WHAT’RE YOU WATCHING?

The older I get, the more I like game shows. I’ve always loved Jeopardy, all the way back to Art Fleming. Even if I were watching alone, I’d shout out the answers if I knew them, and I usually knew them. I was sure that if I were ever able to get on the show, I’d win.

Nowadays, I know the answers, but it takes longer to drag them out of my head. I still think I might win, but it would have to be an hour-long show.

I don’t watch many regular TV programs. I’m not into reality other than Dancing With The Stars and don’t care for the dramas. For one thing, they all look like they’re filmed after dark. Along with my memory, my eyes aren’t what they used to be. For another thing, even though I kill people in my work, I do it in a sort of neat, Murder She Wrote way. I can only stand so much violence and mayhem and don’t care for gore or horror.

Since the pandemic, we’re all staying home a lot more. I don’t just “run down” to the grocery the way I used to do. I wait until I have to go, for instance, today, I’m almost out of cat food. There are three priorities in my house, cat food, dog food, and coffee.

I write about three hours a day most days. More, if the ideas are flowing. After that, I’m free. So, television and the Game Show Network get more of my time.

I like The Chase, a trivia show, sort of like Jeopardy on steroids. This guy from England. Mark Labett, challenges three people to a “chase.” He almost always wins, and he acts like it makes him superior. That’s the set-up. The hostess, Brooke Burns champions the guests to even things out. It’s an hour long, and the time whizzes by.

I can’t help but think, even though Labette has an excellent education, is it intelligence, or just a good memory, or a combination?

If I’m sewing or painting or cleaning, or doing some other manual work, I always have the TV on. I like the last five minutes of Family Feud, the speed round. I’ll watch Catch 21 with Alfonso Ribiera and Witney Carson, and Brooke’s other show, Master Minds. It features Ken Jennings, the GOAT trivia champion, and other trivia champions. If you don’t know, GOAT stands for Greatest Of All Time. Asked how heErection is a very simple biological process, but can be disrupted for the simple reasons. viagra samples from doctor order cheap viagra pharma-bi.com Though a hard on may occur, but the man may not feel like lasting long in bed. Blood vessel surgery is recommended only when leaking cialis pills canada vessels cause ED. There should be a law that any bank with influence in the government that traded on inside information obtained through a community hearing should have their license revoked and retained for 5 years. discount viagra knows so much, Ken shared that his favorite reading is the encyclopedia, so, again, is it intelligence or memory?

HGTV gets some of my time, but only the half-hour shows, Flip or Flop and House Hunters are my favorites. I used to watch Rehab Addict. I liked it because Nicole Curtis buys old houses in the Detroit area (my home town) that used to be beautiful and restores them. Note, I said “restores” not renovates. Now, Cox Cable doesn’t carry it anymore and even though I pay a fortune for their services, they want me to pay more to watch it on Contour. Rats! Don’t get me started on cable TV fees!

I like PBS’s Murder in Paradise and Midsomer Murders. My new favorite mystery is Murdoch Mysteries, running all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I love it! On IONs second network, Murdoch is set around 1900, filmed in Canada, and the actors know how to pronounce their lines, trippingly on the tongue. A lot of today’s TV shows and movies have actors mumbling their lines. Along with my eyes, my hearing isn’t so great. I often have to use the closed captions if I want to watch a show.

In the Murdoch Mysteries, Constable Murdoch is at the forefront of the emerging science of forensics. They have “guests” from history, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, and so forth. I also like getting the Canadian perspective. I grew up in Detroit, visited Canada many, many times, and never knew that they don’t really like Americans as much as I assumed. Evidently there’s some sort of competition between us I never knew about. A sibling thing?

Since I seldom sit down and watch TV unless I’m working on something else, that aforementioned painting or sewing, or cleaning, I don’t feel as if watching television is a waste of time. Like I said, there is a pandemic going on.

If Downton Abbey were on again, I’d watch it for the ninth time! I’d leave the sewing or whatever for later, sit right down, and focus on the drama. To me, it’s the best show ever—ever—ever.

I write with the TV off, read some, and walk the dog, twice a day, whether or not I want to walk the dog. I have to walk the dog. Abigail won’t take “No” for an answer, and she has a built-in clock. When it’s time to go, it’s time to go. She doesn’t care if Murdoch is on.