I seem to be thinking about the past lately—my last post, in fact, dealt with reboots, restarts, and remakes—and this month has me traveling back there again, this time through a “rabbit hole” at the back of a diner or, more appropriately, through one in my phone and TV.  (Am I preoccupied, or am I responding to a cultural preoccupation?  This recent article from USA Today suggests that it’s the latter.

A year ago Elke Weissmann wrote about finding time for television, and discussed that when we actually find that limited time in our day to sit down and watch television, we do not actually watch television. Instead we watch a specific programme, whether on DVD or on-demand, and are often prone to binge watching these programmes.

The weeks surrounding the launch of the second season of the STARZ drama series Outlander – broadcast in the US on 9 April and released to Amazon Prime UK the day after – saw a spate of online journalism and fans swooning over the images released of Claire Randall/Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) dressed in extravagant period costumes.

Back in December, Cathy Johnson wrote a CST blog outlining the differences between TV Online and Online TV. Where TV Online represents the extended distribution of broadcast-first programmes across online platforms, Online TV refers to the way the overall television service uses both internet and television to make and distribute content that cannot be accomplished via traditional broadcasting practices.

So what was special about Monday 15 ^th February (apart from being the day after Valentines day)?   Answer: it was the last day that BBC 3 was on air.   From Tuesday 16 ^th the channel was only available online.

Netflix’s Jessica Jones and the BBC’s Happy Valley, on the surface, may seem to provide different viewing experiences, yet they share certain distinctions beyond the obvious element of both series depicting leading female detective/crime-solving characters.

After many happy years basking in its warm, electronic glow, my once-reliable television set recently emitted its final diodes of light. An ominous dark patch in the upper left corner of the screen had been growing larger over the past year or so, like some slow but inevitable illness. It seemed to vary in its severity but on particularly bad days it had become difficult if not impossible to decipher what was happening in that area of the image.

Jenji Kohan’s Orange is the New Black (OITNB) (2013 –) has gained a reputation for unabashedly screening female faces and body-types that centric media often overlooks. From its opening sequence, OITNB spotlights a vast array of female bodies.

When it comes to television, I have always been a ‘glancer’ rather than a ‘gazer’. Born somewhere between Generation X and Generation Y, I grew up with what is now commonly referred to as ‘traditional’ television. As a child, much of my television consumption served as accompaniment: I remember drawing pictures or setting up my toys in the living room, so I could enjoy the pleasant flow of television programmes.

For many, Lisa Kudrow will forever be associated with Friends (NBC, 1994-2004), the epitome of conservative network television. And yet, with both The Comeback (HBO, 2005; 2014) and Web Therapy (L Studio;