Csquared Thoughts

"Family Ties"

In my treadmill viewing, I commented how many shows have held up well: Mary Tyler Moore, Cheers, WKRP, even Are You Being Served?

I was disappointed, then, that Family Ties didn't hold up. I love the opening theme, a fabricated montage of Michael Gross' and Meredith Baxter's supposed hippie days. And I love Michael J. Fox as the conservative foil to his liberal parents. I still have a crush on Meredith Baxter as I did back then.

But the show is dated. It just doesn't hold up. And what's with Justine Bateman's high-necked, frilly outfits?

But it is from the 1980's - not exactly my favorite decade.

Still, maybe the later seasons will be better. I've added season 4 to my DVD Swap wish list. That's the season Tracy Pollan showed up. One of my favorite characters on the show.

In the meantime, plenty else to watch on the treadmill.

Sex and the City

I said I would have more to say about one of my treadmill viewing choices, Sex and the City.

It's been eleven years since the first season. After watching season 1 and part of season 2 on the treadmill, I can say it's good entertainment for 25 minutes on the treadmill, but...

• The characters, especially Carrie, are constantly smoking. Ugh! That was definitely uncool in California in 1998. Don't know about New York. (Though Terry tells me that New York was and is different.)
• Birth control is only mentioned tangentially, when it fits the story line. Otherwise sex is indulged in freely as if that were not an issue or a concern.
• And that's not to mention HIV/AIDS and other STD's, which don't exist in this world, despite the fact that one semi-regular character is gay.
• The women seem to define themselves by the men they can (or cannot) attract, and the men are defined by their sexual prowess and their ability to deliver earth-shattering orgasms.
• Being part of the Manhattan social scene seems to be the definition of success.

Still, I keep watching. The show burns up my treadmill time quickly. But I see it as entertainment, and not as something that provides any sort of definition of values or priorities,

treadmill viewing

I've had a lot of fun watching DVDs on the treadmill. Thought I'd share a few reviews.

• Murphy Brown, season 1 — The only season on DVD, holds up really well after all these years. Candace Bergen's sharp wit is every bit as funny as it was when these were first broadcast. I love the fact that Frank wears a toupee on the set but not in the newsroom is never mentioned, but is just part of the show.
• Night Court, season 1 — I'd forgotten how much character turnover there was on this show, but Harry Anderson's light-hearted, funny perspective is really enjoyable.
• WKRP in Cincinnati, season 1 — again the only season on DVD. Light, funny, easy laughs. Interesting that the opening credits say starring Gordon Jump (as Mr. Carlson) and Gary Sandy (as program director Andy Travis), when the characters who really made the show were Howard Hessman (Dr. Johnny Fever), Tim Reid (Venus Flytrap), Lonnie Anderson (Jennifer Marlowe), and my favorite in the "Ginger-vs-MaryAnn" debate, Jan Smithers as Baily Quarters.
• Mary Tyler Moore, season 1 — Still funny 39 years later. I'd forgotten how many episodes at the beginning were about Mary's relationship with men, as opposed to situations at the TV station, as the show evolved.  
• Greek, season 1 — Not what you'd expect on ABC Family, but they've been showing a lot of those recently. Totally up-to-date, with video cell phones and laptop computers. A real soap opera with a fun ensemble cast. There's a thread to the story, but each episode is a discreet plot. Probably not an accurate reflection of Greek life on the college campus, but a real hoot leaving me wanting to see the next episode.
• That Seventies Show — My favorite. But then I'm a stuck in the seventies kind of guy. I've watched seasons one and two, and three and five are on the way from Montana courtesy of Swap a DVD. I watched the show regularly when it was first run on TV, and love it every bit as much on the treadmill.
• Sex and the City — Good entertainment for the treadmill, but ten years after the series first began on HBO several things bother me about it. Needs its own blog entry.
  

tribute to Julia

I enjoy watching Christina Cooks on public TV. Christina Pirello teaches vegetarian, vegan actually, cooking and does so with great enthusiasm. She is one of the reasons I haven't given up hope of going vegetarian at some point.

With all the hype around the movie Julie & Julia, Christina recently offered her own tribute to Julia Child in one of her infrequent blogs. It's quite moving, especially since the two are polar opposites in their philosophies.

Well worth checking out.

not so fair and balanced

I caught this the other day as I was racing through my Facebook posts and blog entries. I wish I could remember who to credit, but they may have been quoting as well. In any case it's too accurate:

If President Obama announced a cure for cancer, Fox News would report, "Obama puts tens of thousands of doctors out of work."

Cronkite in perspective

I'm deviating from my normal Monday-through-Friday blogging schedule to share this with you. It speaks for itself.

 

Walter Cronkite

I can't believe Walter Cronkite is gone. I grew up with him. Political conventions, the space race, all the way from Mercury through Apollo, JFK's assassination, Watergate. Throughout the sixties and the seventies, he was there, keeping us informed. Now he's gone. And sadly, less than a week before today, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. How many of remember watching Cronkite bring the event to us, as he shared our awe and amazement.

A part of me is missing.

 

everything old is new again

When we've had a rough day at work, finished dinner, and are ready to put our feet up, read the newspaper, and enjoy our libation of choice, I've recently started saying, "It's Miller time." Guess that dates me, doesn't it?

(I remember a stand-up comedian several years ago who said his wife didn't enjoy sex and considered it work. He said when they were done, she would say, "Now, it's Miller time!" I'm happy to say my marriage isn't like that.)

the limits of swap

I've written about my success at getting on the treadmill by watching DVDs. And I've written about the fun of getting DVDs via Paperback/CD/DVD Swap. It has worked out nicely. I've gotten Thunderbirds, That Seventies Show, Murphy Brown, and Sex in the City via Swap.

The problem is, if no one lists the DVD to be offered, it's not there to be gotten. I've been number one in the wish list queue for season one of The Bob Newhart Show for some weeks now, but no one has that set to offer. Likewise for Barney Miller, Night Court, My So-Called Life, and Family Ties, where I am farther down on the list.

Now, obviously, if I really want these, I can get them via Amazon or Netflix. But the Swap idea is about recycle and re-use. And I transfer book and CD credits to the DVD site so I can get the sets I'm looking for.

Still, I have a more than a sufficient backlog of treadmill DVDs, so I can afford to be patient.

a different era

I was watching an episode of the first season of Murphy Brown while on the treadmill. The opening showed Miles Silverberg in an elevator when a fellow smoking up a storm steps in. That was 1988. Unthinkable today for someone to be smoking in an office building, let alone an elevator. (Probably was illegal in California even then, but some of the rest of the country hadn't quite caught up.)

But the series, overall, does hold up very nicely today. Some great laughs while doing my treadmill time.