Boxing Day

HBO & The Overthrow of my Netflix Queue

It started with The Sopranos.  Two years of jamming up my Netflix queue later, it was Band of Brothers, still to this day one of my favorites (check out 'The Pacific miniseries' in Wikipedia if you liked Band of Brothers).  Then Curb Your Enthusiasm, and for a minute, Ali G DVDs were in the mail.  At this point, I was getting tired of being a year behind on all of my favorite shows, but figured that HBO was just riding a hot streak, soon to end.  After all, I didn't even really watch TV.  Some of my friends had satellite TV, which was great, but I only occasionally watched anything other than sports, and HD wasn't available yet.  Occasionally the History Channel, Discovery from time to time, maybe a little Frontline here and there, but overall, I didn't really watch TV.

Then it happened.  I had caught one or two episodes of Season 2 at a friend's house on satellite, but I wasn't hooked yet.  Slowly but surely, more and more of my friends were raving, 'this is the best HBO series yet.'  I felt like cop dramas were overdone, didn't really know anything about Baltimore, wasn't that interested.  But I still didn't have HBO, so I figured, why not, ordered it up.  One-third of the way through Season 1 I was completely addicted.  My entire queue was jammed up with The Wire, and I literally couldn't stop watching.  Like a fiend on a Stanfield corner, I was watching two or three episodes per night, ripping though the discs, one every day.  Then, just like it hit Bubs, the withdrawal of having finished the series crushed me.  In my mind, nothing has touched The Wire, but that hasn't stopped HBO from continuing to produce the best programs on TV.  One of the few brands that live up to their slogan, this isn't even TV; it is much, much better.

After The Wire, I got caught up on Entourage, which jammed my queue up again, and then bit the bullet.  I was sick of hearing bits and pieces of the current seasons of my favorite shows, only to wait for the DVDs to arrive months later.  Almost anticipating the swift imposition of Murphy's Law, immediately after subscribing to satellite TV, I fully expected the programming to drop off.  Apparently Murphy wasn't paying attention this time, because it's as good as ever.  Entourage continues, along with Flight of the Conchords, and my new favorite, Eastbound & Down.  

These days I watch in high definition, which makes my life as one of the few remaining boxing fans in the universe pretty exciting come fight night.  Whether I want one or not, the big fights on HBO result in a party at my place.  If you're impressed by NFL Sunday Ticket in HD ' try watching a title fight, it is amazing.  I hit up Discovery from time to time to check out Planet Earth in high definition, but most of all, I stick with a series or two from the network that hooked me.  Best of all, I actually freed up my Netflix queue for movies, which is a welcome change from the frustration of getting references my friends have been making to the characters in these shows six months late'