TV Dinner
My mom limited television when I was a child -- 30 minutes a day, and she chose the show. As a result, I might be the only person this side of 40 who can recite scenes from I Love Lucy.
Needless to say, my brothers and I were a little different than the other kids in our neighborhood. We sat on the front steps on perfect summer evenings while everyone else ran home to watch the latest episode of Love Boat.
God bless her, but my mother’s plan to keep me from becoming a slave to the “idiot box” failed. No one loves stupid television more than I do. I wasted about three full days in 2004 watching a non-stop marathon of The Osbournes. If I wasn’t so exhausted at night, you can bet I’d be following every dopey storyline of The Bachelorette. (Go ahead, lose all respect for me if you haven’t already.) It seems that despite the restricted viewing habits of my youth – or perhaps because of it – I’m more fascinated than I should be by the television screen … and every mindless thing that runs across it.
I’m a mom now, too. When housework and kid chaos get in each other’s way, I don’t blink. The TV goes on. How am I going to get the lunch dishes washed in time for dinner while simultaneously refereeing a toddler fistfight? Yo Gabba Gabba, that’s how. If keeping the TV off came with a guarantee that my kids would be well-adjusted great readers with healthy relationships and low blood pressure, then I would maybe think twice. But, in our house, my kids are more likely to be healthy because I was actually able to put food on the table, and did it without a frazzled, screaming meltdown.
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Feb '10
Re: TV Dinner
I was raised without TV most of my life. (I lived abroad, in a place with no TV or even electricity for years). Yes, to some degree we were that much more fascinated by it when we saw it, but now I really don't care. TV just barely registers on my perceived scale of existence.
We have a TV-- one of the tube kinds, not a flatscreen-- but the kids just watch an occasional video on it. When the TV signals went digital, we didn't even bother to get one of the new signal boxes. And no, we don't have cable.
We watch some things on the Internet, sometimes rent movies, etc. but broadcast and cable TV is not a part of our life, period. And we don't miss it.
Statistics show there are more and more of us each year.
Feb '10
Re: TV Dinner
My wife does like to watch sitcoms and comedy shows to relieve stress, though, just like you. She is from overseas, so she gets her fix of shows from her home country over the Internet.
Re: TV Dinner
Ursula, I found your post difficult to read. Tears of relief blurred my vision. If Ursula Hennessey lets her kids watch TV, then it must be okay.
Just last night, my three teenaged boys and I hunkered down...to read? No. To watch Portugal play Cote D'Ivoire in the World Cup. We have no connection with Portugal, and we had to look up Cote D'Ivoire on the map. And the game went on and on for the full 90 minutes, ending in a tie, zero to zero. But it was glorious. Television.
Edited on Jun 16, 2010 at 1:59pmRe: TV Dinner
I think Peter should be called out for implying that World Cup games constitute bad television. That's like saying, "I love trashy books. Was just reading Balzac in the original yesterday." Those of us who indulge our taste in truly bad television count late-night game shows, Honeymooner re-runs, "Jersey Shore" and the like. Until Peter can come to us with these kind of credentials, hard to take him seriously here.
Re: TV Dinner
Good point, Bill. Even when Peter slums, it's in a dinner jacket.
Speaking as someone who makes his actual living making television -- or trying to -- I resent all of this "good" TV vs. "bad" TV nonsense. There are only two kinds of television shows: the kind that have my name on them and deliver actual dollars into my pocket when you watch them (that's the good kind, by the way); and everything else.
May '10
Re: TV Dinner
When my son was only 3 he asked, "Mom, how will I know which girl is the right one to marry?" Wow...what a deep question from a my little guy... I wanted to get the answer just right. I ended up saying something like, "God has one special person in His plans for you, and you can even start praying for her now, before you ever meet." To which he answered, "But, when we meet how will I know which one of the 25 to choose?"... needless to say, I have since given up The Bachelor :)
May '10
Re: TV Dinner
:D :D :D :D Oh.... Katie O.... :D :D :D
I grew up without TV most of the time in Latin America. TV was only one from 12p.m. to 10:00 p.m. And most of the time, the repeater was out so we couldn't get any reception . So, my brother became an amateur film-maker with our giant VHS recorder enlisting the neighbor kids as actors and co-script writers. The costumes were pretty fun to watch, too! I, meantime, explored the world through books.
There was once when I was about 9, and my brother was 4 that I absolutely could not read another book. So, I turned on the TV to get... snow. But I just left it on in the hopes of something showing up. When my brother walked up to me (after a successful Superman vs. Spiderman shoot) he asked what I was doing. I snarkily answered, "Watching TV." "But there's nothing on," he complained. "Yes, there is. I'm watching 'magic television.' If you watch it long enough, you'll see it. It's magic."
Once I had him watching the snow intently, I walked away. He sat there for about an hour until my dad clued him in.
Re: TV Dinner
Rob, I'm with you. I'm sure when he's not watching the World Cup, it's strictly "Masterpiece Theater."
May '10
Re: TV Dinner
It's a new technological age. The only TV I watch these days is online (either at broadcasters' sites or Hulu -- available for free and with limited ads) and via my Xbox 360 (on-demand movies and TV; $50 annually for an Xbox Live subscription and $10 per month for Netflix). Now that Microsoft has announced a deal with ESPN to stream all sports events live on Xbox Live and to provide a back catalog of games for on-demand viewing, what more could I want?
There's something inspiring about being able to stream His Girl Friday, Casablanca or even the Marx Brothers through a gaming console.
May '10
Re: TV Dinner
I grew up without TV because my folks were one of two sets of parents I knew who refused to buy one. I finally bought the first one for five bucks from a paper route customer. The rest of the world had color, I had a 10 inch round tube RCA (1950 model) that I had repaired, and I did watch it, but remained a Baptist anyway.
I discovered that as time went by I was so oriented toward reading that I only had the thing on as white noise in the background. To this day, I can't watch anything other than a sports contest for longer than 5 minutes- the book comes out....
I watch movies, roughly one a week, because one hobby is refurbing and building video LCD (big screen, like 7 or 8 feet) projectors, and you kind of have to do something with them after they work.
Jun '10
Re: TV Dinner
One night I sat in front of my television with the remote and started flipping through the channels. When I next looked at my watch two hours had gone by and I had not landed on a program that interested me enough to stop flipping. Shortly thereafter I cancelled my cable subsciption and have not watch TV since. BTW that was sometime back in 1993. The only thing I miss is baseball.
May '10
Re: TV Dinner
Fall 1976, I am a freshman in high school. All my friends hurry home to keep up with Luke and Laura on "General Hospital." Me? I am doing my geometry homework. Much more interesting. Since that time I have hardly looked at the box. Often I hear ads on the radio for something that might be interesting, but I have only once ever remembered to actually watch it. Like Duane, I can watch the occasional Yankees game, and I am devoted to UConn women's basketball. It never occurred to me to turn on the "electronic babysitter" when my daughter was little (granted, we have only one child). We read or sang or drew pictures, or went out to the garden to see what was there. As I write, the Yankees are on in the living room, my daughter is sitting on her bed reading, my husband is doing the same in our room. I am at my desk cruising "Ricochet." Vastly more entertaining.
Re: TV Dinner
Geez. Okay. Okay. I'll cut back on the TV for the kids and rid myself of any desire to get mindless (unless it's something Rob wrote). Willa Cather's Death Comes For the Archbishop is calling me ....
May '10
Re: TV Dinner
Ursula, don't give up so fast. I swear my 3rd boy learned numbers and the alphabet by the time he was 2 1/2 simply by watching the boob tube. Goodness knows I'm not teacher material.
I, for one, am grateful for that babysitter. In fact, when my 3rd was really little, not walking or crawling, yet, the only way to get him to calm down from a fit was to turn on "Signing Time." My kid could speak fluent kiddie sign language until he decided to speak at 2.
But I do admit to some snobbery when it comes to Yo Gabba Gabba. I find the theme of their songs (and the lyrics and the rhythm and the melody) to be... well... juvenile. ;-) I much preferred Blue's Clues, Sesame Street, or The Wiggles. Their tunes didn't cause brain worms.
May '10
Re: TV Dinner
Although we were bereft of TV most of the time, my uncle would record TV shows for us in the U.S., commercials and all. That's when I got to experience Manimal (one of the few Americans who did), Knight Rider, Fall Guy, Remington Steele, Riptide and The A Team. We loved those shows, memorized every episode. But our favorite was the U.S. commercials. Sometimes, we'd skip past the shows just to watch the commercials.
Oh, a funny thing about Remington Steele: I did a stage show with Stephanie Zimbalist in 2004 and found myself utterly starstruck. How I longed to have someone die mysteriously so she could solve it, all the while hoping Pierce Brosnan would make an appearance.
Re: TV Dinner
There's actually some great television out there these days, I suspect in part because so many quality film actors are being forced to return to the medium for the steadier paychecks -- Justified is particularly well-crafted, in my opinion -- but I still have fond recollections of the trashy dinner television of my youth. You know, when Kondracke would say something, and Eleanor would bluster, and Germond would seethe from his corner like a less gregarious Jabba the Hutt... ah, memories.
May '10
Re: TV Dinner
Ursula Hennessey: Geez. Okay. Okay. I'll cut back on the TV for the kids and rid myself of any desire to get mindless (unless it's something Rob wrote). Willa Cather's Death Comes For the Archbishop is calling me .... · Jun 16 at 5:40pm
Loved that show, Ben. So, as John McLaughlin would say, WRONG! Ursula, you keep flipping those channels and throw in some DVDs, too. I grew up gorged on TV and I love connecting with others from my generation through the stupid shows we watched. And, another reason to like you...I love Willa Cather. :-)
May '10
Re: TV Dinner
I watched a lot of TV when I was a kid, but a few months ago I cancelled my basic cable. It's just not worth it. Too much dough for not enough show.
I only have channels 2-28 now on standard cable, and I still have two Spanish channels ( I had three before) and two home shopping channels. I miss a few things, but no way near enough to pay for it again. If it wasn't for golf on the weekends (I can't watch on Thur. & Fri. b/c it's on cable), and the fact that I live alone and need some white noise once in a while, I'd cancel it for good and save another $20 a month.
Sorry, Rob.
Re: TV Dinner
Oh Felicia, I totally agree. I have NO use for Yo Gabba Gabba, but it's the only thing that, for some reason, leaves all 3 of my kids silent and slackjawed for the 20 or so minutes I need to get dinner ready.
Re: TV Dinner
Andrea Ryan
Loved that show, Ben. So, as John McLaughlin would say, WRONG! Ursula, you keep flipping those channels and throw in some DVDs, too. I grew up gorged on TV and I love connecting with others from my generation through the stupid shows we watched. And, another reason to like you...I love Willa Cather. :-) · Jun 16 at 11:15pm
Oh, Andrea, we've got the DVDs. My kids' two favorites boxed sets are the Muppet Shows (from the '70s) and Old School Sesame Street (also from the 70s). Even I find some of that very appealing. As for Ms. Cather, ah yes ... if I didn't have a clear-thinking husband, one of our girls would be Willa or Antonia.