Reruns are the friends you want to have around

Bring back Charlie Harper to ‘Two and a Half Men’

The cast of ‘Cheers’

By Rene Pastor

It’s like your favorite scoop of ice cream. The fun part is you never get fat – not unless you’re laid out on your sofa and snacking like crazy.

I’m talking about reruns. You see them on cable channels and some of the local TV networks too. They are the shows used to fill out the time waiting for the news –bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz — to come on.

And like the chocolate bars in a candy store, some of the shows I really love and crave. When I’m home, I keep the reruns on while I do all sorts of chores like washing the dishes or replacing the toilet paper. The jokes are very comforting to hear, they never seem to get old.

Makin’ your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got
Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot
Wouldn’t you like to get away?
Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name…

I can never get the opening song of “Cheers” out of my head when I’m making coffee. I hate it when the station runs the abridged version; the longer one is like ice-cold beer: it’s best sipped slowly and hits you right in the gut by the time the bottle empties out.

The other show I really love is of four women in Miami. The “Golden Girls” have been my “pal and confidante” when there’s nothing else to watch, or CNN is airing nothing but droning talking heads.

Both shows never fail to make me laugh. Sophia’s sassiness and the over-the-top sex drive of Blanche always elicit guffaws from me, just like Norm of “Cheers,” the guy who seems to be a regular bar fixture along with the stools, always nursing his beer and always ready with a punchline.

“Everybody Loves Raymond” will always be the craziest family for me, especially with the novelty of having the in-laws live across the street. Everyone should have a mother/mother-in-law like Marie, portrayed so exquisitely by Doris Roberts. I felt so bad when Peter Boyle, playing her husband Frank, passed away soon after the show ended its run. It’s like losing a member of my family.

The reruns of “Two and a Half Men” are a lot funnier than the current episodes with Ashton Kutcher. I am just not doubling over in laughter on jokes over Ashton’s monstrous whatchamacallit. Give me a Charlie Sheen rerun anytime, and while I can predict the punchline, I still end up laughing so loud.

With Christmas around the corner, it’s nice to have reruns keep us company. They are the friends you want to have around, who remind us of good times then and maybe of good times yet to come.

Rene Pastor is a journalist who writes for a financial news agency in New York.



2 Comments

  1. Mon J. wrote:

    Good writeup. Very funny.

  2. Rebecca wrote:

    Sorry everyone, but Two and a Half Men just isn’t a good show anymore. Time for something to replace it!

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