Wednesday, October 10, 2012

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Season premiers of course!

I love September, not just got the cool breeze of autumn, the return of the big fluffy sweater, and not just got all the days off work for the Jewish High Holidays. If you know me you know how much I love TV, and it's such a great time to be a fan. Writing for television is at an all time high in my opinion. There are just too many good, well written, fantastically acted, shows on air right now.

Nurse Jackie, which was my first TV post, is just one of the many shows I love but since I'm all caught up on that series I have time to focus on all the shows that have finally started airing their new seasons like Modern Family, Big Bang and Grey's Anatomy but still make time for the new series on the block.

     One I am watching is Go On starring Matthew Perry. Now, I love Matthew Perry. I loved Chandler on FRIENDS, his roles in movies like "Fools Rush In" (I don't care how stupid you thought it was), The "Whole Nine Yards" and "17 Again". So I have always cheered him on when I see he's starring in a new show. But sometimes there's only so much love that can support watching messes like Mr. Sunshine last year. Still, I think of Chandler and convince myself to give Go On a chance and surprisingly I like it so far. I had a few chuckles in the pilot and was intrigued enough to bite and watch the following episodes. He's still got a quirk of Chandler to him but I buy that he's a radio sports caster, which Chandler NEVER would be, who just lost his wife. (It did occur to me that for one second that he was talking about Monica and before I started to cry I reminded myself that this is not a spin off of Friends.) I do respect that some people think he is playing the same character over and over again but I think it's his delivery, and I still like it. (Unlike his Friends costars Matt Le Blanc and Lisa Kudrow who completely play different characters today than their famed and beloved characters on Episodes and Web Therapy, respectively. P.s. HUGE fan of Episodes- everyone should watch it now!) As great as Perry is and he can carry most of a show on his own, he needs a strong supporting cast so it's nice to see John Cho (most famously known for "Harold and Kumar") and Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris, taking on a much more serious role) and others who I don't know but can see being great actors and players such as his assistant Allison Miller (possible love connection in the future?), Bret Gelman, and Julie White. My only hesitation is the premise; okay so he lost his wife and he's joining this "life changes" support group but what happens in a year or so when he's moving on with his life? Does it have longevity? I am happy that it doesn't have a restricting title like How I Met Your Mother, which has somehow managed to drag itself out for 7, now started it's 8th season. JUST MEET THE DAMN WIFE ALREADY! At least Go On can mean lots of different things and isn't limiting right off the bat. I do hope I don't end up posting in 7 years kvetching YOUR WIFE DIED 7 YEARS AGO GET OVER IT! That would be mean. And it would mean that the show is terrible and hanging by a thread, and Chandler deserves better. One other thing that bothers me; shamefully I can call a wig by 5 miles since so many religious friends have gotten married and I am 99.9% sure that the group leader Laura Benanti is wearing a wig and it drives me crazy! Sorry! I had to get that off my chest! Please, someone else tune in tell me your thoughts.

      Another little gem I'm going to spotlight is not The New Normal because it is clearly great and being titled the new hit sitcom of the season. I am really liking Partners. The show is created by the TV legends who brought us Will & Grace David Kohan and Max Mutchnick based off of their own friendship, one being a straight guy and the other being gay. It also has great actors; Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill, God I love her raspy voice! And she's so pretty!), Michael Urie (Ugly Betty, saw him in person on the set for my first Writing for TV class, hands down one of my top 5 gay characters. Off the top of my head Jack Mcfarland, Momo from Season 1 of Nurse Jackie, Blane from Glee and now Justin Bartha and Andrew Rannels from The New Normal, oh and of course Mitch and Cam from Modern Family! Okay, I'm really veering off topic but clearly top gay male characters should be a post of their own!) Anyway, Urie is amazing and funny and I love him. David Krumholtz (Numb3rs and the way I will always remember him; "Ten Things I Hate About You" with a penis markered onto the side of his face.) and Urie's partner Brandon Routh from "Superman Returns" which even without seeing the movie I knew he was from. He exudes superhero so I didn't totally buy him as a gay man but he's getting there without his confidence in being a nurse, hunky body, yet quiet, calm voice against Urie's loud personality. It's only been two episodes and it is a little repetitive in that clearly David's character is too open and sharing with Urie's and Bush keeps getting mad but she is learning to accept that (although no one ever could accept how close Will and Grace :/) Of all the sitcoms I caught up on last night/this morning when I couldn't fall asleep, this show made me laugh the loudest. Plus, who doesn't love a show that has an actual opening theme song and credit reel. It's cute- watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApaBlbUQtRc

Friday, October 5, 2012

Life Is Full Of Little Pricks

For my first post on TV (which I hope there will be many more to come) I'd love to talk about my latest obsession Nurse Jackie. This Showtime series has gotten great reviews and even Emmy wins (Edie Falco is ridiculous) but I had never been all that interested but in the duller TV days of summer between So You Think You Can Dance and Keeping Up With The Kardashians (I know, I should be ashamed but I'm not lol)I picked up my mom's DVD of Season 1 and once I started I couldn't stop! It is so witty and funny but more than that each character is so 3 dimensional it's fantastic. A good looking male doctor? Sure, but he's a total goof ball, puppy dog who needs love but everyone is too annoyed to love him. But he also has a physical turrets/tick induced under stressful situations that cause him to grab women's breasts. And he's not even the lead!! I could go on and on about each individual character but I think you should just watch it yourselves.

It just wrapped it's 4th season, 12 episodes per season (10 for the last) and only 30 minute episodes. Although, I don't know how but the 30 minutes feel more like an hour! They fill the episodes so well, the viewer gets so drawn in, that it doesn't feel like just the regular 22 minute sitcom (probably because it's not since it has no commercial breaks and has just as much heart and drama as it does humor). If you catch up on all the current TV shows airing and want to spend a few hours in bed on a Sunday watching a great show? My recommendation: Nurse Jackie. And no, that is NOT how I spent my Sunday and all night Tuesday after the holiday and turned down two movie invites. Don't judge me, I was addicted. (You'll find that irony funnier if you watch the show.)

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Teaching an old dog a new trick

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Saturday night I was having a pretty old school girls night with one of my closest friends who has asked me a couple times to do hair tutorials. Ironically, last time, before I started this blog, I taught her how to use the bun it she had just bought. This week she asked me to show her how to curl her hair, which is another request I get quite often. Only problem was she didn't have a curling iron, she only had a flat iron! dum dum dummmmm is pretty much the loud noise that went through my mind. I completely admit that I am no professional, am self taught, and have only ever used curling irons so I was afraid I'd disappoint her. Despite my adamant protests to even trying she refused and told me to just try. After a couple failed strands that I simply made more straight I was ready to just give up and was convinced I would just have to go home and practice on my own head before embarrassing myself like I was at that moment. It wasn't too long that I finally got the hang of it. She looked great! Some curls were more beachy-wavy and others were actually very formal and bouncy. I'd definitely need to take more time to really perfect my skill but overall she looked great! Now I need to actually go out and buy a flat iron so I can practice lol. The technique: Starting at the middle point of your hair (about 1/2 an inch's worth) curl away from your face and wrap the ends once around then pull through the hair. This is really hard to explain over blog so I will definitely be making a video of this once I get my straightening iron! (Can you believe I don't have one?? I literally only have curling irons!) Ladies and gentlemen meet Galit (aka Galilu) who has agreed to let me post the pic we took right after finishing her hair. But really is it my handy work or just that she's so gosh darn pretty?