In Search of Macaroni & Cheese Television

I am currently experiencing the agony of insomnia. I sleep like a log until 3:00 a.m. and then I lay there and turn my worries over...and over...and over...and over, once more, just for good measure, for the next three hours. By the time I get up at 6:00am, I'm exhausted and I'm not sure if I'm coming at all my problems from the top or the bottom. It's very frustrating.

I spend those three hours channel surfing. Despite the fact that cable has allowed us to have hundreds of channels in the home, between the hours of 3:00am and 6:00am, most of the channels are showing paid programming. I found myself watching episodes of Murder, She Wrote on the Hallmark channel. The shows are very satisfying. I learned they are a genre called cozy crime. Agatha Christie was a master of 'cozy crime.' A horrendous crime would be committed, but the body was found between a pair of pretty overstuff chintz chairs with the smell of freshly baked bread lingering in the air. It's cozy, comfy crime, but I've found that I get too involved in the plot and don't drift back to sleep.

What I really need is some type of television show that is the equivalent of macaroni & cheese. I think that some shows, like 24, are like peel and eat shrimp, they are incredibly tasty and well-worth the effort, but they involve your full attention. And most reality competition shows, like American Idol and Project Runway, are like wine tastings, not only do they involve your full attention, they also require you to form an opinion.

So my insomnia and my search for the elusive macaroni & cheese television continues...

When my dad died I discovered a production of Anne of Green Gables on PBS. It wasn't on VHS yet, so it was hard to find to view over and over. In 1988 they didn't have DVDs or even the Internet to easily access information about one of your favorite things. I had to go to the library to find out when it was going to rebroadcast on PBS. That's one of the best things about PBS, they rebroadcast their programming over and over every month. Anne of Green Gables is macaroni & cheese television: totally tasty and indulgently comforting. It can also be satisfyingly viewed in its original package -- as a series of books. Not only are the stories all heartwarming, the views of Prince Edward Island on the television production are simply breathtaking.

I'm hoping to make a new discovery of something very comforting soon. In the meantime, feel free to call anytime between 3:00am and 6:00am. PT. Phone lines are open and there is one crazy operator standing by to take your calls...