If you sit too close, you'll go blind

[bunchofgrapes]

Just FYI for anyone following along but not on my f'list: some of these entries will be locked.

When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a veterinarian. This was due to my love of the TV show, Daktari. Later, I wanted to be an oceanographer and then an ichthyologist because of my love for the TV show, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. At some point I also wanted to be an FBI agent (The FBI), a forest ranger (Lassie), and a spy for the CIA (The Avengers, Mission:Impossible). Do you see a pattern here?

I was one of those kids whose parent used the TV as a babysitter. And I spent a lot of time with the babysitter. TV has always been my source of comfort and escapism but back then, it was a close friend. As a result, my head is full of completely useless TV trivia. This impresses the hell out of my dad, who has on occasion, called me from Colorado or Hawaii to ask me something like "what was the name of the woman who co-starred in Hawaiian Eye"? And no, I didn't have to Google to know it was Connie Stevens. Btw, I never watched Hawaiian Eye; I just know who was in it (Robert Conrad and Anthony Eisley).

One of the things I'm grateful for is growing up when I did. TV was pretty awesome when I was a kid, mostly because a lot of what was on was from the 60's and late 50's (it was reruns, people - I'm not THAT old) and they had some excellent shows back then. Back then our TV set was black and white, which didn't really matter since most of what I watched was B&W. We got our first color TV in the mid 70's and let me tell you, that was a big, damn deal! I remember my mom and I watching some pretty lame stuff just to see what it looked like in color. Sort of like watching something in HD just to see how it pops. In the mid 70's we got cable and my life was complete. We no longer had to get up to change the change- we had this box with a honkin' long cable and push buttons. We had The Avengers on at 2am and I had a ginormous new crush. Life was good.

I don't really watch that much TV any more. Sure there are shows I watch regularly but I end up DVRing most everything and catching up on the weekends. However, that doesn't mean I don't always have a TV - or two - on at all times. There are three in the house and my rule is that I can only have two on at a time. The TV for me is mostly background noise. That friend whose voice drowns out the silence (or the WWE smackdown that the cats are doing in my bedroom upstairs). That friend who lulls me to sleep at night.

So yeah, I'm a product of too much TV as a child. But before you get the idea that TV rotted my brain, I like to think I owe my imagination to it as well as my ability to write. It's definitely made me a very visual person. TV has influenced who I am and how I think and if I still carry around some useless trivia, well, let's just call it memories of a childhood friend.

Oh, and my eyes are just fine, thank you very much.

Comments

[cincoflex.livejournal.com]

Great blog--and yeah, I remember a heck of a lot of those shows as well. I had a serious crush on Artemus Gordon from Wild, Wild, West back in my giddy childhood. My folks introduced me to the Avengers and when I told my father I wanted to be Emma Peel when I grew up, he told me that was cool with him--

So many shows! Emergency, Gunsmoke, all of the Hooterville and Pixley related corn, Father Knows Best, Speed Racer, Dark Shadows, Mannix, Streets of San Francisco, the Monkees--Gah, it's all good, you know?

[mingsmommy.livejournal.com]

Artemus Gordon and I seriously crushed on Adam, NOT Little Joe, from Bonanza.

[bunchofgrapes]

Ok, I admit to liking Ben for a bit. But never Little Joe. I never liked the popular ones.

[mingsmommy.livejournal.com]

I SO relate to this post...and the trivia thing, too.

I can still tell you the zip code for the Spiegel catalogue and say it in game show announcer cadence...(Chicago, Illinois 60-60-9).

BTW< I might not comment on every post, but I love reading them. I'm glad you're doing this.

[bunchofgrapes]

OMG, the minute I read zip code for the Spiegel catalog, I immediately said Chicago 6-0-6-0-9 out loud!

BTW< I might not comment on every post, but I love reading them. I'm glad you're doing this.

Thanks! Given how long it takes me to compose some of these, I appreciate that you're reading them.

[spottedhorse.livejournal.com]

There were so many good shows back then. They seem kind of campy when compared to today's videograpy standards but the stories were good. And more importantly, they were entertaining. So many of today's efforts are trying to make a statement of some sort and leave out the entertainment factor. I don't mind being asked to think (I loved Star Trek:The Original) but I don't turn on the TV for intellectual exercises. If the boob tube goes on, it is for entertainment or like Bunches, background. I do watch news and some of the history and arts shows but that's not my first choice, generally.

I used to be a walking encyclopedia of tv trivia too, lol. Sadly, I have forgotten most of it. Tuesday nights were my favorite because I was allowed to stay up late to watch The Fugitive. Somehow I managed to work that into Wednesdays for Run for Your Life too, lol. My parents were such pushovers! Both were great shows. And I remember being glued to the TV for Maverick. James Garner was fantastic but I always seemed to crush on "the other guy" and so was enamored with the brother, Bart, played by Jack Kelly.
Does anyone remember The Man from Uncle?

The TV was a very good friend!

[snowydragon1776.livejournal.com]

Yes, so many awesome shows!!

I saw Gumsmoke, Bonanza, Star Trek, etc on re-run.
My dad is a sort of secret tv fan.
I got him hooked on Leverage recently.

We had The Avengers on at 2am and I had a ginormous new crush. Life was good. Amen, I adore the Avengers!
My mom finally sent my DVD set of it back up to me.

Also I loved reading this and am so happy you are doing these posts. I know it is hard for you time wise to do it.

[bunchofgrapes]

Gunsmoke is another show I never missed as a kid. I remember seeing the old B&W half hour and hour episodes in re-runs later and couldn't believe how much better they were than the color episodes.