Built on Their Shoulders

Glee was fantastic tonight and not just because the two original songs New Directions did at regionals were actually good. Which they were. Also Kurt and Blaine finally got together and had a super long boy on boy kiss which I'm pretty sure included tongue. My friends and I got REALLY excited about it. But let's not forget that Blaine and Kurt didn't get there by themselves. There are a few specific examples of characters that in my opinion paved the way for our two favorite blazered acappella guys:

Jack McFee: Dawson's Creek

In Season 2, after Joey and Dawson's romance totally imploded, she started dating mysterious new guy Jack McFee. About three episodes later, Jack wrote a revealing poem about his feelings and yelled at his dad about how he was gay. He then moved out of his family's house and in with Jen and Grams creating possibly the most functional family unit on that show. (Yeah, I know!)

After he came out Jack could get kind of preachy, and occasionally annoying...but um, well, if you've seen any of Dawson's, you know he wasn't alone there. They all got that way occasionally. But Jack was also a star wide receiver for the Capeside Minute Men, went through a douchey frat guy phase, and eventually settled in to life as a teacher, living with Pacey's older brother Doug, and the couple raised Jen's baby after she died. (CRY FOREVER! One of the best finales ever)

Marco Del Rossi: Degrassi: The Next Generation

Sure, it's a Canadian basic cable import, but Marco's storylines were always the best on Degrassi...with the possible exception of the EPIC Ash/Craig/Manny triangle, or that time Shawn and Peter were street racing, or when Emma got gonorrhea from going down on Jay in that van...anyway, Marco came out in season 2, but just to Ellie who then pretended to be his girlfriend for a while. Then in the season 3 premier Spinner figured it out, and they got into a big fight and Marco got beat up.

Then he dated Paige's brother for a long time, then he was a hustler in one episode. Also that time that Darcy's mean Christian friends tried to take him down and he shoved his cross in their face and talked about going to Mass every Sunday was awesome. And Marco wasn't the only gay teen on Degrassi, there was also Paige and Alex, but they just weren't as ground breaking.

Calvin Owens and Heath: Greek

I've been rewatching Greek, and really, Cal's awesome. A bit insecure when he first gets to CRU, he hooks up with closeted KT bro Heath. Then he dates TA Michael, but he's still got feelings for Heath, who's coming out remains one of my favorite moments on the show. Heath takes a deep breath and says he has something serious to discuss with pledge brothers Cappie, Beaver and Wade, and reveals his sexuality. The trio exhales, relieved, because they thought this conversation was about Beaver's hitting on Heath's 15 year old sister (Heather, who became a mini Rebecca, but that's a completely different story) at a family event. The brother's are supportive.

Additionally, when Cal gets past his initial insecurities, he comes out to best friends Rusty and Ashleigh, and his brothers at Omege Chi are mostly OK with it too, until he starts dating that douchey other gay Omega Chi, who's name I don't remember. But then he got back together with Heath, thank God!

So yes, Blaine and Kurt are exciting, but let's not forget that they didn't get there overnight.

Our time now

3rd Post of the day...I'm going to have to cut back.

But I couldn't not discuss the end of something great.

Last night was final episode of ABC Family's completely awesome Greek. Yes, after four seasons, the guys of Kappa Tau and Omega Chi and the girls of ZBZ are gone forever. Except that they're on Netflix instant, and I think I'm going to have to watch the whole show from beginning to end again.

If you don't know Greek, I'm sorry for you, because it's one of the smartest, funniest bits of fluff to come out in a while. I've recently come up with a good way to view fluff. A lot of the stuff I like is literary and performance junk food. But it doesn't have to be the processed from a can or a bag kind. It can be hand crafted deserts, which while they don't exactly have nutritional value, are still delicious. Greek was like a Magnolia Bakery cupcake. Yummy as can be, but totally fattening, empty calories.

It centered around the lives of mainly eight members of the Cyprus Rhodes University Greek System. (Cyrprus and Rhodes are Ancient Greek cities. See, the show was already smarter than you thought!) There were the girls of ZBZ, the "number one sorority on campus," with every cliche that goes with it, Casey, Ashleigh and Rebecca, the preppy boys of Omega Chi, Evan and Calvin, and finally the misfit party animals of Kappa Tau, Rusty and Cappie. Plus, Rusty's nerdy roommate, and eventual Omega Chi pledge Dale.

What made Greek great was the way its characters were never exactly what they seemed. Casey seemed bossy and determined, but it turned out to be a compassionate soft touch. Evan appeared to be only the bad guy in a John Hughes script, but was actually an intelligent, conflicted young man. Cappie seemed only a stoner lay about, but was really a philosophical genius who would do anything for the woman he loves (Casey, btw). The love triangle between these three was the catalyst behind the show, but stayed away from the cliche of others because the three characters all also were fun to watch by themselves. Ashleigh could have been a throwaway sidekick but instead outshone Casey on several occasions. Rebecca's bitchiness stemmed from her desire to fit in. Rusty and Dale were nerds with hearts of gold, who didn't always do the right thing. Calvin was the most obvious twist, a gay football playing preppy, with a desire to change the world.

The element of Greek that I always loved was the realistic portrayal of the relationship between siblings Rusty and Casey. They had their insecurities about each other, Casey felt always intimidated by Rusty's high intelligence, and Rusty by Casey's golden girl status, but they always had each other's backs.

The finale did that thing that I love when finales do, it brought about closure while still giving a distinct sense that this world will continue. Casey and Cappie left CRU for Washington, after he graduated by accident, and we learned after his diploma that "Cappie" is in fact short for "Captain" which is his first name. Ashleigh and Rusty began a new relationship (not a storyline I was rooting for) Evan and Rebecca saw that they could maybe have a future together, Calvin headed abroad to do volunteer work with boyfriend Heath, and Dale began a real relationship with longtime fling Laura. Satisfying conclusions for all. Although the destruction of the Kappa Tau house was sad and did get me teary, I was thrilled that they brought back season 1 bad guy Jen K, and that Kappa Tau Pledge Peter "Spidey" Parker was actually good all along.

Goodbye Greek. I will miss you!

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?

WHY?

So, you know how I love the will they or won't they drama? You know when I hate it?

I hate it when it's season 5 of Greek and Casey and Cappie continue to just be stupid and not get together.

And I hate that it's ALL STUPID EVAN'S FAULT.

Also Rebecca made out with Ashleigh's boyfriend cause she's a big whore.

Rusty's storyline was boring, but it always is, especially now that Jordan and him are officially in will they.

I'm going to miss Max, he was a cool character.

But the season looks promising.

Paging Dr. Grey...

Greek season finale last night (I hate summer seasons and their brevity)

It was a very good one, and as this season in general has shifted focus away from Casey, this was the episode that shifted it back. Max returned from London and Casey was forced earlier than expected to make her decision between him and Cappie.

Rusty got a D on his Organic Chem test, and realized that between school, Kappa Tau and Jordan he's having trouble balancing. Something is going to have to give.

Dale and Calvin decided to resist their temptors together.

But for me I laughed really hard when Ashleigh decided she was fed up with Casey's whining and indecisiveness and she made the following statement.

"Paging Dr. Grey! Oh no worse! You're Joey Potter! NO! I know who you are, you've got to make up your mind Felicity!"

Casey was properly horrified, and I remembered why Ash is my favorite character on the show.

Casey did make up her mind. She chose Cappie, too bad Cappie said no. Then Ash told him he was stupid. And the season ended.

Todays a big day, you'll be hearing from me a couple times. I'm finally going to watch the True Blood premiere and there are some new New Moon stills out. It's going to be vamptastic.

Monday Recap

Monday, the most crowded night on TV. We'll just dive right in!

So, last night's Gossip Girl was the intended backdoor pilot for the spin off about Lily growing up in LA, the spin off plans have been canceled, and I'm pretty grateful now, after seeing it.

As much as I love Brittany Snow, she was completely ineffective as Lily. She was either just doing an impression of Kelly Rutherford, or being Meg Pryor but in The 80s in LA. The rest of the cast was OK, although we did meet Serena's dad, who looked like the smarmy blond guy in a teen comedy but sleazier and was a music video director? (EW) and it was probably the biggest let down ever. However Owen, obviously meant to be Lily's love interest until Rufus came around was pretty good. He was equal parts all of the GG boys, plus a little bit of And the fact that the episode ended with Young Lily staring out a bus window the same way Serena did the train window coming into Grand Central in the pilot was fantastic.

The B-Story of the episode was much better. St Jude/Constance prom, where Chuck made sure that Blair got her perfect prom night...behind the scenes, and Blair and Nate broke up, realizing that their relationship, while defining high school to them, didn't have a future. Serena and Dan went to prom together and were adorable and fun. I like them as friends, like a lot. Oh and the Blair drones looked really ridiculous in their prom dresses.

OTH was cute, with Lucas and Peyton's wedding, but the whole Lucas and Peyton get this close to happiness and then it gets torn away thing is getting SUPER old. And as much as I love Julian and Mia as characters, I really want Brooke and Chase to get back together. I love them as a couple. And I really like Skills's new girlfriend. I love that they've given him such a clear type.

Castle also upped the cuteness, with Alexis going to the prom and having her first kiss. I love the character of Alexis Castle. Like a lot. Anyway, the mystery was about a plastic surgeon murdered by the mob, basically it amounted to Castle and Beckett flirting a lot (I know shocking!)

Greek: Which I finally got caught up on...I'm really enjoying the direction this season is going, with the focus much more on the group dynamics of the houses than on the individual characters, especially on KT where we're getting more Beaver, Wade and Ben Bennet action than ever. And I like Jesse McCartney's character quite a bit. The Evan Cappie conflict is better than its been in a while, because without Casey between them, they're starting to see there's not much of a conflict. Including last night's episode where the stash of stolen goods from past KT regimes was found and decided to be return to their proper places. Evan was given the opportunity to have KT officialy disbanded and all its members expelled, and didn't take it. After all, there cannot be one without the other.

How I Met Your Mother was a substandard episode. It was funny, not particularly memorable. Even Sarah Chalke's return was kind of eh. I've never particularly liked Stella's character anyway.

The Big Bang Theory send the guys to the North Pole for the summer, with Penny and Leonard saying good bye. Leonard realizes that perhaps Penny missing him will further their relationship. Season 3 is about the right time for them to really give the relationship a go, so we'll see how that works out next year.

Season finales abound this week, both NBC and ABC have theirs. CBS and CW's are next week. And the summer seasons are at midpoint, plus the HBO season starts in a few weeks. TRUE BLOOD AND ENTOURAGE! YAYS!