I Was Raised by a Television

In my 20 years of existence, there have been two constants; a television set and a series to watch on it. It is a part of everything I do and in a lot of instances, it ends up dictating how I schedule my extracurricular activities and my social life. When I was in the 4th grade, my homework had to be done by 9pm so I could watch Angel with my older sister. Angel (1999-2004) was a spinoff of the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer(1996-2003) and my first obsession. Angel is a vampire with a soul, living in Los Angeles and saves innocents from evil people as a way of redeeming a lifetime of bad deeds. Well, anyway, Angel came on on Monday nights. Monday's at 9 from 1999 until 2005, I was not to be disturbed. That show ended only to be replaced by two more: Bones (2005) and Supernatural (2005) on Tuesday nights at 8 and 9pm. Both of these shows are still a major part of my life, but they are not my obsession as much as they used to be. Now, my life is all about The Vampire Diaries and Once Upon a Time.

I started 6th grade and suddenly my Tuesday nights were packed with action on the television screen. Supernatural and Bones both started up and both continue to be amazing shows as they roll through their 9th seasons this year! Bones, for those who may never have seen any of it, is about Temperance Brennan, a Cultural Anthropologist and Special FBI Agent Seeley Booth and their adventures. It's funny every week and the action is definitely a plus, but the draw for me is the romantic aspect between Booth and Brennan. It's amazing and I highly recommend it. I have to be honest. The only reason I started watching originally was because David Boreanaz (Angel) was going to be in the show. Now, I just love it! Supernatural is all about the lives of two brothers and their journey across America at least ten times over now as they fight against the paranormal. We have gone from fighting ghosts and urban legends to fighting against Lucifer, the king of Hell and angels. It is all pretty intense and after nine seasons, it has not lost its spunk!

The Vampire Diaries (2009 - ) is the story of a young girl named Elena Gilbert who meets the handsome vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore. She falls in love with Stefan, but has a crush on Damon. Basically, the whole series is about the love triangle and how Elena looks exactly like the brothers' ex-girlfriend Katherine. She is the dreaded "D" word...Doppelganger! I mostly watch the show because all of the actors are these gorgeous, amazing human beings. They are beautiful on the outside, yes, but beautiful on the inside as well. I think that the producers could not have found better people to pose as these characters week after week. It's one of the millions of reasons the show is so successful. We are seven episodes into our 5th season and this past weekend the cast celebrated the end of filming their 100th episode! I am so proud of them!


Last year, I started watching the show Once Upon a Time (2011- ). It is truly amazing! First and foremost, Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White is perfect. Her real life and on screen Prince Charming aka James aka David is also perfect. Picture this; a small town called Storybrooke that is home to all of your favorite fairy tale characters. Be warned though; these are not the sweet Disney story book characters. No, these are made of the true stories, the Hans Christian Andersen and Grimms Brothers stories. We are currently in season 3 have been trapped in Neverland with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys since episode 1 of this season. Neverland is definitely nowhere that anyone wants to be. It is a pretty terrifying place to be if you ask me. Captain Hook aka Killian Jones, is my favorite character because he is actually not evil. He really is very good, but has been hurt and is confused as to his role in the grand scheme of things. The evil villains throughout this series so far have been: the Evil Queen, Rumpelstiltskin and now Peter Pan.

So, you are probably wondering why I just gave you a walk-through of all my television shows, right? I have a good reason. That reason is because I am trying to make the point that we all have those go to shows. We all have that show that we have to watch each week otherwise our week is just shot. It's so crazy to think back to my first show and how inaccessible television used to be. Now, if we miss an episode of anything, you can find it online or in the i-tunes store if you feel like paying. We have DVR's and Tivo and whatever else people use to record shows. Most networks have the episodes available on their websites within 24 hours of it airing. That's pretty amazing if you ask me. Things like Netflix and Hulu make it possible for television addicts like myself to re watch their favorite moments over and over again, on numerous different devices, no matter where we are, for just a small fee. If I had Netflix as a kid, I never would have seen the sun.