It was time.
For years, SuperWoman waited patiently for shows like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under and The Wire to come on DVD, scattered in with the sleeves of classic and independent films. In her apartment days, SuperWoman worshipped at the altar of Netflix, perhaps the singular capitalist god she appreciated. At the time, SuperWoman (who was arguably still SuperGirl) ordered 3 DVDs at a time and finished them, miraculously, within the week.
Netflix had created a win-win situation. SuperWoman could stay vastly entertained and avoid the burdensome cost of cable. What is that thing again, SuperWoman thinks, for what cable companies do?
Suck. Yes. That’s the word.
Cable companies make you pay for a bunch of channels you don’t really want, and then they try to convince you that you’re getting a deal. SuperWoman went nobly cable-free for a while, extolling the virtues of PBS. But then winter came, and she needed something to occupy her cooped-up children. She got one of those bundle things. More recently, however, SuperWoman considered abandoning cable yet again for all this “streaming” business going on.
And then it happened. Her quiet, writerly, facebook-resistant/cable-free friend started hacking into her parents’ HBO account and watching Season Two of Boardwalk Empire, saying, “You have to see it. It’s so good, it’s my favorite, you have to see it.”
SuperWoman has grown quite fond of TV on DVD, the good kind with no commercials that originally aired on cable. (Except The Good Wife, which is consistently brilliant on CBS.) She has resorted to TV shows because she can no longer stay awake for entire movies. An edict was indelibly printed on the placenta that followed her daughter out of the birth canal: Ye shall only rarely if ever watch movies ‘more. And it is true. Whenever SuperWoman sits on the couch to watch a film, she makes it through a measly ten minutes of music and hushed voices before her husband nudges her to wake up.
So when she finished her DVDs of Boardwalk Empire, Season One (each episode such a manageable, single hour!), and had virtually no hope of getting her hands on Season Two, she decided to try a new strategy.
Order HBO.
It was possible that things had changed in Blood-Sucking Cable Land. Maybe, to avoid extinction, they had made premium channels like HBO more affordable for people like SuperWoman.
A little internet research showed her that they had. She was pleased (maybe ecstatic) to find out that she could get HBO for only $8.50 a month.
Last night, SuperWoman and her mortal husband tucked the kids in bed and sat on the deck, admiring the full moon and the cool breeze. Then, Mortal Husband finally said, “You ready?”
SuperWoman answered. “Yes.”
They went in the house and watched Game of Thrones.
It might have been better than sex.
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Ah, we finally broke down and got cable when we moved three years ago. No HBO (but I’ve seriously considered it) but Showtime? Ah– Showtime.
I watched five seasons of Weeds in two weeks.
I was virtuously sans cable for a few years–Didn’t mind waiting for Project Runway to come out on DVD, was glad not to be wasting time channel surfing. So happy not to pay the bill.
Then when I had a newborn waking up at 5 am, we got cable AND a DVR. Suddenly, I was recording shows like crazy, and blessing the TV every time I was up that early.
Sometimes, the cable bill is worth it.
Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire are both almost better than sex.
My husband is a techie, so we stream Netflix and Hulu with a Google TV box. Don’t ask me how it works, but for under $20 a month, we can see most any show/movie that we’d like and more (via the box thingy). Seriously would never have it any other way, but if it ever stops working and my husband is out of town, I am royally screwed :)
Currently loving Series 1 of Sherlock from the BBC. Also better than sex ;)
Oh I’d love to have HBO. I’m watching Nurse Jackie on Netflix now. :)
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