Nostalgia Old and New!

If I remember correctly without doing any simple research, Netflix's no-more-DVDs fiasco happened after I cancelled/suspended my subscription when I moved to Korea, so it didn't really affect me all that much. Their emails of super sappy apologies were weird and too, uh, pleading-for-forgiveness personal. Anyway, before all that happened, I did take advantage of their DVD service with the first season of Big Bang Theory and other movies that I can't recall. I didn't really use the DVD service enough to be heart broken over the policy change.

Where was I going with that?

Anyway, since I've been back in the States - where Netflix works - I reactivated my account and streamed stuff from time to time. I watched most of The Walking Dead with my best friend, a bunch of the show Revenge, the first 3 seasons of Buffy in like a fortnight, a handful of movies, blah blah blah.

For Christmas I got a bookshelf and desk, which required some furniture rearrangement in my room, and now I have my small TV and Wii set up so I can watch Netflix (on the Wii) from my bed. Ah, the American Dream: never leaving one's bed.

So, I wasn't that into watching TV and stuff, but Netflix has suddenly become awesome. They seem to have had the same shows on there forever, but lately they've gone old-school and put up a lot 'old' shows from the 90's and classic movies from Disney. Lots of the classic Nickelodeon shows are up (I'm crossing my fingers for Are You Afraid of the Dark? to be on soon) and The X-Files and MacGyver are there too (but I gave the last 5 seasons to my family for Christmas, so whatever on that one). I was so happy to see a kidhood favorite Eerie, Indiana on there as well - I've watched 11 or 12 episodes in the last few days. But the icing on the cake was when I saw one of my childhood favorites, a relatively unknown show called Ocean Girl. 

Ocean Girl is an Australian-made TV series that began in 1994 and was broadcast on the Disney Channel the next year for it's first three seasons. In the UK they called the show Ocean Odyssey because it was not a girly show, but a show for families. It's about this group that lives on an underwater station off the coast of Australia called ORCA (I forgot what the acronym stands for) where they are studying the oceans and marine life, and the kids of the scientists live there too. The two main kids, brothers, are rescued while lost at sea without a paddle by a mysterious girl who lives on a small island, but can swim like the fish. Adventures ensue. They try to keep the girl a secret from the grown-ups and the less friendly kids, but there is more going on than that. Where did the girl come from? why is she alone? other mysteries and stuff. There are lots more things that come up, evil corporations, more people like the Ocean Girl, environmental issues.... I think the whole show was so fun, and it never got preachy with its morals.

Anyway, The show's first season is pretty tacky in the most lovable ways: the "future" styles of the clothes and hair are laughable and the plots of some of the episodes are pretty dumb (I'm looking at you, Mr. Episode where the doors are jammed shut but some random guitar frequency opens them for you!). While the first season is kinda dorky, the next two are SO cool! I have to admit, I saw these when I was in about second or third grade, but when I found the show online as an adult and re-watched them all, I was no less in love. The first season has mostly stand alone episodes, but the rest of the series is very chronological. The production values are pretty strong, most of the kid actors are quite good, and the scenery of the island is wonderful.

What I found out though, was that the final fourth season was never aired in the States! When I watched it as an adult it was the nostalgia all over again! I was pretty happy to see that Netflix included ALL the series, and I hope that a new generation will get to see the show. 

Here is a quick video of the opening titles! Watch and enjoy (and also know that the entire series has been uploaded to youtube by some wonderful soul!).

Besides that show, I also started watching The X-Files just for the heck of it. Wow! I can't believe I've not watched the show yet! I have only watched the first 3 episodes, with 199 left to go, but I am hooked. I hope they stay fun and spooky. I'm also following a blog of a guy who is blogging through the episodes; I like to see what other people think about the shows I'm into.

All this makes me look like SUCH a couch potato, and while I agree that it IS lot's of TV, I am not shirking off other duties or anything. Maybe I'm just making up for all that time I didn't watch TV in the last several years. Anyway, I've decided to take up swimming again and try to go 2 times a week (I don't want it to get  too expensive) and get in some healthy exercise.

My best friend moved far, far away for college so I think I'll have plenty of time to develop new hobbies and talents in the boredom that will come this winter/spring, whether that's piano, exercise, crocheting Nintendo things, watching HOURS of meaningless TV, playing Animal Crossing, reading Les Miserables (I'm on page 60!), or making new friends - the hardest of all - I'm sure I'll find something to fill my time. Any Suggestions, non-existent readers?

Have a great day!