Community

I don't watch television.

On a television set, that is.

Oh, I used to. I used to have a Dish satellite on the top of my house. Those were the Bravo days, filled with  "Top Chef" and "Project Runway"marathons. I had a DVR filled to the brim with "Charlie & Lola", "What Not to Wear", you name it. I might have even watched "The Real Transvestite Hoarders of Orange County Penitentiary", a pseudo Bravo series joked about on "30 Rock." I paraphrase Liz Lemon (from memory): "That show is disturbing. Why does the warden let Lady Extravaganza have so many spoons?" Back then, if I wanted to do laundry after my kids were in bed, I could happily fold and enjoy the exploits of  those dozens of Duggar children or catch a few episodes of the timeless classic "Three's Company". (Now I just let the laundry pile up inside the washer.)

But when I was moving, during the summer of 2008, I decided to be done with cable and such, partly to save money, partly to ween my children off of, as they call it, "channel shows." Of course, they see plenty of 'channel shows' with their dad, but at my house, they are only allowed to watch movies we rent from Hastings or RedBox or check out from the library or already own. Poor kids, they only have like 40 choices available to them on any given day. {Snort, giggle.}

I was also happy to get rid of that tacky satellite dish that perches on the roofline. Unfortunately, the *modest* home I rented and moved into already had TWO stuck on the roof. Nice. All of the scuzz and none of the snazz.

I have genuinely decreased my overall television show watching. And movie watching. A year of depression will do that to ya, and let me tell you, I knew something was wrong when I would hear about various friends watching, say, "Glee", a program I enjoyed, and yet would feel too weak to watch the latest episode. I can't explain that feeling, but I know it well.

But one steady friend who accompanied on this move and over the last few years is "30 Rock." If you have a chance to spend much time with me IRL,  and if you haven't shot down my frequent references to Liz and the gang, then you will hear me subtly (?) inserting snippets of that show's dialogue into my OWN conversations (as in the first paragraph), i.e. "That reminds me of a recent '30 Rock' episode where Jack's baby is born in Toronto, and when Liz finds out, she gasps, and Jack says, 'Yes, my baby is Canadian-American but I will love her just as I would a human baby.'" And then you would wonder what Canadian-American babies had to do with what we were actually talking about. Not much, no. But since when does pure laughter need a reason to be inserted into a conversation? Just smile pleasantly.

So even though I don't really watch television shows on a television set, I still catch "30 Rock", "Modern Family", "Arrested Development" and "Community" on hulu.com. (Admission - I also watch "Psych" episodes when they are being aired!)

"Community"? Yes, the hit NBC sitcom no one's ever heard of!

It was recommended to me by ONE OF MY STUDENTS, which makes sense, since it's a television show about a community college and a band of lovable losers who take intro courses together. Formulaic, yes. Ridiculous, yes. But funny, yes, as well. Funny to me, at least. I laughed and laughed at this moment in a recent Dungeons & Dragons-themed episode. I have no idea why it was quite so funny. Please tell me if you have the same reaction to "Britta, he was an imaginary waiter."