Pop! Goes the Cultural Landmarks!

I recently heard a discussion about pop culture “landmarks”– movies or television shows that have made a lasting impression on your life and writing career, and it made me think about my landmarks.

As a young boy, I was obsessed with the 1960s Batman series, which I watched in reruns every day after school. The WHAM! BAM! POW! graphics, colorful sets, and overall cheesy manner were right up my alley. I guess you can trace my odd outlook on life to this show.

Other favorites that left their mark are I Love Lucy, The Brady Bunch, and The Carol Burnett Show—it’s no wonder I write humor. The more I pondered about my landmarks, digging deeper to think of a television show that made me want to be a writer, one program stood out: Lou Grant.

Oh, Lou Grant! The spinoff of the Mary Tyler Moore Show took place in the busy newsroom of a Los Angeles newspaper, and it enthralled me. The show debuted right about the time that I was asked to be the junior high correspondent for the high school paper and, ironically, ended as I graduated high school and finished my illustrious journalism career there.

Week to week for five seasons, Grant guided his bevy of reporters in breaking the latest stories in rousing fashion. He served as a mentor for newcomer Billie Newman and often butted heads with overly-enthusiastic Joe Rossi. Who can forget Grant’s visits to regal publisher Mrs. Pynchon, with her pearls, her tough-yet-understanding demeanor, and her little dog constantly in her lap?

Each Monday night, I would pop my Jiffy Pop (which still fascinates me), grab a glass bottle of Pepsi, and park myself in front of the huge color television set in our small living room, ready for some exciting journalism action. I couldn’t get enough of the show as it captured the highs and lows of chasing a story and dealt with the benefits and consequences of investigative reporting. Combined with my work  on articles about school assemblies and club meetings, I was hooked.

My love affair with journalism didn’t end with the cancellation of Lou Grant, as I went on to major in journalism in college and still teach it, in addition to my freelance writing.

A few years ago, one of our obscure cable channels showed Lou Grant reruns for a short while. The strong sense of journalism remained, but many of the references and issues were dated. The newsroom was full of fancy electronic TYPEWRITERS, and there was even a scene with a newfangled invention—a CAR PHONE. Even so, it remains a pop culture landmark and an important influence in my writing journey.

Now . . . what’s your landmark?

Carlton Hughes wears many hats. By day, he’s a professor of communication at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, he does object lessons and songs with motions as Children’s Pastor of Lynch Church of God. In his “spare time,” he is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Chicken Soup for the Soul and several devotional books from Worthy Publishing—Let the Earth Rejoice, Just Breathe, So God Made a Dog, and the soon-to-be-released Everyday Grace for Men. Carlton and his wife Kathy have two college-age sons, Noah and Ethan. He is on the planning committee for Kentucky Christian Writers Conference and is a year-round volunteer for Operation Christmas child.