I was never a big “series” watcher when we had cable.  I could never remember WHEN something was on, and always felt anxious if I did remember that I had to STOP whatever I was doing so I could get my ass down to watch my “story”.

In the advent of PVR’ing, it helped a little, but our stock of shows we had taped to watch later always exceeded our available space, so we often missed the ones we did watch to watch, because 63 episodes of Dora was taking the spots.

We we moved out of the city, we sliced everything that was an expense in the hopes of actually financially surviving our move.  This meant cable was gone, and Netflix was our mainstay.

For a few years this was just fine.  We had years of old favourites to catch up on (Grey’s anatomy, Breaking Bad, etc) and were never wanting for some light entertainment. As we binged through these shows though, we started to want MORE. And newer. And BETTER.

And then, it happened.  Suddenly with Netflix “sponsoring” show development, something seemed to shift.  The previous requirements of shows to be aired on cable was no longer an issue, and (from what I can see) producers and writers were able to go “there” as often and as far in as they felt necessary.

Suddenly our netflix channel was filled with light erotica (hello Sense8) and chaotic, and confusing Sci-Fi (ahem Stranger things and the OA) and tackled real conversations (Riverdale) even when we all thought “OMG, an Archie knockoff… that won’t work”

The overall IDEA of what should be available for general viewing has changed, the bar has been raised, and Netflix did that.  They allowed and ENCOURAGED writers and producers to go places that we hadn’t gone before, and because of that, are dominating.

So.. thank you netflix.  Thank you for getting me excited about television again. That you for causing my heart to pump harder as I binge watch one of your new shows under the covers at 2am.  Thank you for keeping it interesting.

Check out the Netflix Originals for shows that will push you out of your comfort zone (and leave you wanting MORE)