Well, Penni, I personally have no idea who Andy of Mayberry or the Anderson family are, let alone Friends or Party of Five or Laurie Petrie or Jean Cleaver or Drew Carey.
I didn't even OWN a television set until 1966, when my new husband (an English professor) insisted we had to have one, so that he would know what his students were stuffing their heads with. (The real truth is that he wanted to watch the football games.)
So how can TV be a reflection of anything that concerns me? Or vice versa? My point is that I am not alone. Yet if we don't watch TV, it is as if we do not count.
Syllogism:
All Americans watch TV.
You do not watch TV.
Therefore you are not American.
The only problem with this syllogism is that the first premise is wrong.
You write:
I do think that the shows are responsive to the same basic longings of their audiences and that we all share these needs no matter what the year.
Well, where the first part of the sentence is concerned, sure. Of course, they respond to the longings of their audiences. But not to the needs of the audiences of shoot-em-up shows, or nudie shows, or whatever. Where the second part of the sentence is concerned, well, no. I do NOT share the longings of the audiences of all TV programs.
And, frankly, although I have a lot of problems, loneliness/isolation is not one of them.
On re-reading this, I realize that I sound snippy. Sorry. :-)) I think I am trying to zero in on something that REALLY bothers me. When I figure out exactly what it is, I'll be back with some more zingers. <g>
Joan
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