Ready for a Change?

Because I don't want to leave my last post out there dangling for another day, and because I could use some light-heartedness, and because I have no time to write anything original today, I am serving you a piping hot mess of leftovers.

Obviously, I used to do Thursday Thirteens. And then life intervened and now I have come to peace with the fact that everything computer related has become a semi-regular event. Sometimes even less than semi. It's all good.

This was originally published almost two years ago, in December of 2006, but the list is still accurate. Don't judge me as you peruse this list- I was a weird kid and an even weirder adolescent. There are many more shows that never made it to the list: Wonder Woman, Scooby Doo, Charlie's Angels, The Monkees, etc . . .

Once you are done laughing, tell me which shows used to make you race home from school or race through your homework. You know the ones. And if you didn't watch television, then don't tell me. You are obviously too good and well-educated to be reading this anyway. I need to hang around you more often.

Thirteen TV shows that I loved as a kid (and whose theme songs take up too much brain space as an adult) 1. MacGyver: I know I referenced MacGyver in my previous Thursday Thirteen, but my devotion cannot be understated. Since this predated the arrival of the VCR in my parents' house, I used to pray that we would not have to be out anywhere on "MacGyver" night. But why do we have to take him to the hospital? It doesn't look like such a deep cut to me, can't we just put some pressure on it? Besides, Richard Dean Anderson, a hummana hummana hummana . . . . 2. Jem and the Holograms : This show was truly outrageous . . . truly,truly,truly outrageous. I used to watch this in the morning during summer vacation, and wish I was Jerrica Benson. She had it all, folks: - a record company (that someone was trying to sabotage), a super-computer (that could be accessed through her earrings), a hot all-girl band (who apparently hired the same makeup artist as KISS), a dreamy boyfriend named Rio (Rio! Who wouldn't want a boyfriend named Rio, even if he only liked your rock-star alter-ego and didn't know you existed), and best of all, synergy! Outrageous, indeed. 3. The Love Boat : I loved this show for the single reason that my grandmother loved this show, and on nights that I would sleep over at her house, she would let me sit up on her big bed and watch The Love Boat in her room. Really good times. 4. She-Ra: Princess of Power : Basically, this was He-Man for girls, but we all know that Adora could put the hurt on Adam any day of the week. And she had better legs. 5. 3-2-1 Contact : The science nerd in me loved this show, and I always wondered why we never did all those cool experiments in class. Plus, "The Bloodhound Gang" could solve a mystery in about 7 minutes flat, because if "you've got the crime, we've got the time, we're The Bloodhound Gang." 6. Belle and Sebastian : No other show has ever made me want to be an orphaned gypsy wandering the Pyrenees as much as this show. Plus, I also thought a dog with a barrel of "cheer" around its neck would probably come in handy on several occasions. 7. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century : I was not a big fan of space- themed shows, but this was the exception. I mostly wanted my hair to look like Erin Gray's because she was rockin' the 25th century Earth look. (And I am hereby officially conceding to my husband that he has been correct all along about the name of Buck Rogers' robot sidekick, which is Twiki, not "Twinky" like I used to think.) 8. The Great Space Coaster : "Come on board for the Great Space Coaster . . ." This was such a trippy show, but I had the same rainbow overalls as one of the characters, so I was hooked. Plus it had Gary Gnu, and we all know that "no gnus is good gnus." 9. The Young Riders : While all my friends were deciding which New Kid they liked the best, I was obsessing over the Pony Express and the wild west. I used to have a handmade poster in my room that proclaimed this "The Greatest Show on Earth" -- well, that and the circus, apparently. 10. Scarecrow and Mrs. King : The reruns of this show were in my parents' post-VCR era and I used many a hard -earned babysitting dollar to buy blank VHS tapes so that I could watch (and re-watch), and subsequently memorize, every episode of this show. A sickness, I tell you . . . 11. Thundercats : Looking back on it now, this show was virtually riddled with s*exual imagery (yelling "Thunder, thunder, thunder, thundercats, HO!!!!!" while your sword grows to preposterous lengths? Really, Lion-O?), but I never realized it at the time. It gives me hope that my kids will go on to lives as productive citizens, even if they are (inadvertently) exposed to crap in their childhoods. 12. Voltron : My question: when will the team realize that when a strange ship/air freight cargo box lands on the planet, it always houses another Robeast? Oh, and that the Robeast will always go for the Blue Lion first because that is the one piloted by Princess Allura (who was the team newbie and a valuable hostage rolled into one)? Come on, guys, use your heads. 13. Battle of the Planets : OK, I didn't actually watch this (see: my feelings about space-themed shows), but this is a little "seven-zark-seven," "G-force," "always 5 acting as one," love note to my husband.