The Primetimer Guide to Streaming TV by Aaron Barnhart
Description: Streaming on our TVs is great except — the scrolling. ARGH! The endless strolling. This guidebook is meant to greatly reduce your scrolling by providing information on “TV series, limited series, original movies, specials and docuseries—all recommended by Primetimer staff and contributors for streaming on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, HBO Max, Disney+, Peacock, Paramount+, Showtime, Apple TV+, Epix, BritBox, AMC+ and other popular platforms” of critic-and-fan-recommended shows PLUS some money-saving tips.
Review:
To Scroll or Not To Scroll? That isn’t even a question when it comes to streaming on our TVs. You are scrolling.
Personally, I scroll a lot because I like many different TV & movie genres and dislike just as many if not more. I can spend an hour easily scrolling through all my options to add selections to my “Watchlist”. Anything that will aid in reducing that time is worth me checking out.
The first section, “Part I — The Cord Has Been Cut”, covers the move from cable to streaming. And a fascinating section it is. The author provides what started when, who bought out what as well. What each did to contribute to what we have today. I know it sounds sorta dull; it isn’t.
If you have not moved to stream shows on your TV, Barnhart provides a numbered To-Do List of how to determine what streaming services and hardware you will need based on what YOU watch. It’s the kind of thing I wish I had done when I started streaming about five years ago. I’ll be re-reading this section as there is much I haven’t picked up by just “using” stream tv in the last half-decade. Oh, there is info on how to save money too.
For me, the “meat” of the book was Part I.
“Part II – 1,000+ Shows, Movies and Specials Recommend by Primetimer” was more difficult for me to view because I’m reviewing an electronic ARC (Advanced Reader Copy). In the completed copy, it will be very valuable because it instead of you scrolling, then clicking to see the synopsis, etc., that information has been collected for you.
I looked up a show that I hadn’t bothered to scroll/click my way into the details — “The Beast Must Die” and found the following:
- The age info: TV-14
- The dates it was on: 2021-Present
- The ‘channels’ where it is available: AMC+, BritBox, 5 episodes
- What kind of show/series & the cast: Anthology series (thriller) with …. cast listed
- Synopsis with some key info. It’s not just a copy of what you’d see on your TV: “Better than-average British prestige dectective series …” … “An adaptation of the 1938 novel by Cecil Day-Lewis” “At just 5 episodes, this series doesn’t flag at all.”
- More unexpected into: “Unrelated to the 1974 horror whodunit of the same title.”
Before I read the above, I wasn’t all that interested — obviously, since I’d never delved any deeper than the “cover picture” and the title. Now I am. Not every show has as much information, especially in the last two bullets.
Next, I picked a show that I really like.”Midsomer Murders” (20 seasons) and it is not listed. Other shows off the air are in the book such as “Mary Tyler Moore” and “Seinfeld” and those went off the air long before Midsomer which is still shown on IMDBtv.
The author in “viii” which appears after the Foreward states “This isn’t my book. At least, it’s not entirely my book. The Primetimer Guide to Streaming TV would not have happened without the contributions of many others… Behind this book is a large database of television shows and movies that managing editor Mark Blankenship, Brianna Westervelt, Jed Rosenzweig and I built from scratch. … I am indebted to these Primetimer editors and contributors whose analysis and reviews were the basis for many of the entries in Part II.“
SOoooo — Humans picked the shows. They just didn’t happen to pick some of the ones I watch and have watched.
Rating: 4 stars. Part I, unless you have loads and loads of streaming knowledge, is extremely useful. Part II is handy but only if the show you are searching for *is* in the book. In doing this review I looked up 10 different shows and only 2 of them were listed. But, I’m in the “senior citizen” category of TV watchers so not finding some was not surprising even though they are current and I am watching them via stream TV. I’m still scratching my head over the missing “Midsomer Murders”.
I received a complimentary e-ARC copy of The Primetimer Guide to Streaming TV via NetGalley from the publisher, Primetimer. A positive review was not required; the opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
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