In the mid-1960’s I visited my uncle in New York City and learned about “pay television.” Paying for the service meant he didn’t have to endure ads, but could just enjoy the shows. Sadly, in the intervening years, “pay television” in its earliest form disappeared, replaced by paying for cable service with all the shows now replete with ads. In some areas, such as ours, it is difficult to get any reception without paying for the cable service, so we pay to watch countless ads. Such a deal! (And don’t get me started at being bombarded with ads at the movie theater after paying for an admission ticket!)
Fortunately the old style pay television has been replaced by streaming services such as Netflix. For a monthly fee, we can watch countless shows. Our family shares the service, and we all find shows we like. Sometimes, however, if a child has been watching, the algorithm suggests that I might like another superhero movie!
Netflix reaches millions of homes and is able to produce a great deal of original programming of its own. Most recently I was delighted to watch a documentary series, Babies, which recently premiered here. Through a series of six episodes, I was able to learn all the newest research about babies, including their motor development, sleep patterns, food requirements, and attachment needs.
Why when my babies are full grown and the grandchildren are no longer babies either would I be riveted by the series? Well, first there is the cute factor. Babies from all over the world feature in the films. But mainly I love learning how much more we now know about what goes on in the first year of a baby’s life. I met researchers who carefully explored common ideas, now proved incorrect, about growth and crawling. I loved their dedication to science designed to help parents bring up these complex beings.
Overwhelmed with the news today? Watch Babies.
Saved By Words 
We also pay for Netflix, although I am late to the party. After listening to so many people talk about specific shows, I decided it was time to see what all the fuss was about. It’s excellent, and I love the variety of programs. I particularly think some of the documentaries I’ve seen are fabulous.
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I think they are great also.
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Like Pete Springer, I like some of the documentaries on Netflix, and the occasional good film, like The Irishman. As for babies, I can watch Julie’s latest granddaughter, now just over one month old. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Language development is fascinating. Was lucky enough to be able to study it in depth and incorporate it into part of a thesis.
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Aw, that sounds like a great series!
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thanks for the new show suggestion
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You are welcome.
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I never knew there was pay television back in the 60’s. It must have been like Netflix. Excellent post, Elizabeth. Babies sounds quite good.
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It might have been HBO. I am not sure.
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Pay tv, or awareness of it, never happened in my world in the 60s, but cable eventually did. In the NY/NJ area, we got for free channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13, and sometimes 21. When I moved to England in the late 80s there were four tv stations, only one of which ran overnight, and television license were mandatory and quite steep at something like 75 quid a year. I did not get one, because I honestly did not watch tv. They used to send vans around to detect television signals at house and charge people if they caught them.
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