Sunday, May 20, 2018

Accessing Civilization with Two Clicks

by Pa Rock
TV Junkie

Several months ago I tried subscribing to the channel, Brit Box, on my Roku streaming device, and the service was less than satisfactory.  The channel promised an almost unlimited supply of my two favorite television genres:  British comedy (Britcoms) and British mystery dramas.  I believe that the cost was ten dollars a month with the first week free.  It didn't take much beyond that first week for me to determine that the ten dollars could be better spent elsewhere. 

The Roku is dependent on the internet for service, and my internet signal is weak.  The two main channels that I rely on are Netflix and Prime (Amazon).  Some days those two run smoothly and at other times they are problematic.  Brit Box, however, proved to always be a challenge, with it taking up to two or three hours to successfully view a one-hour program.   After a couple of frustrating weeks of trying to view the channel, I gave up and cancelled the subscription.

Recently I discovered that Prime is now carrying Brit Box within its programming services.  The cost is seven dollars a month - with the first week free.    I decided to try it again and was able to access the service with only two clicks.  Much to my delight, the service is flawless - and I now have a backlog of entertainment that will more than likely outlast my viewing needs.

Last night after completing the first season of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, I spent some time sorting through the other offerings - and came across another jewel.  Last of the Summer Wine is a British comedy that ran an astounding thirty-seven years (1973-2010), the longest running television comedy in histtory - in any country!  The characters are a group of rascally senior citizens who have a series of unending oddball adventures in a quaint village in Yorkshire.  I became acquainted with this posse of aging delinquents when I was living in Phoenix and would watch their adventures every Saturday night on PBS, but their humor apparently did not translate well in the Ozarks where the local PBS station failed to carry the show.

In fact, none of the streaming channels carried Last of the Summer Wine - or at least that is what I thought until I found one offering through Brit Box.  It has a collection of twenty-seven Last of the Summer Wine Christmas episodes.  I watched the first one last night, and it felt as though I was spending an evening wrapped in the warmth and comfort of old friends - very funny old friends!

After a day of digging rocks out of the ground with a pick-axe, it was a wonderful way to unwind and relax in such good company.  Civilization, it would seem, is now as close as the remote control.

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