Many people say that watching TV is an unsocial activity. Not true. I had a flashback tonight while after a marathon baseboard vacuuming session I collapsed on the couch and turned on the tube. There was Will Smith, not in a Pursuit of Happiness trailer but in all of his bright orange tank topped glory on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and immediately, I missed my brothers. We’ve watched many hours of TV together. My favorites were the ones we’d watch before church started (we weren’t one of those No-TV-on-Sundays Mormons) like Out of This World, Clarissa Explains it All, Salute Your Shorts, David the Gnome, Pete and Pete and Freaks and Geeks. Actually, I think some of those were aired on Saturday. Anyway, it made me start thinking of all the TV shows I’ve gotten into over the years and who I watched those shows with and I’d just like to say TV Buddies, I salute you. My husband, who somehow wrangles me into watching the Ultimate Fighting Champion marathon several times a year, you always get me hooked and right there cheering along our roid-enhanced favorite. And my Mom, who watched Wings and Quantum Leap reruns with me on summer afternoons while she folded laundry and during the commercials we’d run downstairs and make our lunch. To our Med School buds in Iowa, you made Alias and Lost all the more better with endless theories that were never right but always entertaining and the hours of gabbing afterwards topped the TV show. To my sister-in-law Sarah, you made me rediscover Scrubs and thanks to you we now have hour upon hour of Scrubs reruns DV-R’d. My brother-in-law Dan, even though we bashed every single thing those dumb kids said and complained how retarded the show was, we never changed the channel even during commercials when Laguna Beach the Real O.C. was on. My Dad, who watches more teeny bopper TV shows than an actual teeny bopper, thank you for introducing me to the wonderful world of the Gilmore Girls. And back to my brothers who howled through the UK version of The Office, memorized lines of the Wayans Brothers and delved into the prepubescent drama of Bug Juice with me, even though we don’t have much in common anymore we have our childhoods and the hours we spent watching cheesy sit-coms and there’s no two people I would have rather watched them all with.
7 comments:
Amen to that sista. I have found "what are your favorite tv shows?" to be a painless and effective way to find new friends.
"Oh, you like Lost and the Office? In that case, would you like to bring your family over for dinner? I'm sure they are delightful and intelligent people, just as you are."
"Um, Desperate Housewives? Sorry, we have other plans."
"What??? You admit to being a die-hard Survivor fan after 13 seasons? I will add you to my Christmas card list immediately."
"Your guilty pleasure is The Bachelor? If my husband and I die unexpectedly, will you raise my children?"
Etc., etc., etc.
We didn't have any TV channels, but I remember watching Reality Bites A LOT, and when I say a lot, I mean like everyday.
Ah, those were the angst-filled days...
What about the Party of 5 phase? And thank heaven for the Garlocks for introducing us to the Gilmores--bless you!
Post a Comment