TV Shows

She was blonde. And perky. And hungry for life. She danced on “American Bandstand”. And the last time I saw her, she was riding off on the back of Chris’ motorcycle, headed for California and a life of hiding from the draft.

Her name was Meg Pryor and for three years she and her family made me laugh. And cry.

Yes, folks, it looks as if the gentle little show known as American Dreams has been canceled.

I wasn’t impressed at first. When the pilot ended with the assassination of President Kennedy, I felt manipulated, as if my heartstrings were intentionally being pulled and my sympathies tweaked.

But then, she happened. Meg, the former band geek became Meg the dancer and, eventually, Meg the activist.

Sure, Roxanne ended up with Luke, Patty skipped a grade, Helen ended up shipping boys off to Canada, J.J. got wounded in Vietnam and gave up his dreams of walking on the moon. Jack ran for city council and eventually resigned. Beth dropped out of college and had a baby. Will got his braces off. But the show was Meg’s.

From straightening her curly hair to going out on her first date, I walked with her. The politics of the Vietnam era were long over by the time I came of age, but I was with her there too, watching as she cried for her brother, cheering as she encouraged the girls in her class to don armbands, cringing as she realized that “dropping out” was not always the best way to get things done.

She was blonde. And perky. And hungry for life. And she chose to ride off for California to go into hiding with the man she loved.

Had she been real, she would have been about my mother’s age.

I really hope that she comes back.