It was the final year of President Ronald Reagan's first term, the Dow Jones average passed 1100 for the first time, Michael Jackson's Thriller album was the pop music phenomenon, and I was writing a thesis on church endowments in medieval England for a History M.A. at the University of Virginia. It was the last time that my living quarters didn't include cable TV. In fact, there wasn't a TV in my Charlottesville apartment at all that year, a source of open-mouthed wonder to some of my acquaintance.

I haven't banished the television entirely from my Delaware County home, but I had the cable service removed earlier today. I'll have a few network channels remaining, and Jethro Gibbs and the NCIS team may show up for an occasional visit. And I'll get some Phillies games. But, as for Don Draper and the Mad Men, top chefs and classic movies. Well, they'll have to flourish without my eye on them.