Is it you or is it me? Lately I've been lost at sea

Or at least I think that's how the theme song went. I've been watching a fair bit of old school Shortland Street recently at work, all the early episodes with Dr McKenna, Nick, Carrie, Marj, Stuart Henderson, Kirsty, Lionel, Gina and Leonard, Carmen and Guy, and the inimitable Dr Hone Ropata. It's amazing to see how much the series has changed over the last 17 years (besides Chris Warner's face that is). The old episodes are so slooow, the lighting so dark, the sets so humdrum, and the acting so goddamned static. It really reminds me of the old NZ ‘70s soap 'Close to Home', the close focus on the dialogue rather than the action, and the utter banality of it all.

However, this is not to say that I don't like Shorters. I've followed the series since it began in 1992 (although I clearly remember watching the first ep and thinking it was so bad that it would never take off...erm, yes...). And even though I only dip in and out of it these days, I remember most of the story lines from then onwards, so much so that I'm kinda the 'Shorters Expert' at work (um, yay?). I can't say it's my Most Favourite Thing To Watch Evar OMG, but I do think it's iconic, and definitely a keystone of the media industry in NZ.

But seeing the old episodes got me thinking about what it would be like to watch the entire series from the beginning in a concentrated period of time. This is my favourite way to watch a TV series – a few episodes each day over a number of weeks, it always results in complete absorption into the series’ universe (minor side effects being an overwhelming obsession with the characters, temporary lack of social life, and being regarded as a freak by one’s friends. But who needs friends anyway).

Watching Shortland Street like this would certainly be a challenge. There's over 3000 episodes. At 27 minutes each. That's 1350 hours, which is about 56 days if you watched them 24/7. Or if you decided that you were keen on getting some sleep during that 2.5 months, you could watch 12 hours a day which would take you 3-4 months of your life. What would this do to you mentally? Watching any series like this can really affect your perspective on the world and your relationship with reality. It's interesting to ponder what the effect of 17 years of Shortland Street would be. As a social experiment it would be fascinating. Perhaps I should suggest this at our next staff meeting.