Television is my subject this month. Cable TV had
been my way of life for many years and I never dreamed I could live without it.
When I moved to Georgia two years ago, I didn't
want to pay to watch TV. There were other things I wanted to do, which
seemed more valuable such as writing, reading, socializing. My brother who has
lived in the state for many years suggested a flatbox antenna. I had no idea
what he meant but he set me up with one and, miracle of miracles, it worked
perfectly.
But the catch was that the only shows I could get
were from the local stations or that was what I thought. But I soon discovered
MeTV (Memorable Entertainment Television), which I had seen previously in Texas,
and a channel that showed only movies from the past--nothing current. I got the
3 main network programs and thought that was all I needed. Unfortunately PBS was
the only local channel that didn't come in clearly and sometimes not at
all.
But then I discovered more channels
available showing "oldies but goodies". My first year here I watched the old
Hawaii Five-0 during lunch until a year later The Rockford Files replaced it.
That was all fine with me. Granted I can't keep up with the latest trends in
cable TV and there are some programs I truly miss but I do have other things to
do besides watching TV. There were other networks I got for free also such a the
CW, ION, Antenna, getTV. All of them showing reruns of both recent or
past popular shows and movies.
Recently 4 "new" networks surfaced--all showing
golden oldies from the past: Decades and COZI (both a combination of comedies
and dramas (some of the dramas are so ridiculous that they are hilarious), LAFF
(a combination of past sitcoms and movies--I'm hooked on Spin City right now.)
and BUZZR, which shows old game shows such as my favorite nuttiest show of
all The Match Game.
But do I watch them all? Good grief no! It's just
nice to know that they are there and I can find something entertaining in a free
moment especially if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to
sleep, I can turn on one of the above (especially the game shows of the 1950s
and 60s), be entertained for a while until I feel sleepy again.
Works every
time.
