Just want to add this real quick because it’s important.
I know it’s tempting to want to pirate this series but if you have the money then PLEASE don’t. Apple TV+ is only $5 a month so you can just pay for a month, watch the series (maybe multiple times) and then cancel. You could even just use the 1 week free trial if you need to. But please, let’s show the creators of the series (including actual paleoartists and scientists!) our support so that we can maybe see a season 2 or even a renewed interest in paleo media in general.
This fall will see the launch of Disney+ and Apple TV+, widening the ever-expanding playing field of streaming service choices. It’s a far cry from the days when all you had to do is pick between Netflix and Hulu or just stick with your existing cable provider. But with so many new choices we’ve arrived right back to what gave birth to the cord-cutting revolution in the first place. To have access to all the programming you want, you need to subscribe to quite a few different services and those prices add up.
The benefit of a lot of streaming choice is a wealth of programming. I know I’m excited for Disney+ and its lot of new ‘Star Wars’ series and access to the existing ‘Star Wars’ movies on demand. Of course, I also have to have access to CBS All Access for ‘Star Trek Discovery’ and the upcoming ‘Star Trek Picard.’. ‘Game of Thrones’ may have come to a conclusion, but it is a good bet HBO will have more programming that is nerd-worthy soon. Throw-in Hulu and Netflix because they always have some buzz-worthy shows, and you start to get close to what your old cable subscription cost.
The looming potential of all this is a return to illegal downloading. I know, piracy never really went away. But the increased ticket price of getting all the programming you are looking for is bound to drive more people to find ways to avoid those costs. As more people begin to head that direction, the studios behind the services may start to cut back their programming to make up for the lack of assumed subscriptions materializing. The season 8 premiere of 'Game of Thrones’ received 17.4 million legal viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Online piracy data firm Muso says that the same episode was watched illegally 54 million times within 24 hours of broadcast[1]. Not a small difference to be sure and that number was before the on-coming launch of new services.
The other downside of this much choice in the streaming world is that shows will struggle to find their audiences. Hopefully, streaming providers will learn to adjust their ‘viewers’ data to reflect how their programming is doing compared to other shows on the same service. That doesn’t seem to be the case, and a lot of potentially great shows end up canceled after one season. Maybe we’re lucky that we are at least getting the entire first season, versus the days of network television where we might only see a few episodes. With all the choice out there now how can smaller programs develop an audience?
It’s too early to tell what all the new streaming options will do to the industry. We should, as viewers, at least be prepared for the onslaught of new shows to watch (get ready for even less sleep!). One can only watch so many hours of television, though. Can streaming services adapt to the challenges they create? Or will shows suffer from a perceived lack of viewership due to an out-dated ratings system and piracy? It remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t commit too profoundly to any show, at least at first.
In this episode we decided to break the entire mold of our podcast and discuss a completely different tv show! Join us to discuss Episode 8 of Elisabeth Moss’ new show, “Shining Girls,” airing on Apple TV+ now.
Moss, Wagner Moura, and Jamie Bell play the leads in this thrilling Silka Luisa adaptation of Lauren Beukes’ 2013 bestselling novel The Shining Girls, produced by Lizzie’s own Love & Squalor.
Join us on Thursday for an INTERVIEW WITH THE SHOW RUNNER, Silka Luisa, to perform, in her words, “a postmortem” on the season finale of Shining Girls! And please come find us on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr for lots of extra content!
Sad, but not unexpected news. Taron Egerton has departed the Mike Bartlett play COCK.
On Egerton’s first night in previews he fainted during the last act. He sat out a performance or two and returned. Then in a matter of days he tested positive for Covid-19. The reasons cited for his exit is “personal reasons”.
As many roles gigs as Egerton has taken on like Apple+s film about the founder of TETRIS and Apple+s limited series BLACK BIRD (costarring Paul Walter Hauser).
Based on the true crime story “In With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption” by James Keene and Hillel Levin.
What’s it all about?
Inspired by actual events, when high school football hero, decorated policeman’s son, and convicted drug dealer Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) is sentenced to 10 years in a minimum-security prison, he is given the choice of a lifetime — enter a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), or stay where he is and serve his full sentence with no possibility of parole. Keene quickly realizes his only way out is to elicit a confession and find out where the bodies of several young girls are buried before Hall’s appeal goes through. But is this suspected killer telling the truth? Or is it just another tale from a serial liar? This dramatic and captivating story subverts the crime genre by enlisting the help of the very people put behind bars to solve its mysteries.
he has also departed a few roles in recent months. After two seasons he departed the role of Mommintroll in Sky’s MOMMINVALLEYseries.
BUT HE LEFT US WITH THIS LOVELY SONG
You can hear new Moomintroll Jack Rowan in these clips from the series 3 opener.
