PBS "Passport" - a novel way to subscribe
Adding a streaming service, and supporting PBS and my local affiliate? Sign me the fuck up for that.
I have a confession to make. I am just a total British crime show junkie. My wife and I both just work our way through the seasons. Plenty of reasons, including that they know when to fucking end a series without it having to be on life support for like 15 seasons (cough NCIS cough). Also, because the country isn't as awash in firearms, there seems to be less "action" orientation and more cerebral work to the writing and acting.
We sub to both Acorn and BritBox, and do most of our hunting there.
Then a couple weeks ago, a PBS Masterpiece series titled "Miss Scarlet", produced and published by PBS Masterpiece, appeared, and we started. Interesting premise, and we got through the first season (of 6) on Amazon. Then we hit the dreaded paywall.
Fuck. Give Amazon more money?
Turns out the PBS has this wired. Since I didn't want to feed the mighty maw of Bezos, I went to PBS.org. They don't "sell" subscriptions. Instead, you "donate" to your local PBS affiliate (KQED in our case), and by donating monthly, you get access to the "PBS Passport" and while there's another step, as you have to then connect to the PBS system from your local affiliate, but then BAM, you get all their content.
$10 a month (ok, $10.30 because I told them to add the processing fee) and we're in.
Way better than laundering this shit via Amazon.
Oh, and the series? It is amazing. Highly recommended if you are into period pieces that are fun, with a saucy leading lady.
