I see that NBC has canceled Animal Practice.
I can't say that I'm surprised. I saw some of the promo ads for it and it looked like a real stinker. There are lots of those around today but there are lots of really good shows, too. In my lifetime, I've spent way too many hours in front of the TV, which leads me to my point ...
People of my generation, people who grew up with Milton Berle, Jack Benny, the Firestone Hour and Friday Night Fights, can often measure their life history by the TV shows that were popular at the time. Oh Susannah? I thought Gale Storm was awfully cute. Cimarron City? That cowboy is married to Dinah Shore, the "See the USA in your Chevrolet" girl? No way! Liberace? Something's not right with that guy.
If rock and roll is the soundtrack of our lives, TV has to be the video equivalent.
People in my parents' generation had the Great Depression and World War II. Earlier generations had similar big events in their personal histories, tales of hardship, immigration and, occasionally, triumph.
But they didn't have television. If you're telling the story of anyone who came of age after the mid-20th century, don't forget to ask them about television. You might be surprised at how important it was in their lives.
Author Larry Lehmer's book about Dick Clark and American Bandstand -- Bandstandland: How Dancing Teenagers Took Over America and Dick Clark Took Over Rock & Roll --is available from Sunbury Press. His book about the last tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- is available at Amazon.
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