#Like

Do I Like Netflix?

It is a hard question to answer if I am honest. However I will do my best to come up with as detailed an answer as I can. 

The answer to the question would have to be no and here is my reason why; It is not that Netflix is a bad service, on the contrary it is certainly one of if not the best TV and Film streaming sites available today, yes there can be a lack of good shows and films to watch but it is one of the cheapest and at times one of the most reliable. The service is always ready available and at times has been there when I have had nothing else to do. 

Unfortunately though it has also been there when I have had things to do as well. The programs I have a habit of watching tend to come in many seasons and are some what quite addictive. I am a creature of habit and when I begin to watch a program I like to watch as many episodes as I can as often as I can to try and watch all of the seasons available. 

This is why I dislike Netflix, It is too readily available for my liking. This perhaps says more about my ability to walk away from a TV series however I maintain it is still Netflix fault haha. 

One thing that definitely makes it harder to walk away from a good show on Netflix is the dreaded next episode timer. For anyone that has never used Netflix, the next episode timer is basically a small timer roughly around 14 seconds long that starts to count down at the end of an episode, when the timer counts down and reaches 0 it will begin to play the next episode. A feat of genius in the streaming world as we all know the hardship of looking for the next episode or putting the next DVD in. However as genius as it is it is also evil!!! EVIL I tell you!! when you are lying in bed at 2am and really needing to get to sleep the last thing you want is another episode to start playing especially if it is a new tv series you are watching as more often than not the curiosity kicks in and you end up staying up later to watch the episode well I know I certainly do. 

This can be a real burden on sleep patterns, uni work, social lives etc and this is why I do not like Netflix. Will this stop me from continuing my subscription? No not a chance in hell, I like my tv programs and I shall continue watching.

Suits

"Suits" an American legal drama created and written by Aaron Korsh. The show airs on the USA Network from its debut on June 23, 2011, which originally aired a 90 minute pilot. The show tells the story of Mike Ross, who works as a law associate for Harvey Spencer despite never actually attending law school. The show focuses on Harvey and Mike managing to close cases whilst maintaining Mike's secret. - Wiki

I remember when Suits first appeared on Netflix. It was something I flicked past several times, even toyed with the idea of watching it but always managed to talk myself out of it at the last minute. It wasn't until I was left with nothing else to watch that I finally stuck the pilot episode of Suits on. Im strange this way, if a programs name or cover image does not scream (WATCH ME IM AMAZING) then it is highly unlikely I will give it a watch when I first stumble across it. I was hooked from the first episode! It was not how I imagined it would be when I first saw the title and cover image, I had imagined a snooty stuck up lawyer and his journey through the courts however It is far from that! It really goes to show that like a book you can't judge a tv show by it's cover.

From the off the program is jam packed full of intelligent humor, it keeps the viewer thoroughly entertained and thinking at the same time. This is something that I really liked and something that ended up making Suits one of my favorite programs to watch.

Suits received an IMDB rating of 8.8 out of 10 from little over 183,000 voters which is fantastic. I can't praise the program highly enough and have successfully managed to convince many friends to watch it who eventually began to love it as much as I do.

There are currently three full seasons of suits available on Netflix with season four being available to buy on DVD. The full boxset itself cannot be bought yet however to buy all of the available seasons would cost just over £30. However I would highly advise you just to use Netflix for the price of £6.99 a month and just buy the following seasons as you need them - You can sign up here - or if you have never used Netflix before you can sign up for a free months trial!

Any feedback on my blog would be great and would ideally add some form of extra credit or something along those lines to my university project. So feel free to leave a comment, positive or not any feedback will be taken on board :) thanks, Scott.

Bates Motel

"Bates Motel" is a contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film "Psycho," and gives a portrayal of how Norman Bates' (Freddie Highmore) psyche unravels through his teenage years. Fans discover the dark, twisted backstory of Norman Bates and how deeply intricate his relationship with his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), truly is.

- Written by A&E Television Networks

The show starts out as Norman Bates being portrayed as a regular young man. As the show goes on, Norma and Norman's relationship gives us insight to how Norman came to be the way he is. An intricate back story to Norma's life is revealed and Norman's pshyche slowly starts to unravel, long before the events way down in the fruit cellar. - IMDB

'Bates Motel' is a new US television series. The first season premiered on March 18th, 2013 and ran for ten hour-length episodes. The series stars Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates and Freddie Highmore as her son, Norman Bates.

While the set is a perfect match for the original from the movie 'Psycho', including the iconic house, the series is set in the present, making it more of a re-imagining than an actual prequel. The show wastes no time in raising the tension level of the story. Within the first episode the Bates are confronted by the former owner who is clearly upset over the loss of his family property. We also learn fairly quickly that White Pines Bay is not your typical small town, in that it has more than its fair share of strange goings on. 

The series has recieved a rating of 8.2 out of 10 from IMDB members with over 44,000 votes cast. I have currently watched both season one and two and have made a start to season three. The show is sickening at times but keeps you shocked and wanting more! It is a must watch if you are into dark dramas. 

The show can be found on Netflix, but if you prefer to own the DVD the full box-set can be bought via Amazon for around £12 -  You can get the Box-Set Here - However if you are sad and lack a social life like me you should be able to blast all the episodes in a few days so I would advise you just to use Netflix for the price of £6.99 a month - You can sign up here - or if you have never used Netflix before you can sign up for a free months trial!

The next program I will plan on discussing is "Suits" an American legal drama created and written by Aaron Korsh. The show airs on the USA Network from its debut on June 23, 2011, which originally aired a 90 minute pilot. The show tells the story of Mike Ross, who works as a law associate for Harvey Spencer despite never actually attending law school. The show focuses on Harvey and Mike managing to close cases whilst maintaining Mike's secret....

Any feedback on my blog would be great and would ideally add some form of extra credit or something along those lines to my university project. So feel free to leave a comment, positive or not any feedback will be taken on board :) thanks, Scott.

Is Netflix worth it?

I myself have had Netflix for years and over time have developed an intricate love hate relationship with the service, I love having it but hate paying to sift through a lot of rubbish to find the few good TV series/Films that it contains. Do not however let that description put you off ever using Netflix though, I only find myself in the dilemma of having to try and find good things to watch as I have watched just about everything Netflix has to offer. 

Like many Netflix users I have found myself going through many stages with it over the years:

• Used the free trial
• Paid for it myself 
• Deleted it
• Got it back again 
• Deleted it again 
• Used my girlfriends 

Netflix offer users the opportunity to use it's services on a month to month basis, there is no long term obligation which is great as this allows users the opportunity to come and go as they please depending on if they are enjoying what is currently available. This is something I have taken advantage of having deleted my subscription twice.

What are the alternatives?

In my search for the best TV series an films at the touch of a button I have come across a variety of alternatives available to users on the web; some legal and some not so. This however is not something I will delve into deeply as I don't plan to incriminate myself by detailing things I may or may not have done to watch TV and film ;-) I will however talk about another service I currently use at the moment alongside Netflix.

Now TV

Now TV is a service run by sky that allows users the chance to sign up to a monthly subscription to live stream TV and films via a variety of electronic devices. It is a service that I use alongside Netflix, I like to have the opportunity to have a backup option if Netflix does not have anything that appeals to me at that moment in time.

Now TV unfortunately though splits everything into separate subscriptions allowing you to watch films for the price of £10 a month, to watch TV it is a further £6.99 a month which is certainly more expensive than Netflix which offers both services for one monthly cost. Although Now TV has a lot more better selections to offer its users it is far more expensive and would always push me towards Netflix if I had to make a decision between the two.

Breaking Bad...

Breaking Bad is always something that I chose to pass by when flicking through Netflix, there was never a reason for it, it just never appealed to me strongly enough. However due to some powerful persuasion and light peer pressure from a work colleague in 2012 I was introduced to what would soon turn out to be one of my favourite TV programs today.

From episode one I was caught in what would be a very slippery slope. Watching episode after episode unable to stop watching what Walter White was getting up to.When I began to watch the series there was already at least two or three seasons readily available to watch. This was a downside for me as I swiftly lost a large part of if not all of my spare time to getting caught up to date with the thrilling TV series. Looking back on it now it was probably quite sad the days I spent watching episode after episode day after day, however that just highlights how addictive the program can become, with each episode ending on its own mini cliff hanger it keeps you exceedingly eager to keep watching! 

The show was initially aired in 2008 and is one of the best TV shows available to watch today, and is certainly one of my personal favorites!

"Breaking Bad" a show about a "Mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White thinks his life can't get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet, a situation not likely to improve once his pregnant wife gives birth, and their teenage son is battling cerebral palsy. But Walter is dumbstruck when he learns he has terminal cancer. Realizing that his illness probably will ruin his family financially, Walter makes a desperate bid to earn as much money as he can in the time he has left by turning an old RV into a meth lab on wheels." - Wiki

Breaking Bad has an impressively high rating of 9.5 out of 10 on IMDB with over 671,000 votes. This is outstanding and just highlights how highly praised the show is by many. The show speaks for itself and needs no one to backup its greatness, you just need to take the first step and watch the first couple of episodes. With 62 episodes (5 seasons) you had better have plenty time to spare before starting your own Breaking Bad journey.

The show can be found on Netflix, but if you prefer to own the DVD the full box-set can be bought via Amazon for around £60.99 -  You can get the Box-Set Here - However if you think you can get through all 62 episodes in a month or two then I would highly advise you just to use Netflix for the price of £6.99 a month - You can sign up here - or if you have never used Netflix before you can sign up for a free months trial!

The next program I will plan on discussing is "Bates Motel" a contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film Psycho, it gives a portrayal of how Norman Bates' psyche unravels through his teenage years. Fans discover the dark, twisted back story of Norman Bates and how deeply intricate his relationship with his mother, Norma, truly is....

Any feedback on my blog would be great and would ideally add some form of extra credit or something along those lines to my university project. So feel free to leave a comment, positive or not any feedback will be taken on board :) thanks, Scott.

A brief Netflix history

I had initially planned on making my next post to be about Walter White and his story in Breaking Bad but instead I chose to postpone that and talk about the history of Netflix. 

I myself have had Netflix for what fells like many many years. For a long time I actually thought that I had in fact taken the plunge and signed up for the service when it was first released, however when I actually did some research into when Netflix was founded I swiftly realised I was talking a lot of nonsense! 

Netflix was founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph (I know I was pretty shocked too). This means that the company has actually been around for about 18 years! I myself am 21 so would be rather impressed with my 3 year old self if I had managed to sign up to Netflix. 

Netflix was initially setup as a video rental service, over time offering customers the chance of unlimited rentals for a low monthly cost. It was essentially the online version of Blockbuster if you will, meaning customers could arrange rentals online and get them delivered in the post.

It would be about 10 years before Netflix would be able to offer users an online streaming service that would allow customers the ability to watch film/TV on their personal computers. 

In this ten years though Netflix had a following of over 4.2 million users which has only grown since. 

From the years 2008 to 2010 Netflix expanded there target audience from computer users to anyone that had an Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo wii, iPod, iPad, iPhone, any internet connected TV as well as any other internet enabled device. The service was also made available in 2010 in Canada. 

It wouldn't be until 2012 that Netflix would become available in the UK (which is a slightly more realistic date for me to have initially signed up for the service haha) Netflix was now available in America, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe including the United Kingdom, Ireland and in the Nordic Countries. In 2012 Netflix was also awarded its first Prime Time Emmy Engineering award. 

From 2012 until now Netflix has expanded even further becoming available in the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland. They revieved 31 primetime Emmy nominations including outstanding drama series, comedy series and documentary or nonfiction special for “House of Cards”, “Orange is the new black”, and “The Square” respectively (all tv series produced by Netflix). House of Cards went on to win three Primetime Emmy Awards. Netflix was actually in fact the first internet TV network nominated for the primetime Emmy. In 2014 Netflix won 7 creative Emmy Awards for House of Cards and Orange is the new black. 

Netflix now has over 50 million users world wide, a massive leap from the initial 600 thousand American users they had in 2002. Netflix is a prime example of a company that has grown, expanded and worked with technology available to stay active to provide its users with what they want. 

Companies like Blockbuster a company that offered a very similar service as Netflix to begin with have fallen at the wayside as time has progressed but Netflix has been willing to develop and grow which has helped it thrive and prosper as a company. 

Prison Break

Here goes! essentially writing my first review for my first ever blog, exciting times, who knows maybe I will be head hunted by Netflix and paid a fortune to continue my blog writing ways haha one can only dream.

Anyways I should probably go ahead and start the review. However when I say review I don't plan on going to in depth. My opinion is my own and I don't want to sway anyones decision on a programme they may not have even watched yet whether it be good or bad. 

I plan on pointing people in the direction of programmes I have watched and liked as well as give a bit of background info to help decide if they want to watch or not.

The first show I will discuss is.....drum roll please.....

Prison Break

"Due to a political conspiracy an innocent man is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother who makes it his mission to deliberately get himself sent to the same prison in order to break the both of them out from the inside out." - IMDb

Prison Break is not a new TV show. Initially aired in 2005 it has actually been out for quite a while, 10 years to be precise. The programme follows the lead character Michael Scofield:

"Michael J. Scofield, played by Wentworth Miller, is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists of the American television series Prison Break. The character first appeared in the series pilot, in which he deliberately sends himself to prison so as to break his elder brother, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), out before his execution for a crime he didn't commit. The storyline of the first season revolves around the two brothers and Michael's plan to help Lincoln escape his death sentence. Later seasons detail their life on the run and their quest for the truth behind Lincoln's imprisonment." - Wikipedia

The series itself averaged a rating of 8.6 out of 10 from the 253,001 votes it received, each season also received around 9 million viewers when it was initially aired and has since then grown. I myself would agree with giving the show such a high rating. Although slow at times watching Michaels plans unfold was still an exciting, thrilling watch and I would highly recommend it! A common misconception though is that some people expect the prison break itself to last the full 81 episodes (4 seasons), something that in fact stopped me from watching the show every time I flicked past it in the Netflix directory hunting for something to watch. This however is not the case, the show is full of different plots and characters and has a little bit of something for everyone. It is not everyone's cup of tea however but if you have a spare afternoon or fancy watching something as you go to sleep, give it a go and see what you think.

The show can be found on Netflix, but if you prefer to own the DVD the full box-set can be bought via Amazon for around £23.06 -  You can get the Box-Set Here - However if you think you can get through all 81 episodes in a month or two then I would highly advise you just to use Netflix for the price of £6.99 a month - You can sign up here - or if you have never used Netflix before you can sign up for a free months trial!

The next programme I will plan on discussing is "Breaking Bad" a show about a "Mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White thinks his life can't get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet, a situation not likely to improve once his pregnant wife gives birth, and their teenage son is battling cerebral palsy. But Walter is dumbstruck when he learns he has terminal cancer. Realizing that his illness probably will ruin his family financially, Walter makes a desperate bid to earn as much money as he can in the time he has left by turning an old RV into a meth lab on wheels." The show was initially aired in 2008 and is one of the best TV shows available to watch today, so stay tuned to see what I have to say about it...

Any feedback on my blog would be great and would ideally add some form of extra credit or something along those lines to my university project. So feel free to leave a comment, positive or not any feedback will be taken on board :) thanks, Scott.