« I'm Curious | Home | Art That Fits in Envelopes »
September 5, 2005
All KINDS of Good Stuff
When I was a little girl, my favorite television program was The Carol Burnett Show. It aired on CBS from 9 to 10 p.m. on Saturday nights, and was preceded by The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show (CBS really had a way with names), which I liked but not as much as Carol Burnett. She was who I wanted to be when I grew up.
I still think one of the most inspired moments in all of television happened on that show. In a spoof of Gone with the Wind, Carol descends the stairs wearing a dress of green velvet drapes hung on a curtain rod extending beyond her shoulders. Harvey Korman, who plays the Rhett Butler character, says, "Why Scarlet, where did you find that beautiful dress?" And Carol replies, "Oh, it's just something I saw in a window."
But there have been long stretches where I watched almost no television. When I was in high school standard fare was the likes of Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, The Love Boat and Dallas, and I had better things to do than watch that crap--even sitting in the dark in my bedroom and my head against the wall (which I did a time or two) seemed preferable to wasting my time with shows like that. In college I didn't have a television, and I never felt deprived.
Of course, there have been a few periods where I watched a lot of television. In early 1987, after I got home from my mission, I lived at home for seven and a half months before going back to finish my bachelor's degree at the University of Arizona in August. The Fox Network had just started up, and I rarely missed an episode of its finest offerings, namely The Tracey Ullmann Show and 21 Jump Street. ABC had Max Headroom, which ran for 14 episodes, and NBC had LA Law, which ran forever.
But then I went back to school and back to living without television.
Even when I finally got a television I'd forget to watch it for weeks at a time. I couldn't be bothered to remember when the few shows I liked were on; instead, I'd just turn the TV on when I felt like watching something, then run through channels until I found something interesting, which was usually MTV back in the day when it actually showed music videos.
Mostly I used my television to watch movies, especially after I moved to Iowa City, which has one of the best public libraries in the whole world. At the time, the University of Iowa's film studies program was ranked first in the nation, and the public library kept a movie collection to match. You could check out ten movies for a week for free: not just the standard new releases you'd find at a rental place, but early classics like the Irene Dunne versions of Show Boat and Love Affair.
My feelings about television changed forever when my friend Connie introduced me to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, well into the show's tenure. I went to visit her in Chicago one weekend and she said early in the afternoon, "OK, now we're going to watch Buffy," and I sighed heavily. I hate horror and slasher films (I don't like being scared, and violence for its own sake holds no appeal for me), and I thought Buffy was thoroughly in one or both of those categories. I sat in stony indignation while Connie got out a couple of VHS cassettes and turned on the VCR. After we watched the first two episodes, which establish the premise of the show, I grudgingly admitted, "OK, I can see why you like it. And it's not really scary." When she suggested later that evening that we watch a few more episodes, I offered no resistance; and the next day when she suggested we watch a few more, I agreed readily; and when those were all over and she was all out of episodes, and I said, "You mean there's really no more? You should have taped the entire series!"
I went back to my house and found I couldn't get the WB with any kind of decent reception. Cable had just become a necessity. And it remained one for several years.
And I discovered there's all KINDS of good stuff out there! I was mad about Buffy (still am) but I also found I have a particular fondness for decorating shows. I especially liked the weird ones on BBC America--Ground Force and The House Doctor and Changing Rooms. I had such a crush on designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, with his dark tousled locks, leather pants, florid blouses and French cuffs, especially after I found out he was straight (!). My other great crush was Jon Stewart of The Daily Show--but most politically progressive women I know are totally in love with him as well. I also adored So Graham Norton. Thanks to the time I spent with my three young nieces, I learned that I liked Spongebob Squarepants and The Powerpuff Girls too.
Generally I couldn't bear to simply sit there and watch television; I usually did something, preferably something productive, while I watched: quilting or knitting or ironing were favorite activities. And because I watched a lot of television, I finished a lot of quilts.
About a year ago I realized that I had reached a point where I would actually plan my afternoon around a home decorating show. No wonder I never get anything important done anymore, I thought. Not long after that, I got rid of cable.
And that's when I became serious about Netflix, which I'll discuss at some point in the future.
Posted by holly at September 5, 2005 7:09 AM
Leave a comment