Once upon a time there was 'The Movie'. I've never tried to work out how many hours I've spent watching them (the hours lost that can never be regained), but as a child/stroppy teenager I would slump down in a chair on a Saturday afternoon at around 3pm to watch the Saturday afternoon matinee.
It would greatly annoy my Dad (extra kudos for me playing the bolshy 'teen' card), as he had just purchased his first Colour television set and there I was making a mockery of it all by watching Black and White 1930s and 1940s classics.
Eventually a mockery of a compromise was reached - the kids got the old telly and bickered and argued between themselves for viewing rights whilst the 'Head of the Household' watched uninterrupted colourful sport...
Edith Head fashion, sumptuous sets, orchestrated Busby Berkeley choreographed extravanzas all in Black and White!! Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Norma Shearer, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Van Heflin, John Wayne, Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn (I could continue ad nauseam but will give you all a break!). It was fantastic.
Fast forward countless years and we have, yet again, 'The Movie' - normally taken out of the library for one week. No problem, you would think - given my amazing ability of yesteryear, I could watch the one film countless times - but NO!! Invariably I receive the email gently reminding me that the DVD has to be returned to the library in the next 2/3 days and panic ensues as I haven't even had time to read the synopsis on the back of the DVD cover.
The number of films and TV series I have had to return without even inserting them into the DVD machine... But now, especially with regard to a TV series, I have a longer time frame to play with:
Two Whole Weeks!!
Until very recently I was watching TV series on DVD such as the Danish production of The Bridge, Shetland, Parade's End, and Desperate Romantics under immense pressure - two or three episodes a night so that I could return them, haggard and red-eyed, back to the shelves having gone through 3, 4 or even sometimes 5 DVDs in the set.
Times they are a-changing... I've even been known to watch in Colour.
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