I finally broke down and signed up for Amazon Prime, not for the shipping but for the tv. Being old enough to remember the idea that most tv is free unless you want to throw down for ‘premium’ cable I’m now viscerally opposed to the nickel and dime feeling that I’m supposed to subscribe to everything to watch good tv. I still can’t bring myself to pay for beyond basic+ cable so I miss out on the quality from HBO, Showtime, and apparently even channels like Spike (darn that Ink Master). Then people keep talking about great shows on Amazon, Hulu, and now even CBS All Access with the introduction of The Good Wife spin-off The Good Fight. Don’t even get me started on other random subscription services.
I’ve been a long subscriber of Netflix, getting on board when this took over from my video rental service and staying when I relinquished the availability of all videos in the dvd delivery service and moved just to streaming. My rationale at the time was that there was enough available on streaming to keep me occupied and that I wasn’t watching enough movies to keep the rentals going. This was before the introduction of things like Orange is the New Black and House of Cards made their original content buzzworthy, but when that came out followed by others it just sealed the fate of my keeping the service.
To supplement I’ve been renting the occasional movie on Amazon but with the a la carte pricing the cost of seasons of tv just seemed daunting. I recently finished watching Mad Men (streaming on Netflix) and I decided I had waited long enough to watch the show that was so highly regarded, The Wire.
So I could throw down for an HBO or HBO Now subscription but as long as I’m not too put out by missing the current seasons Amazon seemed to offer more bang for the buck. For $99/yr (bringing monthly down to $8.25/mo) you get the old catalog of HBO shows (not the currents), you get a handful of free movies, and you get some additional services including of course free shipping. So now that I’m in I’ve also added their original series. Have Bosch, Catastrophe, Fleabag, One Mississippi, and Transparent along with those yet to come sealed my forever fate? And what else should I be watching?