Dec-20 » Filed Under: Movies & TV » Posted by: Todd
Two weeks into our little experiment of life without cable/tivo and things are going well - for me anyway. As I suspected, I don't really miss the cable shows we used to watch regularly. It's certainly a case of out of sight, out of mind. Additionally, I find that I don't really feel as compelled to make time to watch shows from the big networks either. If it's on and we're free, great. If not, no big deal.
It has certainly opened up time to devote to other more important activities, like preparing for baby's arrival or working on freelance projects, which was my hope. For those times when I want to be lazy on the couch for a half an hour and cable access shows won't cut it, here are the alternatives I have tried so far.
Netflix - Love it. Since I don't really like to sit down and watch two hour movies very often, I have been renting tv shows. I highly recommend Entourage and Sleeper Cell (think 24, but better).
Google Video - A good alternative to iTunes for recent shows, some of which are free. I can still watch Charlie Rose (one of my favorites) on PBS nightly, but his shows are now available at Google. I've played a few episodes in my browser and listened to the audio while I worked on other projects. Did you miss the Survivor finale? It's available (for $2) at Google as well.
Local Libary - Ours has a good online system where we can place books/DVDs on hold and be alerted via email when they are available. Kind of like Netflix, but a bit more legwork involved.
Matt and I don't have cable either and enjoy watching TV shows...especially Entourage. We are big fans of the Champaign library DVD collection. In fact, that's where we always checked out Entourage. :) We're really hoping that the libraries in NC have such a good DVD selection.
Matt and I don't have cable either and enjoy watching TV shows...especially Entourage. We are big fans of the Champaign library DVD collection. In fact, that's where we always checked out Entourage. :) We're really hoping that the libraries in NC have such a good DVD selection.