TV and Me

Another good TV show bites the dust, at least as far as Fiorella is concerned. Lucifer is no longer funny, just screechy and stupid, so she's no longer watching it, just like she is no longer watching The Little Couple because in the years between when the old show went off the air and the new one debuted, Bill and Jen became so entitled that Fio doesn't care about them anymore. The only shows she's watching now are Big Bang Theory, which, even after ten years, is still amazingly fresh, funny, and human, her telenovela, the first fifteen minutes of Colbert, and an occasional 600-Pound Life.

It may be that Fio's simply bored with television. After all, she's been sitting in front of the boob tube sine she was four. In fact, her college years were the only time she was away from TV.

On the other hand, maybe it's just that Fio has finally grown up. Fiorella? Grown up? Never!

Oz, Trump, Dwarfs and Duggars

Dr. Oz says that using olive oil lowers chances of a premature death. Does that mean Fio's fingernails, which she daily dips in olive oil, will live longer?
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Fio thinks Trump's ideal world is one in which the men make loads of money and the women pose for nude photos. Notice that he hasn't blown up about those pictures of his wife.  Fio suspects he may have released them himself to show her off--sort of a yada-yada-ya-ya, look what I have and you don't. Perhaps he thought they'd bring in more votes.
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Fio used to watch The Little People until the Matt went meglomaniacal and all the right wing crazy stuff came out. She watches The Little Couple now, and hopes Bill Klein and Jen Arnold aren't as fake as the Roloffs turned out to be.  And then there are the Duggars, but that's a bigger story--pun intended.

Sweets

Why does Fiorella enjoy Big Bang Theory, Lucifer, Little Couple, and Income Property? Because they are "sweet" shows--no drama, no repercussions, no characters who are going to get their throats slit in the next scene.  Big Bang and Lucifer make Fio laugh, Little Couple gives her hope, and Income Property is always different, yet comfortably the same.

As Eclectic Does

Fio watches Big Bang Theory, Lucifer, The Little Couple, and Forensic Files.  Don't tell her she's not eclectic.

Enough Already!

As you know, Fiorella likes watching The Little Couple, the reality show starring dwarfs Bill Klein and Jennifer Arnold.  She likes the sweet way Bill and Jen deal with each other and their adopted dwarf children.  But every now and then she resents the wads of money that they throw around so easily.

Okay, Fio gets it that being a dwarf is expensive.  Their homes, cars, clothes--everything they own or use has to be adjusted to their disabilities.  Plus, they run up tremendous medical bills to treat various conditions caused by dwarfism.  And they have to hire people to assist them in the house and with their children.

But buying a second home on the Houston beach to use on weekends is too much.  And throwing a big birthday party involving pony rides and a petting zoo for a three-year-old was over the top,

Bill and Jen, Fiorella understands you have suffered and that you've worked hard and that you're good people.  But a little less conspicuous consumption, please.

Educational TV

If you are parents who want to bring up kids to be sweet and caring, check out The Little Couple.

If you are a guy who wants to break into television, court a Duggar daughter from Nineteen and Counting.

If you doubt Americans are the most blessed people in the world, watch House Hunters.

If you can't go to sleep, turn on late night television.

The Visual

The new remote isn't letting Fiorella hear a thing so all she could do was watch the action on The Little Couple last night, and she was struck again by what a sweet relationship Bill and Jen have with their children, hugging and kissing them every chance they get.

Her own mother would have regarded all that physical contact as soppy.  Fio always knew Mother loved her, but hugs were reserved for someone going or coming home from a long trip, and one kiss a day at bedtime was the limit.

Times change.

Little News

So, Matt and Amy are separating at last.  The senior Roloffs, who first introduced the viewing public to dwarfs as people rather than oddities, have long been lining their coffers with profit as they battled it out with each other on the small screen.  Amy may be grumpy, but Matt is a megalomaniac.

The story goes that Matt proposed the separation, saying he had never felt comfortable in his own home, although Fiorella can't figure out why--he totally dominated it.  Sure, he provided his wife and family with fame, loads of loot, and a great house, but he also ran rough-shod over them.

Fiorella prefers Will and Jen, the little couple.  Check them out this Tuesday evening at 9:00.

The Truth of the Matter

The most active room in Fiorella's house is the den, formerly known as the family room, now often referred to as the bone room due to Sonia Dog's habit of decorating the venerable oriental carpet with well-chewed rawhide bones.  Actually though, the room is command central.  Husband has gathered everything he might possibly ever need within reaching distance of his recliner while Fiorella lounges on the leather couch to make out her interminable lists, write her romance novels, and catch up on Income Property, Big Bang, and The Little Couple.  

The rest of the house is just for show.

To TV or Not to TV?

Until the television lost its sound, Fiorella never realized what a noisy environment she had been living in.  Not that she ever had the TV on during the day, but when Husband came home in the evening, the controllers got heavy usage.  Big Bang, NCIS, and, after Husband went to bed, House Hunters and Little Couple.  And if Fio was up late because she couldn't sleep, anything else that was on the tube was game.

It's different now.  Fio and Husband are talking more.  The house seems cozier--although that could be because of the autumnal darkness. Maybe we should can  the TV altogether.

Time Management

Timewise, Fiorella is always in a bind.  That's why she multi-tasks and counts her physical therapy reps in German (weights), Russian (plies), Spanish (angel wings), French (windmills), Telugu (back tighteners), and Latin (head presses).  That's why, when she's exhausted and needs to trudge up to bed every night, she makes a sidestop in her once-and-future study to search through yet another pile of papers to try to find that business contract she's scouring the house for.  That's why she's glad the TV has lost its sound and been off for a week.

Fio didn't realize it, but TV is a major time suck.  Sure, it relaxes her to watch Big Bang Theory reruns, Little Couple firsties, and increasingly stupid House Hunters, but she also gets drawn into other shows, like an episode of Father Brown she caught a couple of weeks ago, or stray performances on America's Got Talent. 

Maybe the TV sound will stay off forever.  After a minor withdrawal period, Fio doesn't miss it--she can play old BBT episodes in her head as she works on Lolly's story, which has progressed quite well this week. After all, aside from catering to Sonia Dog's every whimper and whim, aside from gathering poems for her new Kinko's booklet, aside from searching for appropriate Christmas gifts, aside from preparing to teach a poetry class at the Georgetown library, aside from tending to the family business, aside from whipping her study into shape, aside from contacting McHandyman to repair the balcony door and re-weatherstrip the house, aside from preparing for Austin son's wedding, aside from taking care of the house, what else does she have to do?

.

Sleepytime TV

Hear ye, hear ye!

In order to relax at the end of the day, Fiorella wants to watch happy. charming, non-challenging, low-key television from eight to ten.  No shows with tension in them, which cuts out America's Got Talent and the like, and also covers all the NCIS variants.  No scary shows either--Fio doesn't need to dream of what might be lurking in her attic.  And nothing that makes her sad, excited, or angry.

Plain jane House Hunters, Little Couple, and Income Property are usually her choices, but the former is in reruns and the latter two seem to be in abeyance..

Maybe she'll be forced to take up reading again.

Converted to Crime

Fiorella and Husband have long despaired of the current television scene--you know, only a couple of decent shows a week buried in five hundred channels of desperation programming. Husband doesn't like reality shows and will leave the room when Fio's favorite, The Little Couple, comes on. And Fio doesn't like crime dramas, which are Husband's favorites, so she did other things while he watched his favorite, NCIS. Gradually, of course, she started watching it too.

The show grew on her, and now she's just as big a fan as Husband. She likes the definition and interaction of the characters: smarmy Tony, idealistic McGee, up-tight Zeeba, intense Abbie, philosophical Ducky, flint-hard Gibbs. In fact, she likes NCIS so much that she gave Husband the go-ahead to buy a season of it on DVD.

Now if she can just get him to watch The Little Couple.

Couple Coupling

Hey, Fio forgot to tell you that The Little Couple is back on. Yeah, her favorite show.

Jen and Bill are still going through the mechanics of putting together a baby medically for a surrogate to carry, and the premier show started off with them almost succeeding--but Jen's eggs disappeared at the last moment, which meant Bill's collection cup went to waste. She cried and he was sweet, and they're going to try again, for the fourth time.

Other updates are that Jen's got a cute new haircut and has had a little work done--probably botox. Also, that constant giggle of hers, which was sometimes a little hard to take, is gone. But her wardrobe, as usual, is tres chic. As for Bill, he's gained weight again, but still has the facial hair. Tying it all up, the house they are building looks like it's about halfway done.

It's on TLC, Tuesdays at 9:00. Try it--you'll like it.

Touch Ups

The country dwarves, the Roloffs, are in hiatus and the city dwarves, Bill and Jen, are back on the tube. And, wow, are they spiffed up! Can you spell Botox? Can you spell Restylane? Can you spell make-over?

And guess who got the make-over: BILL! Not only has he lost weight, but he's grown a mustache and goatee, and his artfully styled hair glows reddish with highlights.

Billy, I hardly knew ye.