Is television the new book?

If there are two things in my life that I have always loved (apart from make up and clothes obviously and food, I can't believe I almost forgot food) it is television and books. Hence the fact that it is rather apt that I am a qualified librarian (yes really) and I am a media teacher who spends time teaching television.

I can't really remember where my love of books came from, but lets say that there is not an Enid Blyton, Judy Blume, or Sweet Dreams book I haven't loved, but I have always loved to read. I am not saying that I read top shelf stuff, but I like nothing better than to get lost in a good book.

Ginger Beer anyone?

Best books EVER

I have read every single one.

Likewise I also have no idea where my love of television came from either, but it has always featured heavily in my life. Just ask my mum about the time that we went to San Fransico and rather than go on a day trip I decided to spend the afternoon watching television. And then there was also the time when I threw a massive tantrum because mum and dad wouldn't let me tape The Love Boat. ( I have still not gotten over that).

Love.... exciting and new. Come aboard- we're expecting you!!!

So the other day at work we were all having a discussion about television shows. Now as I think I have mentioned before television in getting incredibly clever. I could give you a whole media teacher spiel about Niche Audiences and the power of Media Companies producing products for cable networks, the  joy of HBO and Netflix and in Australia companies like Showtime being able to produce television that can have content that is more risqué ( have I lost you yet?). But the bottom line is television in 2014 is pretty damn good. Maybe even intelligent?

You see because this tv is made for networks that don't rely on the advertising dollar, the shows don't have to attract a huge audience to make revenue. This in turns means that the shows can include content that may offend audiences if it was shown on a commercial station. Like drug use, serial killers, nudity and bloody beheading of people (guess who watched the first episode of Game of Thrones yesterday).

This is what we used to turn to book for. Good juicy stories, character development, and content that is what we want.  So once upon a time when we used to sit down and read a good book, we are now sitting down an watching a good television show on our mobile devices, or our laptops. We are talking about our shows with people at work, or at home,or complete strangers and not feeling embarrassed that we are admitting to watching Dexter, whereas we may not openly admit out loud our secret Bold and The Beautiful addiction. Which by the way is one of the most constantly top rating programs in Australia so someone else besides me must be watching it.

The original cast. Check out that hair!!! 

We can buy an episode or a series (notice I said buy and not illegally download, because illegally downloading is bad, right?) just like we used to buy a book. In my mind downloading a series is like buying a book, and each episode is a chapter. I also get really sad when the favourite series is nearly at an end, but like a book I can then go onto a new series. Win Win.

So according to the talk of the cool kids table at my work these are the current favourite television shows.

• Orange is The New Black. I am currently binge watching the second series. Sooooo good.
• Game of Thrones (obviously the Geeks favourite)
• True Detective - Seriously when did Matthew Maconaughey learn to act?
• Fargo
• Breaking Bad (for those still catching up - thats me by the way)
• Madmen ( in it's final season in the US, thank god, because it is starting to get boring)
• Dexter. You can binge watch the whole thing, it's finished. The last series was a bit disappointing. Good thing it finished when it did.
• Sons of Anarchy
• Girls ( a bit angsty for me - I'm getting old and they are a bit self absorbed)
• True Blood ( because it is like social acceptable porn)

So this is how science teachers have nice cars.

I reckon there is more nudity in this than GoT.

Dexter teaches us that they key to being a good serial killer is to only kill people who do bad things.

The thing you will also notice about this new television show thing is that people as passionate about their shows.  If you dare say you don't like Game of Thrones- watch out. I must say I got the name after watching the first episode. It is the game of getting different Thrones. Am I right?

So there you have it. Reasons why I think television is the new black.

Here is a preview of the second season of OisNB.

Feel free to let me know if I have missed your favourite, or give me some recommendations about what to watch when I have finished the list of about 50 hours of television I have waiting for me to watch. Maybe I could take a day off and call it Professional Development to get through the backlog.

all images via Pinterest.