Scrub in for a Modern tale of How I Met Your Supernatural Mother at The Office: TV Part 1

Anyone who knows me knows that I have one primary vice in life. It doesn't come in a bottle, or a pack or a roll. Instead, my vice comes in a box, packed in delicious 30 to 60 minute morsels - easy for consumption. And, like any addict, I have issues stopping with just one. But unlike any addict, I know I can't stop at anytime. I'm simply hooked. 

Television holds such interesting place on the long list of things that make me happy. In some ways, I do think it is a little sad just how much joy I get out of watching TV. But on the other hand - why is it such a bad thing that I can find happiness on the boob tube? And the point of this blog is not to defend those things in my life that fill me with joy, but rather to explain them.

Overtime the function of TV in my life has changed. At some point, I'm sure TV served as a babysitter for when my parents couldn't be doting on me 24/7. It shifted into a source for imaginary games when I got a little bit older, serving up some of the most inventive Power Ranger scenarios and planet-saving adventures this side of the Mississippi. It even took a back seat in my life when I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off throughout high school (I like to call those the dark times). 

And then, when I was a senior in high school, with my future collegiate plans secured, there emerged a show that changed the way TV functioned in my life forever. One Friday in February of 2005, I borrowed a season of this show called 24. To this day, I do not know where that weekend went. That was the first time that I had been so hooked to a show that I put everything else on hold so that I could see how Jack would pull through. And what a season ending! If you haven't seen the first season of 24, you're missing out. From then on, TV was an entirely new monster for me. So why not explore that monster?


I think what people don't understand about my love of television, because it seems too counter-intuitive, is that TV is social for me. I'm hardly a hermit or a shut-in like you could potentially suspect with the hours I've invested in television shows. As a talker, a being that thrives on conversation and meeting people, I've found that TV is a commonality for everyone. Almost everyone in my generation can share in the joy of Saved by the Bell or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And while those aren't the shows that are sucking away my free time at the moment, they surely break any ice that might exist. Not only does it break the ice, but its served as a continual glue for many of my friendships. If you're reading this, you've probably received a random, out of the blue message from me with some bizarre television reference. And I bet it made you smile. I can't tell you how many times my day's been made better simply by someone telling me that an ugly baby is judging me, or that a phrase sounded like something that the imaginary she might have said. It may seem superficial, but it makes me smile. My link to you, even if it is as thin as string theory, brings me joy. How can that possibly be wrong?

I don't want to count the number of shows that followed in the footsteps of 24, but they were diverse, sometimes good, sometimes a waste of time. But, there are many that have stuck around, many that matter to me: 24, Dexter, Friends, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Scrubs, Smallville, Supernatural, The West Wing, Weeds and Veronica Mars - plus a few honorable mentions: The Big Bang Theory, Community, Family Guy, and Modern Family. Parts 2 and 3 of the blog will be devoted to those shows that you will catch me referencing, loving, obsessing over. I can tell you're on the edge of your seat - I would be. 


So tune in next time. Same bat time. Same bat channel.