Me And MeTV

I have satellite TV, and with the endless channels that are promised me, very little of interest to me comes flying out of my set. Oh, I have something like 150 channels!!! I can go all over the world directly from my DIRECTV. I can see pool tournaments from England, a game that defies logic from Australia, tens of thousands of childrens channels with cartoons that really benefit a guy like me without children. And, the reality shows. ''Reality'', my ass. Some backwoods people who have never seen a shower---- or, a dentist--- playing the fool for the camera. Pawn brokers, bikers [ well, people pretending to be bikers. I have biker friends and these dudes on TV are NOT bikers], endless specials about the Third Reich, and bad movies and bad sitcoms are the highlights of being a DIRECTV customer. A car ride through the entertainment field. It gets me carsick....... So, at the end of going around the channels and checking the guide about which rerun of some forgettable show that is playing, I end up ''going home'', as it were. To the comfort and familiar land of ''MeTV''....... I was talking to a good friend of mine, the Lovely Laureen, the other night. She, too, is afflicted with cable and the dead-ends that are for your choosing. Finally, we concluded, that the best in entertainment on cold, miserable winter nights is the retreat into the programs we loved as children. For a certain age group, we remember the glory days of pre-cable, pre-recorded, and pre-Internet life. The days of just the Big Three Networks, CBS, NBC, and ABC. Well, PBS also, but that was just for kids programs like ''Sesame Street''. The days when all of the country was watching basically the same programs at the same time and talked about what you have seen at school the next day. We had the shows like on ABC: ''Happy Days'', ''Three's Company'', ''Soap'' [ remember, when Burt thought he was invisible?], ''Barney Miller'', ''The ABC Sunday Night Movie''. The golden night of Saturday night when CBS had the best shows on TV in order: ''All In The Family'', ''M*A*S*H*'', ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''The Bob Newhart Show'', and ''The Carol Burnett Show''. NBC had the original ''Saturday Night Live'' and shows like ''Quincy'', ''The Rockford Files'', ''Diff'rent Strokes'', and ''The Dean Martin Show''. The mini-series like, ''Rich Man, Poor Man'', and ''Roots.'' All of these shows, which, I grant you, ran the scale of quality from very strong to very weak, just seemed to feel right. You watched these shows with your family, around one TV [ usually, the only color TV in the home]. My parents would be each taking one of the small couches that we had in the TV room. My sister, Lisa,  would be sharing the couch, usually with my Dad. Brother Tommy would be sprawled out next to Mom, while I was lying on the floor holding our dogs. The weather would be cold out but the atmosphere in the room would be warm with family love. We were with each other during this special period, a short and wonderful time. And, the TV shows we watched would become a part of our shared memories....... That is what is missing most from today's world of viewing. That shared sense of comfort of viewing as a family. Check out a family watching TV nowadays. Chances are everyone in the room--- if, you can gather everyone in one room--- wants to watch what they want. And, if they can't watch it here, they will go to the Internet or their phone. And, the whole idea of a family sitting down to watch something as a Family Unit is lost. Everyone has created their own world and the world of family enjoyment is crumbling......... Somehow, MeTV brings a little spirit of those long-ago times to life for me. I remember episodes of my favorite shows like the back of my hand [ Ralph and Norton learning golf--- ''Hello, ball!'' Rob and Laura dancing and singing in the living room. Archie and the Meathead arguing politics, etc]. I remember lines of dialogue and the jokes that will be there. And, it doesn't get old to me, quite the opposite. Seeing those old shows is like listening to a favorite song that you have heard thousands of times but still sing along to. These shows are as comforting as putting on a pair of comfy shoes. I take these shows as personal satisfaction, reviving long-ago times, like a good photo album. In my minds eye, I am the age of the shows when they were first broadcast......... I believe that is why I never have embraced modern TV shows. They don't seem to be of interest to me. It all seems sterile and lifeless, as if they are going through the motions just so they can sell the show to syndication. Watching a comedy show now can be a very depressing experience to me. Not only do I not find the shows funny but I have noticed a strange trend of ''comedy'' shows not to have an audience to get reaction from. It is all deadpan, shaky camera acting. You need an audience to add to the laughter. Check out the audience laughter on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show''. There were strong, hearty laughs coming over the audience bleachers directly into the viewing home. Those laughs weren't ''sweetened'' like a lot of subsequent shows [ think, ''Seinfeld'' and ''Friends'' ]. The performers would wait until the laughs subsided before continuing the scene. Instead of ''sweetening'' the laughs, these classic shows would have to edit the long laughs down so it could fit into twenty two minutes. The best example of this was the famous episode of ''All In The Family'' when Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Archie. That particular laugh lasted ten minutes. It had to be cut down to less than thirty seconds to fit into the program. Compare that with the deadness of a show like ''Modern Family''. I know many people who like this show but it has a ''look-how-hip-and-cool-we-are'' self-consciousness to it. It may get laughs from its viewers but I'm betting those laughs are mere titters when put up against something Ted Knight did on Mary's show......... I realize comparing the past with the present can be exercise in futility. We live in different times, harsher times, than what came before. The family unit, what there is of it, is scattered about. The times of snuggling next to your parents are in the misty rear view mirror in life. But, they can be revisited in a small way. It is just for a short-time and it requires the willing participation of your mind. The channel is there to take you back a little, when all of life seemed simpler and uncomplicated. MeTV exists for those watching in the present to take a trip back into the past. Enjoy the nostalgia...... Come and knock on their door. They've been waiting for you........

Closing In On Cosby

The accusations keep coming fast and furious. And, with each one comes a little bit more reality, an acceptance that he may be guilty. Bill Cosby is in trouble...... That an entertainer is unfaithful is as old as the beard on Moses's face. And, a public person, who bases his whole persona on being wholesome is also not new [ think Kevin Costner, Cal Ripkin Jr., Garth Brooks]. So, why do we care? Well, for the simple fact that his alleged womanizing---- which has dogged him for his whole career--- now is about unconsented sex. According to many of the victims, Cosby regularly had the M.O. of drugging a pretty woman's drink with some kind of sleep inducing pill, undressing her, and while she was in a state less than coherent, he would have his way with her. For Cosby, it seemed to be a fairly regular procedure. Sex with a weak woman. We have a name for this. It is called rape....... What really happened, who did what to whom, is only known between the two parties. More and more women are coming forward as the days go on. Now, some might be lying. It is not unusual for some sick individuals to jump on the bandwagon of someone's suffering [ think Ferguson, Missouri] and try to scam a couple of bucks off the charges. So, some can and will be discounted. But, what about the rest? There are some of these women who are firm in the position: he drugged and raped them........ For now, that is all we have on this story. As of this writing, no official charges have been filed. I'm sure Cosby's lawyers are pressuring to have some of these women go away, either through money transactions, or good, old strong-armed tactics. Whatever will happen, Bill Cosby will never be clean again...... Which, in a way, is good. I have always believed that a public person, especially, a celebrity in the unreal world of Hollywood, should never be thought of as a role model. That position of influence should be for parents, teachers, successful family people, the famous who have changed history for the better. Not some goof who opens a film at $200 million at the box office, or, someone who can hit a basket at fifty feet. Admire and be inspired by the everyday person who goes to work and slugs it out with the often cruel world and achieves a noble dignity. Not someone who sells jello pudding....... But, there is a bit of heavy heart in the seedy fall of Bill Cosby. He was a comfortable presence in our lives for many years. A gentle commentator of our times. He spoke of the family unit and the foibles that greet us in our everyday lives. His early comedy records were pure genius, mixing comedy routines with human observations. He had a string of successful TV series, with his ultimate achievement being ''The Cosby Show'', which was required viewing every Thursday night. He has the imp smile of a cuddly father, the loyalty of a personal friend, and the persona of a good guy. And, in recent years, he has taken a courageous stand speaking of the problems and dangers in the black community. Bill Cosby has faced heavy criticism from the community for being out of touch and a sell-out for daring to speak the truth of the collapse of the home life for black people and for not advancing as much in the world as they should be. These words, which are the truth, branded him a traitor, someone who was bitter and an ''Uncle Tom''. Of course, his critics did not hear the real words, as most critics do not. Between his often harsh words of criticism was the painful feeling of someone who took pride in being black and working damn hard to achieve that success in life. Success was not handed to Bill Cosby, he went after it, true ambition. Cosby preached the talk of family union and surviving the obstacles to advance in life. For this, he was shamed......... And, now, we have the charges that are growing louder. First and foremost, let us hope that they are false. Not necessary for Cosby but lets hope that no women were ever raped. But, if they are true, he should be prosecuted, despite his position in life and powerful lawyers who find the easy plea bargain. However, we should hear the full story without the all-too-familiar human deficiency of judging someone as guilty before they have been proven to be guilty. Much more of this case must be viewed. I will leave this blog entry incomplete until we hear this evidence.........