Andrea Wilson Woods' Blog

I’m sitting here half-listening to a rerun of Everyone Loves Raymond. I never watched the show when it originally aired because I didn’t think Ray Ramono’s standup comedy was funny. However, I  have discovered that I like the sitcom. The writing is clever, and the characters seem real. If the show had not reaired on cable, I never would have known that it deserved all the accolades it received during its initial run.

Now that I think about it, most of the television shows I watched as a kid were reruns—I Love Lucy, The Little Rascals, The Three Stooges, Father Knows Best —they were on in the afternoons when I came home from school. I would sit in my dad’s leather easy chair, eat Cheetos, do math homework, and giggle as Lucy stuffed her mouth with candy when the assembly line sped up. I loved these shows because they were part of my daily routine. I could count on them at a time when few things in my life were consistent. Just when I thought The Three Stooges was getting too stupid, Mo would do something to Curly and Larry that reminded me of the tricks I played on my brother. After all, Mo was the smart one. And just when I tired of Spanky and the gang, they did something silly that made me think being a kid wasn’t so bad; adults couldn’t do silly things without looking foolish. As for Father Knows Best, I would pretend I was the oldest character Betty, which wasn’t a stretch because I am the oldest sibling. But my parents didn’t have a perfect marriage like Jim and Margaret, my brother wasn’t cool or cute like Bud, and I didn’t have a younger sister (yet). I stopped watching Father Knows Best not long after my parents’ divorce became final. I guess I couldn’t live in that fantasy world anymore.

I didn’t discover a lot of shows until they were in reruns. I was too young to appreciate M*A*S*H in its heyday, but I watch it all the time now. The same holds true for Sex and the City. I don’t have HBO so I never knew about Carrie’s neuroses until the show began airing on other cable channels. Thanks to TNT and USA, I am a true Law & Order junkie. Because of reruns, I started watching L & O during its fourth season; now I’m sure I’ve seen every episode that has ever aired (many two or three times each), but don’t test me on it.

I don’t know why I can’t read a book twice, but I can watch the same episodes of my favorite shows over and over again. I never fail to cry when Monica tries to propose to Chandler (only to say “there’s a reason why girls don’t do this!”) or to laugh when Jerry Seinfeld explains the difference between taking and holding a car rental reservation.

Thanks to reruns (and now DVD collections), I get to re-experience these small delights whenever I find my shows on television. God bless cable.

AWW — XoXo

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I have been in limbo ever since Anderson Cooper announced that Senator Barack Obama is now President-elect Obama. I couldn’t bring myself to watch Obama’s speech or even McCain’s concession speech. I have slowly tapered myself off my nonstop-CNN-Fox News-MSNBC obsessive television viewing because even the best pundits are running out of things to say.

I find myself yearning for magazines and books and realize just how much I had stopped reading because I was too focused on the election. What was one of the most historic elections of our time may also become one of the most historic elections of my marriage. My husband and I weren’t happy with either ticket so we separately decided to write in a candidate—different people of course. (The day we vote for the same person in a presidential election, our animals will start speaking perfect English.)

Election night was quiet at our house. We knew our candidates couldn’t possibly win. We knew by 8pm that Obama had won. We discussed the local propositions, which we mostly agreed on, but the results were still being counted when we went to bed. We were surprised to discover that Prop. 8 passed while we slumbered even as Obama celebrations continued in West Hollywood.

Elections are supposed to be invigorating, but last Tuesday, I felt as though I was walking through a fog. I could see clearly; however, the fog pervaded my senses and made the world around me seem dull. Luckily, I had mailed my ballot weeks before. As the election results appeared on the TV screen, I watched without any care as to who was leading. Not caring—being that indifferent—is worse than hating someone (under certain circumstances).

I don’t remember ever feeling so dispassionate during any other presidential election. I guess I didn’t drink the Obama Kool-Aid.

AWW — XoXo

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