Feeling Nostalgic

I went into the grocery store today, and as I was waiting to check out, my eyes went to the magazines above the belt where my food was at a stand still while a manager did a second override. I noticed, no TV Guide. So I leaned and looked at the magazine stand beside me. No TV Guide. I finally did see one the next lane over. There it was. It was blending in. Same size as the 15 other magazines there. "Fall Preview" it said in big letters above a pouting Dr. Meredith Grey. All of a sudden, a wave of sadness came over me. I remember when the fall preview of TV Guide was an event. My mom would buy it and I would spend hours, looking at the new shows that would be starting in the fall. Planning out my evenings. Oh and the Saturday Morning Cartoon section was my favorite. They perfectly laid out what would make an 8 year old get out of bed early on a non school day.

Now there really are no television seasons. One runs into the next. With all the cable shows, there is too much to watch. There was a time last fall when 3 show I enjoyed were all on at the same time. Now, thanks to the Internet, there really is no need for the conventional way of watching TV. Kids can watch cartoons anytime they want. Not like us. When I was a kid there was maybe one hour after school and you had to rely on Saturday mornings to get your Scooby Doo fix. It is convenient, I will admit that. You miss something, there is no waiting for reruns, but jump online and keep up. But I miss those Tuesday nights of Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. Laying on the floor with my feet propped up on the wall. A hot bowl of stove popped popcorn beside me. And the whole family setting down together and laughing at Richie and Fonzie dressed as girls not to get caught in Mary Beth's dorm room. Or later, painting my nails and watching Rosanne and realizing, "Boy these people are a lot like my parents."

There are so few "prime time" show now that I can sit down and watch with my family. I just looked at tomorrow at 8:00 pm. We won't count the Olympics, because that only comes around once every 2 years, but on ABC, CBS, Fox and CW, here is what my family has to choose from: Ugly Betty, Big Brother 10, Football, and Smallville. Now if we were more sports people, football would be great. My husband won't watch Ugly Betty and some of the content is too strong for my kids. How do you explain to a 5 year old, "Yeah that pretty lady used to be his brother."? Then there is Big Brother. Forget that. I wouldn't let my kids watch that until they were at least in high school and even then, I would like to shelter them for a while that people like that are out in the world. That leaves Smallville. Now we have watched some Smallville. I have watched all the episode, and really like the show, but my kids watch a mommy censored version of the show. There are some episodes that are too violent and some that are too suggestive. But I guess that is the closest we are going to come.
Now mind you I am as far from a prude as they come, but I guess I must just be getting old. Maybe somewhere some TV executives will be able to come up with a show that isn't going to prematurely age our children and at the same time, parents can enjoy and not wish that someone would sew their eyelids shut. I really don't think that's too much to ask.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008