No reality TV or Netflix

[ileftmypotatointheovenallnight]

It's occurred to me I know next to nothing about current reality TV shows, what is popular on Netflix, celebrities etc. I do have a TV but I haven't watched it in about 2-3 years.

I've not watched a TV series for about a decade, except for a period when I watched all the 24 hours in A&E when I came out of hospital. I think that is what put me off - it was some kind of obsession after a sudden hospitalisation and surgery. I stopped watching the news during Covid to be honest.

Anyhow, I was thinking of going old school and buying a newspaper to read on the weekends. I do listen to a fair amount of podcasts.

But I have no idea what I want to watch. Is a Netflix subscription needed to watch good things?

I think I'd like documentaries about people where it goes into a bit more depth, films or series about real life historical events, I also like things about people living offbeat lives. I also wouldn't mind learning a bit more about current world events and some postive things that are happening in the face of climate change. For total switch off I quite like things that are just total fantastical.

So knowledgeable readers of mumsnet, any recommendations of series or programmes to watch?

Edit - I started this post thinking I was going to ask if I am abnormal for not knowing anything about Netflix or reality TV, then it sort of evolved and I can't be arsed to change the title. It's definitely not snobbery about anyone who watches reality TV, just trying to gently open my horizons again.

If you like documentaries you could try the BBC app. If you like comedies, try the Channel 4 app. There's loads of stuff on Netflix, they have quite a few true crime documentaries. Channel 5 also has true crime and other documentaries. I don't really watch reality stuff though I do watch Married at First Sight Australia. Love Island is popular. For historical events, there's always the history channel.

HTH

You could rotate subscriptions as most do a free trial
So Netflix, now TV, discovery plus etc
Tubi is a free app and has films and a few documentaries on (attached pic)

I don't know how old you are, but I don't think anyone over twenty knows anything about reality TV or celebrities. You are not missing out, ha! TV is one of the newer 'opium of the masses' (along with alcohol, mindfulness etc) so I understand why you want to go back to it. But I say spend less time sitting looking at the idiot box and more time doing things in the real world. Also, the human eyes weren't designed/evolved for looking at screens. Do you look at screens at work? How long do you spend on Mumsnet? Looking at your smartphone? Our eyes were designed to look at things in the real world, not to passively stare at a screen. So I think you should keep up the good work and stay away from the TV and Netflicks. Having said all this, I occasionally like to watch programmes where the police chase and catch criminals in real life. Drunk drivers etc. Good luck.

Definitely not abnormal to know nothing about reality TV or celebrities , lots of people don’t watch that type of thing . Plenty of documentaries on basic TV - BBC, channel 4 / 5 etc .

I have a TV, watch loads of Netflix and Amazon Prime plus Apple TV and I don’t know anything about reality tv! The only reality tv I watch is Drive to Survive and Break Point. Netflix is good though, I like a good tv mini series and a documentary and it’s chockas with them.

I stopped my netflix subscription because I just wasn't watching tv. If it wasn't for Amazon and Clarkson's Farm I'd stop my Prime membership. I do have a free Disney+ from Tesco but haven't watched anything.

There's not much on that grabs my attention(the tennis and football recently has also got me out of the habit of watching most of what I did other than a couple of things), I like house/property programmes as I like seeing what people do to their houses (I also spend hours scrolling through Rightmove). The Apprentice is good for a laugh but no other reality tv.

Clarkson’s Farm is the only thing I watch on Amazon Prime too!