Underdog (April A2Z ~ Misty Memories)

 

Me in Buffalo, NY, around 1964

Welcome to my April A2Z posts! This time, I am officially signed up on the challenge sheet and will be visiting other bloggers on the list. My theme is "misty memories," which will include a bunch of rambling about old stuff in my life, and hopefully some of it will be accurate, but if not, there's no one around to contradict me. Today we continue with U for Underdog.

When I was little, I loved TV, cartoons especially. I vaguely remember watching cartoons when we lived in Buffalo; I definitely remember Saturday morning cartoons when we moved to Tarrytown. Even as I grew up, I still loved them: Underdog, Rocky & Bullwinkle (and Boris & Natasha), Yogi Bear (and all his Jellystone Park friends), Tennessee Tuxedo, the Pink Panther, Magilla Gorilla, the Roadrunner (meep! meep!), the Flintstones, etc. As I mentioned before, I enjoyed the Brady Bunch... also the Partridge Family, the Munsters, the Addams Family, a Family Affair, the Courtship of Eddie's Father, and of course I Dream of Jeannie, That Girl, and Bewitched. Together with my mom, I liked to watch Star Trek, Dallas, and "Creature Feature" scary movies. Am I mixing these shows up chronologically? That's how misty memories are... like a pile of photos in a box you pull out randomly.

As a teen, I regularly tuned into Eight is Enough, One Day at a Time, Happy Days, Gilligan's Island, All in the Family and all the spinoffs, and the game shows. I don't think there was any game show I passed up ~ if it was on, I watched it. My favorites were Match Game, Hollywood Squares, Family Feud, the Price is Right, and Let's Make a Deal. Detective shows were high on my list as well: Columbo, Hart to Hart, McMillian and Wife, Magnum P.I., the Rockford Files, etc. Variety shows! Carol Burnett, Sonny & Cher, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Hee-Haw, Laugh-In (which my dad loved too). Love American Style! What a fun show that was. I didn't care much for ongoing dramas at this time; I preferred for a storyline to be complete when the show was over (with a few exceptions).

After we moved to California in 1983, I immediately became addicted to MTV. We didn't have it back in Chicago at that point due to some political shenanigans or whatever (I don't remember why). For hours I would be mesmerized by all the music videos ~ it was the greatest thing ever. Until I got bored and never watched MTV again, but that took a while. Now, in my later 20s/30s, I began to enjoy the dramas. LA Law was one of my favorites. When my girls were little, I didn't watch much TV of my own choosing; I watched the fun/ educational children's shows with them, and my ex and I rented movies for the evening. Then came the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and of course the greatest show of all time, Breaking Bad.

I've lost my taste for "TV" though, whatever that means these days. Most movies and series are completely boring or stupid, and I can't bear watching them. The few that I love, I rewatch repeatedly, such as the Mamma Mia movies, Walking on Sunshine, the Hating Game, 27 Dresses, You've Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, Grease, Miss Congeniality, Young Frankenstein, Chicago, etc. Some may argue that the movies on my love-list are stupid, and to that I say... pffft. The heart wants what the heart wants. I would rather read most of the time anyway than stare at some dumb new romcom or mystery miniseries. That said, around the holidays, I like to watch the most sugary, predictable Christmas romances. Why? I don't know. They usually involve baking.

Sorry for not italicizing titles. There are just too many of them here.