Demelza continue to intrigue, delight, frustrate and bewitch me. Masterpiece Theatre has really stepped up its game, and they are putting out productions that rival the BBC. [Yes, I said that with a straight face. Pass the tea, please, milk in first if you don't mind. You're a dear.] Cumberbatch continues his work with the Masterpiece studios, moving to The Hollow Crown after dazzling me in Sherlock. I have added The Hollow Crown to the watch list, along with Mercy Street, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming release of Victoria.
Prime has added roughly a gazillion or so new movies and original series. The Man in the High Castle is a masterpiece, and ten new episodes drop on December 16, so get caught up this fortnight. I haven’t watched Red Oaks yet, but feel free to let me know what you think of it. I'm pretty certain that Man in the High Castle will bump anything on my holiday watching list and will be carrying me into the New Year. Season One left me beyond impressed at how well the amazon studio had adapted a work by one of my favorite darker-than-life authors. I confess that this is one of the few works of Philip K. Dick that I haven't read, so let me know if my love of the series is going to suffer when I foray into the written work.
Our amazon account has access to Showtime, because I’m a junkie for Homeland. I still need to finish season 4 before I can start in on season 5 -- I have almost no time available for television, and what is on these days is better than ever. I remember when I first started thinking that television was actually good, sometime around when Battlestar Galactica got a reboot and HBO launched Damages. Alas, alack, my life has seen more of reading and writing this past couple years, which is all to the good, but leaves my television watching list growing longer each week instead of shorter. This is not a complaint. I never had cable, but more than ever, I don't understand why people continue to subscribe. I suppose there is something to be said for immediate news (I usually listen to the radio if I'm not getting my news online), and the weather station has sky-high ratings for good reason. And, you know, I don't watch sports, unless going to a hockey match counts, so I suppose cable would be important if you needed to watch the football or baseball season. I think real time soccer still means being up at 4 in the morning or something ridiculous, so a streaming delay wouldn't really bug me. But for entertainment, you can't beat the new landscape of studio-developed content, from amazon and Netflix to BBC and PBS. And the network seasons are available through streaming options faster and cheaper and in better quality than ever before.
It really is The Platinum Age of Television. [Yes, I just referenced a book about television while lamenting that I have no time to watch television anymore because I spend so much time reading. Irony? Nope, we don't get that here.] Personally, I’m looking forward to curling up with Carol and The Imitation Game, two movies available on Showtime that I missed when they were at the Grandin this year, and I’m hoping The Affair, Ray Donovan (Liev!!) and Shameless live up to the binge-worthy hype.