tv baby

I never used to watch television. In fact, I sort of bragged about it - I refused to become a complete couch potato like so many Americans, drooling in front of the set for hours on end. This went on for years - I owned a TV, but it was only used for DVD viewing, period.

Then came the 2008 Beijing Olympics. One Sunday night in early August, I happened to be at my parents' house doing laundry. Their TV was tuned to the Olympics. I sat on their couch and watched Michael Phelps win his first 2008 gold and something happened. I got pulled in. The next day, I tuned my antenna-less TV to NBC and somehow, I had reception. That week, I watched every race Phelps swam. I also began watching other shows, starting with the Today show, which was broadcasting live from Beijing. Yeah, the commercials sucked, but I was really starting to like television.

The only two shows I'd ever gotten really into were, first and foremost, Sex and the City, and The Sopranos. I always thought Sopranos was really good but hated the violence. I simply adored SATC. I've never had cable, personally, so I watched these on DVD or downloaded them from the internet.

Anyway, the TV-watching thing didn't stop with the Olympics, it kept growing after the flame was extinguished. A few weeks ago, I housesat for a neighbor. Um, a neighbor with cable. The US Open was going on and I have a thing for Rafael Nadal. But when I tuned to USA (which was broadcasting most of the Open), I found a marathon of the medical drama House. I'd seen it before but hadn't realized how great it was! Over the course of the weekend, I watched several hours' worth of the show. Imagine my delight when I learned that the following week, the new season of House would begin! So I proceeded to download and watch the entire (excellent) fourth season. Because, you know, I just had to catch up. Now I've been obsessively watching the new episodes every week.

Which brings us to Mad Men. A month or so ago, I downloaded a DVD rip of the first season after hearing that it was worth checking out. God, what an understatement! It's fantastic, and completely deserved the Emmy for best drama series - I'm so glad it won. And tonight's a new episode! Gosh, is there any hope for me?