I’ve never been a huge TV watcher.  Sure, as a kid, I watched PBS.  Everyone did…”Sesame Street,” “Mr. Rogers,” “The Electric Company,” etc.  We also watched “Little House on the Prairie” and “The Waltons” religiously.  Sometimes, if the weather was bad, or there was nothing else to do, we’d watch reruns of “The Brady Bunch” or “Gilligan’s Island.”  As a teenager I watched “Full House,” “Growing Pains,” “Family Ties,” and “Moonlighting.” 

When Big D and I first got married we didn’t even have a TV for about three years, and when we finally did get a little TV/VCR combo, we kept it in a closet most of the time, and only carried it out when we wanted to watch a video.  We bought our first real TV when we moved here, just eight years ago.  And still, besides getting a little addicted to NFL football, we still didn’t watch it all that much.

But then I started watching “American Idol” the second season it aired, and I was hooked.  And then everyone kept talking about this new show, “24,” so I bought the first season on DVD, we watched it in one weekend, and we were hooked.  And then someone loaned us the first season of “Lost,” and we were hooked.  And for the past few years, from January until May, I’ve felt like a TV junkie, watching regular shows Monday-Wednesday every week.

Until now…

“Lost” concluded last night.  I haven’t totally loved this season, but I stuck in there because, after six seasons I WANTED ANSWERS!!!  Well, I was digging it until about the last fifteen minutes, and then I was like…huh?!  Oh well…I still feel like it was a creative, smart show, and I’m not sorry I watched it.  But I am glad it is over.

“24″ concludes tonight, and frankly, I’m setting myself up for disappointment.  The show, in my opinion, should have given up the ghost about two years ago.  There have been a few highlights, but nothing compares to the first few seasons where I literally could not sleep and bit my nails to nubs.  Considering that Jack has “died” twice and is a fugitive on every continent except Australia and Antartica, the storylines have gotten a lot far-fetched.  I’ve hung in there though.  I wish there was some way to have a reunion of the main characters, but considering they are all dead except two, that probably wouldn’t work.  But wait a minute…isn’t that what they did on “Lost”?  And that worked…sort of…

The “American Idol” season finale is on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.  And while it is coming back for at least one more season, I am not going to watch it, mainly because he…

…is leaving.  I have a feeling a lot of people feel the same way I do, so probably next season will be IT for the show anyway.  I had a hard time imagining the show without Paula, but it will be impossible without Simon, so I’m done.  I don’t even care who wins this year.  In my opinion, for the first time in the history of my watching it, the two most talented actually made into the finale, which makes it a little boring.  I’ve thought a reunion show would be fun for this series too, but then all the winners and almost-winners are pretty much dead (musically), so that might be difficult.  But wait a minute…isn’t that what they did on “Lost”, and that worked…sort of…  I think I’m experiencing de ja vous…

So now, TV,  I bid you adieu.  I will be spending my reclaimed four or five hours a week cleaning, folding laundry, sleeping, reading, scrapbooking, etc., etc., etc.  Well, until football season, of course.  Go Bears!

Here’s how it goes…

“Pants on the ground…

pants on the ground, …

lookin’ kinda’ cool with your pants on the ground…

New teeth in your mouth…

Your little frown turned sideways…

You’re lookin’ kinda cool with your pants on the ground…”

You know, I have the strangest feeling this song could be a hit!

(…and if you are one of the few Americans left that have no idea what I’m talking about and think I’ve actually lost my mind, here ya’ go…

Or, if you prefer, here is the formerly Super Bowl-bound Brett Farve singing it in the locker room…

Unfortunately, that little ditty didn’t help his performance against the Saints.)

Being the AI fan that I’ve always proclaimed to be, I could not pass up the blog fodder of Paula Abdul’s departure from the show.

What?!  No Paula?!

I don’t think it’s even been 24 hours since her Twitter announcement, and already people are saying it may not be true.  That it may, in fact, be a ploy by her agents to garner more money.  Apparently $20 million is not enough to wear tight-fitting shiney clothing, sit in a swivel chair, take prolonged sips from your “Coke” cup, and make garbled critiques that nearly need a translator for a couple of hours a week.  Whatever.

Actually I don’t mean to bash Paula.  I love Paula!  Paula is one of the reasons that the show is so entertaining.  Without Paula, the show will not be as nice.  It would be less colorful.  It might even make sense.  And what fun is that?!

And please don’t even get me started on that new judge, Kara Something-or-other, whom I suspected from the beginning was Paula’s replacement.  I could say about one hundred things about how and why I don’t like Kara, but it all comes down to this:  she is boring.  She says basically the same things as Paula most of the time, only more logically and coherently.  Blah.  Who needs logic?  I much prefer the mayhem and mess that is Paula.

I have always said that I would not watch this show without Simon, and that is true.  But now I’m wondering if I’ll be able to watch it without Paula….?  And with Kara….?  I guess I’ll find out in January when the show airs.  IF it’s really true, and FOX decides against offering her more money to keep her from walking.

Give it to her FOX.  Let her be forever your girl…

…because that kind of entertainment is priceless.