Not your parents' TV

Viewing today includes many options … you don’t even need a TV set

The television set isn't the only place to watch TV these days.
The television set isn't the only place to watch TV these days.

It's a baby boomer couch potato's worst nightmare -- the cable is on the fritz. It could be a while.

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Netflix/AP

Orange Is the New Black, starring Taylor Schilling (left) and Uzo Aduba, is a Netflix original series.

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HBO/AP

Game of Thrones, starring Natalie Dormer (from left), Jack Gleeson and Peter Dinklage, is available through HBO, a stand-alone streaming service.

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Showtime

Homeland, starring Clare Danes, is available through Showtime’s stand-alone streaming service.

The horror -- the beloved family TV set has gone dark. Yes, that clunky box that joined the family when two burly guys manhandled it into the living room with great fanfare in 1953; that box that morphed into a room-hogging piece of furniture in the '60s (complete with radio at one end and turntable at the other); that console that first got colorized, then became a flat screen, then high-definition and now hangs on the wall -- that beloved TV set is blank.

Fortunately these days, there are alternatives to watching television without cable or satellite. In fact, you don't even have to watch television on your television set.

Is it really television if you don't watch it on a set? I'll leave that deep question to epistemological philosophers. What I need to know right now is how do I get my video fix while the cable is out? Video withdrawal can strike within 18 hours. It can get ugly.

First of all, I hear all you snickering, condescending millennial whippersnappers out there scoffing at the quasi-Luddite who's behind the times. Listen, Sonny, get off my lawn and go back to your PlayStation. We don't need anybody raised on Nintendo and Sega to lord it over those of us who prefer our TV on TV.

But to quote Bob Dylan (kids, ask your grandparents), "The times, they are a-changin'." Heck, they've already changed; some of us just weren't paying attention. The following information is for us.

INTERNET TO THE RESCUE

Thanks to the Internet, we can now watch TV not only on our sets, but on our computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. This new way of watching has been called a "paradigm shift" in the television industry in how TV/video content is consumed.

To save you a Google search (nobody uses a dictionary anymore), a paradigm shift is "a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions." In this case, it means television just isn't for TV sets anymore.

My parents' generation went through a paradigm shift when network TV was first getting rolling in the early 1950s. What? Watch movies on a tiny little box? They were meant to be seen in a theater, not in the living room.

The same goes for TV. It's time to start thinking about television outside the box. Or outside the flat screen, since the 100-pound cathode ray tube TV has long since gone the way of rabbit ears.

Indeed. Now that we've all gone digital, those rabbit ears (along with the tin foil we used to wrap around them) have given way to an amplified HDTV long-range antenna. That's a good place to start if the cable is out or if you want to, as the kids say, "cut the cord."

If you're anywhere near a TV market, a high-definition antenna allows you to scoop up all those free digital signals zooming around in the ozone.

Depending on the terrain and distance from the source, there's a good chance you'll be able to get many of your local broadcast stations -- ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The CW and PBS -- with an HD antenna.

If your TV is a modern one (since 2007), it already has a digital TV tuner built in. Otherwise, you'll need a digital converter box.

Your video options increase dramatically when you turn to your computer with high-speed Internet and online services that provide streaming media.

The best news: Your computer can be easily hooked up to a TV with an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cable if you still want to watch on a set.

Streaming media? That's video (or audio) content sent in compressed form over the Internet that can be played immediately because the content is sent in a continuous "stream" of data. You can even pause the movie or TV show, rewind it or fast-forward.

There are lots of services out there providing streaming video for free and others for a fee or subscription. Some services are ad-supported or run on a "freemium" model where a basic tier is free, but the fancier stuff costs money.

Most streaming sites offer pretty much the same stuff -- vintage films and TV series along with contemporary programs. An increasing number are even creating original programming, such as Netflix's House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black and Amazon Prime's Golden Globe-winning Transparent.

Free video sources include the Internet Archive, Crackle, Retrovision, Uncle Earl's Classic TV Channel and Shocker Internet Drive-In. That last one is so bad, it's good. Here's a brief synopsis of some of the things they offer.

Internet Archive. In addition to other media, the site at archive.org contains about 3,900 feature films in the public domain.

Crackle. This ad-supported subsidiary of Sony (crackle.com) is an online distributor of original Web programs, Hollywood movies and TV shows.

Retrovision. Classic movies and TV shows. Lone Ranger? Bonanza? Find them at retrovision.tv.

Uncle Earl's Classic TV Channel. Created by Earl Oliver in 2010, the site is found at solie.org/ClassicTV and boasts more than 10,000 classic movies and TV shows.

Shocker Internet Drive-In. Log into shockerdrivein.bizz.cc, then indulge in the virtual drive-in cheesy movie experience. I highly recommend Thor and the Amazon Women.

PAY TO PLAY

When most people think of streaming services, they think of those that charge a subscription fee. Examples include No. 1 Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, HBO Now, Amazon Prime Instant and CBS All Access. There are many others.

I asked around and here's an informal sample from folks I know who have "cut the cord" and now live cable-free.

"I only use a digital antenna and Netflix streaming through my smart TV. But while we like to think that the future is smartphone viewing or Apple Watch, right now there's still a lot to be said for traditional cable."

-- BA

"If your cable is out, there are apps for mobile devices from most networks and cable providers such as Xfinity TV Go, HBO Go, and the CBS app. With these, plus access to local affiliates' websites, you can watch just about everything available on traditional TV via 'on demand' style viewing."

-- KB

"We dropped our satellite and now get by nicely with Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, ESPN Mobile and HBO Now."

-- BS

"We totally use Roku. Watch it more than anything. We mostly do Amazon Prime and Netflix. And then HD antenna for local."

-- TWC

Note: The Roku Streaming Player (or simply Roku) is a digital box that gets its video stream via a wired or Wi-Fi connection to an Internet router. The device can be connected with a cable to any television set that has appropriate input connections.

Roku provides free and paid "channels" that include PBS, YouTube, Google Play Movies and TV, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video and others. Users can add or remove channels through the Roku Channel Store.

"Cable out? I'd go to the gas station, stand at the pump and watch those videos they play. Also, the dairy section at the supermarket. And there are always sports bars."

-- GP

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

I'm not certain how long the gas station or supermarket would allow you to stand there watching TV. It sounds a little creepy, to be honest. But if you want to subscribe to a streaming service, here's an overview of what some provide and the monthly fee.

Netflix, $8 (starting plan). With 60 million paid subscribers in more than 40 countries, Netflix.com is the top dog in the streaming services fight. One major reason is that subscribers can watch on their smart TVs, streaming media players, game consoles, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, smartphones and tablets, PCs and laptops.

Netflix offers 9,000-plus movies and TV series, 7,000 in high definition.

Hulu, $8. Hulu.com is the only streaming subscription service that offers current season content from five of the six largest U.S. broadcast networks plus full seasons of other series. In addition, subscribers can add Showtime for $8.99 per month.

Classics? Hulu offers everything from Green Acres to Seinfeld.

Apple TV, $11. Apple TV is a media player developed and sold by Apple Inc. that can receive digital data from a number of sources and stream it to a capable TV for playing on screen. A comprehensive review of the system can be found at arstechnica.com.

HBO Now, $15. The stand-alone streaming service (order.HBOnow.com) costs more because it offers every episode of every season of HBO's superior original programming (including The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, True Blood and The Wire), plus HBO sports, documentaries, comedy specials, and its exclusive lineup of Hollywood films.

m CBS All Access, $6. Subscribers (CBS.com/all-access) have access to 6,500 TV shows on demand. The programs include the NCIS and CSI franchises, 60 Minutes and many more. CBS All Access streams not only new series but classics such as I Love Lucy, the original Hawaii Five-O, Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, The Odd Couple and various Star Trek series.

Showtime, $11. Showtime's monthly stand-alone streaming subscription service gives Internet users commercial-free, unlimited access to Showtime movies and original series such as Homeland, Shameless and Ray Donovan, and live-streaming options for its East and West coast feeds. Distribution partners are Apple, Roku, Hulu and PlayStation Vue. More information (and a free 30-day trial) at sho.com.

Amazon Prime Instant Video, $8.25. The service (at amazon.com) offers more than 17,000 movies and TV series, but fewer than 2,000 in HD. Video includes the newest movie releases, current TV shows, and classic favorites. In addition, viewers can subscribe to current TV seasons, with new episodes available the day after they air.

The service plays on Amazon Fire TV, Fire HDX, Fire HD, iPad, PS3, Xbox, Wii, Wii U, Roku, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, and the Web as well as most modern TV sets.

YouTube. Finally, if you really, really need a video fix, you can find anything you want, including Alice's Restaurant, on Google-owned YouTube.

Seriously. Search YouTube for Alice's Restaurant and you'll not only find the original 18-minute, 1967 Arlo Guthrie recording of "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," you'll get the two-hour 1969 Arthur Penn-directed movie of the same name.

YouTube also has everything from music videos (Gangnam Style is No. 1 with 2.4 billion views) and cute kittens to classic Westerns and stand-up comedy concerts.

It even has videos of gas pump ads to save you a trip.

Style on 07/21/2015

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