fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #6773 ]

[ SECRET POST #6773 ]

⌈ Secret Post #6773 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 16 secrets from Secret Submission Post #969.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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01. https://i.imgur.com/l7o2ecY.png

This! Also a big reason I still listen to the radio - sometimes I don't want to constantly choose what to listen to. I want to see what's on, maybe I hate it, maybe I discover my new favorite song, but I like not having to make that small decision.

Big same on the radio and the reason for it! I get so fed up with 'my' music sometimes I could yell, and I want to be able to find things that e.g. Spotify *wouldn't* recommend to me precisely because I haven't listened to it before.

I mostly miss the format for some shows where you had a longer season and more time to develop plot arcs and characters.

I miss this so much. And the format of being able to look forward to seasons wheras now it can be years between seasons.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2025-07-23 01:00 (UTC) - Expand

YES.

Saaaaaaaaaaame.

I hate having to choose on a streaming service, because I never end up actually choosing anything. I miss being able to just sit down and turn on the tv and scroll through a few channels and find something. Let the tv gods decide what I watch.

And yes, also the schedule of "8pm on Wednesdays is TV day" was such a nice simple thing to look forward to. It's just not the same putting on a streaming show.

Same. It's probably for the best because I spent my childhood and adolescence in front of the TV, but I have no interest in shows anymore in the streaming era. I can't even afford cable anymore, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not streaming either.

I get you, OP.

That's a great pic because scheduled TV usually was a household event for families. It was for mine. I mean, of course we had more than one television, and of course we recorded shows on VHS, so we did watch stuff separately. But there were specific days and lineups when we would all set up TV trays with a specific meal and watch the lineup together. TGIF in particular was HUGE in the 90s with Family Matters, Boy Meets World, etc.

I even look back fondly on the infomercials that ran overnight.

And TV Guide! We had a subscription and actually used it to know what was on and the synopsis hahaha. Because no internet.

We had basic cable by the time I was 8 or 9, but we still watched stuff on the legacy channels. And the news! Omg, there was no 24/7 news, so you watched one of the three evening news shows, and I remember how serious and super-professional the anchors were. They were addressing a national audience, so there was no partisan bent to it.

Ah yes. Simpler times.

I haven't lived with my family in decades but I remember plenty of arguments with them about what to watch. Just because we're related it does NOT mean we like all the same movies and TV shows.

I vaguely remember pouring over TV Guides as a kid and being amazed at all the different episode descriptions - which sounded cool and which sounded lame, haha. Thanks for jogging my memory!

(no subject)

greghousesgf - 2025-07-23 02:35 (UTC) - Expand

Pluto.tv

you misunderstand

It breaks down constantly, watch at your own risk.

You're entitled to your own opinion but I don't miss it at all. I like being able to watch something when I'm in the mood and not have to worry about missing it when I go out.

Same. I cut my cable cord in 2008 and stopped paying for streaming in 2021. I pirate everything, and I watch and listen to what I want, when I want. When I want to find new things, I pick through rec lists to find new content.

Same here, I watch things when I want not when the TV schedule says so and I prefer it that way.

Same. I came home, I watch what I want and I can pause if I want to go to sleep instead.
Also, rituals are easy enough. My parents watch the same show every Saturday because tv still exist. They even do it online if tv isn't available

In my household we organise a weekly viewing schedule. If there's a currently airing show that comes out weekly, that gets first priority. Then any other new shows, once a week. Then any older shows to fill in the other days, at one a week. Then if there's space left over, movie try-out night, where we watch the first hour or so of a movie and continue only if we like it. You can DIY this!

This, so much. Being forced to slow down and only get one episode at a time and be able to plan on the time when that episode would be on, we did ourselves a disservice moving so far away from that being the standard.

I'll say, the closest I've come to that is when my mom and I watched Downton Abbey and Poldark (hmm, both on PBS, hey everyone go support PBS). Even when I moved into my own house, we'd still make sure we watched the show when it was on and we'd be on Skype with our running commentary. It was SO NICE to have something like that to look forward to regularly.
Nowadays she'll record shows on Dish and when I visit on the weekends we'll watch the latest episode of whatever shows. Almost the same. But not quite.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2025-07-23 03:09 (UTC) - Expand

Completely with you, OP. I miss the ritual of gathering round the TV to watch The Simpsons when I was little, Dad rushing to press record on the VHS, I even miss that feeling of getting 30 seconds in and going "hold on, this is a repeat!"

Unrelated, but the absolute AI hellscape of an image used for this secret is something else. It's a gift that keeps on giving, the longer you look the more you see.

I've noticed I watch a lot less TV than when it was scheduled. In the 90s if you missed an episode of Voyager who knew when you'd catch it again during re-runs! so even if I didn't feel like watching TV I still tuned in and watched. Now, it's easier to say "I'll watch this later" and then never come back...

Yeah, I've shared similar sentiments before. I miss the era of TV in the late 2000s. You have your scheduled programming and DVR, so if you can catch something live you'll know when and which channel. If you miss something you want to watch, there is recording saved for when you do have time to watch.

These days it's just in general hard for me to get into shows. I'm one of those people who gets contrarian and I won't watch something if everyone keeps hyping it up. In my younger years, I was able to get into shows from catching them on TV while channel surfing or walking in on a family member watching said show and because they have control of the remote, I politely watch with them. Sometimes I got into the show, other times I feel grateful that I caught a little bit of the show and know that it wasn't for me.

I also miss the special moments on boring Friday nights or Saturday afternoons where I catch a random movie on a random channel and it feels like discovering an overlooked gem.
In the late 1990s, that's how my brother and I became fans of "Office Space".

I've had a few internet outages recently. But even if it's out, I can still access OTA on my tv and watch PBS and random channels. It might not always be good television, seriously how many shopping networks do we really need, but it passes the time.

There is a whole hobby now about recreating this experience where you make your own tv stations. I'm just waiting for someone to make it so the entire neighborhood can watch: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/169lulo/ever_wanted_to_build_your_own_24_hour_retro_tv/

It's still a niche thing but it's becoming more popular and it will be centralized soon I'm sure.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2025-07-24 14:13 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

bannedbookweek - 2025-07-26 21:14 (UTC) - Expand

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