The great bloggy giveaway has got me thinking…(check out the previous post if you don’t know what I’m talking about). Let me just start by saying I know I’m a little bit of a loser. But I derive an arguably unhealthy amount of comfort and joy from certain TV shows. There. I said it.
It started with The Brady Bunch and continued with Survivor. (I know I’ve talked about this here before.) But tonight is big because it marks the end of an eight month long TV induced depression… when LOST aired its season finale. More importantly, though, its been eight months of living life here without my sister living 5 minutes away. But also, eight months of wondering how they get off the island and why they would want to go back. Seriously, though, its been eight months since John and I left our old church and started over at a new one. What?
And thus continues this strange journey I’ve been on of realizing how closely I associate certain TV shows with stages of my life.
I don’t watch THAT much TV, I’m just fiercely loyal to those shows I do watch, largely because of the sentiment I attach to them. It’s not even that I so like LOST, for example. I mean, I watch it…yeah. And I look somewhat forward to watching it. But more than that, I look forward to looking forward to watching it with PEOPLE. See…its the anticipation and the company. I’m making dinner tonight for the season premiere. We’re having some of our favorite people over…because LOST is dinner and Breyers ice cream and favorite people. Same as Survivor will always be good food at my sisters’ when her boys still used sippy cups and their house was only minutes away.
And then there’s Friends. I didn’t watch it regularly when it was actually on the air, but I borrowed Season 1 from a friend when my girls were small and I was nursing (this seems to be a pattern for me) and I found such joy, such sweet company. So I shamelessly asked for the entire series for Christmas last year and thanks to John and Costco, look what I got.
That’s 10 seasons, people. So its now what I watch when John is out of town or I feel anxious at night and just need a laugh or a…friend (I now officially hate myself). So while I’m down here (you know, in the place where NBC executives most want me to be: addicted, needy, wrapped up, tricked), let me go ahead and show you these.
Look, it’s 1994 Joey..
And 2004 Joey.
Yeah…still hating myself. Seriously, though, doesn’t everyone do this? Maybe they don’t, which is what I’m starting to realize. Because to me, The Wonder Years is a cold, cozy, rainy school night in Iowa, The Smurfs is a long john donut on a Saturday morning, and The Brady Bunch is afternoon sunshine and an after school snack. Right? RIGHT?! I’m starting to hyperventilate. Maybe 1994 Rachel will make me feel better.
Oh, and by the way, a long john donut is what my sister and I called chocolate eclairs because what kid knows the word ‘eclair’?
you are definately not a freak – and you do have good taste in tv shows… okay i’ll admit it, i cried when the season finale of seventh heaven aired – now the acting was horrible by that point, but none the less how would life continue if i didn’t know what happened to sam, david, lucy, and the rest of the gang? I was also saddened when everwood went off the air – they awere a part of my family. i admit it, if we’d had dvr back then i would have watched the shows when chad was out of town, just to have some company!
you’re not a freak, just a relational gal! That’s why i love you!
OH. MY. STARS! I LOVE Lost. Although, I cannot share in your love for Growing Pains. My devotion lies with Family Ties. Michael J. all the way, baby!! Oh, and yes, I totally get where you’re coming from with shows evoking emotions. Don’t even get me started on Love Boat or Fantasy Island.
In high school Mary Tyler Moore (or Mary Richards…) was like a sister to me.
why do you think i cried when i watched the season finale of Friends? i’m just as attached, baby. =)
LOST means sitting in bed with my husband watching the latest episode on abc.go.com (since we don’t have TV) and freaking out together. Well, uh, not in that way.
I can remember openly weeping during the episode of Beverly Hills 90210 where Dylan’s wife gets shot by her own mafia father, and the episode of Mad About You where Paul and Jamie get seperated, and EVERY episode of Little House on the Prarie. Yeah, uh, I haven’t watched a lot of TV for the past 10 years. Must be why I think 1994 Joey is so much cuter than 2004 Joey
!
I got really confused at Lost after I missed a month’s worth of episodes–but it has been fun reading about the joy its return brings to so many of my blogging buddies.
I’m holding out for American Idol (when we finally get past all these try out episodes…), and So You Think You Can Dance (soooo much better than DWTS!).
I hope you make lots and lots of fun new memories with new shows–and keep cherishing your old ones!Thanks for taking me on a trip down memory lane!
Jennifer, I am so with you about SYTYCD. That one is sitting on my friend Kendra’s red sofa with a bunch of really fun girls and great food making fun of mary murphys laugh. And I hear you on missing a month of Lost. If I miss 6 minutes of it, I’m…well…lost. And thanks for reminding me of Little House. SUCH a favorite.
Laura, I love hearing what Lost is for you and your husband. You may be the smartest one in the bunch not having a tv. We did that when we first got married and made some nice memories the old fashioned way too. You know, like talking, playing games, reading…those were the good ole days.
Heather, way to throw it way back to Fantasy Island! Those were some good times when my mom let me stay up late…and the Love Boat. What a theme song!
Katie, I’m glad to finally see you here, friend
I love that your shows are from the WB. That makes me happy.
Melissa, I blame you for my friends addiction. Or should I say I thank you for introducing me to 6 of my favorite people?
Once again, I feel like I’m part of a team! (can you tell I played no sport in high school?)
Ok, I must claim that I also own all 10 seasons of Friends and I am the one that loaned them to you, Miss Emily. You watched seasons 1,2, & 3 nursing the girls. I have since loaned them out to 4 other new moms!
I got them the hard way…one at a time and back when they only came out with a new season on DVD every year. I put them in when I need a pick me up or am just feeling down. Gilmore Girls works the same way for me.
SYTYCD is so much better than the other dancing show. I am glued to the TV every time it is on. Glad to know there are other addicts out there!
I officially love you even more than ever.
I cannot wait until this weekend.
Simmer down there sissy! (oh, and welcome, btw
I think Melissa’s undying love for the show was what encouraged me to need to borrow them in the first place. And I am so happy to hear you have continued to spread the goodwill to other nursing mommies out there. I think there should be a channel dedicated to women who are nursing that airs really great shows in the middle of the night. Too bad I’m too lazy to try to market that. I’m sure one of you will be on Oprah one day…
So glad someone else mentioned “Gilmore Girls”. I’m kind of a closet fan (guess the whole world knows now, huh?) and I’ve been kind of missing them recently
Megan! Are you kidding? I run in a tight group of Gilmore Girl lovin Girls! It was such a great show. (Have you noticed? My sons name is LUKE. Not really after Luke Luke…but, well…draw your own conclusions). I definitely cried at that finale.
I’m not sure how I ran across your blog, but I love it! Wishing you were closer to KS, though. I would have someone to play “Friends Trivia” with! It’s almost sad how many of the answers I know. And I’m with you on Lost, Gilmore Girls, LH on the Prairie, Brady Bunch… such good memories!
Okay, after reading this post I’m feeling like you’re going to think I’m some self-righteous “I don’t watch tv” person from my other comment.
Just for the record, I do still watch tv, just not as much.
I am also very loyal to my favorite shows. Who’s the Boss, the Facts of Life, Seventh Heaven. I also TOTALLY got hooked on So You Think You Can Dance. Shows on DVD are the only way to go… that’s how we watch 24 and Smallville. Right now we’re not watching much tv, because nothing is on that we like!