My speaking engagements earlier this week took me out of town for less than 24 hours. But the time away resulted in a wink from God and a blast from the past. The blast from the past came during morning exercise time after my overnight stay. I flipped through the TV channels, looking for something to distract me from the pain and boredom that accompanies the stretching the kinks in these old muscles. When strains of the Mr. Ed theme song began, minus the lyrics, I quit channel surfing.
But why wasn’t anyone singing the lyrics (which practically every child who attended elementary school in the 1960s knows by heart) along the sit com’s perky little melody?
Because, as the first scene revealed, this was the first episode of the entire series. The lyrics would have given away the show’s hilarious premise – unsuspecting, newlywed couple buys a new house complete with a talking horse, who only talks when the husband is around.
Boy oh boy, this history lover was in for a pop history lesson!
However, my childlike enthusiasm was short-lived. My fifty-three-year-old sensibilities were not nearly as impressed by the show’s hilarious premise as my eight-year-old self had been. By the first commercial break, I understood why my parents hated the show and added a few of my own reasons:
- Displays of tame, natural affection between newlyweds were interpreted by other characters as shameful.
- The wife was portrayed as only concerned about making a good impression and going to parties.
- The husband was portrayed as really stupid.
- The smartest character in the show was the horse, but he was nasty smart.
- Every character in the show (including Mr. Ed) was totally self-absorbed.
The only redeeming feature of the show was Wilbur’s safety tip about not leaving a garden rake lying on the ground. He explained to his wife how someone could step on the rake head which would cause the handle to fly up and bonk the unsuspecting passerby in the face. Of course, the pretty little wife then asked, “You mean like this?” and the rake flew up and bonked Wilbur on the head. The gag was absolutely necessary to the intricate plot because the head bonk explained why Wilbur was seeing things – like a talking horse. Silly guy!
Anyway, I remember how Wilbur’s safety tip and lawn accident transformed my life. For several years, any yard I entered required a thorough scoping in case any renegade rakes were lying in wait. I found several, but thanks to Wilbur’s advice, I never experienced a head bonk. So I never discovered a talking horse which made everyone think was crazy, which was a good thing because being a dreamy, goofy kid I didn’t need any fuel added to that fire.
Even though that safety tip changed the course of my life, I can’t get sentimental about Mr. Ed. It’s about the dumbest TV show ever created, unless you’re eight years old, in which case it’s transformational.
Some days, being fifty-three is wonderful.
