good-bye to all that...by judi sadowsky

when the tv show "friends" came to an end i was crestfallen. what was i to do on thursday nights without rachel and ross, joey, phoebe, chandler and what ever courtney cox's character's name was. when "seinfeld" went off the air, the only thing that consoled me was the fact that julia louis dreyfus and i went to the same manicurist so that once a week i could get an "elaine" sighting. losing those shows put a big hole in my life but it is nothing compared to the emptiness i am going to feel in just thirteen more days.

"seinfeld" and "friends", beloved as they were, were on once a week and they were fictional characters. in less then two weeks we are going to be losing the best show on television. for close to two years, every day, twenty-four hours a day, we have been watching the best reality show in the world! the cast of characters couldn't have been written. what with bill and hill and philandering john, with his terminally ill yet lovely and gracious wife elizabeth, we were riveted. and then along came barak, so foreign, so exotic with his wife michelle, a black jackie-o and their two, definitely ready for prime time, children. and that was just half the cast. we had rudi and judi, who couldn't wait to get her hands and her decorator on the white house and mitt the mormon, with a busload of children and grandchildren and also a lovely, yet ailing, wife. then there was huckabee and the wife in need of a makeover. and war hero john mc cain with trophy wife cindy, two families worth of children, an ex-wife and, for good measure an adopted daughter. a black one at at that. just when we thought it couldn't get much better along came joe biden with his compelling and tragic story, a blond wife who also could think and a son on his way to iraq.

oh yes folks. this was a tv show made in heaven. then, it must have been sweeps week because suddenly, a new cast of characters were added - the palins. sarah and todd and track, a soldier boy, bristol, an unwed pregnant teenager, her rebel boyfriend levi, willow, piper and special needs baby trig. you couldn't write this stuff. i would have loved to be in the meeting when some writer was trying to pitch this show. it would have been turned down instantly as too unrealistic. no one would ever believe it. and now, after almost two years, they will be leaving us. all but two will go the way of "the beverly hillbillies", "archie bunker" and "family ties".

on november fifth our favorite tv show of all times will be over. so long to the cast and the judges, rachel, chris, keith, bill-o, sean, and rush. we are gonna miss you guys. i guess i am going to have to start watching "dancing with the stars".