Lost the Plot

Whenever we can, Keith and I watch "The Daily Show" at 6:00 (Central time). Of course this is the rerun; we're too old and tired to watch the live show the night before. And yes, yes, we do know we can watch the rerun any old time online. But we're old. We like routines.

If all goes well, then, most Tuesdays thru Thursdays at around 5:55 one of us is turning on the tv and turning in to Comedy Central. That means for a number of years now, we catch the last few minutes of "Scrubs." We've never seen anything of "Scrubs" but these last few minutes; we know no characters' names; yet, over time, we've developed some sense of the characters and the plot. So, yesterday, when the nerdy but sweet main guy who's perennially involved with the attractive but all-over-the-place blonde doctor woke up next to a different woman with curly brown hair, Keith objected, "Hey, who's that? Where'd she come from? He's in love with the blonde."

"Dunno," I began, and then it suddenly hit me. Our knowledge of "Scrubs" mirrors our understanding of our teenaged sons. Every now and then we're allowed a quick glimpse into their lives. And on the basis of a five-minute snippet seen here and a dialogue overheard there, we extrapolate entire narratives; we delude ourselves into thinking we understand the plot and we discourse with great confidence on the motivations of the major characters. Actually, of course, we haven't a clue as to the storyline or cast list.

I remember once I was watching an episode of "Little House on the Prairie," and my mom, who never watched television, came and sat down next to me. In one of those excruciating Mom-trying-to-relate moments, she said, "Oh, this is 'The Brady Bunch,' isn't it?"

So here we are, thinking we're watching our sons and their chums Greg, Peter, and Bobby, when actually they're in another century, clearing the land, battling smallpox and blizzards and that annoying spoiled-rotten shopkeeper's daughter.