"Mr. Belvedere will truly live on in my heart, as will his delightful British accent"

Not to get all morbid on you, but Tomarken's passing reminded me of this, a Web site me and my friend Joe came across a year ago. It's a collection of comments people posted when Christopher Hewitt, aka TV's "Mr. Belvedere," died in 2001. The comments are pretty funny, but also oddly fascinating and even moving.

Here's a sample: Mr. Belvedere was truly a great man. He taught me respect, compassion, humor and most of all, that it is ok to have a delicious cookie here and there w/o being to concerned about your weight. Mr. Belvedere will truly live on in my heart, as will his delightful British accent. I always wished that one day he would write about me in his diary, but alas, he is no longer writing. I will truly miss you Mr. B. Dropkick your jacket as you walk through the doors of heaven, no one cares...no one cares.

I find it amazing that the crappiest TV shows can have a profound impact on people's lives. It's easy to scoff at that, I guess. But if the impact is real, aren't these shows more important than we give them credit for? Why does religion or charity work or mountain climbing automatically mean more than "Mr. Belvedere" in terms of gving meaning to somene's life? Don't we all need an excuse to to have a delicious cookie here and there?