Sunday, December 12, 2004
Tube musings
This weekend was a rather full one, nicely balanced between relaxation and activity. (Well, a good chunk of the latter was shopping, but I guess that's on the chore list this time of year.) Yesterday, I finally managed to watch the last episode of the first season of Farscape. It was a great episode, and I was slightly frustrated that there was no one to talk to about it. Back in high school, I could always hang out with the guys and discuss the latest comic book or episode of Dr. Who. ****** Ach! Noodles needed to use the computer! I tell, you, the woman has no respect, interrupting me in mid-blog. I've noticed that she never interrupts me when I'm doing the dishes or taking out the trash.... well, I guess it's pretty hard to inetrrupt someone in mid-trash. I mean, it's not like it takes all that long. She'd also either have to chase me out the door or run out the front door and around the house to catch me in mid-trash. Very impractical..... Where was I? Oh, yeah. Discussing episodinc entertainment. Anyway, it's easy to discuss such things when everyone's on the same page. However, experiencing something on your own--such as a book that no one else has read or a TV episode that aired five years ago--leaves little opportunity for mutual raving. Ah, well. At least I don't have to wait all summer to see what happens next.
Another thought that occurred to me is that in all my years of TV viewership, I've probably watched more reruns that first run shows. I was raised on the old sitcom reruns that ran in the afternoon and before bedtime. (For you younger kids, this was back before deregulation and cable and infomercials. WGN was a haven of old programming and I loved every minute of it.) And after a brief stint as an evening couch potato in the 70's, I retreated to my adolescent sanctum and filled my mind with science fiction novels and rock n roll radio. Then came young adulthood, and marriage, which lend themselves to activities other than watching prime time TV, and finally I spent most of the 90's and 00's working second shift. The only shows that tempted me to set my VCR were various Star Trek series, and I even took a break from them for a couple of years. I wonder if I'm odd in that respect (watching a surplus of reruns, not skipping Star Trek) or if most people would fall on the rerun side of the poll.
If I was a good writer, I'd write something interesting to tie this all up and make a point. But then, if I was a good writer, I'd probably be charging you to read this.
Another thought that occurred to me is that in all my years of TV viewership, I've probably watched more reruns that first run shows. I was raised on the old sitcom reruns that ran in the afternoon and before bedtime. (For you younger kids, this was back before deregulation and cable and infomercials. WGN was a haven of old programming and I loved every minute of it.) And after a brief stint as an evening couch potato in the 70's, I retreated to my adolescent sanctum and filled my mind with science fiction novels and rock n roll radio. Then came young adulthood, and marriage, which lend themselves to activities other than watching prime time TV, and finally I spent most of the 90's and 00's working second shift. The only shows that tempted me to set my VCR were various Star Trek series, and I even took a break from them for a couple of years. I wonder if I'm odd in that respect (watching a surplus of reruns, not skipping Star Trek) or if most people would fall on the rerun side of the poll.
If I was a good writer, I'd write something interesting to tie this all up and make a point. But then, if I was a good writer, I'd probably be charging you to read this.
