Tansson Media Blog

 Throughout my life, from the early days to now, television has always had a major role, and has greatly helped shape who I am today. While these past several years have primarily been spent watching network sitcoms from both the past and present, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my viewing habit evolution. Before I begin, it is important to note that while I have done my best to recall many of the past events a part of my life, these dates and information are relative to how I remember them, and should not be taken as exact points in time. From the earliest days of my childhood, I was viewing children television shows such as  Sesame Street . By the time that I was four, I was already in love with the Nickelodeon preschool show Blue's Clues , mostly favoring the host at that time, Joe (Donovan Patton). [No worries, I liked the previous host, Steve (Steve Burns), too!] While I was not necessarily watching the shows at the time, some of my earliest memories are of m...

 Remember when streaming services were an alternative to traditional broadcast television? A safe haven from commercials, gimmicks, limitations. Well, the idealistic world that sites such as Netflix has accustomed many of us to has now gone to the wayside before the new year hit, ending the fantasy that streaming companies were vastly different from their predecessor companies within the field. Up until almost a year ago, streaming giants such as Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max were defined by the concept of having no commercials, an ever-growing library of content, and would be home to bundles of original content, both past in present. Furthermore, these sites, primarily Netflix, stood out as ones that would save content from its death on linear television, ensuring each story is told to its fullest extent and is given a proper conclusion. However, these concepts met its end within the past couple months, with HBO Max and Disney+ launching ad-friendly versions of their platforms, cu...

 Jumping a season from my previous review of the season, I go to the second season premiere of The Facts of Life . Unlike the first season, the series now focuses on only four young girls at the Eastland School as opposed to the large ensemble of yesteryear, three of which are returning cast members, alongside Mrs. Edna Garrett. Starting off the season, we once again find ourselves with exposition, with Tootie (Kim Fields) and Natalie (Mindy Cohn) explaining to each other and Blair that Mrs. Garrett got a new job as the school dietitian, as opposed to being a housemother. Surprisingly, we also see Arnold Jackson (the late Gary Coleman) return from Diff'rent Strokes  in one of the final scenes the two shows crossover. Minutes into the show, we see the motorcycle driving Jo Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon) enter, moving in from The Bronx, New York as Blair's latest foil, transferring from public education to start a new life. While they do not necessarily see eye to eye, they at least ...

"There's a place you've got to go for learning all you want to know about the facts of life." - Gloria Loring singing the original theme song of the series. Running from 1979 to 1988 on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) network as a spin-off of Diff'rent Strokes , the series The Facts of Life  ran nine seasons as a staple of television, produced by Norman Lear's Embassy Television. While I wasn't born until over a decade after the series ended, I began watching the series in syndicated reruns on The Hub Network in elementary school, instantly falling in love with the character's fun antics and the life lessons of housemother Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae). In my journey to become more familiar with the series from the era I adore so much, I chose The Facts of Life  as my first series to re-watch select episodes from. Despite focusing much of my rewatching on the later seasons, I did want to first re-watch the pilot episode, stemming from a season I...

 It's that time of year again! With the 2022-23 television season eager to begin its winter break halt, the networks each announced their schedule changes for the mid-season beginning this January. Having primarily watched ABC series for the past several years, that is where most of my attention will be spent throughout this article, though I will touch on my additional thoughts on the other major networks. Starting with Sunday nights, I was very disappointed to hear ABC opted to move the signature series The Rookie  off of their schedule and onto Tuesday nights, or rather early afternoons. While I will touch on this again soon, this is paired with the moving of Celebrity Jeopardy! and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune  to Thursdays, creating a full day of game shows as we enter the winter. This is all to make way for American Idol  alongside new series The Company You Keep . While I don't intend to judge The Company You Keep  before seeing the series, let alone a trai...

Three weeks ago, we saw the re-entry of comedian George Lopez to the sitcom genre, this time alongside his daughter Mayan. Lopez vs Lopez  is the latest sitcom on NBC to be added to their Friday night lineup, one I quite honestly keep forgetting exists, joining junior series  Young Rock . At first glance, the opening episode of the series sparked many connections with George Lopez's hit series George Lopez , especially in relation to his comedy style and the usage of the former series' theme music "Low Rider" within the first several minutes. However, while the comedy may have carried over from the other series, the delivery is more in-line with ABC series The Conners. For those familiar with The Conners , it is a series based on a working-class family trying to make ends meet, a spin-off of the popular 1990s series Roseanne . In this case, the Lopez family is also shown in a multigenerational and somewhat dysfunctional family, now coming together to create a 'new...

 While television has always been a part of my life since I was little, what I watch on television shifts rather frequently, usually keeping in-line my overall enjoyment of family-friendly shows that share a connection with the audience. In terms of linear television, each weekday evening starts off with Jeopardy! , a relatively new daily tradition within my household. As of writing, the 2022 Tournament of Champions is airing, featuring some of the most accomplished contestants in the show's history, leaving a legacy for future years to follow. Currently hosted by Ken Jennings, with Dr. Mayim Bialik also serving as a host, the daily viewings never get old. On Mondays, my lineup starts on CBS with their sitcom The Neighborhood  starring Cedrick the Entertainer. While I wasn't all too fond of the show when it initially aired, it's grown on me, and I enjoy the interactions between the Entertainer's character, Calvin, and his neighbor Dave (Max Greenfield). While more of a ...