Putting my money where my enjoyment is

Connie’s Corner

Since giving up cable television in October, I’ve discovered some interesting and “different” programming fare, different for me, anyway. I think I’m bordering on addiction to the Acorn Channel.

I’ve found a number of British and Australian productions I enjoy much more than the fare that was available to me on American cable or satellite television. I know that sounds unpatriotic, but this road has been traveled down before, pardon the pun, with America’s penchant for foreign cars and their alleged superior quality. Though I’ve arrived late to the party, there is just something different about British programming.

What has come as a surprise to me is that I abhor most American crime shows but I absolutely adore Midsomer Murder, and you can count on at least two murders, if not three, per episode.

For me, there is something eerily real when it comes to murder on American television. I also have this concern that some shows are inadvertently providing a tutorial for some pretty sick puppies out there on how to commit the perfect crime. I don’t feel that way when I watch Midsomer Murder despite characters being run through with medieval swords or pitchforks, poisoned with food laced with arsenic or cyanide or have their eyes pecked out by a falcon!

Before cutting the cable ties that bind, I wasn’t self-righteously offended necessarily, but just put off by some of the “social engineering” force-fed me through American programming. And yet, some of these same situations and ideas are found on British television but I’m told their programming has been this way for decades. The difference for me is I don’t get the sense they’re trying to convince me to embrace certain values - make that convict me for MY values. I don’t feel like I’m being beat over the head with the mallet of political correctness.

Since beginning Midsomer Murder, I’ve added Agatha Raisin and now Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries to my repertoire of late-night viewing. My Roku and my subscriptions have allowed me to watch these series in their entirety, something not available to my friends who watch them on PBS through their cable or satellite provider.

For those who think I’ve turned my back on the Hallmark Channel, nothing is further from the truth! I invested in a subscription for my predictable happy endings, but my Acorn subscription provides thrillers that don’t keep me awake at night.

And most important… for the first time since cable television was thrust upon my family in the 1980s, I’m actually enjoying what I’m watching and watching what I’m paying for!

Connie Clements is a freelance reporter and award-winning columnist. She writes feature news articles on a weekly basis and an opinion column as the mood strikes her.