The Evolution of Television

When I was a kid, we had a big, square TV that sat on a stand.  You had to turn the dial to get one of 4 or 5 stations.  We got channels 3, 5, and 8...the big networks.  There was PBS in the middle and then our favorite, channel 43.  That was the one that had cartoons after school.  We were very limited in our TV watching.  After school, we were allowed to watch one show.  That meant that my brother and I had to agree on something to watch together.  Anyone under the age of 30 has no idea the significance of Saturday mornings to a 1980's kid!  We had free reign on Saturday mornings.  We got up, probably around 8:00 and watched cartoons until they went off.  It seems like that happened around 10:00.  We were even allowed to eat breakfast in front of the TV.  That was a huge deal and made us love Saturdays so much more!  On Saturday nights, we ate dinner, took our baths, and I got pink sponge curlers in my hair for church the next morning.  My brother and I had to learn our memory verses.  We had to have all this done by the time The Muppet Show came on at 7:00 PM.  It was the best show of the whole week!  When it was over, we went to bed!  It was routine.  It was expected.  It was normal.

On occasion, something magical would happen on an unusual night.  There would be a SPECIAL on!  I can still remember the animated graphic of the word "Special" that would turn around on the screen.  It had some sort of techno/drum music that played with it.  When you saw that graphic come on, your anticipation heightened nearly to the extent of Christmas morning!  There were going to be cartoons on at night!  It might have been Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin.  It might have been The Cat in the Hat.  Whatever it was, it was pure bliss.  We would usually get with our cousins so we could all watch The Special together.  

My kids don't get that excited about anything in life!  They don't understand how spoiled they are!

When I got a little older, we were the first in the neighborhood to get a TV with a remote!  Wow, we were big time!  My dad broke his back and was confined to a hospital bed for six months.  My mom went out and bought him a TV.  I guess it was around that time, when I was 10, that we got a VCR!  Oh wow....the history of television changed forever!  I was always slightly jealous because we didn't have Beta Max, but VHS was perfectly acceptable.  Everyone wanted to come to our house to watch TV because my dad had a huge antenna on the roof.  We didn't mess with rabbit ears on top of our TV set...no ma'am.  That was small potatoes.  We also had added channels 61 and 19 by this time!  There was also channel 17, but I think that was mostly a Hispanic religious station.

On Sunday nights, the Disney Sunday Movie came on with host Michael Eisner.  We had church on Sunday nights, so we videotaped it.  My brother and I would watch those movies over and over.  We got to the point where we could quote them.  Some of our personal favorites were The B.R.A.T. Patrol, Mr. Boogedy, and Ask Max.  If anyone else has ever heard of any of those movies, I would really love for you to comment about it!!!

At this point of my life, I only knew two people who had cable.  One was a poor family in our church.  They lived in a crummy house, had shabby clothes, and even smelled bad.  But they had cable!  They would videotape countless movies and let us borrow them.  No matter how bad they smelled, I was willing to borrow those tapes!  The other person who had cable was my grandmother.  She lived next to a high-rise apartment building and could get no stations with an antenna.  She was forced to get cable.  This made going over to grandma's even more exciting!  She watched her "stories" during the day while she ironed.  As the World Turns was her program of choice.  But in the evenings, the cousins and I would watch Nickelodeon!  That was the greatest thing since sliced bread!  There was a show called You Can't Do that on Television where they would slime people for saying "I don't know."  More than anything, I wanted to meet Allister and get slimed!

As a teenager, the world of sitcoms broke out.  There were shows like Who's the Boss? and Growing Pains.  There was never a shortage of a good, family show to watch in the evenings.  A couple of my favorites were Small Wonder and Alf.  A couple years later, The Wonder Years premiered and it was our go-to Saturday night entertainment.

I miss those wholesome shows.

My parents never got cable.  They felt that it was an unnecessary expense.  After I got married, I felt I was grown up enough to make my own decisions about television viewing.  We got satellite.  Now, I'm not talking about the enormous, swimming pool sized dish that stood on a huge base in the back yard.  (My great uncle in Indiana had one of those....we could never actually find anything to watch on it, but we sure did enjoy seeing the dish rotate around to pick up different stations!)  Hubby and I got DirecTV.  Over the years, the cost grew and grew.  I eventually turned into my mother and realized that this expense was totally unnecessary!  I cancelled it.

Now, I don't think you can call it full circle, but we're back to having only the stations that we can pick up with our digital antenna.  To be honest, it's not much greater than that huge contraption my dad had anchored to the roof of our house.  It cuts in and out quite often, so we just don't watch TV much any more.  I've taken to reading instead.  Life is better, I'm happier.  TV is garbage.

Except for Downton Abbey.  Don't mess with my Downton Abbey!!!

Reality TV....Really?

Anybody out there agree with me that reality shows are getting out of hand?  I remember the first time I heard of reality shows.  I thought they were an interesting take on television...they were using real people, not actors, and showing things they do on a day to day basis.  I didn't really watch them, but I tuned in to see what they were about.

But now, that's all you see!  It seems like they introduce a new reality show every week.  Is reality TV overtaking scripted programming?  And the topics of these shows are getting more ridiculous:
People who are pack rats
People who clip coupons
People who build motorcycles
Tattoo artists
Toddlers in beauty pageants
Mormons who have multiple wives
Mall security guards
People with OCD
Fishermen
People who operate large machinery
People who tell other people they don't know how to dress
And the list goes on and on.  All of these topics are interesting enough for an hour-long special.  But do they really warrant a series?  I guess not, and that's why so many of them go off the air after a season (or less).

Do you remember the one that was something about a Japanese game show?  I don't think it's on any more.  Or the one where a millionaire chose his bride on live TV?  That was nuts!

Hubby read an article about how some of these shows are actually scripted but passed off as reality shows.  They sit down at a table make decisions like, "OK, you two get in a fight about how he's not working hard enough, then you get mad because the equipment breaks down, and you call home and accuse your wife of something."  I think it's all ridiculous and I refuse to watch it.

If they made a reality show about my life, someone out there would actually watch it.  They could show me getting the kids off to school, then making breakfast for Baby Girl.  Next, I would clean the kitchen and wipe down the table.  After that, I would check my email and write a new blog post.  Before too long, it would be time to make lunch and put Baby Girl down for a nap.  Then the kids would get home from school.  I would yell at them that their rooms are a mess and tell them to do their chores.  Next, I would start dinner and Hubby would get home after that.  In the evening, we would put the kids to bed, then watch TV or talk until bedtime.  Sound interesting?  Nope, I didn't think so.

I can't even imagine what the next show will be.  Maybe old circus clowns who were fired for not being funny enough - Tears of a Clown, they would call it.  Or people who walk with a limp....follow them on their difficult journey through life.  How about Pizza Delivery Guys, delivering more than just pizza.  Hmmm....sounds scandalous!  (I reserve the right to all these ideas.  If any of you television producers want to use them, give me a call.  We'll talk numbers.)

"Dritch"

Baby Girl is totally obsessed with "The Dritch" right now.  The first time she asked to watch it, I spent half the day trying to figure out what she wanted.  But while I was scrolling through the DVR playlist, she stopped me and said, "Dritch!"  There was a little picture in the upper left hand corner that she recognized.  I didn't know Baby Girl even knew who The Grinch was.  But now she wants to watch it every day....multiple times every day!  The other kids are getting sick of only watching The Grinch, yet they continue to sit with her day after day watching it.  I know Christmas is long gone but I really need to find a stuffed Grinch somewhere.  Maybe I'll check eBay or Amazon.

What Are You Watching?

Every night after I put the kids to bed, I take a hot bath or shower, lather on "Bath & Body Works" Night Blooming Jasmine lotion, and park myself on the couch for the next hour or so.  I love my stress-free alone time in the evenings with a good book, magazine or television show.

My new favorite show this season is "No Ordinary Family."  I didn't watch it from the beginning but was soon caught up by the commercial promos.  I don't usually get into Science Fiction drama but this show is simply captivating!  It keeps me on the edge of my seat in great anticipation of next week's episode.  Even if you're not a SciFi buff, I would recommend giving this show a shot.

I've mentioned before that I enjoy the show "Parenthood." It's still good but I think it's lost some of its Wow Factor.  I think the parents of Haddie are pushovers and need to show her who is in charge.  If my daughter ran away from home and moved in with her grandmother, I would have pulled her back home by her hair like a cave woman.  (Well, not really but I wouldn't have been nice about it.)  I also don't care for how the characters of the show think it's weird to attend church or believe in Heaven.  I just had to get my two cents in on that subject.  But I really love the decor of each home, especially the outdoors around the grandparents' home.

I've fallen out of love with "Glee."  I thought the first season was well written but this season is just blah in my opinion.  It seems like the theme of every single episode is homosexuality.  They've made their point that Kurt is gay and people are mean to him because of it.  I think it's time to move on.  But I must add that I hope Finn and Quinn get back together.  I think Rachel is too annoying.  I'm still watching, but I won't remain faithful if it doesn't start getting better.

And of course, there's "The Office."  It's the funniest show on television since "Friends" or "Seinfeld."  Man, I still miss those!  I think I would still watch a show about six 50-something Friends hanging out in a burnt-out coffee house. 

Anyone watching "American Idol" this season?  I said I wasn't going to, but my DVR recorded it automatically so I had to watch it.  I must say, I love Steven Tyler on the show....he's hilarious!  I love how he randomly bursts into song and how he doesn't like to be mean to people.  That was unexpected, based on his image.  I think they sent entirely too many people through to Hollywood.  But they'll all be gone the first day or two, I guess.  I'm also glad that all three judges have musical talent.  It's hard to take a judge seriously when he or she doesn't have any musical experience.  And also, I'm so glad it's back to three judges.  Adding a fourth was torture.  I did a lot of fast-forwarding.

So, what are you watching?

All Aboard the Choo Choo Train!

Choo Choo Soul is Baby Girl's absolute favorite television show!  I wish it lasted longer than 5 minutes.  I would love to have 6 episodes back to back so she could experience sheer bliss for a full half hour.

Chuggington is Baby Girl's second favorite show.  Not quite as entertaining as Choo Choo Soul (which my husband would argue is due to the lack of Genevieve) but nonetheless a good show.  She has one train track and eight little Chuggington trains that she plays with constantly.  Gone are the days of the boring Thomas videos with the monotone narrator.  Clickety-clack, Chuggington is much better!

Today, I booked an actual railway vacation for my family!  I've never been on a real train before, just the scenic railroads that go 10 mph through the country in autumn.  I am so excited that we will be travelling on the Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco!  I've never been that far west...I'm so excited that I can barely contain myself!  I will have to try because we are not departing until the end of summer. 

Today is just a traintastic day!

Undercover Boss

Hubby & I have recently become fans of Undercover Boss. He always says he would love for his company's CEO to see what one day in his shoes feels like!

On last night's episode, a worker named Devin talked about his Christian musician father. Nosy little me just had to know who the musician was. So I did a little investigating. Turns out, his father is Bryan Duncan, someone I have definitely heard of. Bryan and Devin Duncan even recorded a song together. If you watched the show, you will definitely recognize Devin's picture. I was proud of myself for my awesome detective skills!

Fall TV

I love when the new fall season of television begins! It's like a new beginning and you get to say goodbye to all those reruns! I love when I am able to watch a show from its inception. For example, I was not a fan of The Office from the start. When I could no longer stand hearing all my friends discuss every detail of the show, I gave in and quickly became a fan. But I felt like I missed so much not knowing the show's past.

My favorite new show from last season is Parenthood. I hope it stays around for a while. I love the drama mixed in with comedy, but no annoying laugh track to deal with.

I'm going to give all the new comedies a chance, hoping one or two can become favorites. Let me know what you think of all the new shows this fall!

Glee

I hate to admit this publicly, but I love Glee. I just started watching the musical series because I wasn't captured by it at its birth along with the rest of America. I decided to see what all the hype was about and turned on an episode. I was immediately taken and haven't missed an episode since. I am so happy that they're starting at the beginning over the summer. Things I didn't understand before finally make sense. So if you haven't jumped on the wagon yet, give in and join the rest of us "losers." You'll be glad you did!

Raising Sextuplets

I am thrilled that Raising Sextuplets is back on the air! I am always amazed to see how people care for and live with multiples. I have four kids of my own (not all the same age!) and there are times when I feel like I could completely lose it. But I think these parents do a great job of keeping their cool with the given situation. They are an inspiration to me and their show makes me take a step back to look at and appreciate my life.

I was never a fan of Jon & Kate. I was greatly bothered by the way she treated her husband. And we all know how that turned out. But I see a totally different relationship with Bryan and Jenny. They seem to truly love one another and support each other in their hectic lifestyle. I think their character blows away the others who have tried and failed at a similar show.

So God bless Bryan and Jenny. They're going to need it! Although one look at them lets you know how blessed they already are.

American Idol Elimination Night

I finally had time to watch last week's elimination show. I'm so behind on my TV viewing!

At this point of the show, I get so sad to see who is voted off each week. They are all so talented and, in a way, I would like to see all of them get to win! Both the guys were great and I hated to see them go. I also really liked Lily. She had a great jazzy sound to her voice.

I will have to say though that Crystal Bowersox is my favorite right now. I hope she takes the whole thing!

If it's dreary in your part of the world like it is in mine, try to stay awake and stay warm! Think Spring!

~she~

Friday Morning Tradition

I love waking up every Friday morning, sending the kids off to school, then setting down with my breakfast of Cinnamon Life to watch Ace of Cakes. I record it every Thursday night and enjoy my time along watching it with breakfast. I aspire to be an awesome decorator like those fine people some day!

Happy Friday!

~she~

My First Post

I must admit that I was partly inspired to start a blog because of Betty Suarez of Ugly Betty! She is the ultimate heroine and I totally adore the show! She started a blog with the hopes to inspire even just one person. Of course she is an educated journalist and I am so obviously not. But here is my shout out to Betty! I am so sad that the show is drawing to a close...I feel that it's end is entirely too premature.

I, too, wanted to share my thoughts with the world. The small children I stay home with each day are not too interested in my opinions. My thoughts are bubbling over and I needed a place to share them, even if they are just floating around alone in cyberspace. I hope they might be interesting to someone.

~she~