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THE BEST STREAMING CHANNELS

In the early days of television, shows like I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke (18 seasons), Happy Days, Dallas, Big Bang Theory (10 seasons) and 60 minutes (43 seasons) dominated.  

  • They all appeared at the same time weekly, except during the summer when there were re-runs.  More recently, say in 2024, Sunday Night football has dominated, with a 5.31 Nielsen rating, Monday Night Football 2.57, and Saturday Night Football 0.92.  Survivor is at 1.06, and the typical series below 1.0.  
  • In 1953, I Love Lucy had a 67.3 rating, but dropped to 43.7 in 1957, but was still ranked #1.  It ran only for 6 seasons.

Streaming has changed all that.  

  • Those weekly shows on your CBS/ABC/NBC and other channels are not all-consuming anymore.  For one, there are too many of them.  If you lived in Los Angeles, you can have access to up to 245 different over-the-air and free channels.
  • Mind you, I still regularly watch certain major broadcast networks programs, like America's Got Talent.  But those I record and watch at my convenience, skipping over the commercials as fast as possible.
  • DirecTV Stream is a platform that for $165/month you can stream on up to 20 devices more than 185 channels.
  • Of course, in the U.S., Netflix dominates with 81,440,100 subscribers, followed by #2 Amazon Prime 75 million.  Also #3 Paramount+ 58.7 million, HBO Max 56.5 million, #5 Hulu 54.7 million#6 Disney+ (which includes ESPN) 52.9 million.
  • Worldwide:  Netflix 283 million, Amazon Prime 200+ million, Disney+ 154 million.  Amazon Prime is available in more than 200 countries.
The problem with my subscribing to Netflix and Prime is that it is difficult to find time to watch them, so why bother to think about any more of them.  I think I pay about a dollar a day to have these two services, but I probably would pay double that to have this option.
Here is another problem.  
  • I began watching some of those Netflix/Prime series ten years ago, and never got around to finishing many.
  • How many?  Maybe a hundred different series, and probably more.
  • I have an elaborate accounting system:  separating them by streaming service, movies completed (with a comment or two, plus Rotten Tomatoes rating), films to be watched, series completed and series to be watched.  Single-space on maybe 15 pages.
  • About Rotten Tomatoes, I do tend to watch those programs where both reviewers and audiences give 90 and higher rankings.  
  • A 100-rating for either one places that movie/series at the top of the list.
  • While I sometimes view a program without consulting Rotten Tomatoes, I learned from experience to depend on its rating, for I have rarely seen anything worthwhile when the scores are less than 50, and never near zero.
  • The dilemma comes when one rates the program at 90 and the other at 30.  Most of the time, I side with the audiences.
  • Considering the volume of contributions, the USA rarely has anything close to 100.
  • There must be 10 times more South Korean movies/series with 100 ratings relative to the U.S.
  • Wikipedia has a list of those films with a 100% rating.  I quickly counted 539 films with 100% Rotten Tomatoes scores.  Here is an explanation of how difficult it is to gain that ranking:
The 100% rating is vulnerable to a film critic purposely submitting a negative review for notoriety. For example, Lady Bird had a 100% rating based on 196 positive reviews when a film critic submitted a negative review solely in response to the perfect rating.[7] To date, Lady Bird has a 99% rating with 401 positive reviews and four negative reviews.[8] Paddington 2 held a perfect rating from its release in 2017 until a film critic published a negative review in June 2021. To date, Paddington 2 has a 99% rating with 251 positive reviews and two negative reviews.[9] The 100% rating could also be affected by rediscovering negative reviews, as in the case with Citizen Kane when an 80-year-old negative review from the Chicago Tribune affected its former 100% rating with 115 reviews.[10]

    • On the other hand, I did not enjoy Lady Bird, and myself would have given it a 50% rating.
    • The only 2025 film with a zero rating is Alarum, with Sylvester Stallone.  And, guess what, the only 2024 film to gain this despicable score is Armor, with Sylvester Stallone.
    • The oldest one only goes back to 1984:  Bolero, starring Bo Derek, directed by her husband, John Derek.  On one of my flights back to Honolulu, a very long time ago, on a Pan American first class flight, I sat across the aisle from Bo, who was very friendly,  John was a grouch.  PanAm went bankrupt in 1991, so that was at least 34 years ago.  The film initially got an X-rating, but with cuts, was released as an R.

I'll end today with a song from a South Korean series, Something In the Rain, which might well be my very favorite series, ever.  

  • First released by Tammy Wynette in 1968, this song made her a superstar.  She had a terrible life.
    • Called the "First Lady of Country Music."
    • Had five husbands.
    • Died at the age of 55 from painkillers.
    • She conveyed the emotion of heartbreak in Stand By Your Man.
  • Carla Gilberta Bruni Tedeschi has had a very interesting life.
    • Was born in Turin,  Italy in 1967 (which makes her 56), the daughter of a concert pianist mother and classical composer, Alberto Bruni Tedeschi.  But he was not her biological father, who was Maurizio Remmert, a classical guitarist from a wealthy family.  Her sister Virginio Bruni Tedeschi is an actress and movie director.
  • Carla Bruni is an heiress to a fortune created by her legal grandfather who sold his company to tire company Pirelli.
  • Family left Italy for France to avoid kidnapping threats.
  • Became a model at the age of 19, and earned as much as $7.5 million/year.
  • Quit modeling for singing/composing, and her debut album sold 2 million copies.
  • Dated Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, but married French President Nicolas Sarkozy inn 2008.  They have a daughter, and are still married, her first.
  • In 2010, Forbes ranked her as the 35th-most powerful woman in the world.

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