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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Mail Tribune 100, Feb. 9, 1916 ... Oregon and Alaska lift suspension of troubled insurance carrier Moda ... Oregon refuge occupier releases videos mocking FBI ... Mail Tribune 100, Feb. 9, 1916 ... Oregon and Alaska lift suspension of troubled insurance carrier Moda ... Oregon refuge occupier releases videos mocking FBI ... Go Ask Alice: Those were the days Comment By Alice Coyle More Content Now MailTribune.com By Alice Coyle More Content Now Posted May. 5, 2015 at 12:08 PM By Alice Coyle More Content Now Posted May. 5, 2015 at 12:08 PM » Social News Remember watching TV? It seems like forever ago when you would gather the fam together and watch a favorite sitcom when it was actually airing on a network channel – ABC, NBC or CBS. These were the days before cable or satellite or Verizon Fios brought us hundreds of channels that few of us ever watch — unless we’re in the market for a tanzanite pendant set in sterling silver on an 18-inch box chain. You knew when your show was on, and you planned your schedule accordingly so you could catch the latest episode of “M*A*S*H” or “Barney Miller” or “Little House on the Prairie.” If you missed it you’d have to wait for summer reruns to find out “What’s Happening” with Rerun, Roger, Dwayne and Dee. Entire nights of the week were devoted to television consumption; some of it worthy of the time spent glued to the tube – “Hill Street Blues,” “St. Elsewhere” and “All in the Family”; some not so much – “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Bionic Woman,” “Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island.” Season finale cliffhangers were just that, and you made sure you didn’t miss them. There was no need for a spoiler alert or any way you’d let someone ruin the ending for you, and there was all summer to wonder “Who shot J.R.?” It was the same with sports. You watched the big games, playoff match ups and championships when they were happening – there was no ESPN highlight reel to show you the amazing athletic feats of Larry Bird or Dr. J you missed live. Sure it was a time commitment, but television, like the dinner table, often brought families together. When I was a kid it was Sunday afternoons watching Philadelphia Eagles football that connected my clan. As and adult, my blended brood enjoyed reality TV’s “American Idol” and “Survivor” in the early seasons. It was an hour on a Tuesday or Thursday night when everyone was together in one room sharing a common experience. It’s all so different today. DVRs, Netflix and Hulu have made television programming rather irrelevant and family time in front of the TV nearly non-existent. My 16-year-old son can turn into a zombie binge-watching an entire season of “The Walking Dead” on his tablet, coming out of his room only to eat between episodes. My husband doesn’t have to worry about the Thursday scheduling conflict between “Scandal” and “The Blacklist,” he can set the DVR to tape it (from his iPhone, if we’re out to dinner and forgot) and watch it whenever he likes … or finds the time. This is all well and good until our DVR fills up, or when we want to tape two different shows airing at the same time and catch the last four innings of the Red Sox game on another channel – which can’t be done. We can wait a few days and get that show we couldn’t record “on demand” but can’t fast-forward past the commercials, which also vexes my spouse. And when we don’t make the time to watch the shows we’ve taped, they pile up and we absolutely cannot watch the new episode of “The Good Wife” until we get caught up and watch all the ones we’ve recorded. There is also that unwritten marital agreement that we view the backlog of shows together and in order; neither spouse shall sneak in an episode and jump ahead of the other learning valuable insights into Olivia Pope’s complicated romantic and family relationships. The ridiculousness of this new way of watching TV became abundantly clear to me on a recent Wednesday night when I had three weeks of “Nashville” to catch up on and the all-new episode was about to air. There I was at 9:58 p.m. racing for the remote to delete a half-season of the “Mindy Project” and “The Goldberg’s” so I had enough space to tape the new “Nashville” — while binge-watching the old. Bleary-eyed and exhausted at 1 a.m., I was finally up to date on Deacon Claybourne’s ongoing liver cancer battle and Juliette Barnes’ struggles balancing her career with a new baby. And I found myself longing for those simpler Saturday nights escaping to “Fantasy Island” with Mr. Rourke and Tattoo. Alice Coyle is the managing editor of GateHouse Media’s Marshfield, Massachusetts, office. She can be reached at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @accoyleWL. By Alice Coyle More Content Now MailTribune.com By Alice Coyle More Content Now Posted May. 5, 2015 at 12:08 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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