Cooking and...Murder???

As a “semi-retiree,” I find I now have more time to do whatever I want — or at least, what I can afford.

So I find myself watching quite a bit of television. Actually, I’ve watched my share of TV -- and then some -- since I was a child.

Except for a little break during my “courting years,” I’ve spent a lot of time in front of the tube.

I’m not proud to say that, but there it is.

I admit it: I love watching TV. So does my wife, who usually joins me in our nearly-nightly television pursuits, bathed as we are in the flashing light of the TV in our darkened living room.

Over the years, my favorite shows have been all over the map, with some eras focused on comedies while others focused on lovable serial killers and charismatic meth dealers.

And so on…

But lately, I’ve found my wife and I preferring to watch cooking shows — and murder shows.

Is that an odd combination or what?

But it’s true. We love the cooking shows, especially The Great British Bake-Off and Restaurant Impossible.

There’s others, of course, including Chopped, which pits chefs against each other to come up with their own concoctions from the often-weird ingredients they must use.

There’s something about these cooking shows that puts us in a very relaxed mood — especially the British Bake-Off show. God, everyone on that show is soooo nice to each other -- with the ultimate winner only getting a cheap glass cake stand.

It’s heartwarming.

Then, there’s the dark side of my current taste in TV entertainment: Murder shows.

Yes, this one is much more one of MY favorite genres than my wife’s, who kindly watches along with me -- more to be social, I believe, rather than actually enjoying them.

I’m talking about shows like Snapped, Murder Comes to Town and Murder in the Heartland. And so many more…

I’ve become somewhat addicted to them, but it’s NOT because I like to watch people get murdered.

Not at all.

For me, it’s twofold: Number 1, I enjoy seeing how humans can go so wrong for so many reasons.

Again, it’s heartwarming.

No, just kidding. It’s often a bit depraved, and I try not to focus on that aspect too much. But — Number 2 — I am mostly fascinated by how these crimes get solved.

Solving murders has gone so high-tech in recent years, with not just fingerprints but now also DNA matching, phone and computer records, and shared national criminal databases helping to put the Bad Guys away like never before.

But sometimes — and it happens more often than you’d think — it comes down to pure luck: A tipster calls the cops and gives them the clue that finally cracks the case.

I love nonfiction, and these shows are certainly that.

Do some of these programs maybe sound interesting to you? Or, perhaps you’re horrified by what I’m pouring into my brain on an almost-daily basis.

It's OK, though. They kind of weirdly balance each other out.

And hey, different strokes for different folks, right?