As I reflect on my upbringing, I realize my parents were not very protective of my innocent mind. I'm kind of glad. I got to see and cherish some really great shows at a young age. One of my earliest memories of TV, other than the obvious Barney and Sesame Street, was the sci-fi show The X-Files. I realize right after I typed this, and looked over at a friend to ask if she has ever heard of this show ("no" was her response), that this show is pretty old...for me. It was created in 1993, before I was born! And it ended in 2002... when I was in 1st grade. Yeah. I was young when I watched this. My family was obsessed with this show. It became a ritual. As my mom reminded me, "I (my mom) would make a dinner you would all hate, a dessert you would all love, and then we would sit down and watch X-Files." Today that same concept has been changed quite a bit due to my busyness and the fact that my mom is obsessed with America's Funniest Videos and our family usually sneaks in an episode of The Apprentice. But back in the day, back at my old house with worn blue couches and our chunky small TV, we had a special Sunday night. The X-Files is what brought us all together, including my teenage sister at the time. We loved the show so much we named our fish Skully and Mulder (the main characters).
How good was this show? Why has it had such a lasting impact? This sci-fi show was based around two investigators , Skully and Mulder, who worked on cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder was totally into the idea of aliens and Skully basically just went along with it to eventually prove to them that it wasn't real. As you can imagine, they do end up experiencing some paranormal situations. It may sound Star Treky or some other stereotypical "nerdy" show, but it was really good and exciting to watch. Not to mention it won 26 awards and received 102 nominations! That's impressive not only for this type of genre, but for any show!
Every Sunday our family would sit down and watch The X-Files. It was our tradition. That show was the first "adult" TV show I had ever really watched. It was very young and did not understand most if not all of the dialogue, but I watched it. From then on, TV was more than just entertainment. I came home and watched a wide array of shows. From Scooby-doo to The Addams Family. From Friends (yes, my mom really did let me watch that) to All That (Hmm, a sketch comedy show for kids. I wonder how that influenced my TV preferences..). And even from the serious comedy like Roseanne to a more silly comedy like Spongebob. I didn't just like these shows because I was bored. I invested my mind into the characters. Into the plot. Into what it meant. I loved these shows. I love them to this day. They sparked something in me that may be nerdy or weird, and probably wastes way too much time, but it allows me to really appreciate the wonders that is modern television. A foundation that will forever haunt and hold me as I cry, laugh, sweat, and smile over the various shows I will have the pleasure of watching in my future.
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