I have a short attention span. Which makes it kind of ironic that I would have trouble paying attention when the television's on, because you'd think that watching TV is the source of one's short attention span. But it's not, and two instances this weekend make me regret not focusing on it ... even though I won't remember it 24 hours from now. Because I have a short attention span.
Ever hear of Bill Moyers's Journal? For three years it's been on at 9 o'clock Central Time Friday nights. It gave me a reason to stay on Friday nights (although the local PBS station reruns it late at night). Well, the public affairs show that had a very liberal/progressive bent had its last show on Friday. Even though I disagreed with his many viewpoints about politics and journalism, I for the most part agreed with him, still think he is a much needed voice to combat the screaming right-wing hate speech on cable TV, and wanted to see his last show in its entirety.
There was one part of the extra special 90-minute series finale that I missed and I'm kicking myself over it. This will sound strange, but it was the beginning part of the last segment, just after he wrapped up his interview with his last-ever guest, a writer named Barry Lopez, which frankly I didn't find interesting. I soon turned away to watch the sports segment on the news, but when I came back Moyers had finished the interview with Lopez and began his show-ending thank-yous, replete with scenes of his workers behind the camera and a quick progression of head shots. Now, I don't know if he said anything important after he was done with the interview, and the screen wiped to him solo on-camera beginning with his statement, but since this was the last show of a particularly important program, I wanted to see it.
No problem, I figure, I'll see it again six hours later at 3 in the morning. Except that I dawdle on the Internet, thinking I could just tune in the last five minutes of the show because that's when I turned away for sports. But when I turn on my TV he's in just about the same place he was when I first missed it! Yeah, I'll probably forget, but this is one the few people on TV I think would take the opportunity of ending a show to say something profound, or at least unique. And I'm mad at myself for getting two chances and missing it both times. Why?
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Fell asleep tonight in the middle of Celebrity Apprentice 3. Sometimes I love watching this show, but sometimes I don't, especially when it seems like the guys are fighting in a mean way, not a funny way. I turned away when they previewed Summer Sanders confronting Cyndi Lauper; it does seem like Lauper is a dingbat, but I still didn't want to see it because it seemed like a setup.
Woke up about a quarter to 11. Ooh, just in time for Seinfeld! But I also wanted to get back on my computer and start writing. What to do? Well, I thought, it's probably a rerun, so let me turn on the TV and keep it on as background noise as I hit the Internet hard.
Turns out that this episode was one I've only partially seen, and it was a particularly strong one: "The Pie," where Jerry's girlfriend wouldn't eat Monk's apple pie and her dad is the restaurant owner who plans to make them dinner but doesn't wash his hands. All the principals get good stories: George trying to get a suit, Elaine and her mannequin doppleganger, and Kramer getting a girlfriend who's good at scratching his itchy back. Good episode. Too bad I was preoccupied with surfing to truly enjoy the ep. Makes me think that if I woke up just before 11 and didn't have time think that maybe I would've just stayed in my bed and watched, which would have been the right thing to do.
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