Me, in five television shows

Suzi learned about “The Big Bang Theory” before I did.

She had gone to her parents’ house without me one weekend right after the reruns had come out on syndication, and her mother had gotten hooked, which got Suzi hooked.

And then, Suzi got me hooked.

It didn’t take long to catch up, since TBS aired multiple episodes multiple days a week and it also popped up on other channels from time to time … plus the usual 8 p.m. Thursdays on CBS.

I know it wasn’t for everyone — I’m pretty sure my buddy Pizz looks more askance on me liking the show than being a Yankees fan, and that’s in Massachusetts — but I found it funny, and more importantly, I cared about the characters.

And to me, that’s the most-important thing.

The problem is that, in its last few seasons, when the show had to evolve from its formula of the four brilliant but socially awkward men and the cute, ditzy blond neighbor who loved them, it didn’t do very well, so it wasn’t that funny anymore.

But as I thought about it, I also realized that one of the reasons I lost interest is that the story I was most-interested in — Leonard’s and Penny’s relationship — came to its conclusion when they got married.

It was bound to happen — the show was a conventional sitcom, after all — but it did give me one less reason to be invested. Although I may hunt them down someday, I barely watched the last few seasons.

However, for what it was, “The Big Bang Theory” was on my list of five shows to get to know me, which I compiled after my buddy Renata of Buffalo Sauce Everywhere challenged me. (After I tagged my pal Becky of Strikeouts + Sprinkles, she wrote about her list.)

Here are the other four:

”Fleabag” — No good reason, other than it might have been the best show I’ve ever seen, to the point where nothing you are about to read will properly explain it.

So let me tell you about the part I liked the least.

Wait … just hear me out.

The part I liked the least was the ending. (This is assuming the second season was the last, which it almost certainly was.)

I don’t feel that way because it was bad. Quite the opposite — although I won’t spoil it in case you want to see it and haven’t — it was brilliant television that people will remember until … oh, I don’t know … approximately the end of time.

However, when everything leading up to that point makes you really hope it ends in a particular way, and you care so much to be sad when it doesn’t … that’s brilliant stuff, folks.

“Rick Steves’ Europe” — It’s pure TV comfort food.

For a half-hour, Steves galavants around a city or region, enjoying the scenery, hitting the sights, hanging out with locals, eating and drinking (so much eating and drinking), making sure we know about the great public transportation and generally making you want to get on a plane immediately if not sooner.

Nice work if you can get it.

A couple weeks before Christmas, we saw that his Christmas special was going to be on one night, and we planned our day around making sure we were home to watch it.

So what if we had already seen it multiple times? So what if the pledge breaks literally made the show twice as long?

It’s pure, unrestrained, geeky Steves glory. Even if everything else is terrible, it makes you feel better.

”W1A” — As cool as it would be, I don’t work at the BBC. The closest I’ve ever come is a tour.

I’m assuming you don’t work there, either.

But “W1A,” the spoof of life at the BBC that aired on … the BBC … is about where you work (as it its predecessor, “2012”), even if you’ve never been near Broadcasting House.

How many of these apply to you?

— The boss who’s well-meaning, but can’t get anything done because there are so many nitwits.

— The jargon … so much jargon! And the people whose only contribution is jargon.

— The one person who actually knows what he or she is doing. Double points if you know it’s you.

— The person in management who has no clue and pawns everything off on everyone else.

— The person who thinks all of his or her ideas are brilliant, when none of them are.

— The person who sounds the alarm about everything.

— The well-meaning dimwit who no one can ever stay mad at.

— The guy who thinks he’s really something special, and wants to be sure the cute woman in the office knows it, but is really just a jerk.

— The hard worker who never gets any credit, and mostly just gets dumped on.

Like I said, this is where you work, isn’t it?

Most sporting events — Is this cheating? Yeah, probably, but it’s my blog and my answers.

Aside from maybe spaghetti, I’m not sure if I can think of anything I’ve been a fan of as long as sports.

And now, I can pretty much find something to watch whenever I want to. I even tried rugby the other day. I didn’t quite get it, with the constant running into the line and what happens when one team kicks the ball out of bounds. I’m sure I could figure it out if I studied it more.

Just the other day, I got my annual MLB.TV renewal. I’ve had it ever since I moved to Massachusetts, and it lets me watch or listen to any game I want (minus blackouts).

It’s a far cry from my younger days without cable, when I might be able to see one Yankees game a week, or there were games on five or six channels on our satellite dish.

Even though I don’t do it, it feels like having spaghetti for every meal.

 

 

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