Television Time Machine
Our Garden Valley television service allows us to see the top programs our fellow subscribers are watching. You can go through their “apps” setting and find out ‘what’s hot’ which are the most-watched shows at any time. I like to check if there are any top finishers that might interest me. The list includes 24 of the most-watched shows and many of them were produced 30 or more years ago. I thought that perhaps it was just the time of day that determined if watchers were viewing “oldies” television. I have sampled several different times and there is always a substantial representation of viewers watching “deep reruns.” I am not in any position to extrapolate the reason for this however I want to talk it out a little.
Television presents information, entertainment and escape. Escape from boredom, loneliness and day to day anxiety; it also appears to act like a time machine as watchers escape from our current culture. This is a case where the cure and the cause are two sides of the same coin.
I would argue that the reason many want to escape their realty is because of how this reality is presented by television. Television news seeks a good headline and often several different networks can take one event and spin it into their own, custom-crafted headline guaranteed to scare us into wanting more information. Fatigue from this sort of reporting sends us searching for older programming with its simple representation of cultural expectations complete with a well-sculpted sense of right or wrong.
Old-school television does not often delve into details. The characters are easy to understand and mostly predictable. Television operations of the sixties and seventies were also very predictable.
You got 17 or 18 hours of programming, after which the television programming ended. The television transmitter continued broadcasting however it would only show a picture of the “Indian-head test pattern” (google it.) This design on a winter night meant it was time to turn the thermostat down and get to bed.
I think this time off from television was good for us. It was a time to digest what we had just seen and discuss it with your family. Think of the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. We saw the attack over and over again while we passively sat in front of our screens in shock. The reporting kept us in shock.
I wonder what would have happened in America’s homes if there had of been a few hours break from these broadcasts. Maybe parents would have had time to talk to their children and answer their questions.
Could families have joined in prayer for those involved in this terrible event or even for their own comfort?
This column got serious much too quickly. What I really had meant to write about was watching early-morning cartoons, Evel Knievel motorcycle jumps on Grandma Nelson’s television and constantly bargaining with my parents so that I could watch Monday Night Football Half-time Highlights and then catch the Carson monologue before bed when I was 11. It got complicated, just like life; a good reason to check for old reruns again.
