For better or for worse, the TV was pretty much always on…I often watched old sitcom reruns while doing homework (I was still in the National Honor Society, thank you very much!) and made my pre-pubescent self feel better about my awkwardness by watching the freaks (hi there, Kelly Ripa!) that paraded across my screen on awesomely bad American Bandstand clone Dance Party USA (see clip below). Sick days home from school were made tolerable by guessing who might show up as the celebrity guests on Super Password, Match Game or The $25,000 Pyramid, or if someone could actually win both showcases on The Price is Right. We ate dinner while shouting “Good answer!” along with Family Feud contestants or shopping for ceramic animals with winners on Wheel of Fortune. And I tried never to miss an episode of The Cosby Show, Family Ties or Who’s the Boss?, lest I go to school uninformed about the latest exploits of the Huxtables, Keatons or Macellis.
