Aug282009
Via MamaPop: Appointment TV Survey
Filed under TV by Kim at 5:18 pm on Aug 28 2009
I was cast back to two very vivid childhood memories very suddenly today while thinking, sadly, about TV. But, there it is, a part of my own history and my family history, a significant amount of TV watching. On MamaPop we have the question: What’s appointment TV for you? What do you watch in real time? And then… what did you once watch in real time, back when that was the only option?
I remembered how looking forward to X-Files every week in college got me through some rough times – I knew I had a place to go on X Files night. (I knew I had a place to go most of the time, but I owe pretty great karmic debts all over the place from all that, so…) I am pretty sure my vampire-loving LARPing friends and I caught every new episode of Kindred: the Embraced or what we now affectionately call “The Eddie Fiore Show”. No shame. No Regrets!
But I remembered suddenly and vividly seeing two things as a very young child that had a massive impact on me. I remembered watching Dukes of Hazzard and CHiPs. faithfully. Wasn’t that past my bedtime? Good lord, some of these episode summaries… apparently my parents felt I could handle Uncle Jesse stopping Boss Hogg from building a strip club at age 4. Well I don’t remember that, but what I do remember is there was one episode with the classic “there’s a bomb tied to an innocent person” plot and I guess I had a vivid imagination because the concept of that person blowing up was simply too much to take. I remember being riveted to make sure that person didn’t blow up. But later I remember crying and going back to my room and wondering if I could ever watch my beloved Dukes again if they were going to be blowing people up on that show. I was a sensitive child.
Amusingly, this reminded me of a connected memory of watching Little Rascals (obv in reruns) when one of the kids accidentally drinks a glass of some kind of explosive liquid and somehow might blow up if jostled too much. How the hell I remember this shit I don’t know. But I remember being DESTROYED by this. I think I was afraid to drink things for weeks.
Anyways. Those suddenly came back to me. Lots of things freaked me out when I was a kid, up to and including Teen Wolf (I was terrified by transformation scenes!), so laugh it up.
This coming fall I think I won’t have too much in the way of “Appointment TV”. We love NCIS but we can watch it whenever. Supernatural is going to be a killer – it’s the last season, and I’m kind of obsessed, so we’ll be watching that in near-real time. Watching parties anyone?
What’s your appointment TV? Anyone else remember some great appointment TV of yore?
1 CaptainBootson 28 Aug 2009 at 5:55 pm
I remember being fairly faithful to the early “Dukes of Hazard” when it was on. I also remember being very faithful to “Ninja: The Master” when it was on, as well as “The Incredible Hulk”. We always went to my dad’s parents on Friday nights, and I’d watch TV and play against myself in chess while they talked. (and ate ice cream when grandma invariably brought some out)
The family was very faithful to “Hawaii Five-O” and “Emergency!” when those were on, as well as “Hee Haw”. I was rather young at the time though.
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Kim Reply:
August 30th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Oh man. We did watch a lot of Hee Haw, although I don’t remember if we watched it faithfully. I just know I really liked it.
“I searched the world over and thought I found true love… you met another and phhtbth you were gone!”
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2 TAOon 28 Aug 2009 at 11:34 pm
When I was a young teen I’d stay up past the 11:00 news to see late night ABC (I think) reruns of “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” starring Darren McGavin. It was only a few years ago that I realized the show had reached cult status. I really need the theme music from that show…off to find it now.
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Kim Reply:
August 30th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an episode!
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3 PMMJon 29 Aug 2009 at 8:21 am
TiVo has spoiled me. These days, it’s really only Lost. Which I must watch RIGHT AWAY. I still enjoy Heroes, but it’s less… immediate than it was in the first season. And everything else, reality TV included, can wait a day or two until I get around to it.
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Kim Reply:
August 30th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Exactly – there is hardly anything we watch in real time now. Although I confess, last season on Thursday nights we were pretty good about Grey’s Anatomy… Ugh. Thursday nights are always big tv nights, history shows it!
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4 Dadon 29 Aug 2009 at 9:43 am
It was Victory at Sea. a CBS documentary on the Navy in WW II. The impact it had led to 21 years in the Navy.
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TAO Reply:
August 29th, 2009 at 10:37 am
I remember “Victory at Sea”. I think it was condensed into a movie version that I saw on PBS in the past. The music was very good. It reminds me of another documentary that as a kid I used to make sure to see: “The World At War”. That was very well done.
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Kim Reply:
August 30th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
I watched the entirety of World At War about a decade ago, and it really taught me quite a few things I’d ignored in high school. Very well done.
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5 Meganon 29 Aug 2009 at 5:03 pm
I was faithful to Dukes of Hazzard also. I also was a huge BJ and the Bear fan, mostly because of an undying love of Greg Evigan. (I was in his fan club. I was also in 4th grade, so that’s my excuse.)
I almost never missed Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I absolutely NEVER missed Xena the Warrior Princess.
I am not even going to pretend about my loveloveluuuuv of Xena. (I still don’t know why I don’t have the DVDs.)
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Kim Reply:
August 30th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
I have been hankering to go back and watch some old Xena eps again. They were always kind of weirdly fun and uplifting.
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