Wednesday, May 07, 2014

I Stand Corrected

Last fall while driving to dinner in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, some good friends and I fell into a discussion about TV shows we liked (or not). It soon became clear that I was the odd woman out. Everyone else seemed to love The Big Bang Theory. I told them that I used to love it, but lost interest when the female characters of Amy Farrah Fowler and Bernadette were added to the show. We talked about a few other shows, I think, but that's the only one I clearly remember. What I remember most was when one friend (whom I dearly love and deeply respect) said that it was clear she and I could never watch TV together.

That comment didn't shatter me emotionally or anything. I thought it was kind of funny, actually. But I didn't forget it, either. It's not as if it weighed heavily on my mind or filled me with guilt or made me regret admitting how I felt. It just came back to me from time to time, usually when I saw an ad for an upcoming episode of  The Big Bang Theory

I've never been one of those people who forms an opinion about something without feeling as if I know what I'm talking about. So when everyone around me decides to boycott a particular show based on what they think it's going to be, I watch a few episodes to find out exactly what it is before I start acting as if my opinion has merit. I try not to mindlessly follow trends, get caught up in the latest fad, or watch a show I think is poorly written, sloppily edited, and/or badly acted just because "everyone else" is watching it. I will confess to being irritated by trailers and ads telling me that "all of America" is talking about or watching something that clearly "all" of America is neither talking about nor watching. (Channeling my inner Sheldon here.) 

Because I'm not much of a joiner, I'm usually the last person I know to see a popular movie or read a bestselling book just because it's popular. I doubt you'll ever find me first in line to get tickets to anything. 

But I digress . . . 

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with my youngest daughter during which she asked if I was caught up on Big Bang. I told her I was anything but caught up and, in fact, had missed several years of episodes. But again, the conversation with my friends loomed up in my memory and I decided that maybe I should try a few episodes to see if I really didn't like the upgraded cast or if I might (gasp!) have been wrong to quit watching so quickly. 

It took me a few episodes to really begin to appreciate the "new" ladies in the group, but I have to admit that after watching a couple of episodes after my writing day is finished, I actually like them quite a bit. I'm really not sure which relationship I like most.  A few days ago I watched an episode in which Amy Farrah Fowler referred to "Boyfriend/Girlfriend singalong night," and I've giggled about that on and off for days.  

I'm sure nobody has lost sleep over my opinion here, but when I'm wrong I like to say I'm wrong. So this is me, admitting that I was wrong. 


photo credit: Funky64 (www.lucarossato.com) via photopin cc