In sitcoms populated by large casts of diverse characters everyone is on screen at any given time to perform a specific function. The job the characters perform is to A.) Move the plot along in (hopefully) an organic, character driven way and B.) To be funny. Usually, there is a character in these sitcoms (sometimes more than one) that serves as the moral epicenter for the rest of the characters. Without these “Stick in the Muds” (or S.I.T.M’s as they will be known through the rest of this post) these worlds would function without boundaries or, at the very least, without the reminder that boundaries exist. How would Homer know that stealing cable was wrong without Lisa protesting outside the house? How would Jenna and Tracy ever get anything done without the guiding hand of Liz Lemon? Would the town of Pawnee function without Leslie Knope? S.I.T.M.’s are usually women who act as the moral center of the show; they are sometimes motherly figures, while the world around them functions solely on the id.
Author: kwoloszyn
Email Roundtable #8 – Treme – The “Belly Full O’ Gin” Edition
Because of the relative (and I mean very relative) popularity of our last Treme Roundtable we thought we would take a look at the Season Finale, “Tipitina”, as well as the season as a whole and where the show might be headed.
Photo by MichaelTutton. 2012.
Kerri: I’d like to say that I really enjoyed this episode. Although, there were times when I was pulled out of the episode by its, sometimes, technical showiness I found myself genuinely moved throughout.
I’m thinking, specifically of, in no particular order: The scenes with Toni and Terry, the final shot of Albert and the beautiful scene at the Bar Mitzvah.
Jane: I enjoyed this episode by the end. The montage gave me joy and hope, which I felt has been missing from later episodes this season. I had some issues with the episode as a whole, but as always, the powerhouse performances were enough to keep me interested.
Kerri: I always love a good David Simon finale montage, Jane. What were your issues with the episode as a whole?
Katie: I found the episode to be a touch didactic – but there were moments that transcended my general feelings of “meh-ness.”
Continue reading
Email Roundtable #7 – The Fantasy Reality Edition
In this “all-game” version of the Roundtable we attempt to discuss the reality shows we would like to be on.
(Disclaimer: during this Roundtable, Jane was having some email issues but still, as always, did a wonderful job).
Kerri: Thanks for the suggestion for this Roundtable, Katie. In keeping with the reality show theme, I think we will make this an all-game version of the Roundtable (of course, we will still have our regular shout outs at the end). The first part of the game is (per Katie’s suggestion): which reality show, past or present, would you like to be on or think you would do well on?
Katie: I have a lot of answers to this question, so please bear with me. The first is a game show, and it is the easiest game show on TV: Wheel. Of. Fortune!! I would love to be on Wheel because I know that I would dominate. It is so easy to win a lot of money and the contestants never really seem that smart.
Kerri: Personally, I would kill to be a judge on Top Chef. I know that’s kind of cheating. But, I mean, really? Would there be a better job? Or, better yet, a judge on Top Chef Masters.
Speaking of which, I’m enjoying the new season of Top Chef quite a lot so far. They have been shaking things up a bit, which is great and they came up with an ingenious idea to pick the contestants at the start of the season. I like!
Katie: To properly answer the question, I think I would do well at Big Brother. Being good at physical challenges isn’t much of an advantage, so I’m good there. Also, I consider myself a pretty good listener – so in a house full of loudmouths I feel I would do ok. The biggest problem would be the smell of 12 adult humans living in a small house. I’m pretty sure the smell would get to me. I can’t stand dirty people.
Survivor: Philippines
If you haven’t seen Survivor this season but plan to (and you should!), you probably want to avoid this post!
Full disclosure: I’ve been in a committed relationship with Survivor for 25 Seasons. After years and years of the same or similar scenarios with less and less interesting contestants, I must admit I was getting a little bored and started looking around at flashier, sexier reality show options. Any relationship that lasts that long is bound to go through some ups and downs. But I have stuck with it (I’ve seen every episode and I’m not saying that because I think I deserve any credit but, on the other hand, I deserve credit) and I must tell you that right now me and Survivor are in a really good place: comfortable, yes, but still surprising.
And I’m just going to go ahead and say it: this season of Survivor (Philippines) is turning out to be one of my favourites. In order to keep things relatively fresh, every 2 seasons of the show in recent years has included some kind of gimmick (think “Redemption Island”). This season has included gimmicks to be sure but instead of messing with the natural flow of the game, these changes and alterations have been clearly calculated and mapped out ahead of time in the way that only the best kinds of games are. Here are some of the reasons for my current enjoyment:
Roundtable #5 – Treme – More Auntie, Less Boyfriend Edition
We are a little more than halfway through the current season of Treme and thought it would be a good time to attempt discuss the latest episode, the season so far and the series as a whole.
Image by Karen Apricot. New Orleans
Kerri: I’m pretty excited that we are discussing Episode 6 of Season 3, “Careless Love” (originally we were going to discuss the previous episode, “I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say”). I thought that the episode did some really great things that we haven’t seen much of this season and some other things that I don’t recall the series ever doing in a single episode. I felt like this episode made really great strides in getting the season to point where it now feels like the stories are moving. For me, the episode had a fair amount of propulsive energy. I think that is often lacking in other episodes.
Jane: I agree, Kerri. I’m glad we are writing on Episode 6. I am always the first to defend Treme. It is one of my favourite shows on TV. That being said, it pains me that Episodes 4 and 5 really disappointed me. They were very one-sided. Preachy even. Episode 6 is getting back to the Treme I know and love.
Kerri: To me there are really only two types of characters on Treme: those who live in New Orleans and those who don’t. The people who don’t are usually idiots. I really find that hard to deal with and I have felt like we had been dealing with that a lot early this season. This episode did away with that entirely and was just a nicely crafted episode with a true beginning, middle and end.
Jane: I completely agree. I really appreciate how this episode veered away from the clear-cut good vs. evil storylines. The characters don’t have much room to maneuver when good and bad are so clear-cut.
Katie: Good point. I especially found that to be true of “I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say” (Episode 5). Annie’s parents were so obviously “not from New Orleans” and seemed to be speaking in generalities rather than actual words. Like, “But is Treme safe?”
Kerri: That’s exactly the scene I was thinking of, Katie. As excited as I was to see Isabella Rossellini, I was really disappointed with her character.
Jane: Ok here is my proclamation. My former fave Annie has finally begun to get on my nerves. Maybe it is because the Davis storyline isn’t doing anything for me. Or, maybe it is because Annie can’t sing. No matter how much I would like her to be able to sing. Her parents visit really fueled my Annie dislike.
I was also disappointed, Kerri. Let‘s round these characters out, please!
Email Roundtable #4 – Candy Corn Edition
Kerri: There are a couple of Halloween episodes of television shows that made a pretty big impression on me when I was a kid.
Katie: A Halloween themed episode is almost certain to tickle my delight bone.
Jane: Up there on my list is the Community Halloween special where everybody is turned into Zombies. Although zombies aren’t my thing, I will watch a zombie apocalypse scored by ABBA songs any day!
Kerri: That Community episode is stellar, Jane, one of the more creative Halloween episodes I have seen in recent years
One of mine is the pretty much universally hated Halloween episode of My So-Called Life where Claire Danes meets a hot boy ghost! It was basically the exact opposite of the rest of the series, which, generally, is incredibly realistic. But I enjoyed it as a kid because I loved ghost stories and I also loved that the little sister, Danielle, dresses up as her older sister, Angela, for Halloween. That is something I remember doing myself, not for Halloween mind you…
Although, I think that what I like most about that episode is what I like about most Halloween episodes: Characters that you know well are allowed to act like completely different people. In fact, that’s what I like about Halloween the day too!
And obviously the “Treehouse of Horror” Simpsons episodes are also a childhood favourite. There is an awful lot you can do in an animated series that you can’t really do in a live action show. Basically, the rest of the series is forgotten for these episodes and the Simpson family and other folks in Springfield just play the parts of classic horror characters. My favourite: “The Shinning”.
Katie: The best Halloween episode, in my opinion, is from Season 2 of The Office (US). Michael was supposed to fire an employee by the end of the month but he left it until Halloween day. Then over the course of the episode he fires 3 or 4 unsuccessfully and 1 successfully.
Throughout the episode, Michael is such a dick but it’s only because he cares about everyone so much. He doesn’t want to fire anyone. The moment at the end of the episode when Michael is alone in his house, handing out candy to trick-or-treats is devastating. Continue reading
Rooting for the Good Guys: Thoughts on Unsupervised
There are few shows I’ve found as immediately gratifying despite a wildly inconsistent, sometimes downright disappointing, first season as Unsupervised. In its inaugural season, Unsupervised found its footing only a few times but it was a goofy underdog that I’ve been rooting for from the start. The reason for my immediate enjoyment is that (and this is likely an unpopular view) I’ve always found myself far more fascinated by what makes kind people kind in the face of evil than what makes evil people evil in the face of kindness. It is easy to make a character like Hannibal Lecter exciting to watch because he’s so different from “normal” people. But when a show or movie can make nice characters interesting, I get very excited. It is refreshing to see a show that knows exactly who its characters are right from the start even if it doesn’t always seem sure what to do with them. There are few characters on TV like the ones on Unsupervised and the show manages to make them nuanced and fascinating in their own right without changing their underlying, unswaying kindness and love. Anger is easy, happiness is hard. Continue reading
Email Roundtable #3 – All Carb Edition
Why is TV so darned hard? Sometimes our brains need a break for Pete Campbell’s sake! In this edition of the Email Roundtable we attempt to discuss our TV guilty pleasures.
Kerri: I think many people think of TV as a bit of a guilty pleasure in and of itself, don’t you think? I don’t subscribe to this notion personally (obviously!). These are usually the same people who claim that there is never anything good on TV, which is an evil lie.
Jane: Anyone who says that there is nothing good on TV needs to get cable. Or rent The Wire.
Katie: Those are the people who don’t realize how much TV they watch… it’s probably always on in the background, luring them in with it’s delicious rays.
Kerri: Indeed. That being said, not all of the TV that I watch can be classified as “good”. I’ve spent many an hour watching House Hunters (and its brethren).
How about you two?
Jane: I have two MAJOR guilty pleasures. The first is reality cooking shows. I will watch any show that involves cooking and elimination. My second is Criminal Minds. I have seen every episode. Which is kind of strange because I hate violence. I close my eyes during all the gory parts. I just love the characters. Those crazy FBI agents are like a family. An incredibly attractive family.
Email Roundtable #2 – Family Dinner
In honour of Canadian Thanksgiving we attempt to discuss our favourite TV families.
Kerri: First off, Happy Thanksgiving to both of you! I thought this was the perfect time to discuss our favourite TV families old and new. Anyone want to begin?
Katie: Erm, I don’t want to start this one. Lead the way!
Jane: I’ll go: My favourite TV family is the Keatons from Family Ties. When I was young I used to watch that show twice a day. Once at 5pm then again at 5:30pm when we were having dinner. I grew up thinking they were the perfect family. I remember one episode where they buried a time capsule in their yard so one day another family could learn all this neat stuff about them. I made my family do that too. We used a cookie tin. I wish I could remember what we put in there.
Katie: I’ve never seen the show – what was it about the family that made it so special?
Jane: Family Ties was Michael J. Fox’s break out role. He played the Republican son (at the time I just understood he REALLY loved money) of two hippie parents Elyse and Steven Keaton. They also had a really cool older daughter named Mallory (that’s who I wanted to be when I grew up) and a dorkier younger daughter named Jennifer. Later they had a son named Andy. I guess he was used to keep up the cute factor when Jennifer got older.
Email Roundtable #1 – Pilots
In honor of the start to the new Fall TV season we attempt to chat about shows we loved right from the pilot.
Kerri: I am officially opening up our roundtable discussion about shows we love from the pilot.
Who wants to start?
Katie: I don’t think there has ever been a show that I loved from the pilot. Actually, the only one that I can ever remember watching from start to finish, while it was on air, was Lost. Even when I didn’t have cable anymore, I still found a way to stream the show the next day.
That being said, I think it’s pretty hard to LOVE a show from the first time you see it. Most pilots are pretty bad. The exceptions that immediately come to mind are Treme and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Actually, Lost had an amazing pilot. I think it might have been Lost’s best episode. That plane crash was so exciting! And different from anything else I had seen on TV.
Jane: I loved Freaks and Geeks from the pilot. Looking back though, I think the fact that Kerri had really talked it up and the fact that I had a giant crush on Seth Rogen helped.
Kerri: That’s interesting, Katie. And, not to get too much into it, but you are a bit younger than me and Jane. Maybe it has something to do with the way we watch TV now. We are less excited about the start of any TV season because we know we can watch shows in full on DVD or Netflix or other less legal ways.
The Golden Age of Television 