Pop Culture Update
Ugly Betty
I love this show. America Ferrera has always been my heroine. She’s so full of fresh fire, vitality and beauty; she’s a joy to watch. And I know this has been talked about it a lot, but it really is great that it challenges ideas of physical beauty and the importance people place on it. The show gets really ridiculous, but there’s just something so charming and fun about it, I can’t resist it. It makes me happy. And Christopher Gorham! N and I have dug him and rooted for him since he was on the tragically brief Jake 2.0.He is brilliant, adorable and gorgeous, and before this, the poor guy never managed to land on a show that lasted even one whole season. He finally picked a winner! I hope to see a lot more of him. I love him as a nerd, and I love the way the relationship between him and Betty is being deliciously thwarted and dragged out!
Beauty and the Geek
Please, Scooter and Megan. For me? For America. For the fight against evil. For humanity. For the love of all that’s holy, you must win!
Gray’s Anatomy
I first watched this show idly, just because it happened to come on after Desperate Housewives, which for some reason I was watching at the time. I have virtually no interest in medical shows; I think the market is flooded with them, and I can’t stand gore, so I had no reason to believe I’d like it. I gave it a chance mostly because it had Katherine Heigel on it, and I remembered her with great affection from Roswell. Her performance outstripped even the highest expectations I could have had of her; I think she is luminous, amazing, and simply one of the most beautiful actresses working today. I was startled to see Sandra Oh on the show, such a serious and talented actress, and one of my favorites. It pulled me in. I quickly fell in love with T.R. Knight’s acting and adorable demeanor, and I loved his character. I disliked Patrick Dempsey on sight and thought he was sleazy and unlikable, but his acting quickly won me over. How could I not love Chandra Wilson’s fiery, emotive, complex portrayal of Dr. Bailey? I couldn’t stand Ellen Pompeo, but it hardly seemed to matter, with all the other great characters and acting talent.
During the last few weeks, I have come to feel that this is one of the best shows that have ever appeared on television. Even Ellen Pompeo has stretched herself, and I now really respect her acting. Last night’s episode, despite my dislike of “trauma porn”, was unbelievably riveting. N and I just sat limp on the couch for several minutes after it was over, feeling like we could hardly bear to wait a week for the next episode. It compares well with the best television I have ever seen: Firefly, Northern Exposure, the best episodes of Buffy. It’s wonderful to have a truly great TV show. It’s art.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Sucks now.
Lois McMaster Bujold
Bujold is a brilliant author. I’ve read three of her books in the last three weeks. I’ve read her stuff before, but she has gotten infinitely better, and she was always pretty good. The Curse of Chalion is one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read in a long time. I never knew she was such a big name in sci-fi. She’s won more Hugo and Nebula awards than anyone except Robert Heinlein. (Of course, I think Heinlein sucks, so maybe that doesn’t say much.)
Heroes
I still usually watch this show; I love its premise and I think most of the actors are amazing, but somehow it’s not really holding up. I don’t know if it’ll hold my attention for much longer. Its propensity for extremely disturbing violence and gore doesn’t help matters, either. And though most of the actors are great, there are a couple who really suck most of the time, like the guy who plays Mohinder (even though he’s-super-hot). And the Sylar guy was only a good actor until he started getting some lines; now he pretty much sucks too.
General Notes
1. Thank God the football season is over! This is the time of year when I can relax in a relatively sports-free zone, and it’s an immense relief. Now, when I go to family gatherings, I don’t have to tolerate loathsome football, and the stupid way it makes my family behave. Seriously, football is a sign of the downfall of our society. How the fuck much do we really need to pay some idiot to run around on a field and throw a ball? A coworker agrees with me-she said she had a new plan for society, where ambulance drivers, teachers, and nurses make six and seven-figure salaries, and pro athletes make like 30k a year.
2. I miss the radio. I didn’t realize how much I gained from it until it was gone. I used to listen to it in the car on the way to and from work. I don’t have time to listen to it in the morning before work, and I can’t listen to it on a Walkman while I commute, because there’s something about the communication system on both the bus and the light rail that creates a whole lot of static interference. I miss being introduced to new songs and artists, and hearing newsbites and commentary from DJs I like. It used to be the main way I was kept up to date. I need to make a place for it in my life again. I need new artists, fresh blood, new songs to love!
3. I feel strangely sad (though unsurprised) about Anna Nicole Smith’s death.
4. This year might win the prize for Worst Sitcom Season Ever. Brothers and Sisters, The Class, Knights of Prosperity… they’re all terrible, and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head, the ads for which I’ve been unfortunately subjected to. I have caught a few seconds of them here and there, and they’re unwatchable. And I had high hopes for Knights, and didn’t really think it was going to BE a sitcom. Oh well.
5. It’s pretty odd that I’ve become such a TV person. I never was before. For many years, it was unusual for me to watch even an hour a week. I think TV has just gotten a lot better, and I think reading about different kinds of shows in Entertainment Weekly has made me give it more of a chance. I still wouldn’t own a TV if I had a kid, but it would be a lot harder to give it up now!
I love this show. America Ferrera has always been my heroine. She’s so full of fresh fire, vitality and beauty; she’s a joy to watch. And I know this has been talked about it a lot, but it really is great that it challenges ideas of physical beauty and the importance people place on it. The show gets really ridiculous, but there’s just something so charming and fun about it, I can’t resist it. It makes me happy. And Christopher Gorham! N and I have dug him and rooted for him since he was on the tragically brief Jake 2.0.He is brilliant, adorable and gorgeous, and before this, the poor guy never managed to land on a show that lasted even one whole season. He finally picked a winner! I hope to see a lot more of him. I love him as a nerd, and I love the way the relationship between him and Betty is being deliciously thwarted and dragged out!
Beauty and the Geek
Please, Scooter and Megan. For me? For America. For the fight against evil. For humanity. For the love of all that’s holy, you must win!
Gray’s Anatomy
I first watched this show idly, just because it happened to come on after Desperate Housewives, which for some reason I was watching at the time. I have virtually no interest in medical shows; I think the market is flooded with them, and I can’t stand gore, so I had no reason to believe I’d like it. I gave it a chance mostly because it had Katherine Heigel on it, and I remembered her with great affection from Roswell. Her performance outstripped even the highest expectations I could have had of her; I think she is luminous, amazing, and simply one of the most beautiful actresses working today. I was startled to see Sandra Oh on the show, such a serious and talented actress, and one of my favorites. It pulled me in. I quickly fell in love with T.R. Knight’s acting and adorable demeanor, and I loved his character. I disliked Patrick Dempsey on sight and thought he was sleazy and unlikable, but his acting quickly won me over. How could I not love Chandra Wilson’s fiery, emotive, complex portrayal of Dr. Bailey? I couldn’t stand Ellen Pompeo, but it hardly seemed to matter, with all the other great characters and acting talent.
During the last few weeks, I have come to feel that this is one of the best shows that have ever appeared on television. Even Ellen Pompeo has stretched herself, and I now really respect her acting. Last night’s episode, despite my dislike of “trauma porn”, was unbelievably riveting. N and I just sat limp on the couch for several minutes after it was over, feeling like we could hardly bear to wait a week for the next episode. It compares well with the best television I have ever seen: Firefly, Northern Exposure, the best episodes of Buffy. It’s wonderful to have a truly great TV show. It’s art.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Sucks now.
Lois McMaster Bujold
Bujold is a brilliant author. I’ve read three of her books in the last three weeks. I’ve read her stuff before, but she has gotten infinitely better, and she was always pretty good. The Curse of Chalion is one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read in a long time. I never knew she was such a big name in sci-fi. She’s won more Hugo and Nebula awards than anyone except Robert Heinlein. (Of course, I think Heinlein sucks, so maybe that doesn’t say much.)
Heroes
I still usually watch this show; I love its premise and I think most of the actors are amazing, but somehow it’s not really holding up. I don’t know if it’ll hold my attention for much longer. Its propensity for extremely disturbing violence and gore doesn’t help matters, either. And though most of the actors are great, there are a couple who really suck most of the time, like the guy who plays Mohinder (even though he’s-super-hot). And the Sylar guy was only a good actor until he started getting some lines; now he pretty much sucks too.
General Notes
1. Thank God the football season is over! This is the time of year when I can relax in a relatively sports-free zone, and it’s an immense relief. Now, when I go to family gatherings, I don’t have to tolerate loathsome football, and the stupid way it makes my family behave. Seriously, football is a sign of the downfall of our society. How the fuck much do we really need to pay some idiot to run around on a field and throw a ball? A coworker agrees with me-she said she had a new plan for society, where ambulance drivers, teachers, and nurses make six and seven-figure salaries, and pro athletes make like 30k a year.
2. I miss the radio. I didn’t realize how much I gained from it until it was gone. I used to listen to it in the car on the way to and from work. I don’t have time to listen to it in the morning before work, and I can’t listen to it on a Walkman while I commute, because there’s something about the communication system on both the bus and the light rail that creates a whole lot of static interference. I miss being introduced to new songs and artists, and hearing newsbites and commentary from DJs I like. It used to be the main way I was kept up to date. I need to make a place for it in my life again. I need new artists, fresh blood, new songs to love!
3. I feel strangely sad (though unsurprised) about Anna Nicole Smith’s death.
4. This year might win the prize for Worst Sitcom Season Ever. Brothers and Sisters, The Class, Knights of Prosperity… they’re all terrible, and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head, the ads for which I’ve been unfortunately subjected to. I have caught a few seconds of them here and there, and they’re unwatchable. And I had high hopes for Knights, and didn’t really think it was going to BE a sitcom. Oh well.
5. It’s pretty odd that I’ve become such a TV person. I never was before. For many years, it was unusual for me to watch even an hour a week. I think TV has just gotten a lot better, and I think reading about different kinds of shows in Entertainment Weekly has made me give it more of a chance. I still wouldn’t own a TV if I had a kid, but it would be a lot harder to give it up now!