There has been lots of talk lately about the new phenomenon called “binge watching” of television shows. People will get all comfy and watch hours of a program all at one sitting. I don’t know what all the fuss is about – I started binge watching Ding Dong School with Miss Francis 62 years ago. As Romulus and Remus were raised by wolves (true story), I was raised by a peacock – the NBC peacock to be exact. It was my first pet. I also learned the alphabet at a very early age watching TV – NBC, ABC, CBS and some other letters.

Having grandchildren, we have heard discussions about nannies. I had 2 marvelous nannies – their names were RCA and Westinghouse. At a very early age – like birth- I was most often dropped in front of a television set for most of the day – that was my day care, preschool, and babysitter. My parents were too young to know what to do; my mother had neither the aptitude nor finances so between fights, separations, and divorce I was shuffled between parents and grandparents. All of which left me to my own devices and I became friends with all my TV land buddies. I had great motor skill development changing channels. I could spend hours and hours watching TV. All the great shows and movies of the 50’s were my best friends. It was not just an escape, it was more like sanctuary. The Lone Ranger, Kit Carson, Sky King, Jim Bowie (not David), Hopalong Cassidy, the Cisco Kid, Mighty Mouse… these were my friends. They would not hurt me, or abandon me, or insult me, or ignore me. This was my play group, my paci, my binky.

I became quite the loner. I presume it did not affect my social skills when I was older or any ability to interact with others, but until I had step brothers enter my life I had very little interaction with other kids. Just me and my celluloid buddies. I sang along, knew all the characters, and anticipated their next move – it was great. My wife, Peg, jokes that I am a TV whore – that I will watch any TV show or movie about anything at any time. I will watch the same episode many times and not care. She was raised in an idyllic Leave it to Beaver family where they probably read books, had family outings and structure. Whoa, they probably even ate their meals sitting at a table together. I however was tutored by The Three Stooges and The Little Rascals – “I wish Cotton was a monkey”. Is she better off because of it? Probably more grounded and more well rounded, but I however saw where Johnny Weissmuller led the Elephants to the Elephant burial ground! Hey – where is the remote?