Home After the Holidays, or, A View for the Cat

Anytime I have enough time to take off work between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I do it. It’s always great to have a few days to just relax after the holiday rush. This gives me time to finish little projects around the house, to put things away from the holidays, to catch up on some reading, and (after all that is done), to actually have the rare opportunity to sit for mindless hours watching daytime television.


Of course, the burning question of the daytime television scene right now is “Who will replace Regis?” That’s right, Live with Regis and Kelly is now just Live with Kelly. I tuned in, of course, to see how Kelly Ripa was holding up. She seems fine. Well, I always want to feed her, but I am sure that’s just the Italian mother in me. The biggest change is that she has moved into Regis’ seat behind the table, which I found strangely disconcerting.

Not that anyone asked me, and I don’t know if every guest host is actually auditioning for the gig, but my hands-down favorite guest host this week was Josh Groban. This surprised me as much as it does you. He had an easy rapport with Kelly, a nice sense of humor, and was quick on his feet. He kept the show moving along, was a decent interviewer, and seemed like he would grow into the role. He would be a nice Yin to Kelly’s Yang. And in a pitch, like if a guest cancelled last minute or something, he could always sing.

I got to catch up with my old pals on The View, my absolute favorite daytime TV show. I swear Whoopi Goldberg and I could be BFFs. However, I even like Elizabeth Hasselbeck. You know, I’ve always been what one of those live-and-let-live kinds of liberals who think that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even conservatives who disagree with me. Besides, what fun would it be if all the women on the panel agreed with one another?

Speaking of “views,” I have to tell you about this episode of For Rent that I watched. This is HGTV’s variation on House Hunters, only about renters. The would-be renters in this episode listed a good view for their cat as one of their must-haves in a new rental property. Mind you, not just any view would do for this cat (who also had his own Cat Condo in the couple’s bedroom). In reviewing their one possible choice, the woman said, with a straight face, “Sure there’s a window, and a view, but there isn’t really anything interesting for the cat to look at there.”

Sadly, the landscape of daytime television in the afternoon has been altered forever, and not for the better, because Pine Valley is no longer a part of it. All My Children, MY soap opera, had its last episode last September. What a town that was – filled with characters like Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight), Adam and Stuart Chandler (the incomparable and brilliant David Canary), and the one-and-only Erica Kane played by the one-and-only Susan Lucci.

In an effort to fill the void, I went to the library and checked out All My Life, Susan Lucci’s autobiography. Aside from a certain hard-working determination and eternal optimism, Ms. Lucci has precious little in common with Erica. I am convinced that it took her so long to win her Emmy simply because she made it look so easy.

I don’t know what I am going to do to get my All My Children fix next year when I’m home the week after Christmas. With any luck, David Canary is working on his autobiography now.