On Tuesday I was thinking of calling in sick to work. I was not at all sick, but I needed to catch up on my laundry and homework. I got to thinking of the times I would stay home sick when I was a kid. For some strange reason I loved school throughout most of my K-12 years (minus the first half of the cruel joke that was my eighth grade year at Fred Moore Middle School). I never faked sick to stay home. When I was at Anoka High School I recall being able to fake sickness for one class period, where you would then have to lay on a cot next to other fake sick people on other cots three inches from yours. In reality we were all just probably avoiding our Geometry tests that we had not studied for, at least that was my reasoning.

But when I was 12 and younger and I was sick it meant that my mother would make stay home from school and force feed me dry toast, chicken broth, and Coca-Cola. I have no idea why she would stick that battery acid in my flu-ish stomach either, but said she thought the bubbles night help.

After I was snuggled under one of her enormous homemade afghans on the family room couch, I was free to watch TV all day long. Daytime television at that point was golden. Not the soap-operas. I have never been able to get into those. But the line-up I had was awesome. There is no longer television of that quality on the broadcast stations.

These are the top 7 show to watch while sick on the couch…feel free to add your own.

7. The People’s Court

I could be wrong, but I think they’ve tried to keep this thing going after Wapner was gone. Idiots. The music. The bailiff. That weird voiced guy outside of the courtroom. The cases?! Seriously, they would drag people to court over the silliest and therefore most hilarious things.

6. Montel Williams

Before he decided to re-invent himself to become a serious fella, Montel would be the show to turn to if you wanted to see strange things. Not Jerry Springer strange, but still. I remember him several times, or I just saw the same show reran several times, containing nothing more than ladies with large chests and how they dealt with the attention they received. And none of them would own up to surgery. Cause 46 DDDD’s happen in real life, and on bodies that weighed 125 pounds apparently.

5. Love Connection

You can do the “two and two” hand motion. You just did it now. When the “contestants” hit it off it was good TV. When they hated each other with a passion it was even better.

4. TIc Tac Dough

It was a show that had a concept I could follow when I was very young, which was when it was on. And I mean, c’mon, Wink Martindale!

3 & 2. (Tie) Sesame Street and Mr Roger’s Neighborhood

After Kindergarten these shows were for babies and you wouldn’t be caught dead watching them. But when you are sick at home and not even your sisters are are around to mock, you could catch up with what crazy things Grover was doing and also try to figure out just what the heck was Lady Elaine Fairchild? Certainly she had a heads up on the lesbian on television bit before Ellen.

1. The Price is Right

Everybody in the world is convinced they could win most of those games. Except beating Mr. Barker in putting. He is of course the man in that area. When I would slam the door shut on our old school garage I would imagine I was spinning the Big Wheel. And one more thing: PLINKO!