Date Nights

Our columnist makes an argument for appointment TV

- By Jessica Shaw

REMEMBER HOW IT USED to be? Your show was on at whatever-o-clock, and that meant an entire to-do list to be checked off by whatever-o-clock minus one second. I’ve been a fan of appointment television since my older sister and I would finish our homework and shower by 8 p.m. on Monday nights so we could snuggle in one wellworn armchair and watch Little House on the Prairie. When Michael Landon smiled at the camera, I felt like he was looking right at me and saying, “Halfpint, you got here right on time.”