If you were to walk into my den on any weekday evening between the hours of 6:30 and 7:30, odds are that the television, if it's turned on, would be tuned either to some youngster drivel like "Drake and Josh" or to any sports telecast involving a local team. The kid's homework is usually done by then, so he is allowed a little tube time. In reality, the tv does little more than provide a little background noise. Junior has seen every program on Nick Jr. at least 473 times, and there is nothing on "prime time" that we could - or would want to - watch as a family. So we take care of the usual mundane household shit while the idiot box drones on annoyingly in the background.
Last night, however, I stumbled on "The Andy Griffith Show". It was on some cable channel way on down the line, buried under 400 channels of crap. I'm not one watch a whole lot of tv so I never check the listings, never knew it still aired. Anyway, as soon as I saw Opie fidgeting around, trying not to tell Pa that some bully was stealing his milk money (a nickel) every day, I stopped everything I was doing and sat down to watch. Pretty soon the missus and the youngun sat down to join me. I'd forgotten just how good it was - I'd even say it was a productive use of 30 minutes. Good message, good family, good friends, no profanity, etc. We laughed our collective asses off every single time Barney was on the screen. It was better than anything on tv today - I didn't even mind that there were no scantily clad babes (Aunt Bea? Thelma Lou?) to look at. Hell, I even enjoyed trying to explain black and white television to my son.
He still doesn't get the b&w stuff. But that's okay. He liked the show, and wants to watch it again. For those of you out there who have lived through every episode of iCarly, you'll understand just how much of a blessing that is.
4 comments:
That's a heartwarming story. The only stations we get at our house are ones that show "What Not to Wear" or some hospital related drama where physicians are fornicating in the recovery room. I usually retreat to the study where I can drink and read stories about people getting killed, all the while scratching myself. Good times!
Nimdok - TAGS is the best series that television has ever or will ever produce. The writing, acting, producing were all excellent. It was made in era of shooting with one camera so the viewer can sense the perspective of each character. This meant that the scenes were not filmed in the order shown in so that the cost of moving the equipment could be minimized. Think about the acting skill required therefore.
The focus on the show was on the comedy of the characters, not comedy of one line jokes. That's why Barney was so entertaining; he was believable as a real person, not a cartoon character.
I obviously have strong feelings about this -- we need to meet and share libation.
We used to watch in college all of the time. The greatest episode is the one where Barney and Gomer (on the roof with a shotgun) are left alone at the jail to guard a couple of prisoners while Andy is laying in wait for the prisoner's buddies who are coming to break them out.
Of course, the prisoners continully escape and Andy has to catch them and march them back to the jail.
I can't stand Aunt Bea. She was a damned Yankee interloper and probably a closet lesbian. I'm sure her pies weren't worth a shit.
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