I Just Wanna Scream!

I was weaned on soap operas. I watched with The Mom from the time I could sit up on my own. When I’d come home from first grade, I’d demand the story lines from that day’s episodes of Guiding Light, Secret Storm, As the World Turns, and the eternal General Hospital. I watched into my high school years, but when Love is a Many Splendored Thing went off the air in 1973, I took that as a sign to move on from soaps.

But, every once in a while, I need some radical entertainment self-care. I need a show that makes me want to scream at:

*Annoying characters

*Pasts that come back to haunt them

*Bad decisions

*Obvious bad guys that aren’t obvious to the good guys

*Very bad decisions

*Displays of flagrant power

*Putting trust in the untrustworthy

*Tragedies that make you wonder if the actor pissed off the producers and won’t be back next season

*Catastrophically bad decisions

In the Golden Age of the night time soaps, like Dallas and Knot’s Landing, I just wasn’t interested enough to get hooked. But over the years, here are some of the shows I’ve watched for my ardent, yell-at-the-tv-to-work-out-my-aggressions, viewing pleasure:

*Gilmore Girls

*Younger

*Mum

*The Good Witch

*Little Fires Everywhere

*Big Little Lies

*Doctor Odyssey

And here are some of my favorite well-used commentaries, sometimes whispered, sometimes bellowed:

*You selfish little bitch/prick!

*Why would you do that?!

*F*ck you/them!

*Why are you with (despicable character)??

*Why aren’t you with (lovable hottie)??

*no No NO!!!

*Oh, and lots of bird flippin’, if ya know what I mean 😉

Lately, I’ve been watching Sullivan’s Crossing on The CW. Scott Patterson and Chad Michael Murray (both from Gilmore Girls) star with Morgan Kohan in a drama about a family-owned campground in scenic, small town Nova Scotia. Lots of complicated history and family entanglements, sweet people making (IMHO) ridiculous decisions, love in all its forms, and disasters, both physical and mental, at every turn, make for plenty of satisfying expletives thrown merrily out into the universe. The first two seasons are free to watch on The CW website.

Happy Swearing! Throwing popcorn at the screen is at your own discretion.

Bonus points: Follow @Toxicreddit on Instagram.  “Posts by unreasonably toxic people that make you go YIKES” Every single post will make you SCREAM!

AITA = Am I the Asshole

So, tell me, what shows or social media accounts give you that deeply satisfying whoosh of outraged indignation that can sometimes be so healthy for our overloaded nervous systems?

Photo by Finja Petersen on Unsplash