I like watching a lot of older TV shows, and while it's clear that Audrey likes I Love Lucy, I thought it would be interesting to consider what shows from the time period Seymour might enjoy. Here's what I came up with.


Before he and Audrey had settled into their new home, Seymour had never known what it was like to have a television. Back in the shop, he could have the radio playing music or telling him the news in the background. But it was definitely a different feeling from sitting with Audrey and getting to take their mind off of everything else for a little while as they watched the fun, light-hearted stories.

Audrey had quickly introduced him to her favorite program, and he'd come to enjoy I Love Lucy a good deal as well. On the times when it wasn't airing, he didn't really have any familiarity with what else to look for. If Audrey wasn't with him, he would usually give up quickly and pick up one of his books instead. But one day, there was one show that had managed to catch his attention, and he found himself setting aside his latest botany encyclopedia to pay attention.

He only realized it had passed from late afternoon to dinnertime when Audrey came in to set out their frozen dinners on the trays sitting in front of the couch.

He smiled as she nestled in beside him, and Audrey cheerfully asked, "What're you watching?"

"It's Gilligan's Island."

Audrey glanced over at the TV, where she could see one man in a captain's hat and another in a floppy white cap.

"I don't think I've seen this one. What's it about?" She asked.

"There's this group of people who were shipwrecked on an island together. They're always trying to get off, but it never seems to work out right."

Audrey had seen that Seymour looked rather absorbed when she came in, and she was curious to see what it was about the show that had piqued his interest. By the time they were finishing their dinner, she had long since managed to figure it out. The man in the white cap, who she soon learned to be Gilligan himself, was certainly well-meaning, but also seemed to be all thumbs and have two left feet. And the captain he worked for seemed prone to berating him in a way that reminded her a lot of their boss in the shop back on Skid Row.

Though he spent plenty of time laughing along with the show, there were also times when he started to look a little somber, and Audrey wondered if maybe it was hitting a little too close to home. During one of those moments, she finally reached over to take his hand.

"Is everything alright?"

Seymour didn't answer right away, and continued staring wistfully at scene currently playing out on the television. "Yeah, it's just… I never really had that."

The Skipper on the show could certainly be short-tempered, and he seemed to get fed up with his clumsy first mate a lot. But then he'd also call Gilligan his Little Buddy, and look out for him when there was danger around, and seem to have an almost fatherly way of caring about him. And Seymour couldn't help but think that maybe all those years in the shop would have been easier to take if it had ever seemed like there was that sort of affection buried under the way Mr. Mushnik treated him.

Audrey released his hand and rubbed a comforting hand up and down his arm as his eyes started to well up. "Do you want to turn it off?"

Seymour seemed to consider for a moment and then shook his head. "No, it…" A small smile broke out again. "It's kinda nice to see."

She knew what he meant. Watching I Love Lucy had once been her way of vicariously living out the idea of a happy marriage and a safe place to live, far away from the more serious problems that life had to offer. Though as much as she still enjoyed the show, it wasn't something she had to be content with imagining anymore. She supposed this was something about Seymour's past that would never be changed, much as she wished it could be. But for the moment, she settled for curling up against his side, watching quietly with him, and hoping he knew just how much he was cared about now.