Sometimes I think I miss out because I don't watch a lot of TV. I don't know crap about "LOST", I have never seen "Glee", and thought "Friends" blew. (Apologies to Alida). Fortunately for me, however, I live with TV Man. TV Man believes that five TV's in our little house is only OK, because there still isn't one in the bathroom. With the help of TV Man, I gave birth to TV Boy. And between TV Man and TV Boy, I get exposed to some funny stuff, whether I like it or not.
Seinfeld was probably first. I found it annoying, they talked too loud and I just didn't think it was all that. Over the years I would occasionally snort at Kramer or laugh at teeny little Elaine shoving people and saying "Get Out!" Most of my love was reserved for George's parents, and to this day I can get my work friends to laugh when I see an Orthodox Jew and ask them if they like Mahhhbull Ryahhh. But that's about the extent of my Seinfeld love. Eh, not so much.
Next exposure to a sitcom was King of Queens. Please note that we never watch these shows until they appear in syndication. Why? I am not sure, but that's how it is. Now Carrie Heffernan, I like. I think if I was an East Coast Girl, Carrie and I would get along fine because a lot of the time, people just piss us off. And what I love about Carrie (and what I love about me) is that if we're pissed off, the men we love know it. If I had to pick the closest sit com husband to mine, it would be Doug Heffernan (minus the weight problem). He (pretends to) listen to Carrie and sets her straight when she has crossed the line. Otherwise, he just allows her to spout off and offend people and generally make an ass of herself. Those who love me will see the connection. Carrie also has her Dad, Arthur, who reminds me of Nana. Arthur (like Nana) possesses the radar that knows exactly when to have a crisis, thus sending Carrie (me) into brain explosion overdrive. Thank you, King of Queens, because of you I now have a daughter who uses the phrase "Fatty McButterpants".
Sometime last year we began watching "The Office". This, by far, is my favorite TV Man gift of all. I cannot tell you the number of times I have stopped in my tracks and through the magic of DVR rewound the scene to see if they really said what I thought they said. For instance: "Is this it? I mean is this...two bowls of M&Ms and some balloons? You know what Phyllis? I think you need to step it up. I think you need to get the lead out. Because if I'm not mistaken, we gave you your wedding shower here. We all came into this room and gave you a golden shower. Well you know what? Where's my golden shower Phyllis?" or this one: "I am greatly concerned about having a convict in the office. And I do not care if that convict is white, black, Asian, German or some kind of halfsie. I do not like criminals."
How can you not laugh at that stuff? It's clever, it's quick and it's the reason women over 40 wear Poise pads. Thank you TV Man, for the Office. And thank you, for exposing our son TV Boy to Family Guy when he was nine years old. Our boldest parenting move ever, I believe. The lesson we learned there is "Because the child is laughing hysterically at this show should not justify picking up Season One at Costco without ever viewing the content yourself." Oh well, the boy is now an almost man with an amazing sense of humor. That's so important in this family. You have to laugh. You have to make people laugh. So I guess I will watch a little more TV, because I will expose myself to gems such as: "I've had two men fight over me before. Usually it's over which one gets to hold the camcorder."
And that's the way it is.
