My oldest son is an up-and-coming cartoonist, and I am keenly aware that, if his career takes off, I will be obligated to spend a lot of time with his oeuvre, what with all the book signings, TV and movie spinoffs, etc.

When he was young, I determined that I didn’t want to spend my golden years immersed in Beavis & Butthead: The Next Generation, so I decided to expose him to what I consider good, classic comedy. Over the years, he has seen every episode of Frasier, Cheers, and Seinfeld. He’s been exposed to Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Monty Python. (I’ve also successfully transferred my love of Star Trek to him, but that’s not funny ha-ha. People look at us funny when we talk about it, so maybe there’s a connection there.)

My Machiavellian ploy has worked; I have successfully transferred my humor personality, as it were, to him.

I realized the other day, though, that this has worked both ways, when I spent a pleasant evening with him playing Civilization Revolution on Xbox, and then wrapped up the night watching the end of the Nicktoons series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I don’t know how I got sucked into the Avatar thing, but I’m glad I did. I never thought I’d be saying this about a cartoon, and a Nickelodeon one at that, but it was well-written and well-drawn, with interesting characters, good plot development, and an engrossing story line. I am assured that the live-action movie, based on the cartoon, was a dog, but we all have high hopes for the upcoming cartoon series sequel.

Yes, the Nerd. It’s a DNA thing, and it is strong in this household.

© E.S. Evans 2010