CSD - Oscar Edition

Last night's Oscars were pretty much predictable, (Although The King's Speech taking home the biggie over The Social Network was kind of a shock) but the whole time my pop culture addled brain was completely thrown off, I will give you a glimpse into the confusion...

As the night kicked off and Mia Thermopolis and Harry Osbourne led us through the night's best picture nominees,I giggled a few times. It wasn't Oscar's best opening sequence, but it wasn't terrible either.

As the night continued on I couldn't put my finger on things, like why was Jackie Burkhart presenting an animation award with the guy from "D**ck in a Box?" And how did Princess Giselle lose yet another Oscar? She's been nominated every year pretty much...

Then some writer won for Best Adapted screen play and gave a speech that sounded exactly like something President Bartlett would reassure the nation with and I felt like I was going crazy! And everyone kept showing shots of Bellatrix LeStrange and I was thinking "OMG! Why hasn't anyone captured her?" Viola De Lesseps sang a country song.

Finally Jack Kelly won an Oscar and then later Padme Amidala got up there and she was pregnant, and I was all..."But you already had the twins!" and then to top it all off Mr. Darcy got up on stage and made the whole ballroom fall in love with him.

Character Separation Disorder is a very serious disease that affects pop culture addicts the world over. Learn more about it here, and please, spread awareness and if there is a pop culture addict in your life, give them a good shake and tell them that it's not real. These people are just actors. Just actors...

How We Met Barney's Father Part I

OK, I teased it in the "Relations" post, but here it is. The plot for the Gossip Girl/How I Met Your Mother crossover that my friend Crystan and I discussed. Granted, there are some problems to negotiate, like two narrators, that grand divide of Central Park (Ted and Gang live on the Upper West Side, not East) and obviously, who meets up with who. But I think I've got it. This is different than my Glee/How I Met Your Mother crossover, where it turns out that Mr. Schue is the mother.

Opening:

Ted's Voiceover: Kids, sometimes something miraculous can happen, that changes everyone's lives. And sometimes it starts with something very small. That's what this story is about.

It all started when a mysterious blogger started following Barney's Blog, and I had two new students in my architecture class.

While sitting in Ted's apartment the gang makes quips about something fun and inane.

Barney: Hey! This weird blog that links to mine is talking about Ted's stupid architecture class.

Gossip Girl's Voice Over: Hey there Upper East Siders. Who knew that gen ed requirements could lead to such juice! Looks like B and N are taking a class that has lead us to some interesting information about C. Their new Intro to Architecture Prof is often mentioned in a little site I've been watching regarding C's late daddy's other interests. Here's the link!

Barney then "accepts the challenge" to figure out who the mysterious B, N and C are.

In the Bass/Vanderwoodsen/Humphrey Apartment suite whatever

Serena is dressed in an evening gown first thing in the morning lounging on the couch of the apartment where she no longer lives. Someone is making waffles, obviously. She quips to Lily who is drinking a cup of coffee about how pathetic it is the Gossip Girl is still harping about Bart Bass almost three years after his death. Lily looks worried and asks what it says.

Serena: Oh something about his other interests and how it relates to Nate and Blair's new intro to architecture professor or something.
Lily: Do you know this professor?
Serena: Just that he's in his early thirties and Blair says that he thinks he's really funny, oh and he's dating that woman who just divorced The Captain, Zoey.
Lily: Oh no, I wouldn't have thought...
Serena: Mom, what's wrong?
Lily: I don't, you can't tell Charles, Serena, but well, before he met Charles's mother, Bart had another son...

So that's part I. What do you guys think?

Let It Go!

Let me preface the following post with this:

I think that Joss Whedon is brilliant. I have made that abundantly clear in various posts. I love Firefly and Serenity. My coat may not be brown exactly, but it's definitely a deep deep tan.

OK, so there's been kind of a weird story going around the internet, started by this CNN.com article in which Nathan Fillion said that if he had the money he would buy the rights to Firefly and distribute possibly new content on the internet, and that he would definitely play his role of Malcolm Reynolds again.

The small but loyal fanbase of Firefly have now started an internet fund raising campaign to get Nathan that money. I'm not planning on donating.

Look, do I think it sucks that Firefly got the plug pulled? Yes. Do I wish that Joss could have gotten a chance to fulfill his vision for the show? You betcha! Do I think that people take those sentiments too far? Absolutely!

Firefly is hardly the only "gone too soon" show that people loved. But for some reason it's the only one that it's fans won't let go of. Twin Peaks fans don't continue to create web petitions to return to that tiny weirdo town. Aaron Sorkin's hardcore fanbase doesn't continue to whine about how unfairly NBC treated Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. Jason Segel, Seth Rogen and James Franco don't make mad declarations about how they want to revive Freaks and Geeks. (Although they could probably afford it.) So seriously what's so special about Firefly?

I honestly don't know. And I like the show. It's a nice little piece of Sci Fi. But it wasn't a perfect show, by any means. And it was probably really expensive for Fox to produce and it had next to no mass appeal. And Joss Whedon has moved on, Summer Glau has moved on, Morena Baccara has moved on. Everyone has moved on except for one tiny pocket of fans, and evidently Nathan Fillion.

By the way, those people that did move on? You know, those other shows I mentioned? Those people haven't been doing so poorly:

Kyle MacLachlan, the star of Twin Peaks has had a steady career, including paying Charlotte's first husband on Sex and The City and Bree's second on Desperate Housewives and has a recurring guest character on How I Met Your Mother. Not too shabby.

The Studio 60 gang? Um, well the creator, Aaron himself is doing OK. He's just the odds on favorite to win the Oscar for Best Original Screen Play this weekend for a little movie he wrote about some website. (I don't think that many people even saw it!) And two of the show's stars Matthew Perry and Nathan Corrdry are on two of the best mid season replacements in a while, Mr. Sunshine and Harry's Law respectively.

And the crew behind Freaks and Geeks as well as it's cast? Uh...yeah, look if you don't know what they're up to, climb back under that rock you where you were clearly living before reading this post. You'll be happier there, but before that watch Knocked Up, you won't be sorry.

So what's my point? Let Joss make The Avengers in peace. Let Morena be an evil alien overlord. Let Summer keep kidding herself with network sci fi show, after network sci fi show, after network sci fi show. Let Nathan solve crimes and quip away. Please people. Let it go!

Hang In There Kiddo

One of the things in my new, perky be positive lease on life requires is ways to stave off, what our friend Holly Golightly calls "The Mean Reds." Oddly enough, Holly is one of those ways, but that's not what I'm talking about today. Today, I'm talking about the "Hang In There" kiddo playlist I have on my iPod. I can't put the whole thing here because it's 67 songs long, but here are some of the highlights.

1. Taylor The Latte Boy - Kristin Chenoweth
2. Halo - Beyonce
3. Don't Stop Believing - Journey
4. Livin on A Prayer - Bon Jovi
5. Vienna - Billy Joel
6. That's The Way it Is - Celine Dion
7. Just Haven't Met You Yet - Michael Buble
8. The More Boys I Meet - Carrie Underwood
9. The Song Otherwise Known as Forget You - Ceelo Green
10. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
11. Firework - Katy Perry
12. Just Dance - Lady Gaga
13. Breakfast At Tiffany's - Deep Blue Something (See, Holly comes into play!)
14. Last of The American Girls - Green Day
15. Here Come The Sun - The Beatles

Like I said there are a lot more, but those are the top ones. Over the next few months, I'll be putting up some of my other cures for the mean reds, including 90s sitcoms, lattes, and chinese food.

Relations

One of the things that I've been noticing a lot lately are the stock characters that populate me favorite TV shows. So I've assembled some of my favorite sets here.

*NOTE* I decided to only go with shows that are currently on the air. If I wanted to fish back into the cancellation zone, this list would be far too epically long.

Andy Dwyer (Parks and Recreation), Finn Hudson (Glee), and Marshall Erickson (How I Met Your Mother)

These three have truly been cut from the same midwestern doofus cloth. Sure, Marshall has risen above the other two, after all he's a top corporate lawyer in New York. And while Finn is still in high school, let's be honest, he's probably not going to get past mid level insurance agent. And Andy is a shoe shine boy at a tiny city hall. But there's something that all three of them have in common, they're adorable, funny, and unfailingly sweet. OK, Finn not so much lately, what with the whole stealing Quinn from Sam thing, but generally, super sweet.

Chuck Bass (Gossip Girl), Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother), and Ari Gold (Entourage)

Where to begin? The "I am so above you attitude?" Check. The catch phrases? "Let's Hug it Out Bitch?" "Legen...wait for it..." "I'm Chuck Bass!" "DARY!" Check. The deep seeded insecurity that creates the bravado that masks a heart of gold? Check and check! Honestly, this one is what got me thinking about these connections, when my friend Crystan proposed the theory that Bart Bass was Barney's father, and that there should be an epic cross over between GG and HIMYM. (Other storylines include a Serena/Ted hookup, because he reminds her of Dan, but maybe someday I'll outline the entire plot in a post!) Ari comes in for two reasons, like Chuck he is a ruthless business man, and like Barney, he's a pig, but oblivious to it, and therefore still kind of lovable. Also, the suits. Which are really important.

Rebecca Logan (Greek) and Alice Verdura (Hellcats)


These two are quite literally the exact same character. They even look the same. They manipulate their respective systems to stay on top. (Bex the Cyprus Rhodes Greek system and Alice the Hellcats) But when it comes down to it, Rebecca would do anything for ZBZ and Alice would do anything for the squad. That's why we don't want them to go away. That's also why Santana Lopez (Glee) wasn't included on this list. Because as much as I love her, she'd probably sell New Directions down the river if they got too much on her bad side.

Mac (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and Brendan (My Boys)


Aside from the looks again, these two have a few other key characteristics in common. An affinity for tee shirts, they both own bars, they both get caught up in oh so many hijinks. Plus they both have strong sexual tension with their best friend/roommate. Of course it's slightly less dysfunctional in Brendan's case, mostly because PJ is not a sociopath and Dennis is.

Andy Bernard (The Office) and Rajesh Kuthrapali (The Big Bang Theory)



Both men add an element of innocence and happiness to their respective groups. Both are socially awkward and unaware and both belong to distinct social groups. (Geek and Prep) Both are probably my favorite part of both of their shows.

Brooke Davis (One Tree Hill), Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl) and Rachel Berry (Glee)

Can't win for trying these girls. Although Brooke finally got married and Rachel finally realized that she needs to focus on her career and well, OK I stopped paying attention to Gossip Girl because it got terrible, but I'm sure Blair will get it together. Last I watched she had just started Columbia. Also, Rachel will never ever be happy until she realizes that she and Puck need to get together unless she ends up with Jesse St. James.

Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory) and Commander Steve McGarret (Hawaii Five-O)



At first sight, maybe not. But then when you think about it, they're both socially awkward, incredibly good at their jobs and dependent on a group of people who are less effecient than them to do their jobs. Which of course leads right into:

Leonard Hoffsteader (The Big Bang Theory) and Danny "Danno" Williams (Hawaii Five-O)


They spend most of their time correcting their brilliant counterpart, in the snarkyest way possible and dedicated to a pretty blond girl. Sure, Leonard it's his ex girlfriend Penny, and Danno it's his daughter Grace, but the idea is the same.

So, those are mine, any to add?

A Surprising Gift from Hell...cats

During my blog hiatus, I got hooked onto a new brand of CW branded crack, right after I kicked my Gossip Girl addiction, unfortunately. But that crack, was the cheerleading themed soap Hellcats. Like One Tree Hill before it, it seduced me with promises of being something vaguely different. It seemed like it was going to be like the original Bring it On movie, but a show. It quickly spiraled into a standard "anything can and will happen to these people but they'll all rally around something innane to get through these nutso situations," kind of show. Just like One Tree Hill, actually.

But really, what I'm grateful to Hellcats for doing is giving us the character of Savannah, played by Ashley Tisdale. First of all, I've always felt that Ashley was kind of underrated. Yes, I did used to refer to her as "That blonde from Zach and Cody with the unfortunate nose." But now she's a brunette and got a nose job, and now that she's dealing with slightly more grown up material, she's doing really well. I'm glad to see it. But it's not just Ashley's bloom that makes me happy about Savannah.

Savannah is a devout Christian, and it's a key part of her character. She's saving sex for marriage, puts her trust in God, and oh, did I mention she's not considered, crazy, weird, preachy or stupid. She's the captain of the Hellcats cheerleading squad, on a scholarship to college, was dating a nice guy, goes to parties and is a normal and functioning human being.

As someone who considers her faith paramount to her identity, and gets increasingly frustrated at how people of faith, particularly women of faith, are portrayed, usually as one of two categories, idiots and hypocrites and they're all shrewish and overly opinionated and set to convert the world. But Hellcats is giving us neither, they're giving us a fully fleshed out character, or as fully fleshed out as anyone on The CW is. Last night's episode cemented it. Because as the rest of the squad whined about how they were going to lose everything when Marty revealed that football star Jake robbed a pharmacy and framed her law professor's client causing him to be convicted of his "third strike" and put in maximum security prison for like ever or something. (See, I told you anything and everything!) Savannah insisted that whatever happened was God's plan and then got on her knees to ask Him for guidance, in the privacy of her dorm room, without pushing this element on any of the other Hellcats. It's too bad that not that many people are watching.

A Little Story

I just want to tell everyone a quick story, and then make an announcement:

Once upon a time there was a very unhappy princess, who decided that it was shameful that she was so unhappy. After all, she lived in a beautiful castle, the king and queen loved her very much and denied her nothing. She was given beautiful gowns and jewels, books to read to both entertain and educate her, and what she didn't understand, the greatest wizards would come and explain to her. She had many courtiers who made her laugh and smile, and although she had not yet met her handsome knight in shining armor, she knew that any day he could come riding in and they would live happily ever after.

But still the princess was unhappy, and because she decided that this unhappiness was shameful she told no one of it. She went away on a quest, where she met many more kind and wonderful people who were happy to help her along her way. As she neared the end of her quest the princess's unhappiness grew and began to present itself as a terrible dragon. The dragon mocked the princess and told her that she should be ashamed. Because she was afraid of the dragon, the princess hid in a dark cave, with only those books that entertained. She turned away her friends and courtiers and the kind wizards who had taught her so much. She hid in the worlds of the books where there was no dragon to torment her.

Finally, the wisest and kindest wizard who had tried to help her on her quest had enough and sent the princess home to the king and queen, with the instructions to not return to her quest until she learned how to slay her dragon and could complete her quest unfettered. Despondent, the princess hid, but when she returned home to the king and queen they also sent her away. She then found a village, where no one knew she was a princess, and she spent her days there, coming home at night to be with her parents and the one most faithful lady of her court, who along with the people of the village taught the princess that the dragon was not so scary, and she was certainly not the only princess in the world to face such a dragon! There was still no knight, but the princess was beginning to accept that perhaps she did not need a knight to be happy. After all her mother and many of the wizards had always taught her to be an independent and strong princess who did not need the support of any man, as all princesses should be taught.

After many months, the princess marched back out on her quest and when the dragon mocked her she laughed at it. For she had learned that she was not alone, and that if she was unhappy occasionally that was not shameful, but she had learned the difference between ignoring that unhappiness and choosing not to feel this. And so the princess slayed the dragon, though she kept one of it's teeth to remind her of the ordeal, and she moved closer to completing her quest. She also learned that while it was alright for her to enjoy the entertainments, she could not hide from her life and unhappiness in them.

Um...so I'm the princess, and this blog and my obsessive TV watching were the books, and the quest was my college education...the dragon was the pretty tough bit of depression I've fought through and uh, I think you can figure out the rest. (The Village was my job after I was kicked out of school temporarily.) I'm still trying to find balance in my life, but I'm going to try to start blogging again. I miss it. I'm still focusing on pop culture, but I'm going to make it more about my opinions and stories, than just straight up recap. Hooray!