As a kid in the 80s the show was on in the afternoon and I fell in love with it. It must have been making a resurgence since they did reunion shows around that time. I am not sure what drew me to it but it was funny and as a child I did not necessarily understand the innocence of it.
As an adult I would occasionally catch the show or read about the actors. This would bring up nostalgia about my childhood and watching the show. I knew that it was on in the morning and on the rare occasion that I was home during the week I would try to catch it.
When I started working from home I turned it on as I would have breakfast and read through work emails. At first I was guilty about watching TV during the day and was going to stop watching. I wisely decided to keep it on; it was the only thing that I watched in the daytime and sometimes the only thing that I watched all day. It brings me comfort.
Why does a show based in the late 1950s/early 1960s bring me comfort? I am sure that part of it is the nostalgia from childhood watching it, though I do not get the same enjoyment from watching other shows that I watched back then. I think that the simplicity of the show appeals to me, especially during these "uncertain times" (yeah, I hate that too). We were forced to slow down and stay at home, eat dinner together as a family. Kids were no longer over scheduled, much like the kids of Mayberry. They got by with one car, they rarely went out to dinner or got take out. Life existed that way; and I know that the Cleaver household is an exaggerated version of this time.
I do cringe a little at the women who dutifully kept house and worried about the husband coming home to a warm meal. There are no minorities and they talk only of heterosexual relationships, quite common at the time.
Recently Ken Osmond, the actor who beautifully played Eddie Haskell, passed away. It brought a weird sadness as I felt as though one of my friends had died. Someone who had been a part of my life was gone.
Much like the warm cup of tea that I have in the morning LITB (that is what the cool kids call it) helps start my day off
