What I didn't know then, but know now is that just because the channel is the same doesn't mean the shows are the same. In fact, it doesn't even mean the shows are current and up to date. Here in Hong Kong, Jon & Kate are still 8 and "happily" married. Susan has not yet had her kidney transplant on Desperate Housewives. And John Locke just turned the big gear on Lost while Jack Shepard's father instructed him "say hello to my son".
Some other television oddities here....
A channel will show the same episode of the same show all week long. Back home, I got hooked on a show called Storage Wars on A&E. It was to my great delight that I found Storage Wars running on the Biography channel here. Now I wouldn't miss a single second of the bidding feuds for abandoned storage units filled with crap! When I flip the channel on on a Monday they are in Vegas and Brandi and Jarrod luck out and find a bag of casino chips in their unit. But guess what? On Tuesday, they find the same treasure. On Wednesday, they find them again, and they find them Thursday and Friday too!
There are no commercials on TV except to advertise other shows running on that station later at a later date. No commercials for Tide or Purina One. No one has fallen and can't get up. The Red Cross doesn't need your help. But Toddlers & Tiaras from three years ago will be premiering on August 30.
There is no nudity on HBO, Cinemax or Starz. I was re-watching the final episode of Mildred Pierce, which ran on HBO in the states earlier this spring, and I noticed that when Mildred's daughter, Veda, gets busted banging her step-father she went from being in bed to sitting at the vanity table just like that. The long, seductive, strut in the buff that she does in front of her mother, totally edited out. The reason this perplexes me so is, I just got back from an afternoon downtown. When I was hustling to catch the shuttle back to our apartment building, I passed no less than a half dozen strip club with the girls standing on the sidewalks, in matching outfits no less, beckoning passing males to come inside. And it was only 4 o'clock! So, apparently, ya can't look at pictures of it on cable TV, but your welcome to get a glimpse in the flesh after you grab some lunch.
Eugene keeps telling me how it's good to be watching less TV. This is coming from a man who is busy with his work, his travel, his conference calls, his emails (love ya, babe!). He is occupied. He is busy. He doesn't have time to get bored. I do, boo hoo. And I'm not ashamed to admit, I am a reality TV junky and a news program addict. I'm having withdrawals.
So what's the solution? We are working on it. Years ago with the help of our brother-in-law Chris, we purchased a Slingbox and had it hooked up to his television in Pittsburgh so Gene could watch Steelers football, which isn't always available in North Carolina. The Slingbox allows us to log in through a website and watch the television it is connected to. Little did we know then that that little box would become so very important. We can log onto the Slingbox and watch television, albeit a 12 hour difference, but one of the catches is, if we change the channel here, we change the channel there. I feel pretty safe flipping around at 4pm here, but 8am here is a different story. And if I see a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game on, I know not to touch the clicker! My genius of a IT brother-in-law (no, not butt kissing, he really is a genius) is working on a solution for us.
Until then, hey look, La Bamba is on.... AGAIN!
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