Fred's Ramblings

How many people can say that they have an old TV Guides collection in their garage? Well, I can although they belong to my son. The image gives you the idea of the size of the collection and the oldest one is from 30 November 1985. I can’t say that all of the TV Guides since 1985 are there, but there are quite a few of them…625 of them to be exact. Since the collection belongs to my son, he has added his own comments which are enclosed between quotes.

“In 1985 we used to buy the TV Guides at the check stand of the grocery store and we didn’t buy them weekly. We usually relied on the newspaper TV listings. So my collection from 1986-1988 are limited to just a handful; usually the ‘Fall Preview’ issues and then a few others I was able to convince my mother to buy I guess. It wasn’t until 1989 when we got a subscription that the collection began to grow…”

In case you’re wondering, that collection is not as prized as you might think considering it is housed in the garage. At least it isn’t out in the open so the magazines are still readable and don’t fall apart when you handle them. I will admit that whenever my son pulls one out to browse through, there are quite a few memories of the old time shows that were aired on the three major networks that dominated TV in those days.

“For the past twenty years Dad’s been asking when I plan on getting rid of the TV Guides, but I can’t seem to part with them. I guess it’s the nostalgia of simpler times. Getting the Fall Preview issue every year was far more exciting to me than the fact that a new school year was also starting. That thick issue would arrive in the mail and I’d pore over all the new shows being offered. I would try and check out every new sitcom the networks presented. This was also a time when syndicated sitcoms were produced that would air on local channels, so I would have my plate full until January when most of the new shows would be axed and replaced by a new batch of programs. Having consumed so many sitcoms, good and bad, is why I have a ridiculous knowledge of sitcoms from the 80’s - 2000’s. I’m an ‘Idiot Box Savant’ in that regard. And now it’s just fun to occasionally pull out an old issue and remember, Oh yeah! Sandra Bullock was in a TV version of Working Girl!”

I recently saw a cartoon of an old man using a walker standing next to his son and both looking into a chuck full garage when the old man says, ‘One of these days, all of this will be yours son’. In this instance, I can’t say that because most of the ’stuff’ in my garage already belongs to my son or daughter.