CT, Addicted to the Idiot Box Goes to Campus

The little blog that could has now achieved the only real honor there is within our small Campus Times at the University of Rochester. My television reviews are now officially a part of a column renamed, The Idiot Box Addict (in honor of this blog). In this weeks very first column article, I reworked my first blog post to explain where my television addiction comes from (thanks Mom & Dad) and what to expect in the column from now on. So what are you waiting for? Go read it!

Click here to read the article online.

Or click here to read the PDF version. Scroll to page 16. (You get to see the cool logo for the column if you look at the PDF)

HIMYM; Remind me, why haven't I written about this show yet?

Have you ever heard the story of how your parents met? I have, many times, probably more than others because they met here at Rochester. It’s a practiced two-minute presentation that my sister loves to tell.

The son and daughter of Ted Mosby on the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” (hence forth known as HIMYM) are probably not as partial to their father’s rendition of the tale, or should I say saga, of how their parents met. They have now been listening to their father (narrated by the voice of Bob Saget) for five years. As Ted told them in the pilot episode “it’s a long story.” Follow the link for more suiting up, freeze-frame high fives, and waves of psychatude.

HIMYM is not your typical sitcom. Yes, there’s a group of friends. Sure, they live in New York City. And all right, they are trying to find love and success during their late 20’s.

But I promise you, this isn’t “Friends”. They hang out a bar. Not a coffee shop.

Ted, Marshall, Lily, Robin, and Barney returned back to McLaren’s bar for their fifth season with a strong audience and even stronger stories. The momentum this small show has gained over the past several years in a rough time slot is impressive to say the least.

Despite the show’s title, the majority of the fans that tune in each week really aren’t watching the show for the big mother reveal. While that is the premise upon which the show operates, HIMYM is a sitcom about five best friends.

It’s about Marshall (Jason Segal) and Lily’s (Alyson Hannigan) college romance that turned into one of the sweetest and most sincere marriages on television.

It’s about Canadian Robin Sherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) dealing with her commitment issues while trying to become a successful newscaster despite her current 2am time slot.

It’s about Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and his legend—wait for it, I hope you’re not lactose in-tolerant because the second half of this word is—dary catch phrases.

And of course, it’s about architect turned teacher Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) trying to construct his life from the ground up.

For the record, I could care les about the ever-elusive mother. I am much more content to watch stories that have little or nothing to do with how Ted meets the woman who will be his wife. Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have proven again and again throughout the past four years that this show is told at it’s best when the writers don’t get bogged down in the “mythology” of the sitcom.

The show really hit its stride when Ted was in a relationship with Robin, who we knew would not be the mother. Some of the most creative and original episodes aired during the period when there was no pressure for Ted because he had a girlfriend.

On the opposite end, HIMYM displayed it’s worst when Ted introduced us to Stella, an actual potential candidate for the mother role, who failed to live up to any expectations the audience had. She was wrong for him, and apparently the writers realized this. Ted and Stella broke up on their wedding day in the fourth season.

The mythical creature that the mother has become, has turned into what I can only equate to Disney’s Space Mountain roller coaster. You wait hours and hours on a line for a 2 minute ride that is not nearly as good as you expected. In the end what you remember the most is the wait, the build up, the anxiety and the excitement. And then you remember the inevitable let down.
So I’ve chosen to forget about the ride itself, and enjoy the wait.

I would be perfectly happy, nay, ecstatic, if in the final episode of the series (hopefully a long, long time from now), the last shot we see is Ted smiling at some girl across the room with the voice over from Bob Saget saying “And that kids, is how I met your mother.”

There would be no let down, no way for us to criticize the casting, or the chemistry. We would be left with the memory of a show we love, the way it really is.

Not a show driven by Ted’s search for his wife, but a show driven by five great characters and the ridiculous stories they have to tell. The pineapple incident; the discovery that one of their best friend’s was a Canadian teenage pop star; the wedding of a college roommate; the search for each gang member’s doppelganger.

HIMYM’s unique sitcom story-telling style gives it an edge when people just call it a “Friends” copycat. The show is marked by freeze frames, flash backs, flash forwards, time jumps, stories within stories within stories, and much more.

When the writers embrace their anecdotal capabilities and put the overarching narrative aside, HIMYM is, to borrow a phrase, legendary.

CT, Community: The Fine Art of Getting By in College

In my first article of October, I reviewed the hilarious new comedy "Community." The Breakfast Club-esque premise makes for a great show with a gold mine of funny. Click on to enjoy!

Click here to read the article online.

Or click here to read the PDF file. Scroll to page 12.

CT, NPH Brings Classy back to the Emmys

In this past weeks Campus Times I reviewed the Emmy Awards hosted by the one, the only, Neil Patrick Harris. Enjoy and share your thoughts!

Click here to read the article online.

Or click here to read the PDF version. Scroll to page 15.

CT, Television Sucks the Life Out of the Vampire Obsession

In this weeks Campus Times I talk about the overwhelming amount of Vampire love that has burst from the seams over the past year or so. "Twilight", "True Blood", and now "Vampire Diaries." I'm not sure how much more I can handle.

Except of course for "Buffy". I can never get enough of "Buffy". And for that reason I should probably try "Angel" again. My only issue with "Angel" was that there was no Buffy, Willow, Xander, or Giles. Anyone got a good argument to watch? Please win me over. Meanwhile, enjoy my Twilight hate-fest (although I think I was pretty nice.)

Click here to read the article online.

Or click here to read the PDF version. Scroll to page 17.

CT, Torchwood: The Little TV Series that Could

With the first Campus Times article of the year, I, the idiot box addict, have officially returned from the dead. This week marks the glorious beginning of the fall TV season and I couldn't be more excited. But more on that later.

In my first CT article this semester I discuss the awesomeness that is "Torchwood: Children of Earth," the five episode British mini-series with more courage that almost any TV I have seen to date. Enjoy, discuss, and welcome back!

Click here to read the article online.
Or click here to read the PDF version. Scroll to page 23.

*BTW, the Campus Times made a typo and said Ianto was a she rather than a he. Just thought I'd clarify.

Wonderfalls, "I Wonder Why the Wonder Falls on Me."

I have always found comfort in my toys. Yes, I’m 19, and yes many of my childhood playthings have been casted to the shelves, sold in garage sales, or given to Good Will over the years, but there are those few that always have a place in my room. As a child stuffed animals can be your entire world. You spend your days being a princess locked away in a tower surrounded by fuzzy crocodiles or braving the rough waters with rubber ducks as your companions. The rubber and furry toys of our lives as children are both the enemies and the protectors. They protect us in a way that only a Teddy bear can do.

Bryan Fuller’s unique, imaginative, and short lived series “Wonderfalls” takes a teddy bear’s protection and turns it into the manifestation of G-d’s instructions to protect others. Instead of a child seeking guidance in her day-to-day activities, a 24-year-old underachieving college graduate becomes the victim of endless instructions given through the toys in a retail store. Spoilers for "Wonderfalls" after the jump.

What drew me to the story so quickly was that Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas) epitomized my so-called summer this year. She spends day after day in a job she clearly despises with a boss whom she dubs Mouthbreather. That should give you an idea about how much she respects him.

Despite the degree in philosophy from Brown and the supportive family Jaye has at her disposal, she lives in a trailer park and works as a sales clerk in a souvenir shop at Niagara Falls. A place where people are just visiting, never long enough for a sales clerk to get tangled in the lives of the people passing through. She achieved her goal of “over educated and unemployable,” just like she wrote in her high school yearbook.

That is, until one day a little Wax Lion warns her not give an angry customer money back. Then a Barrel Bear convinces her to help a writer get her words out, and Wind-Up Penguin leads Jaye down a path to reuniting a young girl with her father. Pink Flamingos convince Jaye to confront her past at a high school reunion where she unsuspectingly shows a past nemesis that the love of her life is not in fact the love of her life. Dogs on signs, embroidered buffalos, singing trout on walls, lovesick stuffed donkeys, plastic birds, and totem poles all enlist Jaye to unwillingly and resentfully take part in tasks to help the lives of others.

Are these voices a manifestation of Jaye’s internal thoughts? Do the toys represent the voice of G-d? Is she just plain crazy? I am inclined to believe that the toys are an inspiration from a higher being, whether it be destiny, G-d, or whatever you believe in. The fact that Jaye’s brother, a theologian, showed such interest in the speaking figures seemed to demonstrate that religion played a significant (while not overwhelming) role. However, I also believe that her decision to listen to these inanimate objects shows that despite her reluctance and displeasure at being chosen, she knows their instructions are for the better.

What I really found refreshing about this show was that it was completely original. I have never seen anything else with a similar premise yet so many aspects of the plot were relatable. Bryan Fuller and Todd Holland gave a little magic to the life of an underachiever living at the heart of one of the seven wonders of the natural world. The setting was different yet recognizable. The dialogue was fresh, fast, and clever. The actors had chemistry and charisma.

Jaye’s sarcasm and wit is portrayed brilliantly by Dhavernas alongside a talented cast. Lee Pace plays the over protective older brother whose theology major seems to make him the only one capable of buying Jaye’s experience as real as opposed to crazy. Mahandra McGinty (Tracie Thoms) provides the ever important best friend figure who supports Jaye without fault. Sharon Tyler (Katie Finneran), the lesbian-lawyer older sister, protects her family even in face of the law and wasn’t given enough time to develop what could have been an extremely interesting character. Jaye’s parents Darrin (William Sadler) and Karen (Diana Scarwid) embody parents who love yet misunderstand their children. Despite all of their differences, the Tyler family truly is a supportive unit. They may fight and misinterpret one another, but at the end of the day they are there for each other and that is what family is for.

At the heart of this little tale lies the romance between Jaye and Eric Gotts (Tyron Leitso), the adorably handsome bartender whose wife cheated on him the first night of their honeymoon in Niagra Falls. He’s damaged goods and she takes orders from toys. Perfect match. Usually in television a budding romance is indicated by a swell in music, a slow motion entrance, a close up of the two in a single frame, or a lingering look in the character’s eyes. “Wonderfalls” however used the ideal imagery of fireworks lighting up in Eric’s eyes after Jaye told his cheating wife that Eric was predisposed “pleasuring her sexually.” Young love at it’s best.

Wonderfalls was able to portray very complex ideas in a childish manner. Should we all surrender to destiny like the legendary maid of the mist? Or do we ignore the voices and signs and fight back? Can love conquer all? Or does logic and law take precedent? Should we be actively seeking out acts of kindness? Or does no good deed go unpunished? All this from a bunch of souvenir toys. I only wish that “Wonderfalls” had been given more than 14 episodes to more deeply explore these questions and the many more that may have arisen.

As a young girl I would take out my teddy bears and begin my adventures for the day. I never knew where they would take me whether it be to a magical palace or a rainforest in the jungle. But I did know that the journey with my furry friends would bring surprise and adventure. The toys of the Wonderfalls gift shop brought just this to Jaye Tyler. While her 24-year-old mind may have logically forgotten what it was like to willingly and happily accept the instruction of seemingly lifeless objects, subconsciously she knew that the steps she was taking would be for the better. In the end Jaye was able to understand that the pain she suffered due to a talking wax lion, was a necessary journey to reach her happily ever after.