My husband and I only decided to watch ‘Homeland’ after we had finished Season 1 of ‘The Diplomats’ on Netflix. And, only after we realised one of the writer-producers was also on the team that produced ‘The West Wing.’ We both enjoy some intrigue, espionage, agents and double-agents, cover-ups, and throwing anyone and everyone under the bus, when people/situations get difficult and/or inconvenient. Hmm.
I like streaming. I like the choice of watching what we want, when we want. No TV schedules that dictate what we can watch, when and on which TV channel. Streaming is also immediate. The contents start to play almost instantly whatever the audio/video file size. And, the good thing is there is no need to download a whole show in order to watch it. Naturally, streaming is real-time and requires a speedy internet connection with cellular data, Wi-Fi, or an Ethernet connection. Luckily, we have a decent 100Mbps of Wi-fi connection.
This made me think of how different TV viewing/entertainment was when I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s. In the 1960’s, there were only two free-to-air TV channels, TV1 and TV2. They were/are owned and operated by Radio Televisyen Malaysia, a broadcasting department of the Malaysian Government. TV1/RTM1 started broadcast in 1963 while TV2/RTM2 started in 1969. In 1984, TV3, the first and oldest private TV station premiered. Also, a free-to-air television channel, it is owned by Media Prima.
I remember this clearly. I could only watch TV shows when they were aired, once a week. A whole week of waiting to watch whatever programmes, particularly those that I liked, on the telly. And, the broadcast hours were not 24×7. Maybe, a few hours every evening. After a day at school, office and business, my family like many others, probably converged in front of the TV at home, and watched whatever that was shown on that day. No control on programmes or schedules. No remote controls either, which meant physically walking up to the TV, and twisting the knob to change channels, from TV1 to TV2 or visa-versa.
This is true. As a child, my favourite was The Brady Bunch. I think it was broadcasted on a Friday. And, I used to fret that if visitors turned up unannounced (which they did quite a bit in those days) or there was heavy rain (thunder/lightning meant the TV had to be switched off – yes really), I’d miss my TV show. There was no recording function on old black and white TVs. There was no Videocassette Recorder (VCR) on the market. There was also no in-built Personal Video Recorder or PVR as offered now by ASTRO, the local satellite television provider. It really was a-once-only showing. There were no repeats. Which was why I used to feel devastated each time I missed an episode.
Another one of my favourites was ‘How the West was Won.’ It was unfortunately rescheduled, and screened on TV1 the same Wednesday night as the once weekly Tamil movie on TV2. I used to hope that the very long three-hour movies would end a little earlier, so I could switch channels to at least catch the tail end of my TV show. It never happened.
It also occurred to me that there were many Western TV shows screened back then. For instance, ‘The Virginian,’ ‘The Big Valley,’ ‘Bonanza,’ ‘Alias Smith and Jones,’ ‘The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters,’ ‘The Rifleman,’ ‘The High Chapparal’ and ‘Have Gun Will Travel.’ Why though? These shows featured cowboys, horses, cowboys on horseback, cattle herding, stage coaches, large ranches, and shoot-outs. None of these were relatable or relevant to a Malaysian like me – a small town girl from Alor Setar. And yet I enjoyed the shows. Maybe, it was escapism and/or a couple of hours of focussed entertainment in the absence of a deluge of digital distractions.
Equally many were cop shows. The likes of Columbo, Mannix, Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, and CHiPS (yes, the motorcycle cops). My favourite was The Streets of San Francisco. Mainly because I was a huge fan of the then much younger and dapper Michael Douglas. As was I, not dapper just a lot younger. The mention of Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, Happy Days, The Facts of Life, One Day at a Time, Bionic Woman, Dallas and Charlie’s Angels still makes me smile. Thanks to RTM, I got many hours of pleasure, excitement, and memories.
That said, I prefer TV viewing/entertainment now. More control on what, when, how and where I watch whatever plus multiple remote controls.
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