Boob Tube

For my generation, at least, a great portion of the “knowledge” that people have about the USA comes from TV. Holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving may not be observed here but at least people have heard of them thanks to their favorite series. Elements of American “culture” show up all of the time and more than once I’ve found myself saying, “have you seen the episode when…” to explain something I’m talking about. Be it boy scouts, science fairs, or the bookmobile.

Friends and the Simpsons are by far the most commonly-used “dictionaries.” Seinfeld, however, never managed to fully push into the Spanish market. Although it’s a mystery to me, the show simply didn’t gain the success here that some of the other series did. Although I find myself wanting to refer to it in normal conversation, I limit myself to the shows which I know were widely viewed here.

Perhaps TV is a universal language as long as you stick to the script.

Feeling Blue

A big part of this blog has been dedicated to all of differences I’ve noted between the States and Spain. To change things up a bit, I’ve decided to write this post about a similarity instead, and I’ve chosen that which I find the most fun and perhaps the most uniting of all – children’s TV shows. “Children of the 80s” the world over (at least in North America and Western Europe) can unite over a shared fondness for Saved By the Bell (Salvado por la Campana), Beverly Hills 90210 (Sensación de Vivir), and Growing Pains (Los Problemas Crecen). But the true bonding comes when, perhaps over a rum & coke one night, we start to reminisce about Saturday morning cartoons. The Smurfs, Fraggle Rock, Muppet Babies, and Scooby-Doo were the true heroes, and Smurfette (Pitufina) and Kermit the Frog (La Rana Gustavo) decorated bedrooms, pencil cases, and backpacks in Madrid just as they did in Missouri.

Decades later, most of us can still sing the intro to Sesame Street (although, the words are only “lalala” in Spain – not unlike the Spanish national anthem) and anything overwhelmingly blue is most definitely Smurf-like. Those shows will stick with us forever. Although they are just simple cartoons, there’s no denying that the children’s series have underlying meanings and important lessons for the kiddies. The Smurfs, after all, include the classic figures of everyday life – the tattooed meathead (Hefty Smurf), the glasses-wearing know-it-all (Brainy), the wizened old man (Papa), and the evil villain (Gargamel) – and their weekly adventures taught teamwork, kindness, and acceptance. Similar concepts were dealt with regularly in the complex underground world of Fraggle Rock, on the sidewalks of Sesame Street and in the Muppet Babies’ nursery. A good friend and honesty were the answer to every problem. When it comes down to it, what shaped us as children was more or less the same on either side of the Atlantic. Perhaps we aren’t so different after all.

P.S. The pic is of a very old and very loved Smurf figurine back from the days when my dad travelled for work. Every business trip meant a new Smurf! Be sure to click on him for a surprise.

TV anyone?

The Spanish people have a certain fame for tardiness. I think, perhaps, that comes not from disrespect of anyone, but from a more laid-back attitude towards time in general. I was struck by this recently when I was checking out the TV listings. Check out the photo above, courtesy of the 20minutos website, showing the TV listings for today. Very few of the shows start or end on the hour. Coming from the US, where all TV programs, be they news, game shows, movies, or sporting events, fit nicely into 1/2 hour increments, I find this strange and mildly annoying. Here in Spain there are certain shows that are broadcast every night, and the show starts every night at a different time. It's always more or less around the same time, but you are never quite certain of the exact time.

I find this most annoying when it comes to movies. A number of the big channels show a movie each night at (or around) 10pm. Tonight one of them starts at 10:05 and one starts at 9:55. The problem with movies is that I never know the actual (be that English) name of the movie unless I see the opening credits. So knowing the exact time of the movie is rather important. Granted, the TV guide might say the movie starts at 10:05, but then you watch it and it really doesn't even start until 10:09. Perhaps I am displaying some anal retentiveness here. It is only TV after all. But I think it's somewhat representative of the overall atitude towards the reloj (clock) in general.