survivor: mission house and other televised goodies

We do have a TV here. And, although it is not the best picture and sometimes the antenna must be balanced at just the right angle, we do enjoy it. And even though all of the American shows are at least a season or two behind, we still enjoy the home-cookin’.

There are really three shows that we look forward to the most, for wonderfully different reasons.



On Monday nights, we get to watch “The Biggest Loser”. You know this show, where unhealthy, overweight folks compete to see who can lose the most weight. It is really cheesy at times, but is completely inspiring at others. It comes down to the fact that we are just suckers for life-transformation. I mean, to see a dude go from 400 to 300 pounds in a couple months is amazing. Better yet, you get to ride the emotions with him, watching him cry when he thinks of living to see his grandchildren.

(If you are rolling your eyes at us now, remember that we have 4 channels, 3 of which are in another language at any given time – cut us a little slack. If you are nodding your head because you get hooked by these types of things too, then you are a good person and are bound for great things.)

Tuesday night is our big night. We get a half-day off every Tuesday just to enjoy each other’s company. We go out to lunch and then do laundry at home, enjoying being the only one’s at home in a domicile that usually pushes a dozen occupants.

Survivor: Cook Islands is on at 7:30pm. Why is this show so compelling? I think it’s because of the challenges. I mean, who designs the zip-line, rope-climbing, scuba-diving, puzzle-solving challenges? Gates? Hawking? And then how much fun is it to watch these emaciated people pour out every calorie they have trying to win….a blanket? Or some peanut butter? Those rewards make us feel like royalty in our leaky, drafty, collapsing mission house. We laugh at them longing for peanut butter and then we stare at each other and cry for…a proper mattress. Irony.



Now that I think about it, we should have Survivor: Mission House. We could compete in challenges for proper mattresses or roof repairs. We could have a competition with the winners getting a heater or a can of roach spray or something. I could solve underwater puzzles for the right to some chicken fingers or a Frappuccino. I think we may be onto something. I’ll get to work on this. Someone call CBS.

Anyway, Survivor is fun. It is life-change and problem-solving and triumph-over-adversity all rolled into one.

Finally, on Tuesday nights we finish with Law & Order: SVU. I don’t really know how we started watching it. It’s one of these crime-solving dramas, like CSI but without the cheesy blue-lit offices and supreme close-ups of bodily fluids at the crime scene. Translation: It is better.

Basically, it is a show about justice, which, as with life-transformation and underwater-puzzle-solving, we are suckers for. Killers and rapists get caught and, somewhat realistically, sometimes they take a plea bargain. Even better, sometimes, they lack the evidence to convict. But we love justice. God is just. Well, he is terribly unjust, which is how we get grace when we deserve much worse. But the justice aspect is still what draws us.

That’s about all. Besides, the Young and the Restless is about to come on and Phyllis is about to have Nick’s baby!! Gotta run!! (Oh, the humanity…)