The Future of Media: #79 TV and Me

Television has been a large part of my life for as long as I can remember. This photo (left) is proof. If you've lived in Houston anytime prior to 1971 you'll remember KTRK Channel 13's mascot, Kitirik, a play on the station's call letters and a popular kids' show here. It featured a woman in a black leotard and fishnet stockings catsuit (Bunny Orsak) who may have been just as popular with Dads as she was with us kids. My sister, cousin and I were photographed with the Catwoman herself for my sister's birthday at the KTRK-TV studios probably around 1964. That's me on her lap. The kids would sit on a mini carousel and tell Kitirik their favorite food, which, 90% of the time was "p'sketti," as in "p'sketti and meatballs." Actor and fellow Houstonian Brent Spiner also has fond memories of being on the show as a child. If you don't know who Brent is, you're obviously new to this blog - and Star Trek NG, so stop reading now. I've always been addicted to television, further proving it by earning a bachelor's degree in Radio & Television and working in the business for a few years. I must be more of a voyeur since watching TV was always more fun than actually having it as a career. Television has jumped light years from the 1960's and still more since I worked in it but the the glowing "magic box" continues to hypnotize each successive generation. There's an intimacy with television that is lacking in cinema, perhaps because you're in your own living room when you watch it. The internet has rendered that intimacy even more personal when you are the sole person sitting at your computer watching full episodes with "limited commercial interruption." Smart phones shrink the personal space even more. What's next, a chip in your brain that only one viewer has access to? Sites like Hulu and tv.com enable addicts like me. Now, no matter what time day or night, I have access to episodes of Lost or Survivor (not that I would dare miss one!). I did search for another favorite series of mine, Futurama, but could only find excerpts unless you wanted to pay for them for $1.99 at Amazon. I love this episode featuring the voices of Star Trek. Yes, I own this season on DVD.



Joost was touted for having more animation but I couldn't find Futurama episodes there either. It could be because the series is canceled, although Mr. Magoo and Felix the Cat are available. I've never watched a television show in its entirety on a cell phone although Tristan has some episodes of "Lost" on his iPhone. The screen is much too small for me to enjoy it although the quality was very good. Streaming video is a new thing to me and I did get hooked on watching the Shiba Inu Puppy Cam the last litter back. I was saddened to see them go one at a time as they got adopted. I don't think I would ever upload a video, though. One of the things I like about TV is the anonymity of it. Must be the voyeur in me.