Before I came to the US, the only time I really watched TV was during lunch even though I was supposed to be doing “lunch” homework and/or taking a nap. That was life of an elementary kid in China in the 90’s – school was all about homework. The shows I watched back then were usually cartoons – Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin, and a few others which the names are evading me at the moment.

After arriving in the US, the TV shows I watched became all about the sit-coms. I called them the “laughter shows” in Chinese and “funny show” in English back then because of the laugh tracks. I would be glued to the TV when I returned from school to catch Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and would be up early on Saturday mornings to catch the Disney Channel shows playing on ABC. That was in the early 2000’s, by the way. It was good times to me without all the chaos that’s surrounding my daily life now.

I watched so many TV shows as a kid after coming to the US that it’s hard to keep track. When I started having streaming services a few years ago, I searched shows from the early 2000’s and discovered there were many great shows from that era, shows I would’ve loved. I wondered why I didn’t watch dramas? Why I stuck to comedy? Perhaps, all I wanted to do was laugh mindlessly to these actors perform silly stunts and make fun of themselves?

These days, with many new shows not catching my attention, I’ve been watching some of the shows from the early 2000’s to the 2010’s. I feel like my taste for TV will remain in this era for a while.