Seven Shows that Change(d) my Life

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Yeah. I know. With a title like that, you're expecting an awe-inspiring list. notsomuch. Instead, I'm going to talk about seven shows that I have moved my life around for, so I could catch them at their original airing.

I think I should have realized I was destined to be a TV junkie when I was nine years old.

In the 4th grade, on the first day of school, we filled out little surveys about ourselves. Birthday, favorite color, favorite food, if we had siblings, etc. One of the questions on there was "Favorite Day of the Week." I answered Tuesday.

Fast-forward to sometime in the spring (we read our lists to the class on our birthdays, and my birthday is the end of January), when my class was walking to the computer lab. A girl in my class asked me if Tuesdays were my favorite day because it was computer day (and in the 4th grade, that meant Oregon Trail!!). I said no, and told her why: "the new episodes of Full House come on on Tuesdays." She thought that was weird.

So, Full House was the first show that I ever revolved my life around. When I first started watching it, my bedtime was 8pm, so I'd have to connive my dad into making it 8:30 on Tuesdays. My brother and sister weren't big fans. And not only did I watch it, but I recorded all of the episodes. By the time the finale rolled around, I had 8 VHS tapes' worth of Full House. My brother later taped WWF & WCW stuff over them.

Now, on to the list of other shows that I shuffle my life around. We're gonna go chronologically today.

- Full House. See above, LoL.

- Home Improvement. Another Tuesday night staple. I was one of the many teenage girls infatuated with the male stars on this sitcom. I watched every second, just in case they showed Wilson's face, LoL. The only episode I ever missed after I started watching the show was the last two parts of the finale (I was breaking up with a boyfriend that night and he wasn't taking it well... it dragged on and on and I missed the finale live, LoL).

- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? This one was especially difficult. When I was into it, it was on four or five nights a week. For two weeks. This happened like three times in a couple years. The biggest problem was that it ended up running against other things I was committed to watching, so I'd have to tape the regular show in the living room and watch this in my mom's room, LoL.

- Boy Meets World. I thought the first two or three seasons were so-so and watched when I was available. But after that, Friday nights were for this show. If I was over at a friend's house, we'd watch it. There was a few months where I skated on Friday nights so I had to tape them. And there were a few special occasions where it was missed (the first weekend of the County Fair every February, for instance), but for the most part, I watched it.

- ER. While many people went out drinking on Thursday nights, I was home at 10pm watching ER. I'd have a friend or two over most of the time in the later seasons. When I lived in California, my husband would watch it with me (this is only notable because he does not care for 95% of the shows I like). I even had to work out a schedule on vacation twice to watch this one.

- 7th Heaven. This was probably the easiest one to plan around. When I had jobs that required evening shifts, nobody ever wanted to meet on Mondays so it was available. Still, I sometimes had to shuffle things around to make it happen. During the final-final season (you may remember that it ended twice), I'd save my most brainless tasks for Sunday night to do while watching (you know, alphabetize 180 papers or grade 5-question quizzes, etc.).

- um, Mondays. I word it that way because if I'm not home on Monday nights, most of the time I'm gonna be missing something. There are times of the year when I watch FOUR programs at 8pm on Mondays. DVR can only handle two. The two my husband also watches get those slots. This leaves me to watch one online (since ABCFamily has that option) and watch one at its second airing (most of the time, TLC has that option). But, since those two options aren't the most reliable, I try to be home.

I know a lot of people who re-arrange things to watch Lost. And I had a very good friend who pretended he played intramurals so an organizational meeting would be scheduled after 24 every week. What shows have changed the way you live your life?