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March 15th, 2006
So I've been chewing on this episode for a few days now. I've also been waiting for Television Without Pity to update their detailed episode recap so I can determine if I missed something that actually meant something within this episode. I really need to stop being lazy and just go pick up a DVR from my local Comcast office. Then you'll never be able to escape my Primetime commentary - ha ha HA! But yeah, back to Grey's. I thought it was the lamest eppy in a while, stockpiled with filler and more of the same, "Aww, maybe Derek still loves his wife too" stuff that I'm getting a little bored with. As you may (or may not, depending on your level of McObsession) know, the show's writers post a blog every week after the episode airs. You can visit it here. Creator Shonda Rhimes talks about how the characters are real people to her... she doesn't know what's going to happen until she writes it and it just flows forth from the part of her brain where the real Meredith, Derek, Cristina, etc. all live. Or something. The point is that she wants Grey's to come off like real drama, without the trappings of typical sitcom or light dramatic fare. Except that I sometimes enjoy typical if it's done in a smart or quirky or flirty way. Wouldn't it just be a gas if no one ever found out about Addison's continued relationship with McSteamy after she drove McDreamy away? Wouldn't it? NO! Romance novels are formulaic for a reason. That formula should not include being skeeved out by the guy who is realizing his underappreciation for a smart and beautiful wife at the same time that he's enjoying walks and heart-to-heart chats with his mistress that we've seen cast as his true love. It's one or the other, folks. Team Mer or Team Addy. There's no Team Derek Who May Just Love Both of These Chicks. That show is reserved for Playboy or HBO's new series, Big Love. I guess I just can't see where the writers are going with this show, as far as Meredith and Derek are concerned. The first season was a buildup to loving all that was McDreamy. Trust me, I have the DVD's to prove it. Watch it and luuuuv him. Enter the wife, who was initially billed as Satan herself. I fell for that characterization and pfft'd every attempt she made to win Derek over. I loved when he told her that he'd been in love with Meredith. I didn't mind that he was trying to reconcile his marriage, provided he found out that it was all for naught... afterall, she'd cheated and lied and lied some more. OK, so there were some moments where she wasn't all Satan-ish.. when she told the expectant mother that she was the one who'd deserted her marriage - not to take out her frustration on intern Meredith. But now we're seeing a completely different side of Addison. Addison who latches on to a patient's husband because he acknowledges her beauty. Addison who shares an intimate moment with Derek, laughing over her unfortunate case of poison oak. I'm not convinced I *want* to like her, want to see her insecurities or share in her intimacies with Derek. Because I'm supposed to want him to love Meredith. And I'm feeling a little dirty for him as he sneaks off into the woods with Meredith. Dishonesty is not dreamy. And yes, yes... I realize he's never been completely honest, but suddenly there's a difference. At first he was confused and torn apart by the cheating and he didn't know what was going to happen and there was an element of tragedy in his courtship with Meredith. She was breathing life into him and he knew it - Seattle and this plucky young intern were just what the doctor ordered. Now though, the cards are on the table, the wife is in the trailer and he's just playing both sides of the court a little too much for my liking. McSkeeve Me. : \ I'm hoping that the next few weeks are revealing.. either they disassemble the Mer/Der connection altogether or the lid is blown off the marriage with Addison. I can't see continuing this pattern for too much longer, but then I was saying that a month or two ago. *sigh* In everything that I ever chatter about Grey's, I focus on Meredith and Derek. That's the part that bugs me or delights me most, depending, so it's my primary focus for commentary. The other parts of the show are always good - how cool is it that George is hanging out and jazzing it up with Dr. Burke? The man has issues, says Burke. The least of which is not the bad self-haircut, says Dayna. I'm thinking that Miranda is completely crazy for leaving the baby with Cristina - sure, I realize it was in the name of comedy.. but seriously? Seriously?? I wouldn't leave my puppy with Cristina for a day. She'd have been better off leaving him with Alex! I have the bad feeling that Izzy's patient Denny is going to die, which is a shame but don't we want to see Alex and Izzy get a little cozier anyway? They're just too pretty for words. I don't know about the Orthopedic doctor who has her eye on George - she seems a little scary. He might get hurt, and not even close to the same way that Meredith shredded him up. Finally.. what was the point of Natalie Cole in that episode? Yes, yes.. I know it was to relay to Derek that he might want to appreciate his wife (can we put a fork in her neck?) but Ms. Cole as a guest star who didn't even sing seemed weird. Extraneous, even. I mean, she's not an actress, is she? They should have just gone for the gold and had her singing Unforgettable in a club at the end while Derek took Addison out to dance. I SO did not just write that.. well, I did. Sucker for the typical, I am.
There was a time not so long ago that I never watched prime time. It wasn't a snooty or snotty or haughty thing. It was more of a matter of "not being able to remember when anything was on" thing. Scrubs = sometime Tuesday night. That was as far as it got.
Slowly but surely, over time, I started to see shows that intrigued me sufficiently that I wanted to be more aggressive about having them available to me to watch. That when I learned I'd been severely negligent in using my Dish Network DVR to the height of its capabilities. The "search" function became my friend and now there are multiple timers set that pick up my slack if I forget a favorite show.
In no particular order:
Dancing With the Stars
Overall, I have had little interest in reality TV and this is a show that to all appearances, would not hook me in, but boy, did it. I did not find the last few shows particularly satisfying. There must be a lot of sports fans out there. While Jerry Rice was definitely improved and turned in some very graceful performances in the semi-finals and finals. He was not in my opinion, however, better than Lisa Rinna or Stacey Kiebler and I don't think he needed to be in the finals. I have to take into consideration that Stacey definitely did blow the freestyle with the lackluster disco routine and I know that cost her. She should have really cut loose and had that be her coupe de grace. Instead, she gambled and lost and was kicked out early in the final show. It should have been a serious dance off between Stacey and Drew (who was really very good).
I honestly do look forward to the next installment and I regret missing the first one.
Scrubs
Scrubs has been a favorite show of mine since it first came on the air and yes, I own the first and second season on DVD. I was shocked when my son, David, said he didn't really find it funny. To me, it is hilarious and I feel as though I personally know each of the characters. I love'em. Unfortunately, this season seems to be a little bland. The problem, I suppose, is that I am comparing this season to the hilarious last two seasons. If I were to judge it on its own merits, it is by far and large better than 99% of the shows on the air. The writing isn't as crisp and sharp this season and I find myself still hungry after I finish watching. I am concerned that this great show, rather than stepping up to the plate and going the distance as it has in the past, will succumb to network apathy and go the way of such wonderful shows as "Dead Like Me," "Chicago Hope" and other really good shows. It hasn't jumped the shark, but it's looking for a pair of skis and a speed boat.
The Sopranos
I was positively stunned by how giddy I was waiting for the new season of The Sopranos to begin Sunday night. I even watched the East Coast feed 3 hours early. Just before the first episode of the season aired, HBO ran a 15 minute promo called "Making The Sopranos" and even though it revealed almost nothing of what was to come, I was completely fired up by it. It was fantastic to see old friends again, 2 years after the last season began airing.
I was very surprised by the style of storytelling that was used. What we learned right away is that when the last season left off with its climatic bust of Johnny Sack and Tony's disoriented stumble home afterward, the world did not stop while the viewing audience was away. This season picked up as if the lives of the characters had progressed during the down time in real time. Janice and Bobby now have a baby. Honestly, I don't remember that they even got married. Uncle Junior has descended even more deeply into his dementia. Carmela is still questioning her own worth and wrestling her own demons about what Tony does. Christopher is still pinging off the wall, trying to find his footing. Several new characters were introduced without fanfare or back story, as though we should already know why they were there and assign some degree of importance to them. When cataclysmic things happened to them, it was difficult to pull up any degree of interest. We were not well enough invested in them to appreciate what they experienced. Interestingly enough, this created a lulling sense of complacency with the episode, which made the last ten minutes all the more shocking.
In a review, I read that the first episode was stunning in both its outcome and in its violence and that the next two episodes were rather blah in comparison. Of course, I will continue to watch. More than anything, tell me a story. Creator David Chase swears this is the last season, so there should be some incredible things coming up.
I did not watch The Sopranos until about 3 years ago,when I did a massive catch up with DVD just prior to the previous season airing. After glutting myself on DVD after DVD of the first several seasons, I was a little pouty at having to wait a whole week for the next episode with the rest of the unwashed. Now, after waiting over a year and a half, I am excited, but would still like to see more, more, more.
Wife Swap/Trading Spouses
How about that? More reality TV for Katrina! For a few weeks, I thought these were the same show and that each time I watched one, I was getting the name wrong. Then I noticed 50,000 differences in the show. Wife Swap simply trades the wives off and then puts the two couples into a conference afterwards. Trading Spouses does the same, but in the end, the visiting wife gets to decide how the host family will spend $50,000.
I enjoy both shows, but feel it is limited in its scope. There are only so many swaps you can make that inevitably deal with a strict mom and a lax mom, a city mouse and a country mouse, a princess and a laborer, a rich mom and a poor mom. I still watch and I still enjoy it, but it would be nice to see something truly creative from time to time. Right now, I can't think of any (but then, that's not my job, is it?).
Supernanny/Nanny 911
I love these shows for the piousness of me. It helps me to remember that there are truly awful kids and truly awful parents in the world (and they usually go together). I get really good tips from both shows and enjoy seeing what a better parent I am than these losers. I am always amazed to watch people let their kids run roughshod over them and then act as though they don't have any choices in the matter. They just stand there and look vacant and lost while their kids go insane and out of control. I don't know why they think it's ever going to get any better as their kids get older. It gets worse. Pretty soon, you're running all over the place, cooking more than one dinner at night, giving up the things you want to do to accommodate the whims of the child. Sure, a kid's wants should be considered, but one of the first things a kid should learn is that a parent also values themselves, their needs and their wants. If a kid sees that YOU do not value yourself or your time, why should they? Teaching a child that what they want always comes first is one of the greatest disservices a parent can enact on a kid because they will quickly learn that the world just does not work that way when they get into it. My kids do not hesitate to ask me if they need or want something or need or want me to do something. They also know that it's possible that the answer will be "no." No one admires or respects a martyr.
So yes, I am grateful there are people in the world who are willing to teach parents to parent and help them sew on a pair of balls and be the adult, be the parent, instead of being twisted around their kids. Democratic households just do not work with children. That's why there are parents. Thanks to all of the nannies on these shows who have a clue about how kids are best taught and what attitudes and environments will make them thrive.
Yes, the piousness of me.
My Name Is Earl
Last week, I dreamed that I was sitting in an old, light blue Gremlin kind of car. I knew in my dream that the driver's side window was down and would not go up (off track). I had a child who was about 2 in a car seat in the back. I was also going to marry Earl Hickey. The child in the back seat was ours and his name was Little Sheppard and we called him "Li'l Shep." I was speaking to him in Joyspeak (only those who watch the show will understand what "Joyspeak" is) telling him what he would and would not be doing for the "weddin." It was a great dream. *sigh*
Featuring Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee of "Mallrats" fame (Lee was Brody and Suplee was William Black - the guy who kept staring at the 3-D pictures trying to see them), as well as Jaime Pressley (the aforementioned Joy, Earl's ex-wife) and Eddie Seeples (Darnell "Crab Man" Turner - he works at "The Crab Shack," he doesn't have crabs). Nadine Velazquez rounds out the team as "Catalina," the ubersessy maid at hotel where Earl (Jason Lee) and his brother Randy (Suplee) live. These five actors create an amazing ensemble cast that just can't be beat.
The premise of the show is that Earl, a ne'er do well who "did bad things and wondered why his life sucked" won $100,000 on a lottery scratcher, then was promptly hit by a car. While recovering in the hospital in traction, Earl sees a TV show where he learns about karma and decides that the bad things that happen to him are the result of bad karma for the bad things he has done in his life. He makes a list of every bad thing he has ever done in his life and spends his time making up for those bad things so he can scratch them off his list (sometimes adding more accidentally as he goes along). Randy and Catalina help him out and the three of them, along with Joy and Darnell, bring hilarity to each and every episode.
Running jokes such as the one legged girl from whom Earl once stole a car and the fact that Joy has two children who she insists on referring to as Earl's, even though she was pregnant with the first when they met and the second is a bi-racial baby she had with Darnell while still married to Earl, yet who is named Earl Jr are party of the hilarity.
Earl never fails to please. I think that's why I was marrying him. |
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