I confess...

I am normally quite happy to not have cable TV in the house. It is rare that I learn about a TV show that is, in my opinion, "Must See TV." We have not had cable since 1992 when we lived in our last rental (well, ok, we did have a stint of cable TV in this house when the cable company came out to install our internet connection and their device to block the cable TV was defective - so we had free cable TV for about 4 months when I was very pregnant with Rebecca...and I recall watching an episode (premiere?) of the original Survivor). I have come to appreciate how much more I can accomplish without the lure of the TV in the corner.

But, I should state for the record that I was actually a TV junkie as a kid. I had my nightly line-up of shows that I loved to watch and I was a committed "General Hospital" addict for many years (and embarrassingly enough I even kept a journal of what happened on the show and a scrapbook of pictures from the Soap Opera magazines for quite a few years in my early teens - my heart melted at the sight of Blackie Parrish and Frisco Jones and my little heart went pitter-patter whenever I heard Robert Scorpio's Aussie accent...go ahead and laugh). So, when I first gave up TV it was not completely easy. We did so because, in part, we were being cheap. We wanted to find ways to cut costs and that was one bill that we knew we didn't NEED. At that point we did buy and install a big antenna on our roof in an attempt to gain some level of signal for at least the basic local channels and had some limited success (being at the base of a mountain on the opposite side from whence the prime signals came was not helpful). Over the years we, well I (Rick was never gung-ho about TV even as a child), became accustomed to the lack of constant barrage from the 'boob tube'. No unwanted ads enticing us to buy and insisting that we could not live without product X, Y or Z. No channel surfing to find a good program and realizing that an hour has gone by and you still haven't found anything worth watching (I find the clicker addictive like that....). Our children do not know about all the latest and "greatest" toys on the market that are force fed through the media and they are not part of the target demographic of Saturday morning cartoons, Nick Jr., or the Disney channel. They do get some screen time - both through computer time and DVDs and they have seen most of the appropriate recent movies to hit the big screen (although we usually wait for the DVD to come out). It generally works well for our family.

Through the years there have been shows that have piqued my interest a little. I have heard snippets about this program or that and thought to myself that I could easily get sucked in by the story lines and the characters I was hearing about. I guess I have an addictive personality when it comes to TV. So, in a way, I'm often very glad that the temptation does not exist in my house. I get a whole lot more done because I do not find myself sitting in front of the TV in the evenings after the girls are in bed. I knit. I read. I sew. Rick and I play games - card games, backgammon, etc... - or we make a point to sit together and chat and connect... particularly when life is moving too fast and we are feeling like we haven't spent much time "together" in any real sense.

But...and here's the confession. I am RIGHT NOW coveting the cable programming that I know exists in others' households. (Father forgive me for I have sinned, it has been MANY YEARS since my last confession and I doubt I'll ever sit in a Catholic confessional again in my life so please take this blog entry as my way of atoning). As we sat in the movie theater the other night before the showing of "The Good Shepard" we were privy to some cable TV programming that was played during the wait time before the start of the movie (Rick and I both missed those slide shows they used to have with the trivia questions...what happened to those anyway?). One of the ads that appeared on the big screen was for a new reality TV show. Now, generally, when I hear about reality shows - and those rare times I've seen parts of any reality show - I am not at all intrigued or even vaguely interested. But, this one has me hooked (without even being able to actually watch it...so frustrating!). Since I can't actually see the programming I've been checking out their NBC-affiliated web page online and watching video clips from the producers, the judges, and finally today a few snippets of the premiere that aired last night.

And what is it that makes me want to watch it? Well, if you know me at all you probably know that I am a self-proclaimed "Broadway Whore". I love anything related to Broadway or musicals. Ever since I was little I've been drawn to the Show tunes section of the music store and I started collecting albums at a young age so I could sing along to my heart's content (in the privacy of my own home, usually when I'm alone - my voice is not fit for public consumption...trust me). I'm still collecting new musicals (CDs now, of course, but I still have all my old LPs down in the basement) and my somewhat recent acquisitions included an 8-CD set that Rick got me for Christmas this year - a few that were repeats but most were new to my collection. He even transferred them to the computer so I can add them to my MP3 player (well, that benefits him as well because it means he doesn't have to listen to them! LOL).

As you may have already guessed the new reality show that I'm ga-ga over is "You're the One that I Want" - in essence it is a casting call that is in search of the next actor and actress to play the parts of Sandy and Danny in the Broadway revival of "Grease"!!!!! It may not excite any of you but it's right up my alley and I'm bummed that I'm missing out on seeing it. But, with any luck, maybe I can get to see the actual winning contestants when they perform on Broadway - now THAT would be fabulous! I have plans to get to NYC again this year at some point (I think the Grease show is slated to begin in May?) so there is a chance.

In the meantime, I'll be singing the songs in my head, grabbing bits and pieces off the internet as they are made available, and dreaming of the opportunity to see Grease in all it's Broadway glory later this year.

A girl needs her dreams, after all. G'night.