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Posts filed under TV
Sound Bite: The happiest show on television
“How I Met Your Mother engages in a certain amount of magical thinking. It believes in signs, in the power of coincidence and the broader meaning of things that seem unimportant. It’s not afraid of fairy dust and the idea that if the sad, difficult things hadn’t happened, the good things wouldn’t have happened either, because everything is part of a whole.
It doesn’t always work … But when they get it right, it’s a very elegant and thoughtful larger story about how crushingly sad things have to be placed into a context beyond themselves. It doesn’t really have to show you the mother; it’s not a show about her, even though its storytelling structure is critical. It’s a show that has a specific vision of how life works, and that vision is basically a happy one. It might be one of the happiest shows on television, and I continue to be grateful for that.”
- Linda Holmes in this beautifully written NPR post that captures the reasons why I fell in love with the show. It was written a few months before I discovered the show (how it took me seven years, I’ll never know), but I stumbled upon it when I mined the “HIMYM” writers’ Twitter feed. Yeah, it’s like that.
Sound Bite: "Bachelor" love child
“Rafael Nadal and I had a love child. And he’s now looking for love on ABC. We both wish him the best.”
-Josh Groban on the ridiculously boring new “Bachelor,” Ben Flajnik.
2011 Emmys: Ladies night
My favorite moment of the 2011 Emmy Awards last night? The off-beat presentation of the award for “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series” –apparently orchestrated by Amy Poehler–, topped off by the sweet group hug after Melissa McCarthy’s win. So much talent, so much fabulousness.
PopWatch: Entertainment therapy
Mandi Bierly at Entertainment Weekly wrote a poignant PopWatch blog post on the idea of “entertainment therapy” – love this excerpt:
“I love entertainment and the experience of it — the yelling at the TV, the shameful amount of rewinding, the unintelligible recount of a hilarious scene because you laugh just thinking about it, the single tear. What if that goes away?”
That’s a scary thought. I can relate more on a music level than on a television level, but the idea of not being emotionally affected by the best of either is unimaginable to me. Check out Mandi’s blog post below.
Anderson Cooper's (awesome) giggle fit
You love this. Don't lie.
Sound Bite: "Modern Family" and same sex parenting
“For Jesse and I, we get comments and compliments from gay moms and gay dads, and kids of same sex parents. They say, ‘Hey, thanks for being a couple that I can point to,’ like, ‘Cam and Mitchell are kind of like my family.’ Things like that that transcend our job.”
-Eric Stonestreet backstage at the 2011 SAG Awards, after “Modern Family”deservedly won the award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.
"Parenthood": Five reasons to watch
5. Awkward humor. It's the best kind, no?
4. Firecracker chemistry. The ad-lib style of dialogue might drive some viewers crazy, but I think it’s a perfect fit for this ensemble cast, whose chemistry is sparkling in almost any combination. There’s something wonderfully (and appropriately) organic about the interactions between the characters.
3. Careful, creative music selection. (Ray LaMontagne? Yes, please.)
2. Lauren Graham. Ok, so maybe Sarah Braverman isn’t nearly as intricate nor as compelling a character as Lorelai Gilmore, and maybe the more multi-faceted characters on the show –like Adam and Crosby– shine a little brighter. But in any context, Graham is a superb actress, unwavering in her commitment to her craft – and she’s long overdue for some accolades.
1. Striking depiction of family. “Parenthood” does what few other shows have been able to do: it slices through the glamour of marriage and parenthood without sacrificing the appeal of marriage and parenthood. The relationships on the show are revealed as raw, messy and flawed – but they’re also deep, resilient and meaningful. And while it’s fun to idolize TV characters, it’s more rewarding to be able to connect with them on a very real level, by grabbing onto and wrestling with their very real issues.
If you’re not watching “Parenthood” on Tuesdays, you should be.
"Glee" guilty pleasure
Some songs are so good that you wind up unconsciously loving every version you hear (even the radio-friendly sub-in). Maybe that’s why I can’t stop watching this clip – or maybe it’s the fiery, unbridled attitude that every character is sporting.
Whatever. This is gold:
