Category: Television

More than 25 years ago I mastered the fine art of programming a VCR. It changed my life forever. I did it mainly so that I could tape Johnny Carson, David Letterman, and Saturday Night Live ! late at night while I slept.

Since then I’ve been a self-admitted VCR junkie. Nowadays I’ve got 3 of them. They even have names – Arthur, Barney, and Charley – as in ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’.

Arthur, Barney, and Charley are usually hard at work keeping busy every night, although they each get nights off occasionally. TONIGHT Arthur and Charley are working the night shift while Barney has the night off.

I even have an elabourate EXCEL spreadsheet that I utilize to track what recorded shows are on each of my active videocassettes (over 70 of them).

TiVo changed Kelly‘s life. It also changed a lot of lives of people that I know. Me and one of my former co-worker friends used to laugh hysterically early in the morning at some of her too-funny TiVo experiences. She would intentionally set her TiVo to tape a History Channel special on the Persian Gulf War, and then over the next few weeks she would end up getting shows like “Gomer Pyle, USMC”, “Hogan’s Heroes”, and “McHale’s Navy”. She would set her TiVo to record a Travel Channel show on the best cruises to take around the world, and she would eventually end up with a dozen “Love Boat” reruns. Her TiVo also decided that she was a HUGE Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers fan, so she ended up with an entire season of “Step By Step” on her TiVo !  Basically TiVo was deciding for her what she was going to watch rather than her deciding for herself.

I am proud to report that I am the ‘decider’. I am in sole control of what gets recorded by each of my VCRs, and Arthur, Barney, and Charley hardly ever let me down (although Arthur is starting to show signs of old age). He occasionally wheezes. He can be replaced. Allison is waiting in the wings.

CBS-TV announced the new season premieres of two of their venerable reality series today.

The 16TH season of “Survivor” begins at 8 PM EST on Thursday February 07TH 2008. Filming has already wrapped for the upcoming season, and rumours have circulated online that it was done so in the island nation of Palau (the same location as “Survivor 10” during the Spring of 2005).

The 9TH season of “Big Brother” begins at 9 PM EST on Tuesday February 12TH 2008 – nearly 5 months earlier than normal. It’s been a summertime tradition on the CBS prime time schedule since the Summer of 2000, and it’s been promoted to the regular season (due mainly to the lingering Writer’s Guild Of America strike). Just like during the Summer it will air three times per week – on Tuesdays (9 PM), Wednesdays (8 PM), and Sundays (8 PM).

There’s a popular show on the TV Guide Network – “Look-A-Like” – that takes a young lady who sort of resembles a celebrity (usually a pop singer), and gives her a makeover to look even more like that celebrity. These girls are suddenly the likes of Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Hilary Duff, Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne, Lindsay Lohan, Madonna, Reba McEntire, Mandy Moore, Alanis Morissette, Shakira, Ashlee Simpson, Britney Spears, and Gwen Stefani.

These girls – and this show – are just a travesty. They are both seriously misguided.

When Our Lord Almighty created us in His own image He did not intend us to look and act like anyone else. He intended each of us to be our own unique self – not to imitate someone else – particularly some superficial role model. There is only one real role model to look up to and love – and that is God himself.