T.V. Shows

I like T.V. shows that make me belly laugh. Not the kind of laugh that comes from the need to acknowledge that you, too, understand a joke in a room full of people. Rather, the laugh that bounces off the walls of the empty room you're sitting in only because you can't help it.

Considering the size of my current living room and the amount of furniture squeezed into the 10 x 4 space, I can't say my laughter literally bounced off any walls tonight. But I imagine it would have if I lived in a lightly furnished house with spacious hardwood floors and arched ceilings. Now, I'm not usually the T.V. junkie who follows her favorite series weekly and can quote funny lines from every episode (like most fans of "The Office" do every second of the day). However, two shows have my loyal viewership: Modern Family and Glee.

When I have a life, I usually watch these shows at my own convenience on Hulu.com. But I don't really have a life in New York yet (wahhhh), so I've recently managed to catch most episodes during their original airing... sometimes just by accident because I'm pathetically sitting on the couch watching America's Next Top Model and then notice they're on. Example: while looking for something to flip to during commercial breaks for the "E! True Hollywood Story" of Bethenny Frankel (they're really running low on celebrities), I realized that Modern Family was on tonight. This show is genius. Included in the cast is a nuclear family, a gay couple with an adopted daughter, and an older man married to a younger Latino woman raising her preteen son from a previous relationship. The families are related (extended family) and struggle with realistic, almost always hilarious, obstacles that arise in most modern-day families. I can't get enough of Cameron and Mitchell (the gay couple seen in the video below)...yet every single character cracks me up. Any person out there can relate to someone on the show- yes, even you, Mom.

A show not quite as realistic, but equally funny, is Glee. If you don't like Glee, I'm assuming it's because you've never actually watched it and "have no interest in kids dancing around and singing." Your taste in humor may very well differ from mine, but I know few people who've caved in and watched an episode that don't understand why it's such a hit. The whole show revolves around a bunch of high school outcasts who grow and learn together as a family. Just like popular sitcoms in the past, Glee sheds light on many pressing issues, like binge drinking, bullying, and teenage pregnancy. The twist is the energetic musical component. My favorite character is Brittany S. Pierce, the uniquely un-peppy ditzy cheerleader who makes the most absurd comments in a voice that seems disturbingly serious. She's also the choreographer/most amazing dancer ever. Instead of including a video of one of Glee's famous musical numbers, I thought the Best of Brittany video needed to be shared. ["Did you know that dolphins are just gay sharks?" "And remember, even the smallest envelope is heavy for an elf."]

Laughter improves your health. Don't do it enough? Find a show that guarantees you a good laugh once a week. In this case, watching T.V. can be healthy (if you don't have a bag of potato chips in your lap).