TV DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON

TV sure has evolved over the years. When my father was a child, there was no TV. When I was a child, I grew up watching shows like, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Gilligan’s Island, I Dream of Jeannie, and cartoons like, Tom and Jerry, and Underdog. Anyone remember Magilla Gorilla?

Cable is nice. The technology of VCR’s and DVD’s, are all nice as well. But what I find lacking is TV is not what it used to be. I especially notice this during the holidays. My kids are not excited about the Christmas shows that come on around the upcoming holiday like I was when I was their age.

I remember eagerly anticipating the holiday shows that only came on once a year. Shows like, Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer, How The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, The Charlie Brown Specials. Now days you can purchase these movies and watch them all year round, as much as you please…which really takes away from the excitement of getting to see them.

I do so love to be able to pop in a movie whenever I have free time, and stop and start it at a whim. I love having many options of great programs on cable. But still, the many channels and shows available now days can be overwhelming. And not just overwhelming but truly takes away from those special times when a show comes on.

I use to wonder why our society watches so much TV, when my generations, didn’t. Well, duh! We only had a handful of channels to choose from, so most of the time there just wasn’t something on that interests us. So what did we do? We played outside! We played board games, and Barbie, and with GI Joes, hide-n-seek, and kick the can.

My kids aren’t too happy about it but when school isn’t in session, their TV time is limited. They could sit and gawk at the thing for hours. I can’t image what ten; twenty years from now will bring to the TV world. For now, I silently weep the loss of my children not having the awe experience of those special programs that only came on once a year.