"The Bye Bye Summertime Blues" or, "Thanks to Simon and Lucy"

The Green family summer officially ended last week.  How do we mark this sad occasion on an annual basis?  It's the week that American Ninja Warrior and America's Got Talent both end 😿.  

There are not many shows we watch together as a whole family.  Besides the logistical difficulty of getting 12 people together at the same time, there is the challenge of finding programs that interest everyone.  Our first foray into a true family television experience was I Love Lucy.  One Sunday afternoon several years ago, the kids were bored.  I invited them to watch one of my favorite comedies and see what they thought.  When I told them it was I Love Lucy, Parker asked if it was in black and white.  After my affirmative response, the invitation had to become a mandate.  One episode was all I would require. Then they could take it or leave it.  We have the entire series on DVD, and before the evening was over, we had watched 11 episodes:).  The kids were hooked.  In the several years since, we have watched the entire series and have come to view the Ricardos and the Mertzs as close family friends.  Thank you Lucy (and Ricky and Fred and Ethel) for providing us so many laughs together.

We would watch these episodes of I Love Lucy on an intermittent basis when we could find the time, but it wasn't until a couple of years ago that we began having must-see-TV nights as a family.  Taylor and Parker had started watching American Ninja Warrior.  I had seen clips of it here and there, and was definitely impressed with the strength and the agility of the contestants, but I had not yet caught the vision.  It wasn't until I came across Jessica completely engrossed in an episode that I realized I needed to take note.  Jessica detests watching sports.  She won't watch basketball, baseball, tennis, or anything else even remotely similar.  She decries our Saturdays-in-the-fall college football watching with vehemence.  And yet here she was, cheering on some guy she had no real rooting interest in with all her might.  What was this program that could transcend the pink force field our Jesi had surrounded herself with?  I sat down next to her and the rest is history.  Monday nights through the summer, anyone who is free gathers on the couch to watch these tenacious athletes cheer each other on through brutally difficult obstacle courses.  Sadly, the inspiration they give me to get into shape is counteracted by the bowl of ice cream I'm eating as I watch. 😏

Christi and I started watching episodes of Britain's Got Talent many years ago on youtube.  The American version was ok, but they struggled to get the right mix of judges and hosts.  If you're a fan of BGT, you know that Simon Cowell makes the show and that Ant and Dec are the best hosts ever.  Given that it is very difficult to find BGT episodes online any more, we are so glad that Simon has brought his unique mix of Evil Stepmother and Fairy Godmother across the pond.  Now our summer Tuesdays (and Wednesdays once they drag out the live shows into two nights) are filled with adolescent singers, death-defying rollerskaters, geriatric crooners and all manner of magicians, dancers, ventriloquists, dog acts and other novel forms of really spectacular entertainment.  It has become a very fun tradition that just about everyone in the family can enjoy.  Thank you, Simon, for sharing your creative genius with the world and giving us such spectacular fun.  

It's not the best family picture, but it is a good representation of a large group of us chillin' on the couch, grateful for a big screen TV:).