CBS All Access - A Free Month Was Enough

  TV Tuesday

I'm happy with Netflix ... and I'd pay for Prime(Amazon) regardless of the video library. I wasn't looking to add another streaming service. But when I got an email offer for a free month of CBS All Access ... it was free, so why not? 30 days to see what I wanted to watch.

 I'd done a week trial of CBS All Access once before, and with that week I'd watched the first season of "The Good Fight" and enjoyed it (I've seen all of "The Good Wife"), but then my week was up and I was done. Now there was a second and third season, so that was first up on my viewing wishlist. Very political. I read some reviews hating on the cartoon/song clips (very "School House Rock") and while I didn't love them, and they did seem out of place, some were cute and catchy... and maybe I even learned a thing or two.

 Then I gave these three a try.

They were okay, but didn't really grab me. I gave each one a few episodes. While these do have a back-story that runs through the series, each episode was its own, some problem to be solved by the end of the 40 minutes. I'll admit, I had a crush on David Boreanaz, back from his "Angel" days (I never got around to peeking at "Bones"). Still, the show just didn't capture my interest enough. "Instinct" had  "Eli Gold" (from "The Good Wife") in a different character. "FBI" wasn't bad, but I wasn't compelled to keep watching.

I was really struggling to find SOMETHING else to watch ... my month wasn't over yet. Then I discovered "One Dollar". While this wasn't wonderful, something I would rave about, it did keep my interest and I kept watching.

I really liked the "one dollar" idea, even though that was just a gimmick. It was not essential to the storyline. Basically, a dollar bill gets passed from person to person in the town, and whoever gets the dollar is the focus of that single episode. 

This is basically a murder mystery. We (the audience) know a bit more than most of the characters, but are as much in the dark as the police, attempting to uncover the events and solve the crime. 

Everything was revealed in the end, and this limited series comes to a complete conclusion. I guess there could have been a second season, but any plans were cancelled, as is so often the case. I had never heard of this show at all (whereas I had heard of the other three I tried out). Not sure if CBS advertised it. 

I hadn't really seen these actors in other productions, which can be nice. Gives it a fresh feel, with no preconceived notions (why is Angel in the Navy?? and Eli Gold is gay?). I don't know that it was ever listed exactly which small town, which state, this setting took place in. There were some heavy accents, and "yous" was commonplace.

... I was able to wrap up my viewing, and cancel my membership before I was charged for anything.  There just didn't seem to be that much content (compared to Netflix/Amazon/Hulu) to have a solid base for its own streaming service. In my opinion anyway ...