How TV and Streaming Habits Have Changed Since 2015

Hey, this is Steve blue and you are listening

to the geek cast radio network You are tuned

in to Steve Megatron on altered geek Hello and

welcome to Altered geek. I'm your host Steve

Megatron and join me on this adventure into geekdom

is TFG1 Mike. Hello. Hello. So we should preface

this with this is the first episode of 2022.

Yes. And because we're too scared to look forward

in the future, we're going to look back in the

past because nostalgia rules us all, folks. Well,

nostalgia is fun. Kind of like the old controversy

is fun, but not yes. No, it depends on the controversy

though. Yes. So anyways, what have we been up

to? Like what what has caused the episodes to

not come out? Well, we've all had life and then

we've had more. interesting things to cover in

other fandoms. And so we've been kind of diving

into those, whether it be other movies, whether

it be things on Studio 2009 or on Toycast or

especially all things Transformers, which was

the most produced one that I was on last year.

It could have something to do with the top 100,

but it also could happen to do with the fact

I have a collection again. Yeah, there's that.

And I find it absolutely hilarious that Altered

Geek was the least produced podcast on the GCRN

in 2021, including the Christmas episode, episode

395, the last episode we released. There were

only 10 Altered Geeks released. It wasn't the

least produced. Okay. Let's not go there. I'm

going to leave that and you're going to leave

it. We're going to move on. But the point is,

is that For me, it's not that I like this is

your show This is your baby. Normally you come

at me and say or come to Mike Birdman or Mike

Powers or whoever and say hey, let's talk about

this be like, okay, cuz altered geek is your

thing you are the altered geek and For me, it's

like I need to do like I found recently with

what life has been dealing me and in really really

crappy handed poker is that I need to do a bunch

of different things. Like I need to record a

tune cast and a podcaster meets world or a podcaster

meets world and a, we're not doing this, but

I'm just gonna use this as an example, MWIRE

episode 201, you know, kind of thing where I

need to have. not just recording the same show

every week. And that's one of the greatest things

about Studio is, as I've said on this show and

on other shows about Studio 2009, is that it's

anything within the audio and visual realm. So

it's books, it's audio books, it's whatever.

If you can look at it, if you can see it, if

you can hear it, if you can watch it, we'll cover

it kind of thing. And sadly, not to bring...

this down and I don't remember if I mentioned,

I probably mentioned this on the Christmas show,

but if no one's heard episode 395, go back and

listen to that. My wife Karen passed away in

November of 2021, so I am having to refocus on

everything and I feel like my focal point has

been shattered to the point that I just sit here

and stare at my screen. Like, literally, before

we started recording this episode and before

we started recording the episode of Toycast we

just recorded, all I have been doing for the

past four hours is playing Grand Theft Auto IV.

You know, I've been playing Battlefield. Which

one? Four. Okay. The good one? Yeah. If not that

one, I do the Battlefield one, but five is...

utter garbage and I've heard 2020 or what is

it 2042 uh I've heard that one is under garbage

as well see I don't understand why they I've

played battlefield before but I've never been

in in ensconced in that franchise and I don't

dislike the franchise I remember what was it

I want to say 2002 2003 they had battlefield

2142 which you got to basically pilot these giant

AT -AT mech looking things. And it was this weird,

at least the level that I was playing was this

weird like snow covered, whatever. And I'm like,

okay, sure. Great. Fine. Whatever. I don't know.

I just, I never really got ensconced in that

franchise. So when they announced 2042, I'm like,

wait a minute. They're going 100 years in the

past? That's one thing I'm sorry to interrupt.

I find myself, even though I can sit here on

my computer and I can do WASD and all of the

keyboard commands for Grand Theft Auto IV, I

find myself watching playthroughs more than I

am actually playing the games anymore. Yeah,

I mean, I can see that. I myself, however, I

sometimes it's just I got to kill time or I just

like I just don't feel like dealing with something.

Yep. At that immediate moment. And so that's

just what I do. And it. Yeah, it's. Sometimes

I just need to blow something up. Trust me, I

know the feeling. I like I like exploding buildings.

It's fun on the game just because I like doing

that and I'm really good at a particular section

of the game. So there you go. But yeah, anyways,

I. Yeah, it's there's been a lot of stuff that's

happened on our lives overall over the last year.

It's just been it's been crazy Yeah Yes, and

if you notice the title folks What the frag happened

here part two well, this is we were going through

We're trying to figure out what to do for the

first new show of the new year and we were going

through old Topics and old shows and say hey,

how can we revisit this now? And WTF happened

here was originally done October 9th, 2015. It

was with you, me, and Birdman at the time. And

the basic premise of this is... We discuss our

TV stylistic choices, some of our recent gameplay

and other things, but basically we're going to

focus here on movie and TV choices, and also

I wanted to also focus on part of the tech aspect

of compared to seven years ago, how we were watching

the stuff to what we do now. Yeah, I can see

that. Again, just an idea. So, yeah. as far as

What I watched back then compared to now. Mm

-hmm. I Watch a lot less TV. No Unless it's old.

I don't I don't I kind of watch I kind of cherry

pick now Like I still watch the flash, but I

know it's ending After see this season and so

to me, it's just a guilty pleasure Just gonna

finish it out and then I'm done with the CW I've

I've essentially dropped since arrow. I dropped

after the crisis Five -parter. I dumped all of

the shows other than the flash and legends and

legends. I'm kind of yeah They're they've offed

two more main characters to the ether steel and

then Get rid of him and they're getting rid of

they got rid of what is it Rory? Yep, Nick. Yeah,

so I just there's not enough of the originals

left for me to care at this point And it's evolved

too much into weird territory. So I just I don't

care anymore. Yeah, and So yeah, there's those

and a lot of the shows I watched back then have

ceased to be like they've they've had their natural

conclusion and I watched them through the end

and I was like I'm not picking up new shows and

then of course Disney Plus comes along and then

I see equals to stuff like You know, Turner and

Hooch, that was pretty decent. I was sad that

it got canceled after one season because it was

better than the Mighty Ducks, but Mighty Ducks

is back for a second season and I probably won't

watch it because it's missing Bombay. And so

there's that. And then and then I've tried the.

some of the ones that are nostalgic for older

series just revived, like the Doogie Howser MD

type thing. And then I'd watched a couple and

I was like, eh, I don't care. But I watched The

Mandalorian. I've watched all of the new Marvel

series. Hawkeye is probably my favorite out of

those. And then the Boba Fett one is pretty good.

As of this recording, Book of Boba Fett has only

had one episode. So just to give everybody a

heads up on that, as we're recording this, no

matter when it gets released, as of this right

now, as you're hearing the sound of my voice,

Book of Boba Fett has only had the first episode

released. I have a theory on the series just

based on the first episode. OK. He's going to

die by the end of the season. I mean, if the

Sarlacc couldn't kill him, I don't know what

could. Yeah, but why is he spending so much time

in the regeneration tank? Because he's an old

man and he can't... He's an old, dying, fake

legend. I think there's other reasons going on.

I think the cloning, I think he's going bad.

That could be, yeah. So I'm wondering if it's,

you know, standing off death for a little while.

Yep. and keeping him at peak condition, even

though he's like failing. So regardless, I'm

looking forward to seeing what they do with it.

And then I've been I've been kind of just like

I've been watching some movies depending on who's

in it and what's what it's about. I've I've been

watching a lot of the old track, although I just

learned as of this start of this recording. that

all five classic Star Trek shows are leaving

Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Netflix. Really? In two

days. Oh, man. Just recording on January 3rd.

Yeah. And I just learned that they're all going

away. I assume they're all gonna go to Paramount+.

It's the logical conclusion because they want

people to switch over there, but... Yeah. Yeah

As much as I mean I love it for the fact that

I can download them all to my phone watch them

Yeah, as I go and it's just an easy interface

Paramount plus have no incentive other than the

new shows and honestly Other than that like I

don't want to spend it I'd have to so for me

and where I am right now. I have to if as long

as they subs whatever subscription service it

is, whether it's streaming, whatever it is. If

they offer me an annual plan and it's at the

beginning of whatever month it is, so let's just

say in this case January, I went ahead and I

paid for an entire year of Disney Plus, so that

way I don't have to worry about the $8 .67 every

month coming out. I don't have to worry about

it until Next year kind of thing sadly Hulu only

has yearly with the generic ad plan Netflix just

doesn't do it Paramount Plus does it but I can't

afford it right now. It's a hundred and forty

nine dollars a year Hopefully that's just kind

of I don't know it kind of out prices them Yeah,

they think that they're valuable, but I think

that because they're hemorrhaging money constantly

on CBS and Paramount front and Putting out garbage

for the most part Even the new Star Trek series.

I have zero incentive because I think that they're

trash Though the writing is terrible. It's just

I have no love for Modern Trek when Paramount

Plus was announced and when it was released I

did a seven -day free trial and it's been so

long since that happened that I don't even remember

what their interface is like. So at some point

- I did it under CBS, not Paramount. No, no,

no, no. See, I did it under Paramount because

I knew CBS All Access was going away. It was

rolling into Paramount Plus. So I did it under

Paramount Plus and it was okay. But again, I'm

gonna have to do it again in the future and report

back because I do not remember what the interface

was like. TV, seven years ago compared to now,

there's more places I can watch stuff. Like you

said a moment ago with Disney Plus, the fact

that we have Disney Plus now. and the fact that

I can go and watch the fact that we're even able

to now thank God because at first it was on Netflix

and then it was on Hulu and then it wasn't on

anywhere but because Disney and Disney owns everything

and we can get podcaster meets world done and

whatever else I'm we're going back and watching

boy meets world and girl meets world and all

that and everything else and you know you got

the home alone movies on here which anything

past two is just doesn't count. You know, I agree

with you there. I tried watching that new one.

Oh No, I was like this this makes Home Alone

3 look good You know what? Home Alone 3 gets

a bad rap, you know, it's whatever anyway, that's

what I'm saying. Like at least oh, yeah It was

I think that one was supposed to continue Kevin

McCallister. No, it didn't it was with it was

with some kid named Alex Anyway, but the point

is, my main point is that seven years ago compared

to now, I have way more options to see where

and watch where things are. Like right now, I

have a monthly subscription to Discovery Plus

because seven years ago, I was just kind of getting

into the whole true crime TV watching. I had

always watched Forensic Files. I had watched

America's Most wanted when I was a kid. I watched

some of these things I watched some of the datelines

because my parents or whatever were watching

it but like I am a true crime fan now, so I will

When Karen was still here we between the two

of us we had seen Literally every single episode

the forensic files ever put out so many times

that we had to memorize that as soon as we heard

like the first lines of the episode we could

tell which one it is and whether we wanted to

watch it or not. And then we would just fall

asleep to true crime TV because Peter Thomas

passed away a couple of years or so ago or whenever

it was that he passed away. He is one of those

great narrators and he had a voice that just

it was just butter. And You know, so I have the

subscription to Discovery Plus so I can do all

the true crime stuff if I wanted to. You know,

Disney Plus and Hulu. I'm not sure what Hulu

is doing because they have got a bunch of shows

that are leaving. There are shows that I like

to watch and I like to basically, for me, another

difference for me is compared to 2015 to now.

Half the time because I've already seen it. Mm

-hmm. It's background noise for me. Yes I'm paying

attention to it, but I've seen like take the

TV show numbers from CBS with Oh David Krumholz

who was Bernard the elephant the Santa Claus

You know, I've watched that show so many times

that I can just Leave it on in the background

and just play games or do whatever kind of thing.

Home 3 was with with Alex D. Lins starring as

a eight -year -old Alex Pruitt, who is trying

to stop a gang of criminals from stealing top

secret computer chips. So it had nothing to do

with Kevin. What you're probably thinking of

is I think it's the fourth film. Like, not Home

Sweet Home Alone, The Holiday Heist maybe, or

what's the other one? Yeah, Home Alone 4 is...

It's tough being 9, tougher still is spending

Christmas with Dad and his new girlfriend! I

guess, I don't know. Like I said, anything past

2 doesn't count. Yeah, I tried watching the new

one. It was obnoxiously bad. I watched I I Skimmed

the entire movie and I was like not only is it

poor acting. It's poor like It was just poorly

recorded. Yeah, like it there was nothing salvageable

about it and that was the sad part. I Couldn't

hear the words coming out of their mouths So

the funny thing about home sweet home alone,

and it's not funny at all. It's really really

bad Yeah, it's just it's terribly right like

there's nothing. There's nothing salvageable

about that Yeah, I watched the first maybe 10

or 20 minutes of it and then I turned it off

And I saw a post by mr. Doug Walker nostalgia

critic himself on Facebook about his reviewing

the Home Alone franchise thing. So it was his

review of Home Sweet Home Alone. So I hadn't

gotten to the point where they reveal further

into the movie. So I'm watching this thing that

he's doing and his review of it and he basically

says, The old homeowners or the new homeowners

or whatever. They're actually the crooks They're

the villains because they're trying to get back

this doll and I'm like, how can you make parents

who used to own the house? Because they find

out it's worth money. Yeah, I know I know but

I'm just saying like what Idiot got in in his

or her head as a writer to make parents the bad

guy on a Disney thing. Like, come on. Like, it's

a huge difference if it's if it. I don't know.

Go ahead. Because because Disney has has turned

this leaf over where parents are evil. Like legitimately,

like that's. Like, why do you think they kill

off the parents on everything? I mean, I. I just.

I can't. Karen and I never had ambitions to have

kids. But at the same point in time, and I've

mentioned this plenty of times before, when we

grew up, we grew up with our parents teaching

us common sense. And I don't know, it just irks

me. So I try to stay away from stuff like that.

And the funny thing is I had a, I don't know,

When I first signed up to Google One, they gave

me a free three, which I wish this was on a yearly

billing cycle. They gave me a three month premium

YouTube subscription trial. YouTube premium,

even at $11 .99 a month, it is so nice. I want

to support my creators, the creators that I like

and enjoy and whatever else. watch the ads or

skip through the ads or whatever with the ads,

but seriously, YouTube without ads was amazing.

But I find myself watching a lot more YouTube

content than I used to. In the last year and

a half, almost two years now, I have been watching,

I think, five or six different tech YouTubers.

Marcus Brownlee, Michael Fisher, Mr. Who's the

boss? Aaron Mayani I believe is how his name

is pronounced so I've been watching these guys

and paying attention to what they're doing and

I listened to Marcus's podcast the waveform podcast

and I find you know They actually tried to market

him on our podcast at one point. Oh really? Yeah

Yeah, I think I heard one of the one of the speaker

ads No, no, I meant like they came to me directly

Oh, really? Yeah. And I was like, I don't even

know who this guy is at the time, because like

at that point, he was like, fairly new, didn't

even have a podcast. And they're like, we're

going to put him on our podcast, blah, blah,

blah. Would you do? And I'm like, I don't even

know who he is. I was so I've been watching MKBHD

for, like I said, about one and a half, two years

now. I would love to do an interview with that

guy. He is really. come a long way since when

he started his YouTube channel and he's just

a fun person to watch. He just released his first

impressions of the S21 fan edition for Samsung.

He's just a fun dude. I think for me with the

changes from back then to now, is that either

I'm watching things that I've seen a million

times before or I'm just using television as

background. Yeah, I kind of do that for a lot

of activities now, although some of that might

change because I use Trek as my background. So

I'm a little bummed. You'll figure it out. I'm

sure there are plenty of things that are out

there. What the hell happened? I don't know.

Things have changed so much so in seven years

since we did the first episode. My TV habits

and the shows that I like to watch really haven't

changed because I'm still watching the same old

shit. For me, from 2015 to now in 2022, I can

count on one hand maybe five, four or five new,

like active new shows that I wanted to watch

at the time. It was an Amazon Prime video did

that. I mentioned this to you, we were gonna

cover it on studio at some point. That show Upload.

Where they you know you die you either choose

to be uploaded or you just whatever so that was

new to me I kind of enjoyed that it was a little

little morbid, but I kind of enjoyed it and Other

than that I Superman and Lois I'm keeping up

with that Batwoman drove me batty Yeah Season

two was fine, season three I haven't fully watched

yet, but season one of Batwoman drove me batty

because they wouldn't give up on this stupid

Alice thing. That just drove me crazy. But in

season two, they did a whole whatever, and now

in season three what they're doing, and I love

the fact that they introduced, because they've

had Luke Fox in there since day one. But they

are now introducing his alter ego, which is Batwing.

So I love that because I read the the Batwing

trades written by Palmiotti, Jimmy Palmiotti

and art done by Justin Gray. And we covered those

in the pullback in the beginning of last year.

So that was cool. But yeah, superhero TV outside

of those two, I've kind of dropped off like I

need to catch up on legends. I need to catch

up on like Flash and all that stuff. Yeah. Yeah.

And there's quite a bit of shows that have changed

or just watching. Like I said, majority of what

I watch is either like reality stuff or I'm watching

shows I've already invested in. I'm not pretty

much starting anything new. Yeah. Yeah. I mean.

And we watch TV in such a different way now than

what we were doing seven years ago, or even,

you know, two or three or four years ago now.

So I mean, like I don't actually, like for me,

with my package with Xfinity, because I wanted

to go this full streaming thing, I don't have

a cable package with them. I have the streaming

box and that's fine, whatever, but I don't have

an active cable. Television membership, so I

don't watch channels. I don't watch my whole

thing with TV right now What do I have to pay

to make sure the entire experience is ad free?

I do not want to watch any damn commercials.

I Just want to watch the show. I want to watch

and that's that So that's that's where I am versus

seven years ago. I probably had a cable a regular

basic cable whatever package. It's funny because

I remember way back when when we started the

network that we were like oh I want a la carte.

So yeah now we're at a la carte because everything

is on streaming which is good and bad because

now you have to spend as much as cable to have

streaming on multiple platforms. That's true.

Again, this is why I'm hoping that a lot of the

streamings, I know they're not gonna do this,

but I'm hoping in the future that they will go

towards annual billing. For me, paying one month

out of the year for an entire year of Disney

Plus, I think it was just over 100 bucks, and

it was 15 % cheaper overall. Compared to paying

eight dollars and 67 cents a month kind of thing.

So that to me is a no -brainer As long as there's

content on there that I want to watch. That's

the thing I don't know if I'm going to eventually

Netflix just lost all of forensic files not that

I really needed that kind of thing But you know,

they did they had nine collections. They had

like I don't know maybe 200 of the episodes or

something or other and you know that just went

off there Them having Cobra Kai is great. I'll

watch season four eventually. I haven't watched

it yet But you know, it just depends on what's

not like right now the reason why I'm excited

for Netflix is is so silly and stupid is because

we're in the 40th anniversary year of Knight

Rider and Knight Rider is finally on Netflix

all four seasons So again nostalgia Yeah, it's

a wonderful thing. Yes, it is but it's also a

a very addictive drug at times That it is All

right, anything else we need to I don't think

so. Yeah, I think I think we've kind of covered

it. Yeah, so people can expect more commentary

information of just our goings in geekdom and

in the future we'll have more topical based things

coming up as well. And possibly some more people

joining us if I can manage it. But yeah, we'll

definitely be geeking out a lot more this year.

Yep So until next time get altered get geeky

with the altered geeks What is it now tiny Spock

You broke your toy and switched it with Leonard's

you should be ashamed of yourself Oh.