Friday, September 9, 2016

Blast from the past

I have no internet. How am I posting this you ask? Pre-written then posted when I finally got internet. But yes, it’s been six days that I have been living without internet at my home. Cable companies are actually Satan’s disciples doing his business here on this earth. Originally they were drug dealers but now they handle our internet and cable subscriptions. Anyways, I have discovered a new found respect for living without internet (granted I do have data on my phone, but that is limited and does not allow me to watch Netflix, HBOGo, Amazon Prime, Hulu or any of the hundred ways I consume television). So what am I doing you ask? Me, the devouring, TV characters are my only friends, “television is my hobby, that counts as a hobby, right?” person doing with my time?

Watching television of course.

I could be reading a book. I could be drawing (which would really just be me drawing stick figures). I could, jeez, what the hell did people do with their free time before the internet? Before Netflix! You could say I could go outside. I would counter that I do but that does not fill up my whole day. Plus, I cannot do that at midnight when I get home from work. I could bake or learn to cook something new or do my laundry.

But why do any of that when I can go into the past and watch some great shows?

Luckily, I dove into the depths of my Apple computer from college (not the one I’m using to type the post) and recalled I had a few shows on file using an illegal way to watch them. Those series are: “Boy Meets World,” “Gilmore Girls,” and “Friday Night Lights.”

I’m sure your first thought was, “She started watching GG because the revival is coming out in November and what an opportune time for me to watch the whole series in preparation.” That would make sense, but that’s not what I decided. (Aside, don’t get me wrong, I’m super pumped for the revival and am so ready to revisit Stars Hallow again.) Then you must think I chose FNL, one of the best shows ever created and a perfect time of year to start watching, right as football season is about to start. But that would make too much sense.

No, I decided to truly go back in the past and watch one of the most nostalgic shows of my youth: “Boy Meets World.” Ah, Corey Matthews, how I’ve missed you. Topanga, the first Hermione, smart, ambitious and someone who just goes for it. And good ole Shawn (this is the way the show spells it, I know, it’s wrong). The idiot playboy with one of the biggest hearts. How I missed these characters. How I yearned for them in today’s climate of television. Now to be clear, this show is not the best. And by that I mean it was totally written for teenagers who are in middle school/high school, to help teach certain lessons and rarely have episodes that are actually progressive week-to-week. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you missed one.

But how I missed it! In today’s world, it’s all these 10 episode mysteries and character studies and creative understanding of the human race. These shows are fantastic. They make you think and make you curious and make you question some of the actions in your own life. But damn, if I just sometimes need some careless, easy to watch, loving TV show. Even today’s sitcoms are dramas. Everything is so serious and thought provoking. That, of course, is great for television and I am a true believer that there hasn’t been a better time for TV than the last five years (I know; I haven’t been alive long enough to be able to truly analyze this, but too bad, that’s my opinion). I don’t believe there is too much TV and the more of these curious shows that are made, the better off we will be.
But that doesn’t mean I could use some more “Boy Meets World.” Is it the nostalgia? Probably. I could never get into “Girl Meets World,” it was laced with too many of today’s problems and teenage issues, which of course is the point. There is an element of BMW that just takes me back. From cords on phones to chalkboards; how can you not love the lesson that Mr. Feeney teaches every episode.
So my lesson in this blog is to learn from my non-internet life and take a minute away from the Facebook and the CNN and the Instagram. Stop reading about Donald Trump and stop watching reality TV and stop watching “The Night Of.” If you can, go revisit your past. Go watch an episode of “Doug,” or “Hey Arnold,” or “Rugrats,” or come over and watch some BMW with me. I think those 20 minutes you might find yourself learning something you wouldn’t expect.

Until next time, live long and prosper.