Back when I was young, jobless, indifferent to school, responsibilities, the future of my country, in other words, a teenager, I would spend my free time (of which upon reflection, there was a great deal) in front of the television. It was the 70s & 80s, that Taupe Age of Television. Sobering civic and social issues would on occasions interrupt the canned laughter and slapstick dialogue between chatty characters with sparkling teeth, dimples, and one liners (Whatchoo talking 'bout, Willis?)It's the late 70s, about 330 in the afternoon, and I've rushed home from school to watch... One Day at a Time. Bonnie Franklin is a single mom, ooo a divorcee as they used to say, raising two teenaged girls played by MacKenzie Phillips and (steady... steady...) Valerie Bertinelli who would go on to crush the hearts of boys and young men everywhere, when in real life she ran off with guitarist Eddie Van Halen. A rock star, figures. So appropriate for the time. Today, she probably would've hitched up with a fireman. And of course, the fourth main character of the show was Schneider the building superintendent, macho-extraordinnaire, with the swagger of a worldly man who's seen things, you know, "like in 'Nam," when in truth, the only battles he'd done were with overflowing toilets.
A few weeks ago I had been experiencing random nostalgic moments, one of which happened to include this sitcom. And even though this program ranks nowhere near my Top Ten All-Time list of television sitcoms, it marks a certain time in my life that I do want to remember. Mostly, so I don't make the same mistakes my parents made when they raised me.
But at about the same time I was feeling nostalgic, I was introduced to a web site www.hulu.com.
Hulu is an online library filled with television programs, past and present. You can find several episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends and its clever wordplay, which is as funny today as it was back then ("You're back in one piece" -- "You were expecting installments?"); the A-Team, featuring who else, but Mr. T; Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno as Bruce Banner in the Incredible Hulk, along with current shows such as Heroes and the Simpsons.
Hulu is free, online viewing of many television shows AND featured films, such as Pride of the Yankees, Rudy, and get this, the first three Karate Kid flicks. Talk about living large! Hulu is advertising supported, so you'll have to watch a brief commercial at the beginning and occasional superimposed ads.
Still, the quality of this viewing experience is much better than watching on Google Video or YouTube. And by watching on Hulu as well as the other broadcast network websites (ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, WB, etc), you don't have to worry about the consequences of downloading favorite shows from foreign-based websites that do not recognize US law, quite possibly facing litigation from the major entertainment studios for video piracy and copyright infringement.
And since you're most likely reading this blog on your district issued laptop, please let it be known that the Scarsdale Public Schools will not take kindly to being named as your co-defendant.
Hulu.com... it's legal.
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