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Dream On

This is the way my mind works – repetition, repetition, repetition – this is how I remember things. Movies, television, happy things, yucky things; nothing useful. I will watch movies in my head over and over again, on a continuous loop; usually three or four or even five at a time. Movies that are in no way related to each other, scenes interspersed, answering one another; over and over and over again. It’s not done on purpose. It’s only vaguely irritating.

For every exchange I have with another person, every exchange I overhear, every thought I have, a movie or t.v. quote will instantly pop into my head as a response
to whatever is being said. I know I can’t possibly be the only person whose mind works this way, but I’ve yet to meet anyone who can relate and I feel so very alone in the world because of it. Or…I would, if there had never been a television series based upon this type of thought process. This is the fun part. This is a very exciting time for me, because I just gave myself the opportunity to re-visit a much beloved and obscure series.

In 1990, an adult comedy-drama, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered on HBO. If I am not mistaken it was HBO’s first long-running series; possibly, the first cable series of its kind. The show was called “Dream On” and it starred the delectable Brian Benben (Brian Benben, still married to the devastatingly beautiful Madeleine Stowe) as a book editor named “Martin Tupper”. Martin was always getting laid. That’s not important, it’s just something I appreciated. He was a classic Baby Boomer and very much a product of his generation; raised on television and, possibly, SPAM. Martin could not get through a conversation, or even process a single thought, without having a random scene from a t.v. show or movie invade his head at exactly the right moment. I mean, they were random, but entirely appropriate; always entirely appropriate. 

I loved this show! Because I could relate to it. I was relating to what, now? A bumbling divorced man in his forties, who is a sad role model for his teenage son, and who can’t hold onto a meaningful romantic relationship to save his life.

Wow. That was an oddly-shaped revelation and a half. Maybe I do need a psychiatrist.

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