Many say that television is a vast wasteland. I’ve no doubt in many ways it is, but I confess — I’m addicted. COVID exacerbated the addiction. Before you judge — I DO work. I’m up between 4:30 /5:00 a.m. I write, clean house, do laundry, pull weeds, maintain (with help) a vineyard of a hundred vines, (attempt to) train Ranger (our ADHD German Shepherd), cook when we’re starving (or call for pizza delivery) and act like a head nurse with Rick who suffered a bout of aseptic meningitis in December which exacerbated his Parkinsons. I’ve turned into a helicopter wife – which can be annoying to an ex-Marine who intends to continue managing his life without female interference.
By end-of-day, which sometimes comes in early afternoon, I’m ready to “chill”. Rick and I have different tastes. When he watches sports, I read. When I watch “character-driven” shows (often referred to as “chick flicks”), he reads. Some things we watch together and can recommend:
The Food That Built America (who knew such warfare went on in grocery aisles?)
How Did They Build That? (Wowza!)
How It’s Made (everything from A-Z)
Mysteries of the Abandoned (from cold war arsenals to zoos)
Planet Earth (spectacular photography; under water, on land and in the air with hilarious commentary by men attempting to explain the beginning of all things)
Wild Castles (histories from romantic to macabre)
Aerial America – Aerial Cities – Aerial Britain, Ireland, Africa, New Zealand (can’t wait for them to go to the moon or mars)
Mighty Trains (fantastic rides at no-cost to the armchair traveler)
We tend to get hooked and binge on television series. Over COVID, we watched every episode of Person of Interest, Star Trek New Generation, Blue Bloods, Foyle’s War, Longmire, Firefly, Mandalorian, and Miranda. I’m still working on The Durrells of Corfu and Northern Exposure. (I like quirky characters.)
We recently binged on a newly discovered TV show: Hudson and Rex. Who knew a dog could like TV?! Ranger is in awe of REX. Wow, Mom! Look at that GS leap tall buildings, swim in the sea, capture bad guys. Perhaps Rex’s new fan will try to emulate him. (It would be nice if Ranger would stop pulling up drip lines, moving large rocks onto the lawn, and trying to dig up gophers – though I’d forgive him if he caught one.)
Ah, well. I live in hope of a well-trained K9 companion. Someday. In the meantime, I am on the hunt for Rin-Tin-Tin and Lassie reruns. They might inspire him.