Having written earlier to ABC, via their contact form, to inquire as to why V is not available for streaming, I was directed to read a blurb which they have posted on their site in which they say that they're sorry that they are unable to offer said content online via ABC.com or Hulu anymore and wish they could.
Let me quote the email I recieved.
"Thank you for your feedback regarding the ABC TV network show, “V.”
For more information on watching full episodes, please read the notes on ABC.com:
Go to ABC.com
Go to the top of the screen and click on SHOWS
Go down the page to “V”
Click on that show.
Go down the page to the “V Extras Section”
Read the article titled: “A note from ABC.com”
So, I just sent this reply. It's possibly a bit more hostile than it should be.
"In writing to ask why there were no episodes available for watching online I received a response to read the note from ABC on the V site.
I have read said note, and now I ask, again, why are they not available?
It is disheartening that other content is available, but the meaningful content is not, and lack of a public reason for this decision reflect a disdain and disrespect for the loyal viewers.
I am very disappointed."
I don't know how to say this without anger.
I get that three and four years ago, I wouldn't have been able to watch any shows online, and the notion of not being able to stream television episodes the next day would have seemed like the farthest thing from an actual irritation. I get that this is, in the grand scheme of things, not a big deal.
But to me, it is important. It's important because I can watch bad low budget programming like "The Bachelor," on their site, or any of the increasingly sexually charged medical dramas like Grey's Anatomy or The Practice on their website, but programming which challenges us to ask questions about the soul, humanity, and what "the greater good" actually means, get relegated to "after school special" status in that you catch it or not, but can't expect to have a second chance.
I'm insulted that they gave us the classic deflection response. We ask why? They say "Because." Maybe I'm overreacting, but I don't like to treated like someone who isn't smart enough to know that she hasn't received an answer.
So, I am up in the air as to whether or not I will watch the rest of the series. If I can't go back and catch what I missed, I don't see a point. I'm the type who will wait and watch online or at a re-airing if I miss the first 15 minutes, because I want to understand what is going on and I respect the writers' and directors' work enough to want to enjoy the bits and pieces of foreshadowing and excellent storytelling they've put together. No, reading a synopsis isn't enough, nor is trying to fill in the blanks and move on.
I don't want to say "I won't watch it anymore because it's not available on the internet" because I want the show to succeed. But I don't see myself watching it anymore because I won't be able to fill in the blanks and at that point, a serial show with this much detail and subtlety loses much of it's appeal, whereas an episodic series wouldn't suffer so greatly by the break in storyline. I am not going to say that I won't watch it.
But I will say that I'm not going to watch anything else on ABC. Sure, I like to catch Desperate Housewives. Yes, I adore Nathan Fillion and love watching Castle. I also enjoy some medical drama, even though they dramatize pregnancy and birth and further contribute to the notion that these are life threatening conditions which helps create the environment in which women find it acceptable that 1 in 3 births in the United States occurs via cesarean section.
I won't be watching the Oscars.
Here's what I will be doing instead- I will be watching their competing networks and learning to like programming I can catch up on, delivered by networks which don't treat me like a 2 year old.
Let me quote the email I recieved.
"Thank you for your feedback regarding the ABC TV network show, “V.”
For more information on watching full episodes, please read the notes on ABC.com:
Go to ABC.com
Go to the top of the screen and click on SHOWS
Go down the page to “V”
Click on that show.
Go down the page to the “V Extras Section”
Read the article titled: “A note from ABC.com”
So, I just sent this reply. It's possibly a bit more hostile than it should be.
"In writing to ask why there were no episodes available for watching online I received a response to read the note from ABC on the V site.
I have read said note, and now I ask, again, why are they not available?
It is disheartening that other content is available, but the meaningful content is not, and lack of a public reason for this decision reflect a disdain and disrespect for the loyal viewers.
I am very disappointed."
I don't know how to say this without anger.
I get that three and four years ago, I wouldn't have been able to watch any shows online, and the notion of not being able to stream television episodes the next day would have seemed like the farthest thing from an actual irritation. I get that this is, in the grand scheme of things, not a big deal.
But to me, it is important. It's important because I can watch bad low budget programming like "The Bachelor," on their site, or any of the increasingly sexually charged medical dramas like Grey's Anatomy or The Practice on their website, but programming which challenges us to ask questions about the soul, humanity, and what "the greater good" actually means, get relegated to "after school special" status in that you catch it or not, but can't expect to have a second chance.
I'm insulted that they gave us the classic deflection response. We ask why? They say "Because." Maybe I'm overreacting, but I don't like to treated like someone who isn't smart enough to know that she hasn't received an answer.
So, I am up in the air as to whether or not I will watch the rest of the series. If I can't go back and catch what I missed, I don't see a point. I'm the type who will wait and watch online or at a re-airing if I miss the first 15 minutes, because I want to understand what is going on and I respect the writers' and directors' work enough to want to enjoy the bits and pieces of foreshadowing and excellent storytelling they've put together. No, reading a synopsis isn't enough, nor is trying to fill in the blanks and move on.
I don't want to say "I won't watch it anymore because it's not available on the internet" because I want the show to succeed. But I don't see myself watching it anymore because I won't be able to fill in the blanks and at that point, a serial show with this much detail and subtlety loses much of it's appeal, whereas an episodic series wouldn't suffer so greatly by the break in storyline. I am not going to say that I won't watch it.
But I will say that I'm not going to watch anything else on ABC. Sure, I like to catch Desperate Housewives. Yes, I adore Nathan Fillion and love watching Castle. I also enjoy some medical drama, even though they dramatize pregnancy and birth and further contribute to the notion that these are life threatening conditions which helps create the environment in which women find it acceptable that 1 in 3 births in the United States occurs via cesarean section.
I won't be watching the Oscars.
Here's what I will be doing instead- I will be watching their competing networks and learning to like programming I can catch up on, delivered by networks which don't treat me like a 2 year old.
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