I guess I've always been a bit of an outsider. Not in a deliberate, cool, rebellious kind of way, but in a sort of sad, distant, my-passions-lie-elsewhere sort of sense. I spent a lot of time alone reading, writing and daydreaming, or playing with my brother and/or the few good friends we had around us while growing up. Sometimes, my passions were shared by those around me, but - more often than not - I was kind of loving things on my own. Usually it was difficult (if not impossible) to find another living soul who loved something the same way I did, or with the same intensity.
While I still mostly feel that to be true now, I find that the internet has brought geeks together in ways never seen before, and I generally feel less alone in my enthusiasm for things. Because apparently - no matter how remote and unheard of something I love may be to the populace at large - there is at least one other person out there in the world who shares my giddy fondness for things I thought I was alone in loving. It's really just a matter of finding those precious few.
I've been thinking a lot lately on television shows - both those presently watched and those long gone. It's likely that my becoming involved with The Mind Reels had a lot to do with it, actually, because part of our reason for creating the blog was to give voice to things we were loving that didn't seem to be getting much coverage in our social and internet circles. I finally have a venue in which to talk about the things that currently have my attention, but I was thinking - why not dive into some of those nearly-forgotten passions of my youth? Why not talk about all of the TV shows I watched that really meant something to me personally, regardless of whether or not anyone else on the planet was watching them at the time, too?
I mean, I certainly grew up on TV. We always had one in the house, I think. Though we didn't always have cable, that's for sure! Ah, the antenna days of 3 channels, or so. Depending on the weather. Despite having so little to choose from, we actually managed to watch a lot of TV as kids. All the usual stuff...Flintstones, Looney Tunes, Leave It To Beaver, Little Rascals, the Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday, and a plethora of Saturday morning cartoons - some of which you'd know, some of which you may never have heard of (or maybe forgotten). I remember having vague kid crushes on Loretta Swit on M*A*S*H* and Erin Gray on Buck Rogers. The Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman. I would go on to have MANY more crushes on TV characters after those first early days of my existence. Several in particular would go on to haunt my consciousness for years after - some even to this day.
I think now, when I watch something new on TV, part of me is still looking for that undefinable spark of magic in the stories and characters I see on screen, that will get inside me and take hold. I'll spend time later, perhaps, talking about the more current incarnations, but I think that only time and distance can really work as an indicator to how strongly things will continue to resonate with me once they are gone, so for now, I will talk a bit about some of the things I loved to watch most when I was growing up. You can check them out below!
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