Television has endured and thrived for over half a century, showcasing various programs constantly to entertain audiences worldwide. Programs have developed and formed in many different ways, whether they're live daily talk shows or twenty four hour news to mention a couple. One form of television programming that has reached a new millennial golden age, is the "episodic storytelling" form. For decades, this episodic method for telling stories has been utilized to make people engrossed in what they're watching on a weekly basis. Sitcoms serve the purpose for mostly surface level laughs with a large cast of characters. Competitive shows based in reality provide entertainment as audiences watch real life people fight mentally or physically for a nice reward. But the one type of episodic storytelling that has truly showcased this new golden age in recent years, is the fictional type. Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Fargo, and The Night Before are just a few examples in terms of top tier quality. These examples have proven themselves critically and socially, in concern to telling engaging stories that transcend past the realm of television.

Although in recent years as well, there has been a birth of another type of television viewing that may prove to be a worthy opponent. Strengthened thanks to the Blockbuster killer known as Netflix, we have ourselves shows that utilize a method called "streaming." Within this innovative streaming method, audiences are given the option of watching their favorite shows from beginning to end without having to wait every week for another episode. All the shows provided on Netflix have their respective seasons all fired up ready for audiences to binge however they desire. And most importantly as of late, Netflix has started to create their own television content that releases their yearly seasons in their entirety. This means people can finish the newest season of House of Cards for example, within just a weekend or less if they wanted to. This method in turn, creates a more cinematic way for watching television shows because people can binge a whole season in just a few hours. It's become something of a norm now since Hulu and Amazon have taken liking to this streaming too, but the idea of that is still unprecedented.

However, can cable television and streaming television coexist? Even in this cynical world that we live in, I'd choose to say that we can indeed. There is room for both and having both certainly provides a choice. Let's fight to see the advantages and disadvantages. DING DING!

FOR LIVE TV (ROUND 1)

It's existed for many years and it's existed for a very big reason. That reason is that people enjoy the thrill of having to wait every week, whether they may know it or not. There is an endearing and awesome thing about it, to have to wait a whole seven days to watch our favorite stories continue. A show like LOST over ten years ago, thrived off giving audiences cliffhangers to cling onto every week as a mysterious plot delved deeper. Is it a pain in the butt in the moment? Sure it absolutely is! But I'd argue that it's all part of the fun in watching these shows. It's fun to speculate and ask questions and converse with friends every week for popular shows.

FOR STREAMING TV (ROUND 1)

It's only existed for a few years but it is slowly becoming a conformity in watching television from streaming devices like Netflix or Hulu. Shows are still only released once a year with their respective seasons but entire seasons can be watched at whatever pleasure a viewer wants. You can finish your favorite shows provided on these applications in a few hours, a weekend, or a month. It's innovative that viewers can go at their own pace now for Stranger Things or Marvel's Daredevil. Not everyone has the time to watch a show on a weekly basis. And not everyone has the patience to wait a week either.

FOR LIVE TV (ROUND 2)

There's an incredible range of weekly fictionalized programs for audiences to anticipate including Game of Thrones, Mr. Robot, The Flash, The Walking Dead, and Empire!

FOR STREAMING TV (ROUND 2)

Well, Netflix has a subsidiary of Marvel shows including Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and Luke Cage that are setting up a conglomerate show in the future. They also have great shows like Bloodline, Stranger Things, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt! Not to mention, Amazon has created a juggernaut known as the multi-Emmy winning Transparent.

AGAINST LIVE TV (ROUND 3)

You know waiting for these shows to air every week is going to get old now that streaming is becoming popular. Why wait every week and finally finish months later when you can just finish in a couple days so you don't have to worry anymore? Everything is going to become a streamable service within the next decade so why bother?

AGAINST STREAMING TV (ROUND 3)

If you have nothing better to do, you can finish all of your shows quickly and efficiently but then what are you going to do once you finish? Has anyone ever thought of how a pro-streaming world without live programming would be? I would say it could get boring and repetitive very fast. If you finish all your shows fast, you got nothing to watch for the rest of the year. Have fun binging through all your shows while others have shows to look forward to every season (yearly seasons like Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter of course).

Case in point, we can live in a world that provides both means of entertainment. Realistically will one outmatch the other and make the other obsolete for it? That's a very possible outcome for sure, but there can be a progressive world where people are provided with shows on each end of the spectrum. This helps audiences have options and it's important we have options rather than being forced to succumb to one solidified way. In relation to this topic, I'm not sure what the future holds but I'd like to hope we don't see a day where live tv dies to make way for a definitive streaming era or vice versa. Just because Adonis Creed is the new fresh blood, that doesn't mean we have to get rid of Rocky Balboa because he's a fighter of the past. And just because it can be tough to accept new characters in the Star Wars universe, that doesn't mean we should place elder Jedi over potentially powerful young padawans.