True confession. I like watching the old Bonanza shows on TVland. Yes, that makes me a geezer. I like the well-crafted and traditional plot structure. Even more, I like the moral structure of the Bonanza world: a father who is not an idiot like those in most the situation comedies and sons who respect their father and look to him for an example of how to be a man of integrity. Five minutes of Jersey Shore makes me feel like I need a shower, but one Bonanza episode gives my imagination a good scrubbing. I feel morally refreshed.
But after an hour I want to blow my brains out. Commercials for Depends, diabetes meds, scooters, joint ointments, denture creams, medical alert bracelets, hearing aids, lift chairs, laxatives, catheters, and funeral insurance bludgeon me. After watching these ads, the only meds I need are for chronic depression. Cause and effect get confused and I wonder if watching Bonanza makes people need these products. Soon I find myself reconsidering the morality of euthanasia.
I need the DVD collection so I can relive my childhood in peace. My family would come home from church on Sunday nights just in time to hear that great theme song and see the burning map of the Bonanza spread near Lake Tahoe. Sometimes Dad would make popcorn or hamburgers. And all was right with the world because Ben, Little Joe, Hoss, and Adam would stand together and fight for what was right. Family would triumph. And despite his gray hair, Ben Cartwright rode a horse not a Little Scamp scooter.
