Walking on the wild side, runnin’ down a one way street

My kids are so used to umpteen channels, with something on every moment worth watching (or so they think): Cartoons, Nickelodeon, "Dirty Jobs,""Swamp Loggers" and on and on.

It wasn’t always this way.

At our house when I was a kid it was three channels and a cloud of dust, and ultimately four when PBS arrived. Cartoons were only on Saturday mornings, and daily kids entertainment consisted of Captain Kangaroo (the greatest children's show in the history of time) and “Hatchy Milatchy,” a local morning show. One of the highlights of the latter show was when Miss Judy (I had a massive crush on her) wished me a happy birthday personally on the air.

Just imagine hearing Miss Judy say, “Happy Birthday to Denny Lockard from Shavertown. Look under the davenport for your birthday surprise.” I looked, and there it was – a new baseball bat!

I still remember seeing my excitement reflected in my mom’s eyes.

And the theme song still provides indescribable flashbacks.

These shows were all we knew, and we thought it was all pretty great.

But it wasn’t always great on Sunday afternoons, when I would hope against hope that Channel 22 in Scranton would show the Giants game. That was a weekly crapshoot, given that we lived closer to Philly than NY. That meant I had to often listen on the radio which, while better than nothing, wasn't and isn’t as entertaining and perfect as baseball on the radio. At my grandmother’s house, 50 miles away, Giants’ games were usually on Channel 12 out of Binghamton. But we were often not there on Sundays.

Fast forward to today and cue the greatest invention ever for football fans: NFL Sunday Ticket. The idea of having the ability to watch every Giants game, and every other game as well, was inconceivable until a few years ago. The cost is prohibitive, and although it seems to go up each year, it’s still worth it. The addition of a DVR (another splendid invention) allows me to record games and watch them after the kids go to bed, which works great as long as I can avoid the scores before I sit down to watch.

This is now what passes for unforgettable excitement in my TV land these days. And that’s all right with me.

But the wonder of children’s shows being a special occasion is long gone for my kids in this on-demand world. Who knows what technology will bring us by the time they grow up, but the leap from rabbit ears and three stations to Sunday Ticket in my lifetime seems astonishing. Not much else seems worthwhile on television these days; football is a notable exception and the ability to see your team every week on your schedule still boggles the mind.

Technology may or may not save us; I suspect it will not, but it has made some things far more enjoyable.

Strictly 100: Number 11 – NFL Sunday Ticket