Where Oh Where Have Our Communal Pop Culture Events Gone? Searching for the Next One After the Final Harry Potter Book Experience

I can see images of families gathering around their high-definition TV's as they watch an elite group of astronauts landing on Mars for the first time. Let's hope you can see that too--or do you also see parts of the family congregating in other rooms doing separate things? Ok, maybe the youngest son is in the other room playing a video game (coincidentally about battling alien beings from Mars that have heads similar to that famous sphinx seen on the surface of the planet). The sister is in her room immersed in chatting with her friends (about boys, not astronauts) on the internet off her iPhone. The mother is in the guest room with the second TV watching a show about interior decorating on HGTV. (How is that still on when people are landing on Mars?) Even the family dog and cat are off in the kitchen fighting with one another and thinking dogs are from Mars and cats are from Venus. That leaves dear old dad to sit (with a few fellow male friends) to take in this stunning piece of history playing out on TV...and because they've always considered themselves space buffs. Replays of the Mars landing will be on during the 11 o'clock news.