Ya Know What I Was Thinking?

Those Five Beautiful Rings

"Appointment TV." I heard that term the other day in a documentary about 1980's shows— Dallas, in particular. One of the interviewees said something along the lines of: "Thursday night, you'd cancel plans to go out. You were there in your chair or on your couch waiting to see was going to happen. It was Appointment TV!" I can dig it. In fact, a modern example of it was Game of Thrones. There were a lot of people who weren't waiting to binge it; they were watching the first-run episodes and talking about it right away. It was the thing to watch! (Up until the end, anyway, so I've heard. Then it went downhill the way Dallas went downhill after we found out who shot J.R.)

But some things are no longer Appointment TV. One of them is the Winter Olympics. And I miss it. Not the Olympics themselves; I can watch those if I want to, or record them and watch them later, if I feel like it. But back in the 80s, when VCRs were still for rich people and there were only 3 network channels, you had to be there. And in a way, when you were there watching on the tv, sitting on the living room floor staring up at the little TV on top of the big TV that didn't work anymore, you were also there, with the athletes. They were performing and you were watching at the same time. And it you got up to get a glass of Coke, they didn't stop; they didn't pause. Commercials were shown around the events. It was like a good version of the State of the Union Address, blotting out all other programming for a while.

Man, I loved the ski jumpers. Those people flew like birds. Not so much the bobsleds, but I remember making a luge out of a cardboard box and going down the steps. (It didn't work so well, but I didn't get a concussion, so I settled for watching the pros do it.) The ice skating captivated me. Sure, half of it was the pretty girls; but even then, even when I didn't have the vocabulary to express what I liked about it, I was drawn to the artistry of the dances and routines.

Now? Meh. I can pull up any routine I want to rewatch on YouTube. I can pause Philipp Raimond in the air while he's holding his skis in an iron cross so I can pee and let the dogs out. Poor guy; must be cold up there; but he can wait while I fix a bowl of pretzels and grab another Coke, too. And with a press of a button, he can finally return to earth, none the wiser of his prodigious hang time.

The "atmosphere of freakish holiday" is gone. The snow outside is no longer a mystery connected to heroes I can only watch once and have to pay attention to. It's just ugly slush. And the international competition of prestige and power is no longer something out of reach; it's just something to watch highlights of between My Lottery Dream Home and Evil Lives Here. It's just part of the routine, now.

It's not Appointment TV anymore. It's So What TV. And it's a shame.

Anyway, I reckon I ought to round this up, though. I think Sakamoto Kaori wants to finally finish her triple axle; I've left her there in mid-spin long enough, and my Coke's almost gone. Well, on the bright side, I guess it's one appointment I probably won't have to miss ever again.

Still...