The Wonder Years and TV

There is something remarkably surprising and disturbing about the fact that I can spend close to 4 hours a day watching a TV series about two brothers fighting supernatural creatures called Wendigos, Skin walkers and Jefferson Startships ( that would be Supernatural for all those of you who do not appreciate sheer awesomeness) and not be able to exercise for 20 minutes in a day . It is even creepier that I find myself rooting from time to time for a serial killer who chops up his victims and collects their blood samples as a trophy (now all you Star World savvy folks guessed this right it is Dexter).

But back in the day when life was not all that gloomy, about serial killers, monsters and CSI New York, Miami and what not! When I began to comprehend that is was the English language and not some cryptic code by “Americans” there was something oddly endearing about American TV series that aired here. Back when Star Plus used to be predominantly English with a few smatterings of Hindi series thrown in, when Zee Café was Zee English, when you hadn’t been flooded in by the “Friends is so awesome” phenomenon . When I did not and could not surf the internet for 6hours (the time it took to research this article). It was when I reached the secondary section of my school, when after a grueling day, a more or less sleep deprived nerdy boy finished off school and was all alone at home. The timeline was fixed between 1:30 pm (when the school bus dropped you home) till 5:30 pm (when Mom came back from work to find me sitting at home instead of playing a “sport” and becoming the athlete she wanted me to be).

They say America perfected the art of Soft Power, the power which makes some poor parent at Borivili to take his kid to a mall to eat a McDonald Happy meal knowing fully that the child cannot eat, chew and digest more than 10 fries, 4 bites of a burger and 5 sips of Coke. So as a tribute to Uncle Sam’s soft power skills here is my listing of the shows that I liked back then:

Roswell
Do not judge me by this one. I realise that a plot cannot get cheesier than aliens and teen romance and the fact that it makes Twilight look Shakespearean. But owe this to my cousin sisters who drooled over the male protagonists.

The Pretender
A more obscure series you would not have seen. A child genius on the run from a mysterious firm called “The center”. The protagonist moves through effortlessly through different professions and identities punishing criminals and recollecting his past and his identity.

Mork and Mindy
Robin Williams at his best. An alien bumpkin befriending an earthling trying to understand the ways of this planet, its people and of course negotiating with that fabled stumbling block called “feelings and emotions.”

Happy Days
“Aeeee” the Fonz, Mrs C and Mr C, Richhie and Chachi. Henry Wrinkler or the Fonz introduced me to a vital concept: "women will always like the biker boy with the leather jacket."

Hercules
Yes the adventures of Hercules battling Aeries the God of War, the Greek Gods and other mythical creatures. Made me wonder why we could never do an Indian series as kick ass as this one.

Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Will Smith was the dude, the freestyle rapping boy displaced in the posh locales of LA. You know this series will be fun the moment you here Smith rap the title song or when you see the archetypical British butler.

I dream of Jeanie
Who did not like this? The Jeanie in a bottle granting the Astronaut and his friend every mischief and trouble except for what they asked.

Dougie Howser
Gay or Not, child prodigy doctor or Barney, Neil Patrick Harris, respect!

Wonder years
Perhaps the most awesome series on this list. and perhaps also the reason why I could not like any other growing up or teen series. The perfect growing up story, the on-off romance between Kevin and Winnie exemplified in the statement “Then there was Winnie, my ex-high school sweetheart, my ex-neighbour, my ex-girlfriend, my ex-best friend……..my ex-everything!,” the trials and tribulations of friendship and family and also it had the best sound track ever “What would you do, if I sing out of tune?”

Baywatch
Bay watch was the escape route that made me realise that I was a teen and also what testosterone is. Now before you chastise me, in my defense there were hormones at work here and the elegant red outfit or the lack of it was particularly appeasing.

There will of course be some of you who grew up only on FRIENDS, OC and How I met your mother and would not have a clue and also those of you who would remember stuff like Who’s the Boss, Small Wonder, Different Strokes and Bewithched and wonder why I didn’t mention those. And if you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer I sympathise with you, but in the words of Kevin from the Wonder years, “Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers, the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house, like a lot of houses. A yard like a lot of other yards. On a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is, after all these years, I still look back...with wonder.”

If you for some reason you watched The Bold and the Beautiful and Santa Barbara and God knows what else either you are too old for this post or just lost.