TV Faves

...But first, a side bar for Partner and a bit of background. In college, some friends of mine started a quote board, a place they could write down and display the funniest quotes from their friends and roommates. Partner and I come up with some winners, so I'll try to keep a record of them here. Latest one from Partner: when a miserable couple adds a third person to their relationship in hopes that the third will add new life to the relationship, and it works, you can call it a trifecta. When it doesn't work and then all three people are miserable, it is a "train-wrecka."

In an earlier post I wrote that I'd try to write about some of my favorite tv shows. I'd like to start with a few older ones (when I was watching as a younger person) and then bring it up to the present.

Saturday Night Live - I was seven when the show first aired, so needless to say I couldn't watch it a lot, nor could I understand all the humor when I did. However, when we did manage to catch the shows from those first early years, we loved 'em. I now own the dvd's for the first four seasons.

Family Ties - Before this show jumped the shark by adding a fourth child and by making Nick a regular character, I loved watching this family comedy on Thursday nights. To me it was better than the Cosby Show which preceded it, predominantly because of the acting and the interplay between Alex and Malorie. I bought the dvd set of season 1.

Cheers - This came after Family Ties on Thursday nights, and was clearly the anchor for must-see TV. Maybe because it took place in Boston, our hometown, but my family started watching it from the first episode. I stopped watching regularly when Diane left, but every episode I caught after that, I totally enjoyed. I kept kicking myself for not watching more, but I think I was already on my downward slide of watching less TV.

The Simpsons - Actually, this is a more difficult choice precisely because I haven't watched the show regularly for years. When it first came on, though, I watched it religiously with my college roommates. (I had previously seen the shorts during an animation festival in Boston. Those few-minute sketches had me crying with laughter.) When I do catch it these days, I'm amazed at what a great satire it's remained. (I'm tempted to delete this selection. I really haven't seen it enough lately. More often than not, I'll catch Family Guy instead.)

The Young Ones - This British show about four university students (who never actually went to school) was first aired for only two seasons in the early 80's. I caught them when MTV aired them late on Sunday nights during the mid-80's when I was in high school. I managed to tape all but one of the eps and then proceeded to watch them over and over (similar to my "Spinal Tap" obsession). So many good quotes, I'm sure I annoyed all my friends. I now own the dvd set.

Absolutely Fabulous - The title says it all. Jennifer Saunders got her start on "The Young Ones" (and even married one of the actors), but this is completely her work of sheer genius. Bitchy, drunken, sex-crazed women who appear in other movies or shows are just pale imitations to Patsy and Edina. Again, we tend to quote from this show almost every week. I own all five seasons and the specials on dvd.

More (and more recent) shows tomorrow...