“Hallmark channel?!” the professor exclaimed. “Are you kidding me, do you know how poorly constructed those movies are? Have you ever read an analysis of them, deconstructed them to the point of understanding just how poorly they fare as art?”

No, I said, I’ve never read an analysis of or “deconstructed” a Hallmark movie—or any movie, for that matter.  Nor will I, having little patience for analyses, words with more than three syllables or, say,  professors who are just warming up when they hit the 45-minute mark in a lecture. Life is short and often uncomfortable, and joy—a surefire antidote to the bad ‘stuff’ of life—can be an effort to achieve; so why invite more joy-stealers into your life, such as boredom and over-intellectualizing?

And I have absolutely no interest in deconstructing anything, I told him, except for a medium-rare New York Strip steak, preferably with sautéed mushrooms.

Well, he sniffed, you’re destroying your body as well as your mind.

And I smiled. I smiled because, you see, I regard television as true art, museum for the jus’ folks, viewing it with  the same reverence as my favorite theologian, Homer Simpson, who declared: “Television! Teacher, mother, secret lover!” So many of the problems of life are introduced through education and educators (university professors especially) who view popular television with the same disdain they reserve for bowling and tailgating. Life is so much more complicated, they insist,  than your average Hallmark movie with its happy ending, or a highly rated drama that wraps up in 60 minutes (42 without the commercials).

Nonsense! There is much to be learned from a typical Hallmark movie: Happy endings, for example, are possible, as is true love…and I believe in both. And so should you, if you want to recover from the unavoidable speed bumps on the road of life (hmm, maybe I should have taken up scriptwriting instead of professor-ing as a second career). And watching Leroy Jethro Gibbs on the hit drama NCIS provides a model for the stoic and confident navigation of all that life throws at you, from murder to angry ex-spouses and back again.

The lessons of great entertainment, such as NCIS or Blue Bloods or the average Hallmark movie: Life is as simple or as complicated as you make it…and attitude makes a difference. Cultivate a simple and joyful worldview, hold fast to Godly values, learn to smile after hitting those speed bumps and you will find it possible to work your way through to happy endings.

Want to learn about life? Spot the occasional rainbow? Recover after hitting a speed bump?

Watch television.