I saw an old friend yesterday, someone I hadn't seen in several months. After the usual greetings and opening pleasantries, we got down to business: "So, what are you watching?" There's even a Facebook group called "What Are You Watching on TV?" It has 4.3 thousand members, so nothing to sneeze at. At a friend's behest I clicked, eager to see what's grabbing the attention of the healthy young masses these days, since I live alone (except for my workaholic husband who travels often) and my friends are older, thus considering surgery, getting ready for surgery, recovering from surgery or just plain miserable.
What I've learned is that, for many people, "watching" has replaced "doing." Night after night, people the world over turn on their TVs -- or their iPads, computers or iPhones -- and plug their brains in Matrix-style to a make-believe world that blots out real life. And why not? Real life is abysmal these days, with wars, political disharmony, inflation, starvation, homelessness, mass shootings, drug ODs and alien invasions at our borders.
Any fool knows that a good night's sleep depends on mellowing out beforehand, and what better way than with fantasy friends played by good-looking people leading interesting lives? The choices are endless, literally, although a tad cookie-cutter.
For a breath of fresh air I've been watching The Nanny, a CBS sitcom that aired from 1993-1999. It's hold-your-sides funny. Fran Drescher, the lead, is drop-dead gorgeous and as wacky as Lucille Ball in her heyday, dressed in outrageous outfits of the day. Every episode features a surprise guest star who was major back then and in some cases still is. The script beats anything written these days since the show was created pre-woke, so mocking at all sorts of things like sexuality, obesity, stupidity and all the rest of what is verboten today was commonplace then.
Now streaming on Max.
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