My Obsession (is still going strong)

Q. You know something that really hacks me off about American TV?

And it's not even like we have TV.  We opted for Netflix instead: a wonderful invention.  In fact, so wonderful when you have young kids that your kids don't actually know what real TV looks like.  For example, Christmas 2011 we were back home in Scotland.  The Don had already left and had returned to Midland, and the kids and I were trying to pack up from Grandma's house and head, I dunno, somewhere.  I stuck the tele on for them while I loaded the car, and they got to watch some wonderful CBeebies. After one programme was finished they said:

"Can we watch another one, mum?"

"Sure, why not."

"Can you put it on for us?"

"Just wait and it'll come on all by itself."

"Reeeaaallly???"  



Why yes child, welcome to the magical world of television.

Anyway, that was all a by the by to say that, although we don't watch TV here, I have discovered ABCplayer (and even better, the ABCplayer app on this new computer!) and am, therefore, now a dedicated 'live' follower of both Grey's and Scandal.

Now this post I meant to post about a year and a half ago when I first came across it, because it's REALLY annoying.  I noticed it first in Autumn 2011: both girls were in preschool/Mother's Day Out on a Friday so it was the first break I had from children - I'd get a whole bunch of chores done, enjoy my morning with just one wee child, pick up a chicken sonoma sandwich and strawberry lemonade at Strawberry Fields (yes, every week) then head home, load up abc.com, and sit down to enjoy my weekly helping of Grey's.  Except...

A. Half the flammin' time the programme that was supposed to be on [the evening before and now on ABCplayer], wasn't even on!

Which is even more annoying when you actually manage one of those great evenings when the kids get to bed and are quiet before your programme is due to start, so you can sit down on the sofa and watch it live (because abc is one of the three channels our rubbishy TV aerial picks up).

It turns out that in Britain a new series/season often starts in January and runs through till May, showing e-v-e-r-y shocking week.  Here, however, they manage to stretch a 22 or 24 week season over 33 weeks from September to May, which means your programme is cancelled every opportunity they get - between Thanksgiving and Christmas, for three weeks over Spring Break, and numerous other times in between.  Have I said that's really annoying?  And if a new show starts here after Christmas, it's only made up of 12 episodes, like Season 1 of both Grey's and Scandal.

Anyway, rant over.  After three weeks of repeats, last night episode 21 of 24 was on, and I'm gonna savour these last three weeks while I can...