Why I Love Numb3rs and the Greatness of Netflix

I've been moping for the last week about how horrible my columns and podcasts are doing compared to the ever-more popular Max and suddenly sizzling Isaac.  I've had no motivation to write anything, resigned to just accept my fate as the ever-growing, least productive, most depressed member of the Detroit 3.  It's like a fat man who eats when he gets depressed.  He's depressed because he's fat so he eats 5 pounds of chocolate cake.  That's me, Lamey McLame.  So in an attempt to kick-start my downward, spiraling career as a sports, video games, pop culture journalist who works for free, here is my take on the TV show Numb3rs and Netflix:

Numb3rs is a show I remember hearing about when it came out (2005), but I never watched an episode.  Just recently I've gotten totally engrossed in it with the help of my girlfriend.  It's a really great show for nerds.  It has the same basic premise as every crime show (do a quick 2 minute intro showing the crime happening, spend the next 35 minutes trying to solve the crime by interviewing people and visiting crime scenes while cutting to scenes of the main characters and their development, solve the crime in the next 4 minutes by catching someone that was introduced earlier and not suspected by the audience as the criminal, use the last minute of the show to end on a happier note with the characters relaxing), but it has one very important distinction: the main character uses math to solve all of the crimes.  As an engineer, nerd, dork, geek, and any other synonym for nerd, I just think this is the greatest thing ever.  Math is great and whenever he's discovering something new using math, the show cuts to these analogies that make it easy to understand and make perfect sense.  Every episode is what you expect and the show delivers.  I'm about 50 episodes in and it has been consistently entertaining with just enough character development to keep it interesting.  I'm not sure if the show has ended or declined in the last few years, but it's great on Netflix and I'll keep watching until I've seen them all. 

This leads to my next point: Netflix is one of the greatest inventions of the last 10 years.  The idea of getting movies in the mail, paying reasonable price with no late fees, is great in itself, but the additions of streaming on a computer, PS3, and Smartphone are amazing.  Streaming Netflix on my PS3 is only the most convenient thing ever.  There are a number of good movies available for instant stream, but the TV shows on instant stream are the bread and butter.  The idea that I can watch every episode of a TV series like Lost, Scrubs, 24, and Say Yes to the Dress (I'm apparently a nerdy girl) is still remarkable to think about.  What are the worst things about TV? Commercials, having to wait a week to see what happens next, and having to wait a summer for the next season.  Netflix eliminates all of those.  What is better than being able to watch 5 episodes of a TV show during a particularly intriguing set of episodes in a row with no breaks?  Being able to do that while eating a ton of food and drinking.  That's exactly what I do when I watch Netflix and why it's one of the greatest inventions of the last 10 years.      


- Matt