We have a ton of options on television these days. Personally, I love this fact. I can do nothing but scroll through the options over and over again seeing what I could watch if I really wanted to settle on one thing.
Some people see this development as a negative. They say we have too many things to choose from or that the choices aren’t good enough or that no one makes television like they used to.
I don’t like those people, especially those who focus on that last point. Sure, the shows that pop up on channels like MTV don’t qualify as family fare, but since we have more options, it seems logical that there will be as many junk options as good ones.
Unfortunately, these people who complain don’t seem to want to send press releases out about the shows we should be watching with our kids. So I guess I have to do that for them.
I spend more time than I ever expected watching Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. I even find myself flipping to those channels when I’m watching TV by myself. I hate to admit it, but admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery.
The way I get through all of this is by believing that other parents have the same problem. They knew the schemes Spencer has cooked up on “iCarly” or understand the crazy life Zach and Cody have going to school on a cruise ship.
In a way, these shows remind me of the fun times I would have as a kid watching Friday night comedies on the big networks. I refuse to panic about what’s on television just because the shows aimed at kids have moved to different channels.
That’s why I think we have it better than ever before. I had to endure “Fantasy Island.” Sure, I loved watching the show, but also have some emotional scars because all I learned was that if you try to indulge your greatest fantasies, some old guy and a little person are just going to crush your dreams so you can appreciate what you already have.
On the other hand, I get to warp my child with the sight of contestants on “Wipeout” getting thrown to and fro by various contraptions. If that doesn’t create some fond memories, I don’t know what will.
We also have found some entertainment deep in the channel guide from a show called “Family Game Night” on some obscure channel called “The Hub,” which I have discovered is a joint venture between the Discovery Channel people and Hasbro.
The show has families competing against each other in competitions based on popular board games. For an hour, you can watch kids and their parents having fun and winning prizes by playing Connect Four with basketballs and bowling with Yahtzee dice.
What can top that? I just worry most people won’t find it because the people who say they want to promote quality television for families spend all their time complaining about the bad shows instead of telling people about the good ones.