I never watched a lot of TV. When I was a kid, my parents were very strict in limiting how much time I spent in front of the boob tube. I guess that just stuck with me because growing up I would only really watch TV in the background while I was doing something else. However, there are some shows that stuck with me and today I’m nice enough to share them.
· Arthur
This adorable PBS cartoon about an aardvark and all his animal friends was a staple of my childhood. Every afternoon at three my brother and I gathered in front of the TV armed with popsicles. Arthur rode his bike, went to school (his teacher, Mr. Ratburn, was legendary for liking sweets and assigning too much homework) and hung out with his friends including his best friend Buster who was a bunny. Other animals you couldn’t really figure out what they were. I think Muffy or Francine were a mouse. Arthur also had an annoying/ precocious little sister named D.W. whom in my opinion stole the show. Even though I was Arthur’s age, I always identified with D.W.
· Little House
Like many little girls, I grew up with the Little House books about Laura Ingalls Wilder, her family and their journey across the prairie. The television series, which is based on the books, plays very fast and loose with accuracy. It also gets pretty serious at times. Oh sure, there are lighthearted episodes but especially in later seasons it gets dark. Little House was where I learned what rape was (a girl is raped by her father who later kills her. Why was I watching this?)
· Hannah Montana
I started watching Hannah Montana when I was fourteen which was much later than everybody else. I was never big on Disney Channel because growing up I didn’t even have TV to watch it. But somehow Hannah Montana snuck in. I also read Miley Cyrus’s autobiography Miles to Go which really impressed me. I think my parents got rid of it once she started twerking. Anyway, Hannah Montana is about a girl whose got the “best of both worlds”: she lives as ordinary Miley Stewart (“schools cool cuz nobody knows”) but she is really pop sensation Hannah Montana once she puts on that wig. Her onscreen dad is her actual dad, Billy Ray Cyrus.
· Glee
Where would my list be without Glee? Even though I disagree with the show’s politics I love the music and it’s zany sense of humor. Glee is about a Spanish teacher (Will Schuester) who forms a Glee club that slowly grows in talent and number. There is competition, there is comradery, there are lessons to be learned. There is music. My Spotify playlists are dominated by Glee soundtracks. Rachel Berry is the star of the Glee club (undisputed). She’s in love with the quarterback Finn Hudson who is dating cheerleader Quinn Fabray. Quinn is pregnant but the father is Finn’s best friend, Puck. It’s like a soap opera for high schoolers. There was also a show called the Glee Project which was a competitive reality show with singing and dancing and acting to land a role on Glee.
· 10 Things I Hate About You
Not the movie. This show was actually on ABC family for one season that I now own on DVD. It’s very similar to the movie. Two sisters, Kat and Bianca, and their overprotective father move to a new school. Immediately Kat clashes with the bad boy, here played by Ethan Peck, while Bianca is determined to become popular by cozying up to head cheerleader Chastity. There are house parties, school dances, and fires…..it’s all very high school but the dialogue is excellent and the show is pretty wholesome.
· Make It or Break It
This show made me want to do gymnastics. And be skinny. It follows an elite gymnastics team as they prepare for World’s. Of course there are complications. Boys keep getting in the way of their training. There is cattiness and in fighting. There is coach drama. It’s delicious.
· Greek
My third ABC Family show in a row. This is about Greek life on a college campus. Casey feels confident about the new pledge class. Until she discovers a) her little brother pledges to her ex boyfriend’s frat b) one of her own pledges slept with her current boyfriend. Suddenly she is out for revenge. War is waged during pledge week, relationships are tested and sometimes strengthened. Casey’s brother Rusty is new to college and Greek life. And he realizes it is infinitely more complicated than studying ever will be.
· The Office
I kind of had to watch this show. I mean, I went to school in Scranton. I know exactly where everything is filmed during the theme song. The Office is a sitcom about an office run by the eccentric Michael Scott. Seriously, no words describe this man as a person or a manager. Dunder Mifflin is a paper company and paper seems to get sold….somehow. There is always shenanigans like the Office Olympics and the Dundee Awards. There is office romance and a lot of sexual harassment (this was in the 2000s). Years later (months ago) I read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kahling, quadruple threat who worked on The Office. That was enlightening.
· American Horror Story
Another creation of Ryan Murphy’s. Each season has a different theme, different characters, same actors, same spook. I won’t even get into some of the nasty stuff the show featured because it was a twisted show. Those writers must never get nightmares or have them every night. The first season Murder House confused me because I couldn’t tell who was alive and who was a ghost. The second season asylum was particularly scary cuz I’ve been in asylums (as a patient) and even though they weren’t really anything like that I know they used to be, which is disturbing. My favorite season was Coven. I’m into anything witchy plus Fleetwood Mac music. Four was Carnival, which was good and then Hotel where it all started to go downhill. I watched Hotel weekly with my floormates. We’d gather in the lounge with popcorn when we didn’t have a kickball game.
· Big Brother
The only true reality show on this list, Big Brother places about sixteen random people in a house for several months while they compete in games and challenges for a grand prize. There’s a lot of ‘alliances’ and ‘backdooring’ and generally sneakiness. But as far as reality shows go it’s one of the nicer ones. “Floaters grab a life vest”
· Freaks and Geek
How, how, how was this show only one season? It’s a crime. It’s a travesty. This show, which has Seth Rogan, James Franco and Jason Siegel in it, is about Lindsay Weir who really wants to fit in with the burnouts. I loved this show because I could sympathize with it so much. She had a crush on James Franco while Jason Siegel had a crush on her. It’s a bittersweet show about growing up and I will say….very accurate.
· Law and Order SVU
If you are in a mental hospital, you will end up seeing Law and Order SVU. It’s a show about the New York detectives who are working on solving “particularly heinous” sex crimes. And in the hospital it is always on. But I’ve watched it outside the hospital too. Call it my guilty pleasure.
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