The commercial TV haiku

or: the sharks never get their mouth full enough

Wham bam – next
commercial break. Trip to
bathroom again.

– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2026)

Note
Seems like the likes of Netflix and Amazon have lost any semblance of shame by ramping up their commercial servings. Even though they get paid, they obviously think they’re not getting paid enough. What’s the ratio now – five minutes of viewing, then five minutes of commercials, then repeat? By the time you've finished a show, you know the commercials better than the plot.

Bard of Blood

Sobhita Dhulipala and Emraan Hashmi in a scene from Bard of Blood

Bard of Blood is an Indian spy thriller TV series that premiered on Netflix in September 2019. The story roughly revolves around three Indian agents sent to Balochistan (Pakistan) to liberate four Indian agents who are being held captive by the Taliban. The story, based on the eponymous novel by Bilal Siddiqi, is not without holes, just like its hero, agent Adonis (played by Emraan Hashmi), is not without flaws - even though he's made out to be some sort of super duper spy ("only he can take on this mission") at the beginning. Enough said - the series is definitely suspenseful and worth watching, particularly because of the contemporary political context and the setting in Balochistan, an area of Pakistan that is full of natural beauty - and beautifully shot in some scenes - and usually does not get much media coverage.

The Netflix haiku

Pick a movie – watch –
loading – watch some more – loading –
stopped – OK – was that it?

– Leonard Blumfeld (© 2016)

Note
A reality haiku about trying to watch various movies on Netflix. I hope other people have better connections and get to watch entire films.