So, it turns out I may be slightly addicted to television...

Thursday, January 18, 2007

From music to murder...and I finally discovered 30 Rock!

I know. It’s been a LONG time. Too long. And since I have watched bucket loads of tv since I last wrote I don’t know how I will ever get it all down…

I’ll start with the music, which refers to tonight’s hilarious musical episode of Scrubs. Now, I approached tonight’s episode with some trepidation. I am not a Buffy fan, so when people say this is the best thing since the Buffy musical it does nothing for me, except wonder what on earth Buffy and JD could have in common. My only tv musical experience was 7th Heaven a couple of seasons ago and let’s just say I never fully recovered from the horror.

I am happy to report that the Scrubs musical was more than I had ever imagined it could be. I laughed and, I admit it, was ready to cry (okay, so I did cry but I’m tired and hormonal so give me a break) at the end when the patient asks (strike that, sings) what’s going to happen to her and the staff sing back “plan for tomorrow.” Sigh. That show is just so awesome – it sucks to be up against the likes of Grey’s Anatomy. My fave moment, which I’m sure is shared by all Dr. Cox fans, was his musical ditty with JD. Though “Guy Love” is a top ranker as well.

So on to the murder. I had been saving a special blog about Degrassi TNG, and had it mostly written, titled “It’s like Degrassi but shinier” on the merits of Degrassi, my teenage crush on Joey Jeremiah, and how Degrassi has managed to keep focused of tough storylines. Then I waxed nostalgic about how the cast used to look like real teenagers and how now Emma and Manny and the Christian girl (sorry, I can’t for the life of me remember her name) all look like models with perfect hair, skin and bodies. I’m sorry but (a) that’s not realistic and (b) it’s set in Canada for goodness sake – why does Emma only ever wear sleeveless tops and micro minis? Does nobody else find that odd? And against most school dress codes?

However, I was just about to write my final paragraph and then I watched JT (the adorable Ryan Cooley) get stabbed to death at a house party. And I decided my frivolous blog entry wasn’t appropriate anymore. I still think the girls dress like they work a street corner and I still think the kids don’t look “real” (unless only models count as real) but this darker turn made me think I shouldn’t make too much light of it. I am actually sad to see JT’s character gone. He’s always been my favourite and it at least made the writers use Liberty – the show’s most underappreciated star. I’m not sure where the writers are taking us on this journey but I hope this death comes with a good and important story to tell and is not a ratings grab. I do not like being conned into tears (and I even knew it was coming, I watched “Ryan’s Last Day on Set” on CTV broadband.) It was the slide show that put me over the edge. And already I see many a fanvid on YouTube with scenes of JT playing to appropriate music.

An aside – people where do you get the time to make fanvids? I barely have time to write a blog once a month!

And so for the stuff “between” music and murder – the most important of which is, of course, The Office. Boo Golden Globes. Boo Ugly Betty. Though, I must say, if it wasn’t on opposite The Office I would probably watch, and probably like, Ugly Betty. I watched the first ½ hour today instead of My Name is Earl and there’s a cool Scottish chick (remember, I am a sucker for all things Scottish) and it was funny.

But not as funny as Andy putting his fist through the wall after Jim and Pam put his cell phone in the ceiling. I fell off the couch. I almost stopped breathing. I held the pillow over my mouth because I was laughing so hard I was screaming and some people in the house had already gone to bed. Does this mark the beginning of the end for Andy? Or the beginning of a really funny meltdown?

And how awesome is Dwight? (And, how much did Staples pay to basically guest star in the show – I think this marks the first time I consider a brand as a guest star in a show. This was way more than product placement.)

Of course, Jim and Pam fans will be pleased by tonight’s episode. I’m still not convinced. I really, really like Karen. Writers – you just need to give her more time on screen so everyone can like Karen. Stop paying so much attention to Pam.

And my top 3 favourite moments from the last few episodes that will probably become “classic” tv memories:
1) Dwight being “compromised” and throwing his cell phone off the roof
2) Michael’s “Fool me once, strike one. Fool me twice, strike three” speech
3) Jim and Dwight’s power tag team sales call
And for honourable mention: Dumpster dumping – Ryan and Kelly in the Benihana Christmas deleted scenes.

And, finally, I couldn’t end this entry without mentioning that I watched my first episode of 30 Rock tonight and it rocked! Why have I not picked this up earlier? The Brian Williams dressing room (complete with Kat Cour Suc on the wall) was BRILLIANT television. Never have been a fan of either Tracy Morgan or Tina Fey – and I’m still not – but Alec Baldwin was sensational and deserved his Golden Globe. Yes, I think he’s beaten Michael Scott (but only by a fraction.) I know they’ve had low ratings – so watch people, watch! I will definitely be tuning in from now on.

NBC – thank you for bringing back Thursday nights.