Random Photo Monday: TV Musings

Well, this is a not terribly good snap of me, taken sometime in the mid-1950s. I'm not exactly sure where I'm doing my TV watching in this photo. Possibly at my Aunt B's house. Or possibly at my grandparents' – they all had much bigger sets than we did at the time, and they let me get much nearer the screen than my mother did. She was convinced that sitting any closer than halfway across the room was guaranteed to make me go blind overnight. I guess that's why she never really approved of Winky Dink.

This past weekend was a big TV weekend around here for some reason. Lately I've been trying to wrench myself away from the tube, and doing a pretty good job of it, so far. But Friday evening there were new episodes of Monk and Doctor Who! Two of my favorite shows. Then late Friday night on the Sci-Fi channel there were re-runs of two episodes of Stargate SG-1 I hadn't seen. And Saturday night was Charlie Chaplin night on the Turner Classics movie channel. And even though M and I both really don't care for Chaplin, they were showing Monsieur Verdoux, which neither of us had seen before – so, of course, we had to watch.

I wasn't terribly impressed with "Mr. Monk Gets Lotto Fever." Although Captain Stotlemeyer had some nice scenes – especially the one where he thinks he's the winner of the multi-million dollar Lotto jackpot. ("The next time you call me 'Captain,' you'll be on my boat!") I love Captain Stotlemeyer and Randy. But I'm a little bothered by the way the Natalie character seems to be taking over the show. Traylor Howard is extremely cute and I like her in the role, but she can be a little grating when she's given too much to do. I'm happier when the show keeps the focus on Mr. M. and his crime solving escapades.

In the same way, I really preferred the "old" Doctor Who formula – when the companions really were sidekicks and not guest stars. Goodness knows, David Tennant is talented enough to carry the show on his own – I'm not sure why the BBC thinks he needs such a ton of backup. But at least last Friday's episode ("Journey's End") seems to have provided a final farewell to the dreaded Rose Tyler and her annoying family and friends. Unfortunately, it was also apparently the last of Donna Noble, a character I had really gotten to like – even though I was only ever able to understand about every fourth word Catherine Tate uttered. And when she got really wound up, I was doing good just to pick up a few intelligible parts of speech here and there.

Of course, "my" Doctor was Tom Baker – he's the first Doctor I watched, back in the 1970s and he's still my favorite, the one I think of as THE Doctor ("The definite article," as he once said). I also liked the pace of those older shows. They were exciting and held your interest without being so frenetic and action-packed that you needed a hit of oxygen when they were over.