Acorn TV : When you have a fetish for Commonwealth TV shows

India was a commonwealth country, and when I was in India it never was something that affected my daily life. The time that I remotely came near to being part of the Commonwealth was the CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet) in 1983 where I was part of the hotel chain hosting the dignitaries. Fast forward, 41 years, my connection to the Commonwealth was surprisingly through recommendations from Twitter for TV programs to watch. I tested positive for Covid-19 and being vaccinated/boosted I self-quarantined not to spread the disease to anyone else. I was already on vacation and so had a lot of time on my hands. My friends on Twitter gave me these recommendations for Tv programs to watch:

Look out for the Worricker Trilogy with Bill Nighy. Pure class.

— Dr Nina Baker (@ninabake2) December 26, 2021 

Best wishes for quick healing @shashib - My favorite is re-runs of NCIS - take care 🌺

— June (@jla504) December 26, 2021

Get well soon! Will miss your morning and evening walk photos.
Sending healing energies!

In terms of a recco, Mine was, is and always will be the Classic "Yes Minister". I guess you'll like it 😀

— Katherine Abraham (@katie_abraham) December 27, 2021

Get well soon. That's what i said to my daughter (tested positive with mild symptoms)..all of us are going to get it but it won't be lethal becoz vaccinated and boostered
Watch After life on Netflix if you haven't already. It's a beautiful show with @rickygervais kind of humor.

— Ridhi Singh (she/her) (@badassbrownmom) December 26, 2021

Foyle's War.

— Paul W. Swansen (@paulswansen) December 26, 2021

As for binge watching, what type do you like?
I am watching @CBCMurdoch & Foyle’s War again. Of course, at my age that’s as exciting as shows get. 😉

— Miss Dazey 👵🏻🌼 (@Miss_Dazey) December 26, 2021

As for binge watching, what type do you like?
I am watching @CBCMurdoch & Foyle’s War again. Of course, at my age that’s as exciting as shows get. 😉

— Miss Dazey 👵🏻🌼 (@Miss_Dazey) December 26, 2021

Agatha Raisin (series), Madame Blanc Mysteries

— Paul W. Swansen (@paulswansen) December 26, 2021

If you’re looking for something Indian, I would recommend Decoupled on Netflix. It stars R Madhavan and Surveen Chawla and is a sort of desi Curb Your Enthusiasm type dysfunctional human story.

— Shilpa D (@shilpadesh) December 28, 2021

Maid on Netflix.

— Smriti Kannan (@smriti_kannan) December 27, 2021

Hope you feel better soon! Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, Endeavour, The Bureau

— Sri Chalasani (@srisays) December 27, 2021

Feel better, Shashi. I just started watching Decoupled on Netflix.

— Sharmila Sen (@_sen_sharmila) December 27, 2021

Oh no, get well soon! I recently watched the newest Jurassic World movie and actually liked it a lot!

— Lindsey Mastis (@LindseyMastis) December 27, 2021

White Collar

— Vickie (Vaxx!) Riggsbee (@VRiggsbee) December 26, 2021

Feel better! Alex Rider is enjoyable

— Jonathan Dunnett (@JonathanDunnett) December 26, 2021

Take care... Happy Valley, Borgen, Bron Broen

— Tips2trades46 (@tips_trade) December 27, 2021

Good luck, Sashi! If you haven’t seen it yet, we enjoyed the movie “The Lunchbox”. Also liked the Netflix series The Good Place.

— Pete Erickson (@peteerickson) December 26, 2021

The common factors in these recommendations are that many of them are from "Commonwealth" countries UK, Australia and New Zealand, India. And they are not available in one streaming service. The closest I came to seeing the recommendations in one place was Acorn TV

Well, I am trying the 7-day free trial. the $5.99/month doesn't seem too bad. That leads me to another pet peeve. In the 2000's we wanted to give up our cable (become "cord cutters" ) but fast forward a decade later we need cable because it is still the way to get internet. My internet costs me less if I have an Internet + Cable TV package. I have Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Sling TV for Indian Shows) Sling has dropped a few channels and Bollywood and Tollywood streaming services have also splintered themselves to Zee5, Disney Hotstar, Aha, Yupp TV. 

It's confusing. The fact is during normal times, I have a few hours a day to watch TV. My favorites are SEAL TEAM ( That has moved to Paramount +) and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert which is available on my cable TV. So after my #isocation is done my quest for binge-watching will be done.