Gud, I'd say give him more options. But I'm a firm believer in the social importance of sharing or at least being able to fake sharing various cultural touchstones with your peer group.

Not that this helps if, say, your kid just doesn't like TV, like mine.

except we did not watch Dukes of Hazzard for some reason

Ya freak!

OK, I can't explain whey I liked that show. Maybe it was the cars. (I liked Boss Hog's Eldorado convertible especially. But that car never got to do any cool jumps.)

I watched a lot of boxing.

Boxing, hockey, All in the Family, MASH, Barney Miller, Macgyver, Magnum PI, Star Trek re-runs...

(I mean, I also watched your standard assortment of Saturday Morning TeeVee, but except for Electro-Woman and Dyna Girl, they all blur.)

ION, this cracks me up: Minimalist nativity set

I had one channel, in black and white, until we moved to England when I was 12. TV didn't come on air until hours after we came home from school. There really wasn't much discussion of shows at school at all, even though I remember getting fixated on the idea of watching Man From Atlantis when we finally got it. But that was just all about me and a burgeoning crush on Duffy.

The thing I remember the most are the after-school Godzilla movies.

It's so totally different for them, they sit down and can watch any episode of several versions of Scooby-Doo, any episode ever aired of Fetch! (Great show), any WordGirl, any of over a hundred Authors, any of about 80 Spongebobs, any DragonFly TV, and a few other shows. There's a big PBS bias in available media.

It is DARK outside. And RAINING. Why the hell am I not in bed?

I do not know. You totally should be.

I watched a lot of tv when I was growing up (still do!). My favorite was the Bionic Woman.

It's so totally different for them, they sit down and can watch any episode of several versions of Scooby-Doo, any episode ever aired on Fetch! (Great show), any WordGirl, any of over a hundred Author's, any of about 80 Spongebobs, any DragonFly TV, and a few other shows. There's a big PBS bias in available media.

When I was a kid, we only got the Green Bay stations. Three channels, plus PBS. Once when I was five or so I dreamed that we had 40 channels of TV. I was so excited! and so bitterly disappointed when I woke up....

OK, I can't explain whey I liked that show.

For me it was cute boys, explosions, and Southern accents. I also wanted Daisy Duke's jeep, if not her wardrobe.

As an only child of an indifferent parent, I watched all of the tv I wanted, whenever I wanted. My teenaged years I memorized TV Guide cover to cover and had the listings grid memorized for every night (even for shows I didn't watch). I was obsessed with the fall preview issue. (I was the same way about movies, actually). I don't know that it did anything for me socially, in school, although everyone always counted on me to give facts about tv and movies.

Fast forward to today. I stopped getting TV Guide when it went to large format. I have no idea what time any shows are on, save for "Glee" (and even that one I was confused about because I think it aired on a couple of Fridays too?), 30 Rock and The Office (and Parks and Rec, now). That's it. Steve and I did fall into watching a repeat of the White Collar pilot on Saturday, and enjoyed it. I know there's a TON of great tv on, I just am very behind in all of the good shows. I am finally catching up with Mad Men, but on DVDs.

And I do feel out of it. I used to read TWoP religiously, and now I am always reading recaps years later (if I read them at all).

But I am not creating art or negotiating world peace in all of my newfound time. Nope. I spend it on teh interwebs.