Published: September 05, 2008 01:14 am            

... A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ...

Imagine, if you will, it’s the end of a long day.

The head of the household comes home, kisses the spouse and offspring, enjoys a meal, then kicks back, grabs the remote and flips on the tube.

He then spends the evening enjoying some top-notch, first-run shows like “The Honeymoon-ers,” “I Love Lucy” and “Gunsmoke.”

Impossible, you say. Those shows first ap-peared on our TV screens more than 50 years ago.

Not impossible, however, if the viewer in question was picking up Earth television signals on another planet, and if he had eight eyes and tentacles for arms.

In a letter to the London Daily Telegraph, former BBC News Web site correspondent Dr. David Whitehouse said it is possible Earth television transmissions could draw the attention of alien life forms on some far-distant planet.

I hope they like what they see. I would hate to have the Earth overwhelmed by swarms of bloodthirsty aliens upset by the latest episode of “The $64,000 Question.”

Those beings residing on planets just 50 light years from Earth likely are picking up 1950s TV shows.

More distant planets are just receiving early wrestling broadcasts from the late ’40s, or are curled up around the radio listening to the exploits of “The Shadow” or “Amos and Andy.”

What will they think of us based on some of our early entertainment offerings? They will think husbands and wives sleep in separate beds and crimes always are solved by super heroes or hard-working detectives within an hour, give or take a few minutes for commercials.

They will learn violence, is part of our world and our popular culture, whether in the form of news reports on the Kor-ean War or the gun-slinging exploits of Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers.

They will watch us struggle with issues like racism, sexism and poverty, noting our successes and failures.

They will sense the palpable paranoia of the age sparked by the early years of the Cold War. They undoubtedly will chuckle, or whatever members of their species do when they are amused, when they see promotional spots urging citizens to “Duck and Cover” when confronted by a nuclear blast.

They likely will get a big kick out of our vision of the future and of space in the form of radio dramas like “Planet Man,” “Buck Rogers” or “Flash Gordon” or early TV offerings like “Men Into Space” or “Science Fic-tion Theater.”

Of course, to pick up television signals from Earth would require some rather powerful equipment, but you figure alien societies are likely more advanced than we are. They likely have been using digital technology for years, for instance. If not, they will not be able to pick up our TV signals after Feb. 17, especially if they are using rabbit ears. Of course, on other planets, the only antennas around might be the ones on top of their heads.

Of course, there is a chance there is nobody out there at all, that we are truly alone in this vast universe. The chances of that, however, are infinitesimal.

Whether or not any of them have dropped by to say hello is a subject of great debate. There have been many incidents, be-ginning with the alleged crash of an alien craft outside Roswell, N.M., in 1947, some people argue constitute hard evidence of alien visitors.

Personally I don’t be-lieve it. The government can’t keep anything a secret for very long, so it is extremely doubtful they could keep a lid on a series of intergalactic visitors stopping by to visit the neighbors.

Actually it would probably be best if alien worlds began receiving today’s television transmissions.

A steady diet of reality shows, talk shows and foul-mouthed network fare probably would convince them there was no intelligent life on this small blue planet.



Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle.