THE WATCHER

Good TV, Bad TV

It started innocently enough, it always does. An email from Joost recommended a television show to watch. It was called Jericho. It was a show I never saw, so I watched show one, season one. And I was hooked. I burned through every episode they had posted and really enjoyed the story, the cast and the plot. Problem was they did not have all the episodes up on Joost, so I went a looking. I found some streaming media sites the filled in the gaps and my online-media journey began. Now, let me tell you, I don't just stop everything to watch TV on my computer screen. I'm a expert multi-tasker. I work my aps and have a little 640x480 screen open on my desktop and as the media runs, I work. It's like having the radio on...really, really good radio, with pictures. If the story is compelling enough, I glance down and catch the gist of the scene, if it's really good, I pause and give it a look. If it rocks my world, I may stop typing and become awash in the moment.

I recently heard on NPR that employers are finding that the new generation of workers are extremely adapt at multitasking. As long as performance is strong they can twitter, Facebook and stream media to their work PCs. One article I read calls it passive distractions, another says it's a sign of depression. Only time will tell with me.

There are actually only a couple of shows that I record in HD to watch at my leisure, whatever that is. Those are LOST, Heroes, Sarah Connor Chronicles and 30 Rock...everything else I'll stream what I get to it. That being said, here is a list of TV series that I have watched in the past 12 months, every episode; Jericho, LOST, Greys Anatomy, Heroes, Life, Fringe, 24, 30 Rock, The Office, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Rescue Me, Desperate Housewives, American Idol, Entourage, Six Feet Under, The Shield, Flight of the Concords, Arrested Development, 30 Days, Web Therapy, Green Wing, Dexter, Nurse Jackie, Warehouse 13, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and Firefly; Glee; Flash Forward; Community, Fringe, Sons of Anarchy.