early simpsons binge

I was a TV binge-watcher before it was cool. It was 1990. I was in Bangkok staying with a friend who worked for the Canadian Foreign Service. He and his coworkers exchanged VHS tapes of TV shows from home. I was nursing a cold. I spent the day in his flat, drinking tea and watching tapes. I pulled out one labelled The Simpsons. “A cartoon? What the hell is this?”  Plugged it in and watched, alternating between nose blowing and laughing hysterically. I was hooked. The other day, my 20-year-old and I were talking about how media consumption has changed. When I was a kid, shows were weekly. You gathered around at broadcast time. Now, we stream one or more seasons in one go. Then I remembered The Simpsons and how I was ahead of the curve with my first TV binge experience.

my brush with bob

Bob Saget

Bob Saget was one of my brushes with fame. While attending university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in the 70s I used to escape to Toronto to hang out with friends. We’d hit the comedy clubs like Yuk Yuks to see up and comers like Howie Mandel and Bob Saget. I loved Bob. He was hilarious and self-deprecating. One time we went to a small club to see him. After his set, to our surprise, he came over to sit with us. I'm sure we told him he was great, and we were there to see him. He was cordial. As he got more famous on the funny video show and Full House, I remember thinking, good for him. He's a nice guy who’s getting rich but, frankly, he was funnier as a stand up. I know his comedy got blue. That’s fine. I'm no prude, and trust me, he was hilarious back in the day too.