by Elizabeth Mcgill

Created on: November 30, 2008   Last Updated: December 14, 2008

Remember the old laminated cabinet TVs, the ones that were made to look like furniture, and actually called "a set"? Back then, you knew where the knobs were and more importantly, what they each did. The color knob on our old set took some abuse in its later years; the color would fade in and out on the screen. Even though, we still hung on to it. Now, you can find an unlimited variety of widescreen HD TVs, complete with surround sound. These digital seeking, sleek new age flat screen beauties, make television watching a stylish event.

Sure, ways of television viewing had gotten better, but what about watching? Writer's strike? More like writer's block. The shows of today, like synthetic tasting popcorn, tend to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Those highly toted reality shows, talent shows, dramas, sitcoms, comedies, talk shows, grab your attention like a rubber snake, and hold it just about as long. They are like boxcars on a runaway train, all of them with material linked together, just a train wreck waiting to happen.

I long for the TV shows that ventured out from my old cabinet styled boxed monster. At least the shows were good imitations of entertainment. The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Dallas, Dynasty, Knots Landing, all gave us the ability to make it through watching shows like Bay Watch, Sex and the City, and Desperate Housewives. We were pre-conditioned, as it were.

There will never again be the long awaited weeknight fares like, Magnum PI, A Team, Murder She Wrote, Family Ties, Facts Of Life, All in the Family, Eight Is Enough, Good Times, and The Jeffersons. These were funny, endearing straight to the point, series. This holds true with Sanford and Son, Carol Burnet Show, Mama's Family, these shows are still lodged firmly in our minds along with the memory of our flipping through the family TV guides together.

The Waltons, Gomer Pyle, Andy Griffith Show, Little House on the Prairie, gave us the family life to which we could relate. Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, Frances the Talking Mule, Gidget, Father Knows Best, The Beverly Hillbillies, were sturdy springboards for the other great shows following them. Shows like, Gilligan's Island, That Girl, Bewitched, Dick Van Dyke, The Mary Tyler Show, New Hart, and Cheers.

The Honeymooners, Life with Elizabeth, I love Lucy were wonderful comedies. Happy Days, Lavern and Shirley, Three's Company, were sit down fare for the entire family. The Brady Bunch, Bosom Buddies, The Old Couple, Perfect Strangers, tickled

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