So, I went out and bought a cribbage board today. Because I don't own enough games no one will play with me, sure -- next up is Munchkin and the super-expensive Arkham Horror, then I'll just start making paper-airplanes out of money.

So, right now, I'm watching TV Land's collation of TV Catchphrases -- it's neat. Welcome Back, Kotter's under examination now, and I love that show. I used to have Kotter's family stories memorized.

It did get me thinking, earlier, about the claustrophobia of television -- so many shows, especially sitcoms, have four or five cameras, and that's it. I mean, The Cosby Show had the kitchen, from one angle, the living room, and the bedrooms. That was pretty much it. When we left those settings, we were disoriented, confused, but also excited and a bit giddy. In contrast (and because I watched them one after another every afternoon for years), on Cheers the single setting with its few cameras was natural. The show was about a bar, so we had to be in the bar. Let me see, with the bar counter, the edge where Norm and Cliff sat, the view of the tables, the less-used but still common view of the counter on that side where Frasier sat whenever Lillith came with him, the office (from two angles), and the game room made at least seven views of the same place. Whenever we saw someone's home, like Sam's apartment, it actually felt intimate, and for the first few moments after the cut we feel like we're intruding -- a bit, anyway.

Yeah, that's about it. Man, I hate Leave it to Beaver. Not era-hatred, I love Dobi Gillis (or however you spell it).