TV In The Stream

...this past weekend, I lost the entirety of my DV-R contents. Almost an entire season of shows like The Strain, Tyrant and The Americans now gone into the ether. For some people, this would be the catalyst for an eve of fetal position twitching and possible weeping. Considering where I was with these shows and how bad I'd become at keeping up with them, I felt as if an enormous decision had been made for me and a load had been lifted from my shoulders.

For months now, I had watched more new shows accumulate on the DV-R than I was willing to watch. As I finally began Season 2 of The Americans, I found myself bored and uninspired three episodes in. Tyrant's pilot blew me away and then I never dove back in. The Strain comic book series felt less cumbersome in the face of the series. Where I once could not wait to get home to see that week's new episode of Rescue Me, The Riches or The Shield, TV now feels like more work. The scripts are beginning to sag, the actors are not always cast based on talent as much as name and overall, there is just too much content on television.

On the flipside, there is the joy of Netflix. All shows available for streaming in bunches or however one prefers is the choice of kings. It is the height of viewing gluttony. It is the service we have always wanted that we never knew could exist on Earth. As Netflix has graduated from a mere noun to a verb, Amazon Prime has offered a slightly different but equally intriguing model. In addition to the bevy of streaming films and shows, they also offer their own brand of original programming. What sets them apart and potentially makes them more intriguing than Netflix is Amazon Pilot Season.

Much like pilot season for the network, Amazon offers the viewing public five pilots for initial viewing every six months. Customers watch each one and vote on what they want to see more of and what they don't care about. Essentially, the series-order-decision is taken out of the board room and focus group and given to the masses. It is such a beautifully simple idea that it confounds me as to how it took this long to occur.

In the forthcoming episode of The Comic Roast Podcast, we will be discussing the current five shows at length. We have all seen all five current Pilot Season offerings and are ready to delve as deep as necessary to determine if any of them are worth one's time. This season consists of three comedies in the form of Red Oak, Really and The Cosmopolitans and two dramas in Hysteria and Hand Of God.

Without getting into too much detail now, I have to admit that I was essentially disappointed with the entire lineup. The production values were surprisingly varied, ranging from TV quality to straight-to-video hackery. Considering that Amazon is the company behind this, I was surprised as some of the shows do not have the production values of Netflix's current roster of original hits.

As for the shows, the ranged from "meh" to "zzzzz" for me. I had higher hopes for approximately three of the five offerings and was let down to varying degrees each time. When stacked up against heavyweight Netflix offerings such as House Of Cards, Arrested Development and the criminally underrated Lilyhammer, nothing presented as new series options are even in the same league.

However, this is just my basic opinion overall. I am reasonably certain that my co-hosts will have varying thoughts when we discuss Pilot Season on the next episode of The Comic Roast. When we do, we will evaluate each individual series and our more detailed thoughts. If you are an Amazon Prime viewer, have you watched the current Pilot Season episodes? What were your thoughts?tv