Tuesday, 11/22

So...what is a boy to do?

Those of you who've been reading these for years know that one of my favorite TV shows of all time is “The Gilmore Girls”. Being a fan of incredible writing, I devoured the series when it was first on the air, and will still pop in a DVD now and then when the need to cleanse my creative palette arises. When the news broke earlier this year that a 4-movie revival of the series was being put together by Netflix—with the entire cast and creative team signing up—it sounded like it was heaven on Earth. And in four days, this Friday, when all four films are released at midnight, I'm sure it will be.

Only I won't know. Because I don't have a Netflix subscription.

I've been going back and forth on this for a while now. Do I pay for a subscription just to watch four films along with the rest of the world? Do I wait for them to come out on download or Blu-Ray, assuming they ever come out on download or Blu-Ray? If I wait for them to come out on a non-Netflix carrier, will I have been subjected to so many spoilers that it might ruin my viewing experience? And even if I do get a Netflix subscription just to watch the four films, I have no idea when I'd get the time to actually watch them, which means they might be spoiled by the time I got around to them, thereby rendering my new subscription kind of useless, anyway.

See what I'm dealing with here?

I know; it's one of the most amazing first-world problems in the history of first-world problems. And I'm pretty sure that I'm making a bigger deal out of it that anyone has a right to. But I liked the first six seasons of the show. Like most fans, I felt cheated by the seventh season, when the original creative team behind the series was kicked out. And now, they have the chance to finish the show the way they wanted to finish it with, among other things, an almost-mythical “final four words” that's supposed to wrap up the show in one nice tidy little bow. While I doubt the “final four words” will actually live up to the almost decade of hype (I don't think anything could live up to that much hype), it'd be nice to see how it does end around the same time as the rest of the world, kind of like you would've if the show was still on regular TV.

But it's not. It's a whole new media world out there, and at least in this instance it looks like I'm being left a little behind.

Like I said, I have no idea how or when I'm gonna be able to watch the movies. Heck, I have no idea when I'd actually have the seven or eight hours free to check 'em out, even if I had access to them. And I'm guessing I'm not gonna be able to avoid spoilers, either. So Friday, like the rest of the world, I'm guessing I'll find out everything I even needed to know about the revival of the show, even if I don't want to.

Hopefully, though, one day soon I'll be able to check it out for myself. I'll just have to decide if it's sooner (on Netflix) rather than later (any other way).

(jim@wmqt.com), well aware that if this is the only problem in my life that I am indeed living a VERY good life!