By Anita Garner
Ever take a walk at dusk and look into lighted windows? From the outside looking in, things seem warm and cozy. That’s the feeling I look for in a favorite TV show. Not a particular house, but that feeling. My favorite shows all have that in common.
Favorite shows from the past took place (present-tense on many of these because they’re still available anytime we want to re-watch) within a set that became as familiar as my house. We watchers of The Waltons felt we know every nook and cranny of that two-story farmhouse and the surrounding property. .
Little House On The Prairie had not only the iconic cabin, but an entire town built from the minutiae in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books and the imagination of Michael Landon and his co-creators.
A favorite Britcom, As Time Goes By, features a flat in London that feels like a place where I can stop by for tea and gossip.
Food Network shows take us into some of our favorite kitchens. True, many are sets built to simulate a home environment, but some actually take place in the homes of the cooks, Nigella Lawson in what’s at least a facsimile of one of her London kitchens.
On Friends, the apartment is crucial to the show. Which fan of Frasier hasn’t memorized the placement of each and every accessory?
But home isn’t only a place. It’s also a feeling. Mash took place in wartime Korea in unfamiliar settings, yet somehow it felt like an odd out-of-time-and-space home every week.
I’m always open to new favorites, shows that feel like home because the characters seem to belong there and belong to each other.
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Wow! Great point! I consider myself something of a sharp-eyed critic for TV shows and understanding their appeal but I never thought of this and now it seems so obvious.
The Gilmore Girls had this homey feeling in spades. It was set in an idyllic small town in New England where everybody knew everybody else and all characters had delightfully benign little quirks. Hammy, I think you’d love the writing on this show, too.
Watched a couple of early episodes of Gilmore Girls, but because of your respect for the show, I’m going to revisit it on dvd.
I know exactly what you mean. Unfortunately, the room that houses this computer,desk and chair I use tends to remind those who see it of the basement on “That ’70s Show.” Meanwhile, my current hairline kinda’ looks like an old episode of “Kojak.”
Well, they always said I had a face for radio. Now, if I can just figure out a way cut back on those Reese’s peanut butter cups — that smart a-s kid down the street might stop askin’ : “Hey, didn’t you used to be that guy on “The King Of Queens?”
Ahhh, maybe I’ll just go with the brocolli spears.