For me it’s always The Andy Griffith Show.
To a lesser extent, I Love Lucy and The Beverly Hillbillies.
But whenever Andy happens to be on, it takes me back to lying on the couch with a pillow and blanket with a box of Kleenex and a bowl of chicken noodle soup nearby.
mmm
I knew exactly what you mean, but for me, it’s Jeopardy!
Mine would be MacGyver (sp?) and Magnum PI
With a side of Gilligans Island.
I faked sick a lot when my dad was laid off so I could hang out with him. So we watched what he wanted to watch, which was Andy Griffith, MASH and Gomer Pyle.
I liked CBS game shows:
$25,000 Pyramid
Press Your Luck
Price is Right
“Like sand through the hourglass, so are the* Days of our Lives*…”
When I was in college, one of our theater class assignments was to track a soap opera and critique the acting, scripting, directing, etc. I picked DOOL. Years later when I was home sick from work for a few days, I happened to turn it on, and felt completely comfortable with the story by the 2nd commercial. Years later I still saw some characters who were on the show back when I was in college.
A few months ago I happened to turn it on, someone was on trial for something and HOLY CRAP!!! THAT’S DOUG AND JULIE HUGGING THE DEFENDENT!
Thankfully this was not a regularly occurring television program, but I often think about the day I was home from school and Bud Dwyer pulled his handgun out of a manila envelope and placed it in his mouth.
Game shows, specifically “Price Is Right” and “Sale of the Century”
“Art Cart” a super low budget arts&crafts program that aired on public TV. They were so low profile even TV Guide wouldn’t list them, just lumping them in “educational programs”.
The reruns of prime time sitcoms that used to air in network daytime. The funny thing is I don’t remember watching shows like “One Day at a Time” and “Alice” at nightime, but watched them all the time in network daytime.
Hogans Heroes, Gilligans Island, Original Star Trek, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction
These all ran during the day on either WGN in Chicago or WTBS Atlanta. We got both on our cable. It made being home sick a lot easier.
Price is Right
The Addams Family
F Troop
A-Team
Hunter
Eighties soap operas. Whichever one featuring the Ice Princess and Luke and Laura.
I remember skipping school to see their wedding.
I don’t really have any tv show memories for being off sick. I do remember shows from when I had half-day kindergarten and was home the rest of the day. Liar’s Club, old school Let’s Make A Deal, Sesame Street…
General Hospital
MacGyver.
I’ll never forget this. One very cold, snowy winter day in 3rd grade, somehow in the course of regular playground roughhousing, I smashed my head against a steel pole and got what was probably a minor concussion. My dad came and picked me up, and I spent the rest of the day watching MacGyver on his TV and eating Andes chocolate mints.
I’m pretty sure that was the only time I’ve watched MacGyver.
Yep, TV game shows (e.g. The Price is Right), were one of the distinctive things about being at home during the middle of the day on weekdays.
The Price Is Right. Every weekday, 11 AM sharp on CBS.
Days of Our Lives used to play at 1pm every weekday, and Crown Court was at 2.30pm.
Home sick was the only time I ever watched Oprah. There were even worse talk shows on during whatever time slot it was in, it was the lesser of evils.
CHiPs
The Price is Right
I was sick for two days last week and stayed home from work. The best part was being able to watch TPIR!