Tuesday, February 20, 2007

my family and our relationship with the TV

My grandfather used to turn on the TV when he got home and start watching it before he took his coat off. And Grandpa would watch anything that was on. My father is the same way. On Saturday night, when we got home from dinner, I had barely walked in the door behind my dad before I heard the TV. He did have his coat off, but it couldn't have been more than a minute between when he came in the door and when he started watching TV.

Also, my dad will watch ANYTHING. On Friday night we watched part of "Crocodile Dundee II" and argued about who played the chauffeur in the first movie. My dad and my brother both said it was the guy who played the dad on "Family Matters," and they were right. I should know to trust my dad on anything Urkel-related; he watched that show for years. On Sunday afternoon, before my train left, we watched a show on modding off-road trucks, another show on souping up car engines, "Nigella Bites" on Food Network (which reminded me of the old "Two Fat Ladies" cooking show on PBS, only with a younger, hotter host), and finally, "Sell This House!," an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition clone where the builders take a house that's not selling and redo the interiors for under $500. Despite his interest in cars and engines, my father had no interest in the Daytona 500. He prefers Grand Prix races where they turn left AND right. So do I, for the most part.

We also watched the usual Saturday evening British sitcoms. The last time I visited my family was in August. I don't know how this happens, but I saw the same episodes of "Are You Being Served?" and "Fawlty Towers" this past Saturday night as I saw back in August. I like those shows, but I also like a little variety. If I go back in a few months and see the same Fawlty Towers again, where Basil keeps trying to catch one of the guests sneaking a girl into his room, I'll assume that WETA is tracking my movements.

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