TV Kitchen

Posts rooted in nostalgia for the TV of my childhood, in the context of happy memories of family and home.

 

What Mom Watched

"In her last months and weeks, we watched a lot of TV together. Partly because it was all she was physically able to do, but also because television was one of the central bonds between my mother and me. I was always envious that she grew up during the early days of television and got to experience the Golden Age as it aired. She was a TV kid. I had no choice but to become one myself."

My TV Childhood

"As I’ve started to think about transitioning Archie into his first shows over the next few months, I’ve found myself feeling an unexpected twinge of sadness. And it’s because I’m realizing his TV childhood will be nothing like mine. Like, almost literally not at all the same."

Five Complaints I'm Tired of Hearing About "Saturday Night Live"

"'Saturday Night Live' is my sports. I talk about cast changes the way Yankees fans discuss the arrival of a new rookie outfielder. I study sketches the same way Monday-morning quarterbacks analyze a winning touchdown drive. I’m always eager to see my team play, regardless of who’s on the field, simply because they’re my team."

The Future of TV Is Books

"One of my favorite college classes was an RTVF elective called Program Planning and Programming, taught by Prof. Lawrence Lichty. I very clearly remember him saying, 'The future of television… is radio.' Just as radio stations in the last half of the 20th century had started to splinter into more specific genres (a trend that now only holds true on satellite radio), Prof. Lichty foresaw that TV networks would multiply and become increasingly more specialized. But now, with the Netflix model of releasing entire seasons of their new series at once, I propose a revision to that comparison: The future of television… is books.