Like
millions of couples in the United States, my wife and I settle down on the
couch several times each week and think about what we are going to watch on
television.
Once upon a
time, there was a much simpler solution.
There were essentially three channels to choose from and a regimented
system of shows on either NBC, ABC, or CBS.
On any given night you could watch a show that aired once a week like Happy Days, M*A*S*H, or All in the Family. You might catch a variety show like Real People, or have the (debatable)
great fortune of seeing the original Battle
of the Network Stars, significantly more entertaining than the revamped
version that recently aired due to the fact that there were actual
networks. On weekends, you had the
opportunity to watch Fantasy Island, Wide World of Sports, or be forced to
watch 60 Minutes every Sunday night
of your childhood with your socially conscious parents. I actually equate the term quality time with watching television
along with my father in our family den, meaning that I was relegated to
watching programs that he claimed I would really like. In most cases, he was right. Of course, I didn’t have a choice. There was no IPhone to stare at in bored
defiance, and the television in the den was the only TV in the house. There was no cable, no VCR, and if I had ever
argued the point it would have required me getting off the couch and surveying
the other two channels manually because there was also no remote. So like a book that might be slow at the
beginning, you gracefully became engulfed in what you were watching regardless of
what it was and, in most cases, the few selections that were available at that
time trumped (and I use that word loosely) much of what is currently on TV.
I am
overwhelmed by television today. The attention
scattered American public is bombarded with choices that seem to be aimed at
quantity rather than quality. I am so
confused by the amount of programming that I attempt to keep my own viewing as
simple as possible by restricting myself to CBS
Sunday Morning, Chronicle, the news, Meet the Press, and basically any
baseball game I can, well, catch. My
wife and I do like some of the shows on Netflix such as This is Us and a new show called Atypical, but to be completely honest I am not even sure what
Netflix is or how it operates. I do know that it allows us to watch a
show that was actually on the previous two Sundays while I was attempting to
golf with my friend Pete even though it might currently be Wednesday. Netflix is usually something that she
suggests and I simply nod affirmatively from the other side of the room. The truth is, I could not watch Netflix
without my wife and this is not because I enjoy the quiet television time with
my lovely bride. It is because her
ability to operate the remote is our living room equivalent of having the
country’s secret nuclear codes. Suffice
it to say, my special skill is turning the TV on and off.
The fact is,
many of the shows currently on television would have been cancelled long ago if
there were still only three major networks, best evidenced by one channel’s
perpetual run of the show Cops
detailing domestic disputes from small suburban towns in 1987.
As a
society, however, we need not worry. What
goes around comes around. There was a
report out recently about rabbit ears as well as roof antennae both making a
comeback with the younger generation who view these somewhat forgotten items as
nostalgic, a return to simplicity, and (finally) a way to eliminate the costly cable
companies from bilking the general public in return for a service that was once
free if you had access to an electrical outlet.
For this, I commend
the current generation. Keep it
simple. Watch only three channels. Just make sure one of them is not showing Cops.
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