The State of Doctor Who

It's been a long time since I've blogged so I thought I would do a series on the states of the various interests in my life starting with my #1 interest Doctor Who. 

News has broken now that 2022 will see Jodie Whittaker depart as the 13th Doctor and Chris Chibnell is leaving as show runner. It's certainly been a controversial run for Chibnell as show runner with the elephant in the room being the Timeless Child retcon.

As far as I'm concerned,  on It's own merits, as far as storytelling goes, I'm ok with it, however I don't like the implication that William Hartnell's Doctor wasn't the first, etc.

So much of classic and even new series Doctor Who is based on the Timelords having 12 regenerations. Clara's begging the Timelords to give the 11th Doctor (who by counting the War Doctor and the 10ths regeneration without changing bodies was out of lives) for another regeneration is now pointless. I'm hoping it gets resolved in the next series which will be 6 episodes with 3 specials. 

Speaking of which, I normally stay away from rumors and leaks but have found myself paying more attention to those this time.

Word is we will not get a 60th Anniversary special in 2023 but instead a centenary special in 2022 for the 100th Anniversary of the BBC. 

I'm OK with this because the centenary Special is rumored to feature past Doctors,  David  Tennant is the main rumor with rumors also circulating of Paul McCain getting a long overdue main screen appearance as the 8th Doctor.  If the centenary Special is going to be a multi-Doctor affair,  then I see no reason to turn around and do a 60th Anniversary special in 2023. 60 is not a big milestone and I think it would be overkill. 

The other big rumor going is that we are in for a big change, much along the lines of differentiating between classic Doctor Who and the new series. 

I've seen fans on Twitter debate over whether or not Doctor Who needs to "rest" for a bit with many saying we already wait long enough between series.

One thing I wouldn't mind seeing is a move away from a "series" and more towards 3 or 4 specials a year. Make them really good, gives us something to look forward to. What I don't want to see is a whole series being "dropped" at once on a streaming service, I'd miss the communal discussion of a new episode every week,  although I imagine it would still be broadcast in that way.

The other issue is there is so much Doctor Who content out there already that I don't think a pause would be the worst thing to happen. 

Classic Doctor Who airs M-F at 8:00 & 8:30 on retro TV here in the states with occasionally episodes at 9:00 & 9:30 on Thursday and Friday (usually to "even out" a story with an odd number of episodes). It also airs Saturday and Sunday from 6:00-8:00. There's Pluto TV which airs a collection of classic episodes, although it's a limited run. The classic series is also on Britbox with the new series on HBO Max. Not to mention all the novels I bought and never read. 

I think if we are going to see a big change in production,  certainly we can do with a pause. We Whovians have had our share of long pauses between new televised stories what's one more?

The Great Sling Experiment

Several months ago I canceled my YouTube TV subscription because $64,99/month was just too much for live TV. I listened to many sporting events on the radio or over the internet and watched what I could over the air, mainly the NCAA basketball tournament. 

Several weeks ago I decided to try Sling TV. I opted for the Orange package, which includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 (ESPN's online content that is only available on the ESPN app). $35/month is about what I'm willing to pay for live sports, however I am not willing to pay the extra $11/month for SEC Network, ACC Network or ESPNU. 

Here's the thing about the "conference" networks. I only really ever watched SEC Network when the Gamecocks were playing (I dislike Paul Firebaum immensely). Football, Men's basketball and most baseball games are on the radio locally. Women's basketball and the few early season baseball games that don't get on the radio are on internet audio through either the "Gamecocks" app or iheartradio through 107.5 "The Game"... the Gamecocks flagship radio station in Columbia. I don't ever remember watching ACC Network, but if I did it was only when Clemson played...the same radio "rules" apply there. Also USC and USC Upstate often play around the same time, so I can listen to the Gamecocks on the radio and watch the Spartans on my tablet via ESPN+. I had a wonderful Friday last week when forecasted inclement weather on a Saturday meant that USC Upstate played a doubleheader on ESPN+ while the Gamecocks also played a doubleheader that Friday and I was not scheduled at work. 

By only having ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 i will have access to most "championship" events, the women's basketball tournament, College World Series, bowl games and playoffs, etc.

The Orange package also gives me access to TBS and TNT, so I'm covered for the later rounds on the NCAA basketball tournament. I'm not concerned about TruTV because only the "first four" and first and second rounds are on that channel which I never watched any other time of the year. I also didn't watch much of the first two rounds this year. It also gives me AEW Dynamite on TNT, which I had learned to live without but I still missed. USA Network is only available on the Blue package, but I have access to RAW, NXT and Miz and Mrs., etc. on Hulu. Smackdown is a problem because I typically listen to Gamecock baseball games on Friday nights and Smackdown typically isn't uploaded on Hulu until Sunday afternoon. I also get AXS TV, which shows impact wrestling on Thursday night, but the few times I've watched it recently I didn't enjoy it. I am enjoying A&E's Biography, which is currently airing a series on WWE wrestlers. And whenever the new series of Doctor Who debuts, I'll have BBC America. 

The only drawback is Sling only works well on my Amazon fire stick when I have high speed internet at the beginning of the month, but I have gotten where I only watch my streaming services on my tablet anyway. My TV is used mainly for local OTA channels, classic Doctor Who on retro TV for example and to watch DVDs, although through watching my DVDs of the new Doctor Who series, I've discovered many are corrupted and have skips and freezes. I'm using a Doctor Who fan website called "The Randomizer" to select episodes and instead of my DVDs I'm watching on HBO Max.

I believe I am going to stay with Sling Orange for the foreseeable future. As I said $35/month is what I'm willing to pay, but not $46/month to get "sports extra". I'm hoping for the day when YouTube TV comes up with a new plan, say pick 10 channels for $35/month. If anyone could do that, it's YouTube TV/Google. 

Royals it was always going to be you.

Going to bed at 9:00 PM has backfired on me and I'm now awake at 1:00 AM with baseball and the upcoming season on my mind.

I added a subscription to ESPN+ today (yearly then canceled immediately to avoid surprise charges on my debit card.) My plans to attend a baseball game at USC Upstate on Tuesday have taken a badbturn due to weather. While the game could still be played (rain ends mid afternoon as of the last time I checked) i will probably take advantage of ESPN+ and stay in the comfort of home.

I'm also not completely sure I will be able to make it to a Greenville Drive game with capacity restrictions and not really wanting a season ticket, even the one on Thursdays, my day off, was too much baseball, not to mention my admittedly prudish nature regarding "$1 Drink Night".

As I also mentioned in a previous blog, Jackie Bradley, Jr. exiting the Red Sox organization has me rethinking my loyalties. It's occurred to me tonight thought it shouldn't be that difficult of a decision. 

I am also a fan of the Kansas City Royals primarily because of former Gamecock Whit Merrifield. The Columbia Fireflies are also now a Royals affiliate. And for some reason,  perhaps because of an early childhood premonition, I used to always look at the standings in the sports page and see how the Royals were doing. I wasn't even a baseball fan then.

Perhaps I'll wait and post this on Facebook on Opening Day April 1st.  It would be fitting as years ago I did the same declaring myself a Red Sox fan. 

Slugger and Texas on my mind

Ever since the upcoming baseball series between South Carolina and Texas was announced,  I have been flooded with memories from 2002, the year the South Carolina and Texas met in the championship game of the College World Series. 

That was the final year that the championship was a single game, the next year saw the beginning of the 3 game series for the championship. Myself and other Gamecock fans have long argued that if 2002 had been a 3 game series, the Gamecocks would have come back and won the championship. Things worked out in the long run, as South Carolina won the final Championship contented in Rosenblatt Stadium in 2010 and won the following year in the first CWS at TD Ameritrade Park. Also if memory serves me correctly,  we came into the 2002 championship game with 1 loss in the tournament while Texas was unbeaten which would have called into question our worthiness had we won in 2002.

2002 also brings happy memories of when my "Big Ole Baby" Slugger adopted me.

Long before South Carolina and Clemson played a 3 game series annually, the rivalry consisted of two game home and home on a Saturday and Sunday in March and consecutive Wednesdays in April, also home and home. I believe it was the final game on a Wednesday in April and as it was a nice evening I turned up my radio which was then hooked up to an old stereo system, opened my front door and raised the window on my screen door and went to listen to the game on my front porch swing. Right when the game was about to start I saw what at the time was a little black puppy staring at me from my fence by the edge of the road.

I went over to him and he started to run away but I called to him and held out my hand. He sniffed and licked me through the fence and I walked around the edge to my gate in my driveway. He followed me and I let him in and we walked to my front porch. 

I held him and noticed a sore on his neck. I worked in the kennels at an animal hospital at the time so there was no doubt I would bring him in the next day. While I was holding him, the Gamecocks hit their first home run of the game and I looked at him and said something to the effect of "you're a little slugger aren't you?". The Gamecocks went on to win that evening and it was obvious that he was to become part of my family. 

I introduced Slugger to Andy that night (Andy knew something was up) and they were instant buddies. Andy may have been the smaller of the two, but he was the boss when it came to "chase".

Sadly Andy and Slugger died within about 2 weeks of each other many years ago. But I have happy memories that have been awakened by a baseball series. 

3 Tuesdays in March and other baseball musings

This is the time of year when spring training starts and college baseball is just around the corner that I start making plans for the upcoming season. 

With no Furman baseball program, the annual visit by the Gamecocks to Fluor Field here in Greenville is out although the neutral site game vs. Clemson is here this year. It has been moved back however to the last weekend in February as opposed to the first weekend in March. It was cold enough the one time I went on my own as well as the previous times with my family....not to mention USC and Clemson fans arguing in the stands. I also had the next to last seat in the next to last row down the first base line and that game is the most expensive of them all. I get better seats for half the cost to Drive games.

The Drive has yet to announce other college or high school games this year but I found Wofford vs. Georgia listed on Wofford's schedule and North Greenville also  has a game scheduled there. The sad part is Michigan State is not making their usual trip this year. The owner of the Drive is a Michigan State grad and I was fortunate to see my USC Upstate Spartans beat them last year before the season blew up.

USC Upstate was scheduled to play Clemson at Fluor Field on Tuesday March 9th, but the game got moved back to Clemson. I do plan on visiting Harley Park in Spartanburg on Tuesday March 16th when UNC-Asheville visits. One of my favorite customers is the sister-in-law of UNC-Asheville's baseball coach and I always hoped for a rivalry with that school even before USC Upstate joined the Big South conference. There is also a game against Presbyterian the following Tuesday the 23rd that has possibilities.  I could listen to the game against Clemson on the radio on the 9th, go the the game against UNC -A on the 16th and possibly the game against PC on the 23rd.

Minor league also is a consideration this year, but I am very disappointed in MLB's restructuring. It's bad enough that the Charleston Riverdogs are no longer a Yankees affiliate, breaking up the Palmetto State's part of the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, but the Riverdogs and Columbia Fireflies won't even be in the same league as the Drive. The only team I have any interest in in terms of a rivalry that will be in our league are the Asheville Tourists. I considered the Drive's "Mug Club" which would include tickets to every Thursday game (I don't work on Thursdays) but I decided it's too expensive for only really being interested in one team, and also not being a big fan of going to games on "$1 Drink Night".

As for MLB, I'm very intrigued by the possibility that Jackie Bradley, Jr. may no longer play for the Red Sox. It may be as long as 10 years ago that I went on Facebook on opening day and declared myself a Red Sox fan, primarily due to JBJ being called up. Now my loyalty is in question although the Greenville Drive may be enough to hold my devotion to the Red Sox. Opening Day is Thursday April 1st so I lucked out again as I will be off. It will be an interesting year.

The Ultimate Decision

After all that I blogged about a few weeks ago,  I've decided I'm keeping YouTube TV. I found some free channels on Sling and while they worked well with my high speed data at the beginning of the month, after my high speed was used up (it's still "Unlimited" but my speed is slowed after 15 GB) Sling was buffering constantly. YouTube TV is the only live TV service I've tried that doesn't buffer after I use my high speed data. While I could save a few bucks by watching only on my tablet and switching out plans depending on the channels I need, having all the channels I need in one plan with an unlimited DVR and the ability to watch on the big screen without buffering is worth the extra money. So what now?

My plan was to make February 1st my big change over date as I will get quarterly stock dividend. I pay for Amazon Prime on the yearly plan with my tax refund in order to avoid monthly fees, and I wanted to do the same with another streaming service. If I keep YouTube TV, I will not need Hulu. As much as I'm sure I would enjoy other things on Hulu, I have so much I already watch, I'm not sure I would watch Hulu enough to make a yearly plan worthwhile. The same is true Disney+. I know I would enjoy "The Mandolorian" and other shows, but would I have the time to watch? The other possibility is ESPN+.

I've always questioned whether I would watch it enough. USC Upstate men's and women's basketball games are on ESPN+ and the occasional baseball games, but they often conflict with Gamecock events on the regular ESPN family of networks. There's just not enough to justify subscribing.

The Disney bundle is only available monthly and is going up to $13.99/month. Netflix is a similar story, just too much to watch and not enough time to watch. But there's one streaming service I definitely watch regularly in WWE Network. 

My sisters bought me 6 months (two 3 month gift cards) of WWE Network for my birthday. While Best Buy has 6 month gift cards, it would involve a paper card and envelope to mail it. While that would be easier to keep track of, Walmart has email delivery of 3 month cards, which I what my sisters got me (although printed out). So my plan is to either buy 2-three month email gift cards on Walmart.com or one 6 month card from Best Buy. My current gift card won't expire until the middle of March if my math is right and 6 months would take me through my birthday in August and into September where I might get more gift cards. 

Time for change...or not.

There are many issues I could blog about on my weekend off but i'm going with a non controversial one. My streaming services. 

The new year has me thinking of change and I'm examining my choices of live streaming services and as usual it comes down to YouTube TV and Sling.

I've have YouTube TV and I've tried Sling. While YouTube TV suffers a bit in picture quality when my high speed data is used up in my "unlimited" data plan, my previous trials of Sling resulted in skipping and buffering,  which I rarely get with YouTube TV. Sling also has no live local channels but ABC is really the only issue as I get NBC, CBS and FOX locally as well as PBS (SCETV and UNC-TV) and the many independant subchannels that I often enjoy. 

I watch Days of our Lives on the NBC app and everything else I normally watch is on Amazon Prime or WWE Network. I really only have 3 main requirements for live TV. 

My absolute all time favorite show Doctor Who is a non issue in this battle it is available on YouTube TV and both base packages of Sling. 

For live sports I mainly need the ESPN family of networks as well as the other major sports networks which are only in the "Orange" package. ABC, which I include under the ESPN umbrella,  is not available over-the-air in my location. I never record sporting events to watch later. If i'm at work I'm checking my phone during my break and after work for scores. (Also since Modern Family ended, I no longer watch ABC for anything other than sports). I also need the major sports networks for most college and professional sports. During March madness,  I need TBS and TNT which are available on both base packages but i must also  have TruTV  (the only time I watch that channel but it's only available in Sling's "Orange " package ). I also need the ESPN family of networks during March madness because as a South Carolina Gamecock fan, the women's tournament is very important to me and that on the ESPN family of networks. I would have to have "Orange + Blue" for both, which is $45. SEC Network, ESPNU and MLB Network are among channels i watch often that are only available in "Sports Extra". As I would need "Orange  + Blue", "Sports Extra" would cost $15. That brings us to $60 almost what I pay for YouTube TV.  

As for professional wrestling, Smackdown is not much of an issue as I'm usually home to watch it live on FOX (broadcast) and if I need to watch it later, it's available on multiple FOX platforms. Sling, however , does not have FOX locally and on rare occasions I must record Smackdown to watch later. i have that ability with YouTube TV .TNT, which carries AEW Dynamite is available on both Sling's Orange and blue packages.  USA is a must for Monday Night Raw and NXT. While RAW is available in condensed form the next day on basic Hulu, USA network is the only place to watch it live. USA is only available in the blue package, and as I said above,  I must have Orange for ESPN as well as TruTV.

The main advantage to YouTube TV over Sling is of course the unlimited Cloud DVR at no extra charge which also saves your recordings for 9 months. Sling's base DVR only holds 10 hours and while i usually watch things as soon as i can in order to protect recordings and have 50 hours, you have to pay $5 for their "Cloud Extra" package which would bring us to $65 which is exactly what a pay a month for YouTube TV. 

So when you add it all up, I might save a few bucks here and there by getting my shows from different sources and waiting a day or two to watch things that I would normally watch live, but the convenience of having everything on one service plus the peace of mind of not having your recordings deleted just makes YouTube TV  the obvious choice for me.

Additional: After saying all that I could make the ultimate sacrifice and give up on live TV (including sports) altogether get WWE programming from Hulu, WWE Network and Fox apps....say goodbye to AEW Dynamite and get Doctor Who from HBO Max.

ON SECOND THOUGHT  I have decided to go with Plan B. I've paused my YouTube TV subscription for 24 weeks (or 6 months). I'm giving up watching live sports on "cable". There will still be live sports on NBC, CBS and FOX. Other events will be able to follow on local radio, internet audio and the ESPN app. I will do with Doctor Who what I have done with Star Trek Discovery and Picard, I will wait until the season is complete or almost complete, order a month of the service, cancel it immediately and watch the series within that month. I change my mind quickly but the new year and typing everything out has made me reconsider.