It’s a Dog’s Life 67

I grew up in a house where the TV was the boss.

We usually ate to the accompanyment of the News and “Nationwide”, and woe betide anyone who spoke through the weather. (Which was invariably; “possibly a bit of everything, with some rain” – that’s Scotland for you.)

We had a VCR from my teenage years – early adopters – and I can still remember (shouting) arguments about whether it was Dallas or the “Saturday Night film” that should get recorded if my folks were socialising.

Looking back I cannot imagine how we would have coped with more than 4 channels to squabble over…

Just because all life took place at the kitchen table (with TV) or in the living room (with a bigger TV and VCR), I wound up with a lot of telly memories that I would not have chosen to watch; The Onedin Line ( a virtually sacred hour on Sunday evening) , Anne of Green Gables (possibly twice), Going for a Song (antiques program), Ask the Family (quiz).

Of course I saw every episode of Tom Baker/ John Pertwee as Dr Who, and frankly was raised by Blue Peter and John Cravens Newsround.

However, I’d like to talk about “Kids from Fame” (TV Series not film, although it was related). For a couple of years it was a Saturday Night staple for my mother and sister, which meant I was there for almost every broadcast.

Danny, Bruno, Coco, Lydia, Leroy Mr Shrofski… I’ve seen a lot more of these characters than I really should (and sung some of the songs).

Leroy, as I remember was the Black (can I say Black? Is that currently PC?) kid from the (poor) Brooklyn background with aspirations to be a dancer. I have this memory of an episode where a teacher has to visit him in his (squalid) room and kitchen, where the only decoration is a poster of ballet shoes… but I digress.

Sometimes you find the – a – truth, in the most unexpected situation. One of the “white” (can I say White?) characters is feeling very low for (I forget) some reason, and I always remeber Leroy sharing his “homespun” wisdom;

“You got the white folks blues….”

“?”

“White folks always expects to be happy 100% of the time, they don’t recognise that life’s not like that. Some of the time it’s not going to be good, and that’s just a part of being alive. Sometimes you’re down and that’s not great but its ok. There’s nothing wrong with you because you ocassionally feel down. Nobodys happy 100%”

I freely submit that I will have paraphrased this almost entirely. And I further apologise for any offence as I reach back through 40 years (good god!) to a time where political correctness meant that you voted what your parents did. But I think Leroy, or more correctly , the scriptwriter ( I have no idea, but, if I were a betting man, a white male writting what he thought was a suitably holmsy “Black” part), managed to hit on a concept that has a bigger truth than he realised

Maybe that’s why it always stayed with me.

Next week On IaDL : “The Wisdom of Snoopy the Dog”