Thursday, January 26, 2023

What I Learned From TV - January 26


From 2014-2017, I wrote a few posts on What I Learned From TV. 
This is the introduction I always began with.

Each time I do a post about What I Learned From TV, I’ll begin with the explanation from the first posting:

Now that my kids are grown, and Tom has retired, I’ve been able to go back to my natural sleep pattern which is to stay up late and get up late. Tom’s natural rhythm is just the opposite. So, he’s the lark and I’m the owl. 

And what this owl does in the late hours is watch television- not in the traditional way but through Hulu, Netflix, TunnelBear, and Acorn TV. Most of the shows are British, though I am a great fan of a few American television shows, and have been watching some from other countries now that we have TunnelBear. Some of these shows Tom will watch in the mornings, but some of them are all mine. So, when I hear a great quote from a show I know he’s not going to watch, I’ll leave him little post-it notes near the computer keyboard. I had a notion this morning to begin a new ‘letter topic’ called What I Learned From TV so I can put up some virtual post-its for you to read and, hopefully, enjoy. Some are funny, some are educational, some are wise.

I no longer have Hulu, and we stopped TunnelBear when we found out it is rather illegal to watch British shows that way! We do still have Acorn, along with Britbox, Netflix, PBS, and Prime, and my many DVDs .

But I haven't done a TV post since 2017, so I thought it time that I bring back the topic.  I keep pen and paper next to my "TV chair" and I jot things down that interest me. The other day, I cleared out a desk drawer that had myriad post-it notes with those jottings. 

Because it has been so long, many of the quotes are not from shows I am currently watching.

I did once have a television like the one in the picture above, but nowadays this is the scene (currently watching the excellent New Amsterdam on Netflix):

With talk of oil and electric prices going up, we decided some months ago to put the TV in the kitchen where the wood stove is so I didn't have to turn up the heat in the living room when I watch television in the evenings. We have liked it so much that we probably won't move it back when the weather gets warmer. 

Without further ado:

I don't know where this came from but it is quite amazing. I am one of them.

"In 1967, never before had so many Americans been under 25. There were over 90 million of them, nearly half the population."


Being a watcher of older British television shows, I have noticed a lot of griping about two particular subjects - the National Health Service, and the European Union. Here is one from Dalziel in Dalziel and Pascoe

"Do they sell toffee hammers anymore? No, probably banned by those clowns in Brussels." 1996 show.


"GPS is just another way for the government to keep an eye on me." US televison show The Finder. This said by a man who buries his money because he doesn't trust banks.


From Darby and Joan

Joan says, "I never saw the appeal of sunrises. They're just like sunsets only bloody early." Those could be my words!


From Nadiya Hussain on one of her marvelous cooking shows:

"Oh, my God, mashed potato is my favorite thing in the whole wide world."
and
"I would rather have a baby than make soufflé."


I'll end this entry with a few quotes from Horace Rumpole in Rumpole of the Bailey.

"Who was it who said that Wagner's music is not as bad as it sounds?"

Upon hearing someone collapsed while jogging. "I've always said that exercise is the short cut to the cemetery"

"No pleasure on earth is worth sacrificing for the sake of five extra years in the geriatric ward in the sunset old people's hospital in Weston-Super-Mare."


11 comments:

  1. Wonderfil, Nan! Nadiya is so funny. Have you read her autobiographical book? Gosh, I can't remember the title now...

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    1. I haven't but Margaret has. She loves Nadiya and has bought a lot of her books!

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  2. Oh, I'm so happy you are reviving this topic on your blog! I can always use new recs for shows to watch, and have added New Amsterdam to my list. We just finished Magpie Murders (on PBS) and will return to The Brokenwood Mysteries for another season. Great quotes! Rod would especially like the one about sunrises. :)

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    1. Thank you for saying so. Makes me feel great. I can't stop watching NA! A man after my own heart, that Rod!

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    2. Started NA last night and really enjoyed the first episode. Rod & Mom aren't as interested, so I'll watch it on my own. Reminds me a bit of ER and Grey's Anatomy, which I loved.

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    3. I actually told Margaret that I think it is better than Grey's!

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  3. I enjoyed reading those quotes! The man who buries his money reminds me of my ex husband. He never trusted the government!

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    1. Thank you! I think there are a lot like your ex!

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  4. Isn't it fun to get to have these shows available? We used to watch New Amsterdam, but it fell by the wayside a while back. Lately, I've been watching through the whole Midsomer Murders series. I'm on season 16 or 17 and there are 23 at this point. Enjoying it again. And we are both 'larks' at our house. No 'owls' at all. LOL

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    1. Oh, I am mildly addicted to NA! Whew. Brilliant stories and acting. And I dearly love Midsomer! Most people do seem to be larks.

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  5. I love these quotations! (I'm one of the 1967 under 25s too, but only by a couple of years.) I wish I had written down more of the lines I hear on TV because my memory is terrible. I love that one of my sisters and her husband are notorious for bouncing movie one liners back and forth to each other. I would adore staying up late to watch my favorite streaming shows but pay for it the next day as I have two dachshunds who just don't want Mama to sleep late. I did cancel Netflix a few months ago as I wasn't watching much on it so Acorn and BritBox and Prime are my favorites but I also choose a new episode of my favorite YouTubers to wind down before bedtime. It still amazes me what TV viewing has become when I think of all the years growing up when we only had about 4 channels to choose from and had to get up from the sofa and walk to the television set to change the channel!

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