Ever since Mad About You and Seinfeld ended their runs almost a decade ago, I must confess I’ve watched very little, if any, prime time network television. I suspect that’s not unusual as many of us changed our viewing habits and became political junkies once cable news channels became widely available by the mid-1990’s.
The Virginia and Maryland suburbs had cable television available at least a decade before we here in Washington, DC were introduced to it in the early 1990’s. I’m not really sure what the reasons were for the delay. Difficulty in digging ditches in the city to lay cable and the resulting traffic jams, I’m sure, was a major reason. Bureaucracy — which we specialize in and is found in abundance in the DC city government — undoubtedly was an impediment too. And you thought the old Soviet Union had a monopoly on centralized bureaucracy? Nope. We even have a Safeway food store here in the DuPont Circle area, one of the few in the immediate neighborhood and one affectionately referred to as the “Soviet Safeway.” Residents buy whatever the store offers for sale. Choices are few.
The introduction of cable television in DC did re-acquaint me with some of my favorite shows from years gone by.