What's Up with the Yanks?

No, this has nothing to do with baseball. Not those Yankees. I'm talking about the rest of them--all 300 million who live in that big country south of here.

Here's something I never thought I'd say: I miss watching Regis and Kelly.

Now I have to back-pedal. The show used to come on after Canada AM, at 9 a.m. On occasion, I slept late and could still find myself sitting dazed on the couch downing coffee at 9, and I would watch their morning "host chat."

I never watched the show when I lived in the U.S.--I didn't need to. However, now that I'm in this "whole other country," I found Regis and Kelly to be a really useful way to keep up with popular culture in the U.S.

Sure, I could find other ways to find out what's on the mind of the Average American. But what else popped into my living room conveniently at 9 a.m. for 15 minutes? Nothing, that's what.

Instead of showing R&K, the local channel bumped the Christian morning show (brrr) into the 9 a.m. slot and runs The View at 11. I have tried watching The View. Too much shrieking and direct sales. Whoopi isn't worth it.

So that leaves me with Entertainment Tonight, which is nauseating about half the time. Plus the internet, plus various other social media.

But geez. No Regis bewailing the performance of his Notre Dame football team of a Monday morning? No Kelly to talk about her shoes and her family and her dog and the production assistant's upcoming wedding?

OK, it was never particularly fascinating. But I was used to it, darn it. Farewell, acquaintances-I-never-really-liked. See you on Facebook.