When I set my goals for 2020, watching television game shows was not on the list. Then again, neither was leaving Ottawa a month early to complete the rest of the semester online. With all of my original goals suddenly seeming unachievable, I had to turn to an unlikely source of entertainment — television. Truly, drastic times call for drastic measures.
I hadn’t watched TV for years before COVID-19, and I thought I would never have a reason to do so again. I didn’t think I needed TV when there were online articles, podcasts, and YouTube videos that helped me to relax and feel connected to the rest of the world.
After the pandemic hit, escapism through online media became increasingly difficult. The news articles I saw were all about COVID-19, my podcast feed was full of pandemic-themed episodes, and YouTube channels made a show of working from home. Never before had my computer been so affected by a virus that Windows Defender could not remove.
My quest for entertaining media that wasn’t overly topical or strangely outdated led me to the beacon of hope that is the nightly CBS broadcast of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. For the past few weeks, I’ve watched the shows whenever they’re on in the evening — trying to solve word puzzles and answer obscure trivia questions before the contestants do. Sometimes, I marvel at the contestants’ skills, and other times I judge their choices under pressure. Even though most of the episodes are reruns (except for the latest Jeopardy episodes), I enjoy watching these shows for a variety of reasons.
A few months ago, I would’ve thought that waiting for something to play on a TV channel was inferior to watching whatever I wanted on the internet. Now, sitting through the pet food and home renovation ads is somehow a selling point of watching these shows.
Waiting for Wheel of Fortune to start at 7 p.m. brings some consistency to my daily schedule when all my real-life events are cancelled. It allows me to feel connected to some people outside of my family and feel as if I can retreat to a setting outside of my home.
Game shows are always in the same format, and the brief conversations between hosts and contestants never stray too far from light, positive topics. If any other kind of media was like that, it might seem boring or unrealistic, but game shows are supposed to be artificial. They’re a self-contained world, even during normal times.
They allow me to have opinions, make mistakes, and celebrate victories, knowing that none of it matters in the end. During a time when everything seems especially dangerous, it is a form of comfort to find something that doesn’t feel so crucial.
Featured image provided by IMDB.
