Sad TV

A few years ago Nick at Nite did The Wonder Years on one of their week-long marathons. For Monday thru Friday, they played nothing but The Wonder Years from 7pm to 1am (or something like that). They obviously couldn't air every single episode, but they hit all the important storylines and moments -- in chronological order -- and had you never seen the show before you could come away with a more-than-fair understanding of the whole series. Some friends and I watched every episode of this marathon, with the effect being we were totally and completely sucked into the show and emotionally invested in the stories again.

The last few episodes deal with a huge argument Kevin has with his father, after which Kevin quits his job at Mr. Arnold's furniture workshop. It's a classic Kevin-as-a-dick moment (he really is in the wrong in this argument), though maybe a little more understandable because there's some pretty serious Winnie-related stress going on in Kevin's life (as there ALWAYS is, but like I said, it seems more serious this instance). Anyways, after quitting his job, Kevin packs up all his belongings in his car and heads off to get a job at the country club where Winnie is working at the pool as a life guard.

To move this post forward, there's a lot of (melo-)drama which leads to Kevin and Winnie leaving the country club and having to hitchike home. They return just in time for the Fourth of July parade, at which point we, the viewers, get a slow-mo pan down the line of characters as Daniel Stern narrates their futures. Right away, we learn that Wayne took over the furniture shop a few years later, "after Dad died of a heart attack..."

At this point a lump grew in my throat. I was devastated. Throughout the series, lovable little Kevin Arnold acts like a prick, and EVERYTHING he does is in some way kept in check by Mr. Arnold. He grows up and learns from his experiences and friends, but it's Mr. Arnold's steady influence that keeps him straight. The narration continues and we learn Paul went to Harvard (of course) and that Kevin and Winnie remain friends but never married -- and this last fact is kind of a big emotional hit, but it really makes sense -- but the whole time all I can think about is Mr. Arnold. Dead from a heart attack. It's horrifying. To me, an emotionally-devastating moment in television.

There are a lot of shows I watch, and quite a few I got really into. But there are only a select few I can say I am/was a fanatic of. Current shows of this last variety include Deadwood and 24.

In the most recent episode of 24, a Russian terrorist infiltrates CTU and releases a toxic nerve gas. Jack, Bill, Chloe, Audrey, Kim, C. Thomas Howell's character are all saved by locking themselves in a sealed glass conference room. They're forced to watch other operatives die on the other side of the glass, poisoned. It's chaos. And then it's quiet. And there's no movement.

And then Edgar comes around the corner. He looks at Chloe. She looks at him.

And Edgar dies.

No matter how many Adrianna's I've watched get whacked; no matter how much I miss Lenny on the streets of New York, I haven't been this affected by a television show since I learned of Mr. Arnold's heart attack.

It's good to have something to look forward to on Mondays.