I watch too much TV
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 21, 2006
I’m what you would call a television aficionado.
Well, that’s what they would call me in Hollywood. Since I am a southerner, I’ll just say I watch too much television.
I’m not one of those freaks who knows the name of every television show on the 200 channels my cable system carries, but I do know those that I watch and I know them way too well.
On one of the two computers I have on my desk (that’s another story that I won’t tell here), I have a picture from Doctor Who as my desktop wallpaper.
Circulation Manager David Friedman makes fun of it upon every opportunity. He’s called me everything from a freak to a geek because of my devotion to the science fiction show that began in 1963 and is still on the air today after a brief hiatus.
That being said, I’m getting ahead of myself.
One of my favorite sitcoms is a CBS show called Still Standing. In the family scenario two basic hippies have grown up to have three children. One of their children is uncannily smart, another is pretty and the third has every indication of being like her parents.
In a recent episode, the smart one was being tested to see if he was really a science fiction geek. After carefully answering questions I couldn’t have formed, much less answered, it came.
The questioner said, &uot;Name the 11 Doctor Whos.&uot;
It was a trick question and I knew it. There are only 10 – which, by the way, is the correct response given by the geek on the show.
I think the saddest part is I can name them – Bill Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant.
Doctor Who is a show that was just a little off kilter during the first 28 years it was on the air and returned in 2005 on BBC1. Thankfully, I was able to get my hands on the first series of DVDs even though they are region encoded and I have to watch them on the computer.
Anyway, Friday night I stumbled across the show on the Sci-Fi network and found out last year’s shows will be airing each Friday. If you’re a science fiction person, check it out. It really is good television.
Despite my affection for the absurd in that case, I am also a devotee to &uot;normal&uot; television. I own seasons of That 70s Show, Will & Grace, the West Wing, Roseanne, the Jeffersons, the Jeff Foxworthy Show and a few others I can’t think of right now.
I have been absent from the West Wing frenzy for a while now, but got back on board in recent weeks. While I’m having a hard time saying goodbye to the Bartlett Administration, I am trying to make up my mind along with everyone else who should be the next president.
Last night while watching Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) and Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), I decided what I think should happen.
My idea is to go back to the ending of a classic television sitcom: Benson.
For those of you poor souls who never got to see the show, Benson ran for Governor during the last season. He was running against friend and incumbent governor James Gatling.
As the show came to an end, the two were sitting at the kitchen table in the governor’s mansion alone.
The show went off the air with no acknowledgement of who actually won the election.
My idea is for the West Wing to follow suit and never actually say which candidate was elected to replace Josiah Bartlett in the White House.
Well, that’s enough television talk. After all, there are shows to watch and opinions to form about those shows.