TV Shows

I'm sure to Mom's surprise, one of the most influential shows of my childhood was a show that I never remember watching. We grew up watching --- sometimes against the rules --- shows like GI Joe, Square One, Murder She Wrote, Perry Mason, This Old House (Mom's 'show') and others. Going back and watching these shows is always bitter sweet (except for Perry Mason which is still as good today as it was when it was made). Shows like, forgive me Peter, MacGyver have simply not stood the test of time. I watched an episode of Night Rider a while back and almost cried it was so bad. I would suggest that these shows are often so bad it might be a good idea to never go back and re-watch them. It's better for me to know that the new GI Joe movie is pure crap and believe that the real GI Joe movie (the animate one) was pure cinematic excellence instead of putting on the old movie and realizing it wasn't quite the same as I remembered.

So what show could live up to my memory. For years I have made references to a show that Mom used to watch. I knew it was about Vietnam and I knew, more vividly than anything else, that the theme music was Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones. Still every time I hear that song I see helicopters flying over a jungle (the only clip I could remember ever seeing from the intro or the show). We weren't aloud to watch, but I couldn't help hearing. That song, the twangy guitar, the beating drums, that song, beyond it's words, beyond it's intended meaning is Vietnam to me. And beyond that, not knowing what branch of the military the show was about, to me that song is about Marines. I remember Pop being away from home a lot when we were kids, away on a ship, away in the field. Paint it Black, that haunting song from the lips of Mick Jagger, that song was a lullaby for me, maybe not as much as Africa by Toto was, but in the black of night I knew that the show was about Pop, and that when the show was over he was coming home.

Nam: Tour Of Duty: