What Sophie Said

Today on Twitter I saw a major spoiler for the new episode of Pretty Little Liars. My first reaction was extreme annoyance – it was released on UK Netflix today so those of us that work during the day can’t watch it until at least this evening. And it was a big plot spoiler, too, complete with screenshots. Ironically, it was from someone who always complains about other people tweeting spoilers but that’s another discussion… And then what did I do? I got over it. Just because I haven’t had a chance to watch something yet doesn’t mean I can stop the rest of the world from talking about it. Yes, people who go out of their way to spoil tv shows and films are NOT NICE PEOPLE, but if someone is tweeting an opinion on something they’ve seen, they have every right to do that. When I see people ranting and raving on twitter about people ‘giving away’ results on things like X Factor or the Bake Off, it just makes me laugh. You can’t expect the world to go ...

I’m changing up my TV habits. The thing is, I realised fairly recently quite how many hours I spend watching TV shows and it is honestly shocking. It’s my default to ‘put something on in the background’, and whilst I still do this with YouTube videos or music, there’s more of a feeling of being able to dip in and out of things. A TV series is a commitment. Once I’m into a programme, I need to watch every episode. I need to know when the new season starts. I need to watch the latest episode before anyone on Twitter spoils it for me. And the problem with Netflix is there’s always a new series to watch. And all of the episodes are ready and waiting. Binge-watching has almost become a sport. The release of a new season of Orange is the New Black leads to the update tweets of how many episodes people have stormed through by the end of the first morning. And it can be hard to turn down that temptation when the next episode is all cued up and ready to go. You don’t ev...

Well, it’s back: The Apprentice. Which truly means it’s Autumn, and that I’ll be glued to the tv on Wednesday evenings. I’ve got such a love/hate relationship with the show. I love watching it, but I hate some of the traits it shows up in the candidates. Of course it’s all entertainment, and we know these people would never make the series if they weren’t larger-than-life characters, but sometimes you just want to cover your eyes and live in denial that people could be so rude/loud/incapable/selfish/bullish (delete as appropriate). Editing plays a part too, but some of the scenes are just ridiculous. Like the man who told Lord Sugar no one had volunteered to be PM and he had expected more confidence… When he hadn’t put himself forward either. Or the project managers who seem unable to hear the voices of anyone else in the room. Or the man who applied to a show under LORD SUGAR admitting he couldn’t sell face-to-face. Of course, plenty get by in business without this skill – ...

I can't write a long post tonight, because I'm on a date with Netflix. Oh, Netflix, how we love thee. My new series of choice is American Horror Story after having it recommended so many times... I never go for horror films or anything, but decided to give episode 1 a try, and now can't stop watching! The problem with Netflix is that it knows exactly how to occupy you for lovely long periods of time. It autoplays the next episode... Right I'm stopping watching now. 'Next episode begins in 15 seconds... ...14... I need to go and wash my hair. ...13... ...12... I should probably do that washing up. .......... ...3... Maybe I could read a book. ...2... ...1...' Oh go on then! Netflix, you are a procrastination enabler, a binge-watching tempter... And the thing is, we all love it. The amount of times I've seen people ask Twitter what their next series should be is mad! So I need to return to the haunted mansion and make ...