Ugh! The last few weeks have been very difficult for me. I mean not really difficult - it is all difficult in a relative way- but for me its been a battle to 'have it all'. And the all that has not really been fitting into my 'all' is television. Now, as you can imagine, being TV obsessed, that is really not great. Work has been all consuming and the little munchkins have been generally a handful, and this has all left little time for much else.
I did manage to squeeze in some 30 Rock to keep me slightly in the loop but only old episodes I had already seen, watching while doing something else. Its sort of like a comfort thing. Although I think I realized the stress may have been getting to me when I started to think that consider whether all men at work more senior than me could be my Jack Donanghey. They are not. At all.
So I finally resurfaced into the world about two weeks ago and have embarked on some major catch up time to satisfy all my likes.....
Something horrid - Criminal Minds. Most disturbing show ever. It's hard to pin point exactly the most disturbing of the four episodes I watched last week, but I think I would have to go with the 'unsub' who kidnapped young women, got them pregnant, stole the babies when they gave birth, keeping them if the were boys and putting them up for adoption and then killing the mothers. Oh dear lord really? How did they come up with this stuff???? As horrible as some of the storylines are, it is a fabulous show. So tense, so devious.
Something girly - Gossip Girl. I love teen drama and there is little better on TV at the moment than the exploits of the ridiculously overly glamourous NY elite. It has the most convoluted and overdone story lines, which generally repeat themselves over and over again, and I'm convinced that there seems to be some type of law in the US which says if you have a trust fund you can drink freely in public from the age of 12 (it would explain SO much about child stars). I think the most interesting development for me in this season is how I have changed my allegiance to characters. Serena is self absorbed and self righteous but Blair actually has so much more character and depth, as well ambition. Oh did I say that - I like Queen B more?? Oh I did....wonders, as they say.......
Something educational - The Tudors. Ok, so educational might be a little bit of a stretch, but I do check facts a lot against Wikipedia so that is building my knowledge, that counts, right? The Tudors writers do seem to have taken a liberal approach with quite a few facts though and there are some major departures from history. A few facts here and there I can cope with. The ages of the principal characters is very off (Henry VIII in reality aged for more than 20 years from first to last wife, where as JRM grows more hair but still looks about 25 the whole way through) as is the timescales. But what I've not been able to find in Wikipedia is reference to raucous sexathon that the 1500s appear to be (apparently extra marital and non martial liaisons were not a problem whatsoever). They are doing it everywhere and all the time. Its like soft porn in primetime. Fabulous.
I'm finishing my catch up with some Mad Men repeats (oh Don, oh yes) and Dexter (the epitome of quirky noir) and I'm so looking forward to getting all back on track show wise. Less work more TV, that sounds like the tonic.
But for now, happy watching square eyes.......
Showing posts with label Teenage drama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teenage drama. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Was it my so called life?
I think I had good teenage years.
I remember dying my hair red, getting into all sorts of crazy scrapes, all the partying and that boy. That beautiful boy. With floppy hair and dreamy eyes.
The angst. The confusion. It was rad. It was cool. It was memorable.
Weeellllllll, actually that wasn't so much my teenage years. I would have liked it to be - I mean there was hair dying (not mine - my friend Jo and her sister and I'm still in trouble with their mother I think), there were crazy friends and scrapes (the above mentioned partying and at least one other parent who possibly hasn't forgiven me) and there were some boys (not sure if beautiful would really be the word though) - but then that isn't my teen years described above, but that of Angela Chase (Claire Danes in her debut role).
My So Called Life was the show to define a generation of teens in the 90s. It centered around Chase, a 15 year old normal mid-American teen and her transition into adulthood dealing with changes in interests, friends, family and herself. It has an dynamic mix of characters - her A type mother, her emasculated father, the oversexed best friend, the gay other best friend, the childhood best friend now cast off and odd boy over the road. And most importantly, the new love interest - the divine Jordan Catalano (played by an unknown, Jared Leto, pre-emo makeover), who took wistful gazing into space to a new level and made it seen sexy and vulnerable and not just vague.
For the teenage me it was a revelation in programming. A teen focused show that had a deep level of realism, mainly driven by the fact that it didn't deal in happy endings or neat resolutions. Unlike the Gossip Girls or Glees of today, MSCL characters weren't those you wanted to be like, you were actually them. The story lines weren't exciting and alluring, but more like day to day - unrequited love, parental disapproval and just wanting to be treated like a grown up and not a child. And just to clarify, they may not have been aspirational, but didn't mean that they seemed more exciting than my own.
MSCL is a gem in the television hall of fame, much helped by it being a one series show. Due to poor ratings (which has always amazed me) and the fact that Claire Danes didn't want to do a second season (hmmm and if running off with Billy Crudup wasn't bad enough!) it wasn't renewed. It will never get old, dull or attempt to jump the shark. It's just liked an unopened 1970s Star Wars figurine - undamaged and retained its value. Sometimes (but only very rarely) being cancelled can be a good thing.
MSCL is now 15 years old. I recently bought the DVD and am re-watching for the fist time as an adult. For something I last watched over a decade ago, I can't believe how much I (a) remember and (b) still enjoy. It hasn't really aged, the story lines are still relevant (although I'm not a teenager, so maybe they aren't!) and they acting is still skillful and subtle. The only thing that has altered is the parents. They have changed from being the enemy to being unfairly maligned and very sympathetic. While Angela's mother, Patti is still controlling and critical, its now so apparent that is it driven from love and the desire to protect her daughter. She, and her husband Graham, are also attempting to deal with the reality that her little girl has grown up and changed. Angela doesn't want their comfort, and doesn't want to confide in them at all. There's a real undertone of sorrow at the dinner table and discomfort with the kitchen.
Just by coincidence I've been downloading by late 1990s CD collection onto iTunes. Ahh nostalgia. It brought it all back and I'm glad that is where is going to stay! Being a teenager was great, but better left where it was!
Later dudes.
I remember dying my hair red, getting into all sorts of crazy scrapes, all the partying and that boy. That beautiful boy. With floppy hair and dreamy eyes.
The angst. The confusion. It was rad. It was cool. It was memorable.
Weeellllllll, actually that wasn't so much my teenage years. I would have liked it to be - I mean there was hair dying (not mine - my friend Jo and her sister and I'm still in trouble with their mother I think), there were crazy friends and scrapes (the above mentioned partying and at least one other parent who possibly hasn't forgiven me) and there were some boys (not sure if beautiful would really be the word though) - but then that isn't my teen years described above, but that of Angela Chase (Claire Danes in her debut role).
My So Called Life was the show to define a generation of teens in the 90s. It centered around Chase, a 15 year old normal mid-American teen and her transition into adulthood dealing with changes in interests, friends, family and herself. It has an dynamic mix of characters - her A type mother, her emasculated father, the oversexed best friend, the gay other best friend, the childhood best friend now cast off and odd boy over the road. And most importantly, the new love interest - the divine Jordan Catalano (played by an unknown, Jared Leto, pre-emo makeover), who took wistful gazing into space to a new level and made it seen sexy and vulnerable and not just vague.
For the teenage me it was a revelation in programming. A teen focused show that had a deep level of realism, mainly driven by the fact that it didn't deal in happy endings or neat resolutions. Unlike the Gossip Girls or Glees of today, MSCL characters weren't those you wanted to be like, you were actually them. The story lines weren't exciting and alluring, but more like day to day - unrequited love, parental disapproval and just wanting to be treated like a grown up and not a child. And just to clarify, they may not have been aspirational, but didn't mean that they seemed more exciting than my own.
MSCL is a gem in the television hall of fame, much helped by it being a one series show. Due to poor ratings (which has always amazed me) and the fact that Claire Danes didn't want to do a second season (hmmm and if running off with Billy Crudup wasn't bad enough!) it wasn't renewed. It will never get old, dull or attempt to jump the shark. It's just liked an unopened 1970s Star Wars figurine - undamaged and retained its value. Sometimes (but only very rarely) being cancelled can be a good thing.
MSCL is now 15 years old. I recently bought the DVD and am re-watching for the fist time as an adult. For something I last watched over a decade ago, I can't believe how much I (a) remember and (b) still enjoy. It hasn't really aged, the story lines are still relevant (although I'm not a teenager, so maybe they aren't!) and they acting is still skillful and subtle. The only thing that has altered is the parents. They have changed from being the enemy to being unfairly maligned and very sympathetic. While Angela's mother, Patti is still controlling and critical, its now so apparent that is it driven from love and the desire to protect her daughter. She, and her husband Graham, are also attempting to deal with the reality that her little girl has grown up and changed. Angela doesn't want their comfort, and doesn't want to confide in them at all. There's a real undertone of sorrow at the dinner table and discomfort with the kitchen.
Just by coincidence I've been downloading by late 1990s CD collection onto iTunes. Ahh nostalgia. It brought it all back and I'm glad that is where is going to stay! Being a teenager was great, but better left where it was!
Later dudes.
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