When I did the original blog posts about Brett Goldstein’s podcast Films to Be Buried With, I kept thinking – if I could include a TV show, this category would be SO much easier to respond to (looking at you, ‘most relatable’ question). So I thought, why not answer the same questions with TV shows?
What was the first-ever TV show you saw? — Similar to my film answer, I don’t honestly remember what TV show came first. We had one TV in the house, and Dad ruled the remote. I remember WKRP in Cincinnati, which I obviously saw in reruns, and the original Night Court. We watched a lot of PBS, especially cooking shows – reruns of The French Chef with Julia Child and The Frugal Gourmet with Jeff Smith (who my sister wrote a letter to wishing him well after he had a heart attack – and he responded). As a TV show that I watched because it was something I was interested in, I think Doogie Howser, M.D. was the first. (Also my first in a far-too-long line of celebrity crushes on men who turned out to be gay.) I sat down recently to rewatch this with my nephew and sister, and we turned it off rather quickly – and then questioned our parents letting us watch it at that age. 😜
What was the TV show that made you cry the most? — I don’t know if I have a “made me cry the most” show – but more so moments I can remember crying during various TV shows. Like when Craig T. Nelson’s character died on Parenthood. Or when David and Patrick get married on Schitt’s Creek. Or, you know, This is Us. It takes a lot for a show to bump me over the ‘choked up’ line into ‘pass the Kleenex’ territory.
What TV show is TERRIBLE but you love it? — I honestly don’t think I have an answer for this one. If a show is terrible, I usually can’t get through more than the first couple of episodes. I say this with the full realization that I had trouble getting through the first couple episodes of Schitt’s Creek, but I eventually did (due to encouragement from a friend), and it’s one of my favorite shows. So I’m sure some of the others I once thought terrible perhaps aren’t – I just hadn’t given them enough time.
What is the TV show you once loved but watching it now you realise it’s terrible? — I’m sure I’ll get tarred and feathered for this, but Friends. I hadn’t started watching it when it first came on, but rather, I dated someone in college who loved the show, and I did get hooked. It became one that I could play in the background while I worked. I was without it for some time, and then it was on Netflix for a bit. And my goodness… The misogyny. The fat jokes. The way the men are not really friends with the women – but mostly just want to get laid by them. The older I get, the more I realize that these characters are actually terrible people. (Don’t come at me. You go ahead and keep watching it.) I’d have the same sentiment regarding Gilmore Girls (again, no tar and feathers, please). I loved this show when it first came out – I wanted to be Rory and have a mom like Lorelai. But the older I get, the more I realize how much toxicity there actually was in that relationship. (And the reboot…)
What is the TV show that means the most to you? Not because of the TV show itself, but because of the memories, you have of it. — Will & Grace. And yes, I realize after my last answer that some folks are going to be like – really??? There are definitely aspects of this show that haven’t aged the best. But this show, for a girl in a small town pre-internet whose best friend just came out to her, was my ONLY connection to the gay world. Cut to twenty years later, and I got to sit in the audience for the reboot with one of my dearest friends. I got see where the magic was made. I got to exist in the same room as these characters that had meant so much to me. I’m not sure any show can ever replace that feeling.
To be continued next week!
Ami Maxine 