Remember the good ‘’ol days of television?  When one could only get three (free) network channels (maybe four, if you counted PBS) on that small, 15-inch TV set with the rabbit ear antenna sitting in the corner of the living room?  What should we watch tonight, honey?  Well, there are only four choices – pick one.  In the early 1970’s that meant Telly Savalas as “Kojak” on CBS, James Garner starring in “The Rockford Files” on NBC, or we could watch Karl Malden and a young Michael Douglas in “The Streets of San Francisco” over on ABC.  If you’re feeling highbrow, “Masterpiece Theater” is playing on PBS.  If you don’t like any of those choices, you might as well turn in for the night.  There were no VCRs, DVDs, cable, or streaming choices.  If you wanted to see a movie, you went to the theater.

Remember when TV used to have big “event” movies?  Dubbed the “mini-series”, these spectacles attracted top-name talent and were shown on back-to-back nights, breaking ratings records and captivating the American public.  “Roots”, “Shogun”, and “Jesus of Nazareth” come to mind.  I recently re-watched “Shogun” on YouTube, and man – it doesn’t hold up very well with age.  We were captivated by this in 1980?  Richard Chamberlain in a kimono?  Sheeeesh.

With the advent of cable television and home video, today’s choices of television entertainment abound. In fact, there are so many choices – I can’t keep them all straight – and let’s be frank here, not all of it is that great.

Honestly, I finally got rid of cable at my house because there were hundreds of channels with literally nothing worth watching on it.  MTV gave up on showing anything related to music years ago.  I can only watch so many couples try to pick half-million dollar beach house from three choices, or watch wanna-be chefs duel it out to try to make the best dish from a secret ingredient.  How many weather channels do I really need?  Am I really sitting through a professional cornhole tournament from Las Vegas?  Oh, look, I can still watch “Kojak”, “The Rockford Files”, or “The Streets of San Francisco” again, too.  “Cutting the cable cord” was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Or so I thought.

Cable TV has caught on to my plan.  Here I thought I was being smart by turning it off, but what do I have to replace it with? 

Streaming services. 

Now, when co-workers tell me about a specific show, they now also have to tell me about a specific network that it’s on.  “Yellowstone”?  You’ll need the Paramount Plus network.  “Westworld”?  Oh, that’s on HBO Max.  “The Handmaid’s Tale?”  You’ll need Hulu for that.  “Obi-Wan Kenobi?”  Disney Plus.  “Stranger Things 4”?  That’s Netflix.  Each one has its own lineup of shows – and each one comes with a specific price tag to match.  I’ve literally stopped dining at the all-you-can-eat buffet and am now eating from the more expensive a la carte menu.

So what’s a consumer to do?

I’m trying a new tactic.  Borrowing popular shows on DVD from the public library.

I’m getting ready to catch up on “Yellowstone” – Season Four – – – for free.

Take that, Paramount Plus.