Archive for the 'TV Comedy' Category

TV Top Fives: Gilmore Girls

Published
by
Alfina the Vague
on September 7, 2008
in TV, TV Comedy, TV Drama and TV Top Fives
. Closed

I’ve recently finished re-watching all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls on DVD, and I love it just as much now as I always did before.  Damn, that is a really excellent show.

Rory and Lorelai Need Coffee!

Most of my TV Top Fives are all about the action and intrigue (Buffy, Alias, Veronica Mars, etc), but this quirky family comedy-drama ranks right up there with the excellent writing, acting, and storytelling on any of those shows.

Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel are both extremely lovely and talented, and the huge case of supporting characters is full of talent, too.  Let us not forget that this is where one of my favorite TV boyfriends, Milo Ventimiglia, got his start.

Jess: So Bad, So Cute.

And isn’t it adorable to think of him and Alexis Bledel dating in real life?  Let’s all issue a collective awwwww.

The best on-screen couple, of course, was always Luke and Lorelai.  In this case, though, audiences have to try to forget the unpleasant rumors that Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson actually couldn’t stand each other in real life.  I’ll never believe it!

Best TV Couple EVER.

While everyone always mentions the faced-paced, razor-sharp dialogue peppered with witty cultural references from Howl, Dinosaur Jr, and Tom Waits to Kafka, P.G. Wodehouse, and Proust, the success of the show doesn’t depend on it’s being literate and clever.  It is, as all things must inevitably be, about family, relationships, and community.

Lauren Graham & Kelly Bishop: Effing Brilliant

Emily and Richard, Lorelai’s parents, are one of the best parts of the show.  She’s constantly at odds with them, and their weekly Friday Night Dinners provide some of the best scenes on the show.  Tension, comedy, and outrageously bad but perfectly polite behavior — and let’s not forget the food!  Remember the quail Mazatlan? or the time Emily actually seved pudding?

The show is the perfect blend of comedy and drama.  Stars Hollow is populated by an unusually witty group of citizens, to be sure, but the connections between/among them all are what probably had people tuning in every week — and what have me reaching for a tissue at least once an episode.

If you don’t believe me, just watch the episode “Lorelai? Lorelai?” from the seventh season.  Toward the end, Lauren Graham sings a classic Dolly Parton tune in a karaoke scene.  In addition to believably dialing back her singing talent enough to sound like a regular-but-tuneful person singing in a bar, she executes an incredible acting performance.  The series of emotions Lorelai goes through as she sings and the way Graham brings them to life — it’s amazing.  I’ve seen that episode several times by now, and I cry like a baby every time.  If you can bear to watch that scene without shedding a tear, you may as well give up on being human.

If you missed this show the first time around, Netflix up those DVDs with a quickness.  Highly recommended.

Weeds: I’ll take a pound, please.

Published
by
Alfina the Vague
on July 10, 2008
in TV, TV Comedy and TV Drama
. 2 Comments

Following all your lovely advice, I decided to give Weeds a try, and I love it!  I have zipped through two seasons already, and am eagerly waiting for the third one to download.  Since each season consists of about 10-12 half-hour episodes, it’s not too difficult to watch an entire season in one day — especially if all you have to do otherwise is sit there watching some dogs wrestle.

It’s a great cast: I love Mary Louise Parker, who plays Nancy, and the rest of the group is great too.  My other favorites are Kevin Nealon as Doug (Nancy’s stoner asshole neighbor/customer) and Romany Malco, who plays Conrad.  Oh, Conrad!  Dish me up a scoop of THAT, please!

The show is a very entertaining dark comedy (or comedy-drama, maybe, but in half-hour format) that appeals to all the subversive and greedy thoughts I have.  What better way to strike it rich, tax free, than selling pot to bored suburban yuppies?  The show efficiently plays on issues of race and economic class with humor and intelligence.  The still below illustrates effortlessly the depiction of the white “PTA Mom” social group into which Nancy (not pictured) doesn’t quite fit — though her handbag, seen in the front chair, does.

Another fun send-up of suburban conformity is the theme song, Malvina Reynolds’ “Little Boxes” — you know, the little boxes that are all made out of ticky-tacky and all look just the same?  The song plays over scenes of near-identical homes, cars, latte-drinkers, and joggers in the planned community where the show is set.  The fun starts in the second season, though, where each episode features a different artist singing the theme song.  Fans who, like me, enjoy trying to identify celebrity voices will surely like the game of guessing who the singer is each time.  I noticed Elvis Costello, Ben Gibbard, and Jenny Lewis, although I misidentified Engelbert Humperdinck as Wayne Newton.  (Close enough on that one, I say!)
Here’s the Death Cab for Cutie version, ’cause y’all know I can’t resist:

One sort of unfortunate side effect of watching so much Weeds in such a short span of time is that I have a serious hankering for some dank, sticky, hairy, sparkly, skunk-ass-smelling tea.  OMG.  I essentially quit smoking pot after I graduated college (with handfuls of exceptions on special occasions and vacations, etc.), but man!  For a while there, getting ridiculously high and then listening to Stevie Wonder was my main extracurricular activity.  Incidentally, you should try that sometime.  Anyway, those days are over, so I’ll just have to live vicariously through television, so each time Kevin Nealon hits that bong, I have a little sympathy burn in my throat.

Baltimore, Britain, or Dank Blazin’ Buds?

Published
by
Alfina the Vague
on July 2, 2008
in TV, TV Comedy, TV Drama and The Wire
. 5 Comments

I have recently downloaded a bunch of TV to keep me busy in my lean summer without cable or TiVo.  While I have been waiting for things to download, I have been re-watching all three seasons of Veronica Mars on DVD, now that I finally own all of them. (I like to watch my favorite shows straight through, to appreciate the story arcs and whatnot.  Also because I am obsessive about both TV and narrative structure.) When I’m done with that, I expect the last of my downloading will finally be done.  It seems wrong to complain that the videos I am downloading for free via my neighbors’ wifi are going too slowly, but there you go: they’re going too slowly.

Here’s what is currently in my queue or has just arrived:

The Wire (Season 2) - I tried to watch the first episode of this season twice already, and only ever got about halfway through it.  I respect the show, and at times I even find it compelling, but sometimes it’s just too tiring to watch. I’m feeling kind of meh about it now.  Does the second season pick up speed soon?  I’m sure once I make it through 2-3 episodes, I’ll be sucked in.

The Tudors (Season 1) - I’m eager to jump into this based on my friend Clarabella’s description: she is loving it so far! And, of course, there is the issue of the ultimate yumminess of Jonathan Rhys Meyers, hello. Beyond that I don’t know too much, but I’m betting there will be fabulous period clothes and sumptuous sets, etc., which are always fun.

Weeds (Season 1) - I just talked to my friend Suomichris about this show the other night, and it sounds really great! I’ve liked Mary Louise Parker a lot ever since she was on The West Wing (which I watched religiously for the first 2-3 seasons, then inexplicably quit watching).  I’m also thinking a (dark) comedy would be a good pick-me-up after the long, exhausting school year I just got through.

What should I watch first?  DECISIONS, DECISIONS!  What do you think?