From Tape to Tivo: Empty Nest Returns

I was 16 the last time "Empty Nest" aired in syndication in the United States. You want to know how far back that was? It was 2000. I lived in South Florida. I used VCR Plus to set up those 5 and 5:30 a.m. syndicated recordings. As big a fan of "The Golden Girls" that my dad is, that's how much I love "Empty Nest." In fact, as often as he watches "The Golden Girls" is as often as I would have watched "Empty Nest" if it had been released on DVD.

Now I found out just this morning that "Empty Nest" was acquired by Hallmark Channel and is airing right now in a 24-hour marathon. As soon as I read that, I turned on the Tivo, deleted most of the movies I had recorded (and added them to my Netflix queue), and set up for recording nearly all the episodes airing, save for the ones that repeat later into the evening. It's said that "Empty Nest" will join the regular schedule on Hallmark Channel some time in March, but no specific start date has been decided upon yet. Even so, I'm hoping that this somehow leads to a DVD release. My dad has all 7 seasons of "The Golden Girls" on DVD. I'd like to do the same for "Empty Nest."

Also, I just got home from a long day of errands (and wings at Wing Stop), and found that my share of the "Empty Nest" marathon (every episode from 10-something this morning when I first found out, to 8:30 p.m.) was 20 episodes. Bliss! Pure bliss! When it begins airing regularly on the Hallmark Channel, you bet I'll have it on as often as my dad has on "The Golden Girls." And I'll memorize the entire series just as well as he has that.