Rabid Fandom

I am finding that in the aftermath of the Lost finale last night there are many on the social network sights that are inconsolable or are not taking well to being teased for their attachment to a show that I never quite got in its six year run.  Fans of Lost show it a reverence that is a bit bizarre in my book and are bereft that it is gone. 

Don't get me wrong, I love television. I especially love good writing, and was very upset when some of my favorite shows were cancelled, (I actually wrote to the network to try to get them to reconsider the cancellation of Joan of Arcadia), but I have never been one to analyze an end of show episode the way these folks have.  It is almost spooky.  I made what I thought was a harmless joke as a comment on one person's sight and he lashed back at me and called me intolerant for mocking his love of the show.

I wonder if these same fans are upset with Jimmy Kimmel for his series of  Lost the"alternate endings" one of which I hear includes a surprise appearance by Bob Newhart.  I didn't see those either, but I bet they were funny even if you hadn't ever seen the show. 

Maybe I have a different perspective on the whole thing because I am a writer myself and I realize that all of the things these people are hotly debating are just stuff that somebody made up (as my husband says).   In the grand scheme of things it just doesn't matter.   Tomorrow, or next week, or next season a new show will come around and people will like it or they will find it oddly familiar in style.  Then they will notice that the  people who wrote for the show they were crying over the demise of last season are now writing for this new show.  Life will go on.

Pax

My Grey's Anatomy Dilema

I used to be a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy. I love Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane and was sucked into the story line from the first week. I thought the writing was really great the first four seasons and couldn't wait till the next episode came each week to find out what was going to happen to these wonderfully dark and disturbing but ultimately good at heart people.

Until this season. Now they have a new story line in which two female characters are exploring a same sex attraction. Neither has ever been attracted to a woman before, so neither was born homosexual. This us just wrong on so many levels that I can't find any reason to watch.

I am in my own way trying to come to terms with homosexuality. While I still find the practice to be against everything I feel to be morally upstanding, I am beginning to see that IF a person is born with a tendency toward a same sex attraction, THEN possibly there must be some reason for God to have intended that to be so. Which doesn't excuse the total depravity of some of the homosexual lifestyle, such as multiple sexual partners and anonymous wanton sexual abandon, which would be wrong even if it were among heterosexuals.

But for two women to just decide that they like kissing each other and maybe they should "give it a try"? As if it is going out for Thai food, or wearing five inch heals. This to me is morally offensive, and goes against the whole intent of the Theology of the Body as I understand it and the meaning of intimacy as God laid it out for us as human beings.

So, while I used to love Grey's Anatomy I will no longer be watching this season. I have to wonder if this isn't some sort of overstep for the backlash from the sad situation with Isaiah Washington's remark's about the homosexual cast member. If the producers went this far to appease the gay culture I think it is a sad state of affairs.

They lost me as a viewer.

Pax

GO: New Media Monday: Do You HULU?

I wonder if you have discovered this great new site for television content on the web called


HULU

This is a joint venture of NBC and Fox and has tons of free, (sponsored) content from clips to full shows and even movies already on the site.

If you just have to have a fix of let's say Knight Rider or St. Elsewhere, or something from a little less far back in the past like, the MILF Island episode of 30 Rock.

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I intend to spend a few days watching eipsodes of Nanny and the Profesor.

Enjoy, I know I will.

Pax.

Happy Birthday Neighbor

Today marks the 80th Birthday anniversary of every one's favorite neighbor, Fred Rogers. If you grew up between 1959 and the present or had children in that time you were exposed to his gentle brand of loving education.

My daughters and I watched an episode of his show just the other day, and while the youngest still enjoyed it, the 21 year old found it a bit syrupy. I looked her right in the eye and said, for years you made me watch this show with you day after day after day. Mr. Rogers doesn't make his show for the parents he makes it just for the kids. There was no subtle nod or wink, wink joke in anything he did. He was totally focused on the task of teaching children in a safe, predictable environment.

Then of course because we are who we are, we proceeded to find double entendre's in everything from Mr Rogers making the trolley go into and out of the hole, to Lady Elaine's Red Nose, and what exactly did they make in that factory anyway? We were laughing so hard we were in tears. Oh how I wish I had thought of it in that way when I was watching the show every day for fifteen years straight while the kids were growing up.

Anyway, for everything he did for the children of this country, especially for exposing my kids to some really amazing musicians, I will always be indebted to Fred Rogers. May he rest in peace.

Pax

Things I've Noticed Since the Strike

There is much less talk about future shows on television. Even House and Heroes are only talking one or two more episodes. That is frightening.

ABC.com's full episode viewer has stopped showing ads for anything but shows on ABC (sorry writers but I missed and episode of Greys Anatomy and had to get caught up.)

I tried the new NBC streaming episode viewer and it stinks compared to the ABC version. And ABC Kudos on the HD version on your site.

When you get the strike ironed out and start paying the writers for Internet content I will be accessing that a lot.

There isn't really much strike news anymore on any of the News channels, and the entertainment channels don't carry much either. United Hollywood.com is still the best place to get some idea of what is going on.

Blog Forecast and What to Watch

I am afraid for the next month or so there will be only intermittent blogging going on here. I am so overwhelmed right now with my final essays (I am only about half-way done with the first of three, I expected to be completely done with the first one by tomorrow, but there is no way that will happen.) that I hardly have time for anything else.

I did make some time to check out a few of the new shows on television.


My two favorites of the new shows are:

Pushing Daisies

and

Life


They are both quirky and fun to watch but in very different ways.

I hope to check back in occasionally, probably when the essays begin to drive me crazy.


Pax

My New Reality Show Osession

I should preface this post with My name is angelmeg and I am a reality show junkie.

I love to watch reality television. Sometimes it is the best thing that is on and sometimes it is like watching a train wreck, you just can't turn away. I will also admit that I haven't watched a Survivor episode or Big Brother since, well, ever.

I will also admit that I am not a big fan of American Idol. I realized this year that all of the singers that I like from the AI ranks were never ones that actually won. (You Go Carrie Unerwood and Chris Daughtry). I did watch Dancing With the Stars, and I absolutely loved Top Chef and plan to watch the new Miami episodes that will begin in a few weeks.

Last Summer my kids were enthralled with So You Think You Can Dance. They watched every episode and were so caught up in whether Benjie was better off if he won and was offered the job with Celine Dion or lost and dodged that particular bullet, (In case you weren't a fan he actually won the show, but chose not to take the wonderful offer of a spot dancing with Celine, and has been dancing in other shows and videos since his win -- oldest daughter is a fan of his
MySpace page and keeps up with his movements) .

My other favorite show is Ace of Cakes on the Food Network. I just love to watch them create those amazing cakes. I would love the thought of an actual Charm City Cake for my Gradual School Graduation Party (As If they only delivered to the wiles of southern Indiana!)


Our newest obsession as of last week is the new Fox show On the Lot on Mondays and Thursdays. This show allows aspiring filmmakers a chance to battle it out for a spot with the Spielberg organization for a year. So far we have had a great time watching the ups and downs of these would be directors. Some of the short films they created for the Boot Camp were pretty amazing. Our favorite was Time Out.

Reality TV is a bit of a crap shoot, sometimes it is as fun a watching paint dry. Sometimes you wonder why anyone would want to be on a reality show. Most of the time it at least beats watching reruns.

Pax

American Idol Shout Out

Did anyone else notice The guy who sang Heywood Banks' Revenge Song on last night's episode of American Idol?

I was laughing so hard there were actual tears in my eyes. I am so glad they allowed this guy all the way through to the TV round if only just to be able to have a Heywood Banks song on National Television.


Hey, what a great Idea . . . They could do an entire night of Heywood Banks on American Idol, they have done the Barry Manilow Songbook why not the Heywood Banks songbook. Can you imagine one of those contestants singing:




It could Happen!

Pax