I want to apologize to the rest of humanity for being extremely late to the Breaking Bad party, which the girlfriend and I started going through Netflix Instant last week. Having said that, there are two things out of that statement that do make me sit back and say, "Whoa..." at times - the instantaneous, on-demand nature of entertainment that has continued to spread, and the quality of shows like Breaking Bad.

There was a time where thinking about what you wanted to play/watch/listen/etc. when you wanted, however you wanted, was a pipe dream, a bit out of reach, and here I am, streaming music through Spotify as I type this up. The future of streaming whatever is inevitable, and I surely hope that day comes much sooner than later - ESPN should know that I'd happily pay $5-10/month for their programming. Spotify gets it right. Netflix does too. Same thing with Steam - and perhaps it'll eventually come to console gaming with next-gen. Basically - it's a bit crazy for me to think that all of this wasn't the case a mere five, ten years ago, and yet here we are.

The same sort of mindset could be said for post-network programming. (I KNOW, THIS POST IS JUST INCOHERENT BRAIN THOUGHTS) The continue presence of quality, serialized shows on 'short' season orders, starting with The Sopranos, has in a way made me believe that television is on par, and in some ways superior, to what you see at the cinema. Combine that with something like Netflix/Amazon Instant/Hulu, and you have the great makings of developing a rabid fan base that can steam through blocks of programming or entire seasons in a handful of hours. I surely hope that this sort of trend continues on, that this Golden Age of AMC/HBO/Showtime Programming continues for at least a few more years.

/end thoughtflow

- Jeff