Thursday Thirteen #73 -- There's No Place like Home

THIRTEEN TV SHOWS

THAT CHANGED FOR THE WORST

WHEN THEY CHANGED LOCATIONS

I love I Love Lucy, unless she’s in Connecticut. When I tune into the TV Land Classic and see that living room with the staircase, I inwardly groan. The Riccardos belong in NYC! The vacations in Europe, Florida and, of course, Hollywood were fun, but we knew that eventually they were returning to that brownstone. Lucy in the burbs is just wrong.

I’m not alone in feeling this way. More than 560 voters at Jump the Shark agree with me. Here are the top 13 shows TV aficionados believe lost their way when they left home.

1) The X-Files moved from Vancouver to LA
2) All in the Family lost Gloria, Mike and little Joey to their own home
3) Laverne and Shirley moved from Milwaukee to Los Angeles
4) I Love Lucy goes out to the country
5) The Facts of Life girls graduate and open Edna’s Edibles
6) Little House on the Prairie leaves that little house behind
7) Coach graduates from college ball to the NFL and Florida
8) Pinky and the Brain move to Elmyra’s
9) Perfect Strangers moved from their own little apartment to a big house with their girlfriends
10) Pimp My Ride moved to a new shop
11) Yes, Dear moved into their own home
12) McHale’s Navy left their post in the South Pacific for Italy
13) Mary Tyler Moore nails her M on the wall of a bigger apartment

If this were MY list, and not one I stole from jumptheshark.com, it would have Kate moving in with Allie and husband Bob on Kate and Allie and Tony moving out of Angela’s house on Who’s the Boss? in the top 13. (Uh-oh! Did I just admit to watching Who’s the Boss?)

Include your link in the comments and I'll add you here:
1) Michelle has a beautiful, arty TT
2) Malcolm takes us back to the 1980s
3) Chelle gives us a tour of her family room
4) See what Allison is willing to reveal about Allison
5) Hootin' Ani shares more wisdom from Jefe
6) SJR gets us in the Indepedence Day spirit
7) Bellezza and her dog Henry take us for a hike in the woods
8) Jenny McB just doesn't get these 13 things
9) Nicholas takes on workplace cliches
10) Claudia shares what works for her
11) Susiej dedicates her summery TT to ice cream
12) Kristi curls up and dozes off for her TT
13) Sandy remembers George Carlin
14) Susan Helene Gottfried has more musical misadventures of the "fake" variety
15) Jehara shows us her home
16) Journeywoman shares some of George Carlin's best bits
17) Lori gets all yummy on us
18) Clarence shares 13 facts about poor young Paloma
19) Forgetfulone shares what she learned during her Arizona vacation
20) Angie remembers rocking in the 1980s
21) Renee highlights her favorite Post Secrets
22) Peter Plum introduces us to a game of chance
23) Lisa's TT is devoted to Q
24) Brenda helps the budding author in each of us
25) Amy catches us up on the last 7 years
26) Clara has some breathtaking lighthouse shots
27) Chris ends his June 13s on a proud note


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We're still us

I saw my best friend last night for the first time since May! We exchange emails a couple times a day, but we haven't been in the same room in three months. I have missed him enormously because he's one of the few people I'm entirely comfortable with, because it feels like he really gets me and accepts me. Also because, while his life isn't perfect (no one's is), he is refreshingly drama free. He feels like a safe haven.

Last night he caught me up on his family, his vacation and his job. We discussed his poor dog (see below) and baseball and the Presidential election. We talked and laughed about my job. Then I helped him with a slide for his Powerpoint presentation (he was, after all, in Chicago on business). Best of all, I gave him his birthday gifts -- a personalized cutting board, a cookbook of recipes direct from "The Conch Republic," and an oven mitt that says, "Caution! Men Cooking."

It was a lovely evening, and seeing him made me so very happy. I'm so glad we're still the same friends we've always been. It's good to have a relationship like this I can count on.

Pupdate

Here's the latest on my best friend's dog: She has a herniated disc, which accounts for her difficulty moving, and the tests revealed a bladder infection. Her complete bloodwork isn't back yet, so the vet has postponed any real "work" on the disc until it's confirmed that nothing else is wrong. In the meantime, she's on antibiotics and painkillers. Thanks to the meds, and being home with her people and her routine, her appetite has returned.

The good news is that vet seems very matter-of-fact about all this, as though this is simply what happens to border collies as they age.

My friend and his wife are both quite melancholy about their dog's condition. First of all, she was their "baby" before they had their daughters, so naturally she's an integral part of their life, a member of the family, and they love her.

Then there's the poignant parental aspect of it. While it seems like a good bet that the dog will come through this and enjoy a comfortable life again, she is nearly 14 years old. At some point, sooner rather than later, my friend is going to be confronted with one of the more difficult tasks of Daddydom. As he said last night, "The girls don't know life without that dog." He's told me time and again how involved the dog has always been with those girls, how she's worn a track around the perimeter of their lawn, racing around to protect and "herd" the kids as they played outside. The inevitably sad way this story is going to end tugs at the heart. It's times like this that I'm glad I'm not a mom.

When I get home to my healthy, happy cats tonight, I'm going to give them each an extra head rub and take the time to really appreciate what a gift they are to me.