Remembering Television

            One of the pleasures of preparing last week’s blog, and this week’s, is briefly remembering enjoyable experiences. So what if they involve sitting in front of the boob tube instead of a book? It’s similar to the pleasure of looking through a scrapbook, or looking at Kim’s photos of our travels. And some day, to rereading blog entries. It’s a sign of our aging that we are remembering experiences instead of, you know, having them. Fortunately, we are doing both – witness our home design and construction (more or less underway again) and our volunteering for the Land Conservancy.

            Another sign of our aging is our forgetting. Our readers responded with a number of tv favorites that should have been on our original list, except I temporarily forgot about them. (When I was teaching film in high school I would ask my students, “What’s the most forgettable movie you’ve ever seen?”) Thanks for the reboot.

            Here are the responses received to date:

Doug Reilly: MASH  Told myself several times to put this on my list. Forgot to do it.

Smokey Stover: Saturday Night Live Hey Smokey – this was on my list! Did you forget you read it there?

John Bayerl: “We like Monk.  Also, as a guilty pleasure, we watch Hallmark Christmas movies. Their sheer predictability and that one moment that brings tears is worth the unchanging plot lines.”  True that.

Rex Rowan: “In last week's blog you asked for suggestions for a miniseries to watch on Netflix. I recommend ‘The Same Sky,’ a look at life in East and West Germany in 1974. Actually it may be a six-episode-per-season series rather than a miniseries, because some of the stories were left hanging, and another season is in the offing. Still, it's extremely good. Another European production, this one humorous rather than dramatic, is ‘A Very Secret Service,’ now in its second season. It's more like a typical series, though: 12 episodes per season.

Sue Johnson: Watch "Suits."i We binge watched all 7 seasons on Amazon Prime and loved them. Friends are now watching and report they are addictively binge watching also. Enjoy!  Just what I needed - another addiction.

Charmaine Stangl: “Here are a few superb series I don't think you mentioned. The Newsroom, West Wing, The Office, Breaking Bad (close to Shakespearean at times), and Better Call Saul. For sheer absurd hilarity try Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  At its best Curb Your Enthusiasm is wonderful. It's great to have an escape.”  Again, thanks for catching my oversights, especially Breaking Bad. Just added Curb to my Netflix list.

Rex: “Under Sitcom: Arrested Development, The Office (British), The Office (American), New Girl, The Grinder, Parks and Recreation, Better Off Ted. Under Cop Drama: True Detective (Season One), The Unusuals. You left out science fiction: Firefly. I should add that two of these series were cancelled much too early, so that there are only 14 episodes of Firefly (plus a followup theatrical film, Serenity), and only 10 episodes of The Unusuals. Both of these, as well as the British version of The Office (13 episodes, no more were intended) are in effect mini-series.” We’ve seen none of these except an occasional The Office (American). Where have we been?

Kim and David: Here are a few that we remembered since last week’s post: Have Gun, Will Travel, The Little House on the Prairie, All in the Family, Roots (1977 version – 2016 version too graphic for us), Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Mork and Mindy, The Honeymooners.

We thought of some others during the week, but I forgot what they were.