I admit it: I’m a BIG fan of TV.
Have been. Pretty much all my life. My parents used to say I was named for TV.
Stevie. TeeVee. Get it?
And I was born in 1949 -- pretty much the dawn of television.
So me and TV have been friends for a loooong time. Oh, there was a brief time in my late teens and early 20s that I didn’t watch TV that much -- being more interested in my guy friends and girls.
But I eventually returned to my first love -- television.
Yeah, coming home from school to watch cowboy shows, comedies, sitcoms, the crappy afternoon movies run by the local station.
Later it was the fabulous era of sitcom comedies: Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, All in the Family, etc., etc.
And the creepy stuff: The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Thriller…
Some might say I spent too much time in front of the tube as I was growing up. But I don’t agree.
You see, I grew up in a kind of dysfunctional home, and it was what I saw on TV -- Ozzie and Harriett, The Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver -- that informed me that family life COULD be something very special.
Yes, I know all that sweetness was really scripted Life with a laugh track, but in my mind it was a beacon of kindness and about always doing the right thing. And it was the kind of family life I wanted to emulate when it was my turn to be the loving Dad.
So, I’ve always had a TV front and center in my living room. And as the years have gone by, like most everybody else, I’ve been upgrading my set. Color, sound, resolution -- and SIZE.
With the advances in TV technology, I’ve purchased better and bigger sets, and I now am the proud owner of a 55-inch, HD, 4K surround sound monster. I bought it about 5 years ago and it cost about $1,200, as I recall.
It’s been great. I almost feel like I have my own little movie theatre when I settle into my couch and turn off the lights.
But lately I’ve been seeing the new BIG SCREEN TVs, and they are AMAZING! Giant screens -- 65, 75 inches and more. And costing less than half of what I paid just a few years ago.
There’s just one major obstacle -- my wife. She says the set we have -- that measly 55-incher -- is FINE for our living room.
She just doesn’t get it: How Life would be so much better with a bigger TV!
I recently read an article that talked about the ideal size TV, which said the screen should nearly fill your field of vision from your watching seat.
What’s implied is: If you have to turn your head from side to side to see the whole screen, it’s probably too big for your room.
Hmmmm….maybe I need a BIGGER house?
You watch too much tv.