RIP Cable television

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Where I live, I don't even think a person can get cable anymore. Satellite has been the dominant thing here pretty much ever since Starchoice (now known as Shaw Direct) and Bell Expressvu (now known as Bell TV) came about in the late 90s, especially since we have a fairly large rural population, in comparison to the number of people who live right in town and could theoretically have cable rather than satellite. It probably also doesn't help that the cable company we have/had was fairly small and slow to adapt to newer technologies, like cable-based broadband internet or HD.

The last time I had cable was just under six years ago, when I was still living in the last house my parents had before they split up. It was actually kinda nice, because even though we had a lot of the typical cable/satellite specialty channels, the selection was leaner and more compact than what you get on satellite here, where you have a lot of channels that essentially broadcast the exact same programs at the exact same time, even though they are technically stations from different parts of Canada. This made channel surfing a LOT easier, and I didn't get the same sense of "500 channels and nothing to watch." I've mainly lived outside of town ever since I moved out of that house, but even the one time I did move back into town for about a year or so, I still had the same satellite service my dad got when I first moved to his place out of town.

My mother lives in a much larger town, and she actually has access to Shaw cable. I don't think it's HD, but the channel selection is pretty awesome, and there's something that just feels "comfy" about using it. It was even more comfy when she still had her old CRT TV, but she eventually got a flatscreen as a Christmas present.

I don't know why, but satellite TV, internet streaming, and flatscreens just feel soulless to me. I want a bigass, old-fashioned tube TV, and I want cable, dammit! Why must I be so nostalgic at such a young age?

You do know that if you want to watch shows on a schedule, you can use your TIVO to record it or however else you obtain the programming and afterwards watch on any schedule that you set - if you want to watch Big Bang Theory at 8PM on Wednesdays, or 9AM on Saturdays, or mix it up from time to time, or just watch it whenever on a whim, you can do it. No one is forcing you to not have the rigors or a routine of a schedule.

I don't really watch too much tv. However, the shows I do watch, are on cable, so I do care. Everything else, I have on dvd.

I remember that back in the 80s and 90s, every cable channel was unique and would air different genres of shows. Now today, almost all of them are airing dramas and crappy reality TV shows. Yes there are some great cable TV dramas today, but all cable channels have LOST their uniqueness. I don't find any reality TV shows interesting at all.

AMC: Aired only classic movies before time of Mad Men and Breaking Bad

A&E, Discovery, TLC and Bravo: Aired science, history, art, cooking and crafts shows.

TBS and TNT: Aired classic cartoons and TV shows

VH1 and MTV: Aired only music videos

History and Animal Planet: Self-explanatory

TVLand: Aired all classic shows

I haven't been watching lots of TV for the past few years. Now I'm watching American Ninja Warrior, Naked and Afraid, and am looking forward to Gotham!