Netflix Addictions

Sandy

There’s a reason why I don’t watch TV. It’s not because I hate it. Athough, I do. Particularly when it’s copy-cat sitcoms interrupted wih canned laugh tracks and commercials. Do they even have laugh tracks anymore? The last time I peeked, reality shows and competitions dominated the programmes.

I don’t watch TV for the same reason that I don’t like Netflix. I’m too easily addicted to series. If I don’t finish Episode One there’s a chance that I won’t be hooked. Episode Ones can be boring with their backstory and introductions. If I resist finishing Episode One there is a chance that I’ll declare it bad and walk away.

I started watching Episode One for The Game of Thrones five times. It wasn’t until three seasons after its first release and years of hype and rave reviews, that I finally forced myself to finish Episode One. One week later I had watched both Seasons 1 and 2 in quick succession.

HBO, Netflix and Amazon Prime have been horrible enablers to my addiction.

Last week I binge watched Netflix’s The Bridgertons. After the predictable end of eight episodes, I sat back and wondered why I enjoyed the show. It wasn’t the story line or the writing. The story was predictable and the dialog was cringe-worthy. I might have cared, if I hadn’t been so diverted by the costumes, scenery and pretty actors. The series is based on a set of Regency romance novels by Julia Quinn. I hadn’t read them before and after seeing the Netflix promotions, I put my name down for a library copy: #2163 on the waiting list.

On Saturday I made a huge error in judgement by watching Episode One of FATE: The Winx Saga. My son walked through the TV room and asked me why I was watching a childrens show. But it was too late. I was already on to Episode 2.

I am now hooked on the French mystery series Lupin, a retelling of the classic French story about Arsène Lupin, a world-famous gentleman thief and master of disguise.

It is such a clever and well produced show … except for the horrible English dubbing. I started watching Episode One in English and probably would have walked away. But reverting to the original French version with English subtitles took care of that. Lupin Season 1 has only six five episodes. I might have finished them all in one go but I made the mistake of watching with son and hubby. They have far more self control.

What about you? Are you series fan? What’s your favorite TV show?

Anxiously awaiting the next episode in Toronto, Canada. January 2021.

49 Comments

  1. Did you catch my recent series post? Here:

    Series killer

    I have Lupin on my list. It came warmly recommended. Haven’t seen any others that you mention. Currently finishing Hinterland, the Welsh series. The recent series I put on my list to see were: Halifax: Retribution; The Pursuit of Love; Goliath; The Tourist; Giri/Haji; Zone Blanche. Not sure which are on Netflix though.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh boy Manja. I couldn’t pull together a list of anything I’ve done in the last 3 years. How can you keep track? Do you keep notes? I haven’t watched True Detective but I know it’s good, at least the first two seasons.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. I hear you, Sandy – I have an addictive personality that Netflix enables as well.
    I also binge-watched Bridgerton (agree with your assessment – but it is Regency, and I have to watch anything set in this time) and Winx (also an irresistable genre). Both not my favourites in terms of storyline, but it is done.

    Loving Husband loved Lupin – he thought the original French sounded better than the English-dub.

    I am now binge-watching Love & Redemption (a Chinese period, martial-arts series) – can you get it in Toronto?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Lovely post – It’s good to know that there are others suffering from the same addiction – Just finished traces on BBC and Lupin all in the space of 3 days – Hi My name is Dan and l am an Addict.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    2. We signed up for Amazon Prime because of its shipping guarantees and Prime video came with it. I’m not sure how widely availbable Prime shipping is outside of US & Canada.
      But I bet Europe is crazy for choice with streaming channels, so I’m sure you have enough to entertain.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Finland doesn’t have a lot of choice actually, even our Netflix and HBO are tailored with a more limited selection than you’d get. I’ve also had trouble with the language: I want my kids to watch cartoons in English (the original language) so they’d be exposed to English a bit and maybe something would sink in, but Netflix and/or Apple TV which is use to project it on our TV screen keeps persistently showing us the Finnish dubbed versions, goddammit. I’ve tampered with the preferences and googled it, but apparently localisation is supposed to be good customer experience and because we live here, we must watched them dubbed… So not 2021!
        😅

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. How odd that they’d remove the option for original language. Maybe the Finns are more protective of their language?

          Altho not exactly the same, we had a similar actions here in our French speaking province. They had language laws meant to protect Quebecois French from being anglais-ized. To the extent of banning English words which were commonly used in France. Like traffic signs for STOP were all changed to ARRET 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  6. When I was at school, a teacher said that a book’s first sentence is the most important one: it needs to make the reader want to read on. I feel like that about TV series and movies too. If the first 5 min don’t sweep me off my feet, I turn it off. I’m with you on the dilemma of the 1st episode: most often I can’t get past episode one. I never watched Game of Thrones for that reason!

    Like

    Reply

      1. I liked Gambit after you recommeded it 😊 I’ve enjoyed… let’s see, hmm…
        Dead To Me, Pretty Little Things, Biohackers, Love & Anarchy, I even sort of enjoyed Tiger King (cringing!!!!!) 🙊 I liked Lupin but they only showed 5 episodes here and it didn’t finish properly: now you say there are 6 episodes, no wonder it ended weirdly!!
        My all-time fave is Friends. Just watched The Flight Attendant (free one week trial of HBO Nordic) but I didn’t find Kaley Cuoco’s character to be at all sympathetic and towards the end it was hard to root for her. Have you seen it?

        Like

        Reply

  7. We don’t have Netflix as we find plenty to watch on the BBC and Channel 4. We sort-of binge-watched Spooks (all 10 series) through the first lockdown. We try to pace ourselves so we can enjoy it over a longer period. Currently we’re watching The Great and The Serpent – very different but both good. Loved Killing Eve, The Night Manager, the French series The Wave (in French with subtitles) and more recently the Icelandic Valhalla. As a big fan of the Regency period I avoided Bridgerton because I knew it would annoy me with its lack of historical accuracy – something I’m completely happy to ignore in The Great!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. A lot of my favorite shows come from BBC but I have to wait for them to be picked up by Netflix & Amazon. I’ll have to look out for the shows that you mention.

      In terms of historical inaccuracy, do you mean the Bridgerton books or are you referring to the Netflix adaptation?

      Contrarily, I thoroughly enjoyed Netflix’s rampart disregard for historical accuracy! When indulging in escapism theatre why not go all the way? 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I was talking about the TV series – but it’s all secondhand info as I haven’t seen it, nor read the books. I’m a big fan of Georgette Heyer’s Regency works, and she was famous for the level of her research and historical accuracy 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. It all depends on your frame of mind. Years (many many years) ago, I enjoyed Georgette Heyer novels. My reading tastes have changed and I don’t think I’d like them now .. but maybe I should get one from the library, just to see.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  9. In December I watched a German and Norwegian Christmas themed series on Netflix and loved it. I just finished four weddings and a funeral (yes, based on that film) on HBO go. I don’t like to watch sth just because of its hype, eg the Gambit or the Bridgerton. I watched the trailer, didn’t like it, so I won’t watch it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. You are right, sometimes the hype doesn’t justify the show. In the case of the The Queen’s Gambit, I have to disagree though. That is an extremely well done show. The previews don’t really do it justice and for the longest time I wasn’t enticed to watch. But once started … well scripted, good acting, fabulous lighting and sets, gorgeous costumes … I really enjoyed it.

      I haven’t seen a lot of German or Norwegian shows, but now I’ll look for them.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. Netflix is what I have and its’ more than enough… I really enjoyed Lupin and recently continued watching Vikings. There was also a mini limited series Alias Grace that got my attention and I binged it in two days.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I LOVE having the full season available for viewing! I hate waiting a whole week for the next installment. Seasons that end in cliff hangers?! Aiii-yo, I hate those.

      Despite what I say in my post, I am actually a big fan of Netflix and all the other streaming services that produce original content. It seems to me that they’ve been a bit more daring and innovative.

      I also like having access to a range of global content. Netflix & others have lowered the barriers to entry for international productions. With regular TV, I wouldn’t have had the choice of seeing shows produced outside of North America …. and there are so many good ones. Based on yours and others’ comments, it looks like Scandi programs are something I should check out.

      Like

      Reply

          1. Oh there are so many Sandy: Start perhaps with a Danish Show The Killing, Borgen, or Danish-Swedish – The Bridge. Then there is the Wallander series _ make sure it is the Swedish version not the British one. Any movie written by Jo Nesbø – Headhunters is one that comes to mind. Norwegian Series – Home Ground, Occupied, Icelandic – Trapped. There are movies too that are good. But if you search for Nordic Noir or Scandianvian shows on Netflix some should come up.

            Liked by 1 person

  13. It seems like you are talking directly to me Sandy! I didn’t binge watch Game of Thrones but waited patiently week to week and then went onto forums to see what everyone was thinking! And I read all the books. I’ve watched Lupin and Bridgerton, loved them both. Acting was superb in Bridgerton how they kept straight faces I don’t know. I am binge watching Money Heist at the moment, every spare minute! I do love a foreign crime drama, although the Spanish accent is beginning to grate (sorry all you Spanish people). My favourites are Scandi Noir.
    I never watch free to air either, it’s too time consuming.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I think HBO’s Game of Thrones was a game changer in content progamming. I remember when HBO first came out. People thought it was crazy for them to charge for TV and absolute nuts to create original content for small screen TV. How far we’ve come.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Tanja Cancel reply

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s