“We don’t just do what’s easy. We do what’s right.”
September is well underway, and so are the traditions that come with this time of year. The kids are back at school, football and other sports have begun in the United States, and soon the weather will change, leaves will fall, and the holidays will be upon us. Every year no matter what the season, you can always count on certain things.
One thing that comes to mind when I think of traditions here at TLC is Fun Friday. In just a couple of weeks, we will share our 300th episode of Fun Friday. For those of you that are good at math, you know that that’s almost six years of doing Fun Friday without missing a week. 300 episodes do not accidentally happen. In order to achieve 300 episodes, of course, people need to watch, but people also need to work hard to produce the show and make it happen.
I have been part of 90% of these shows over the years, and I am here to tell you that it has not always been easy to make it happen. No matter what was going on, we always made it a priority to make Fun Friday happen no matter what because we knew it was the right thing to do.
Many times we were traveling and had to bring the equipment with us and deal with different time zone arrangements. This also means traveling on very early or late flights to make sure the streak continues. We have the show with our normal staff, and we have also done the show several times with a public audience. We have worked off a script, and we have worked off of no script. We have done the show fully rested, and we have done the show with very little rest.
What I’m really trying to say is that even though it’s called Fun Friday, and we have had so much fun doing it over these almost 300 weeks, it has also not been easy. The one thing that I do know for sure is that never once did we consider not doing it because we absolutely knew in our hearts that it was the right thing to do. We also knew that the right thing to do was to make sure that it was fun! This meant thinking out of the box and figuring out a way to make each show unique while also doing some of the things we traditionally have done from week to week.
I am very proud of all the men and women that have made this happen. Some worked hard on it for the first couple of years and moved on to other roles in the company, and others have just recently joined the group of people that makes it happen every week. Regardless each and every single person that has been a part of this 300-week journey should be proud of themselves. This is a big deal, and many people and organizations never accomplish doing anything for 300 weeks in a row, no matter how complicated or easy it is.
If you are reading this and you have been a part of any of the episodes at all. If you helped with broadcasting, if you helped with audio and video, if you helped with production, if you have helped decorate the studio, or if you have done anything to support this initiative over the years, I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It’s been a long run, and it hasn’t been easy, but I think we can all agree it’s been the right thing to do.
We have all given entertainment, hope, and excitement to the life changers around the world that love us. September 23 will be our 300th episode, and we plan on celebrating that day with a party. I hope that you can join us so we can all recognize each other for a job well done and celebrate with each other.
I would like for you to reflect back this week on what things you have done in your life for 300 weeks in a row. I think you’ll find that it’s very hard to think of anything. But if you’ve been a part of this great tradition called Fun Friday here at TLC, then you can say you did this! Together we have done some amazing things, and Fun Friday is just one of those things. Most of the things we decide to do around here are not easy, but we all agree it’s the right thing to do, and that’s why we do it.
A special thank you to all of you for reading this message each and every week, and may God continue to bless you and your families. I hope that whatever level of involvement you have within this great organization, we have inspired you to live your life based on the seven core values we have.
Have an amazing week, and keep being great!
