My Favorite Scene in all TVdome...

But actually just an excuse to test out embedding Hulu.com clips.

NewsRadio is one of those cute little shows that only those of us who watched it regularly loved. Unfortunately it was always *just on the cusp* of being cancelled (my like How I Met Your Mother is...but I digress). This was the scene that won the show over for me.

The set-up. Surprisingly enough NewsRadio took place at a...wait for it...news radio station in New York City. The show starts when Dave Nelson, a guy from the Midwest, is hired to be the new news director, much to the chagrin of the stations young ace reporter, Lisa Miller.

Now the network didn't want Dave and Lisa to "get together" because they wanted them to have "sexual tension" but smarter heads prevailed and got them together in episode 2 of the first season (which only had 7 episodes). Their affair is clandestine at this point, the only person who knows about it is Dave's assistant Beth (the redhead at the end of this scene).

This is possibly my favorite episode of the series for a whole host of reasons. All four story lines are funny and the title is funny (the title of this episode is: "No, This is Not Based Entirely on Julie's Life" which makes you wonder who Julie is). The A storyline, Beth, the assistant, has a boyfriend in London who wants her to send nude photos of herself to and the contortions she goes through to take the photos. The B storyline involves gelatto being stolen out of the stations common refrigerator. The C storyline is about the station owner, a billionaire, trying to figure out what to do with his vacation, and the D storyline hearkens back to the A storyline.

Beth's intention to send nude photos to her boyfriend prompts Lisa to ask Dave if a girl has ever sent him nude photos. As it turns out, the answer is yes and Lisa becomes obsessed with this fact. The following is the payoff to what had, up until this point, only been a few throw-away lines.



I'll dissect the Dave and Lisa relationship at some point later on, but, if the embed worked, I just want to point out how awesome it was. Now if only Hulu would put up my second favorite episode...a season 3 episode entitled Halloween, I would be very very happy.

Deconstruction: Televsion Couples and Why they Didn't (or Did) Work -- Part I

I have long had a theory about the romantic relationships between fictional characters on TV. Every time you get a Ship together some schmuck complains that the show will now go the way of Maggie and Joel, Ross and Rachel, Dave and Maddie, et al. And I think we're missing a vital component here.

Those couples were douchebags.

Both halves of each couple. They were not only totally wrong for each other, but totally wrong for anyone.

So in this continuing series I am going to analyze TV couples and explain why the show died when they got together.

David and Maddie:
Maddie: A too serious, self important, not particularly bright, bitch.
David: a self important, stupid, childish, hack.

There was no depth the the characters, the only things they had in common was where they worked, the ability to quickly recite snappy dialog, and sexual tension. Once you killed the tension what were you going to do? Have them chat over the Sunday Times and some bagels? Adopt a dog together? Take a ballroom dancing class? The relationship was destine to fail from the outset. They had nothing in common and, regardless of what kind of person you are, if you have nothing in common with the person you're sleeping with then it'll never last past the 3 month fucking-like-bunnies stage. I speak from experience.

Now, it doesn't help that there were set tension, a writers strike (which is what really killed the show), delayed episodes, power struggles between the various actors in the cast as well as the cast and crew as well as various creatives. So it's no wonder the creative aspects of the show were killed.

But the first 2-3 seasons, (before David and Maddie shtupped) were pretty good, partly because the actual sexual tension was pretty much all there was to the relationship between Maddie and David. In addition, the entire focus of the show was a will-they-won't-they dynamic where that was literally one of the only reasons to watch the show. Well, that and dialog like this:

Security Officer: I'm sorry, but you're not on the guest list.
David Addison: That's because we're not guests. We're looking for a man with a mole on his nose.
SO: A mole on his nose?
Maddie Hayes: A mole on his nose.
SO: [to Maddie] What kind of clothes?
MH: [to David] What kind of clothes?
DA: What kind of clothes do you suppose?
SO: What kind of clothes do I suppose would be worn by a man with a mole on his nose? Who knows?
DA: Did I happen to mention, did I bother to disclose, that this man that we're seeking with the mole on his nose? I'm not sure of his clothes or anything else, except he's Chinese, a big clue by itself.
MH: How do you do that?
DA: Gotta read a lot of Dr. Seuss.
SO: I'm sorry to say, I'm sad to report, I haven't seen anyone at all of that sort. Not a man who's Chinese with a mole on his nose with some kind of clothes that you can't suppose. So get away from this door and get out of this place, or I'll have to hurt you - put my foot in your face.

But also David and Maddie weren't real people. They didn't do things on the weekends, they didn't have hobbies, they didn't have friends (except for plot devices). There was nothing else too them. So of course, when they finally did it, nothing came next. The show should have ended, because they couldn't sustain the romance...nor would these two dimensional people wanted to

And I'm Feelin' Fine...

I love How I Met Your Mother. I had completely weened myself off of sitcoms and yet, here they are, The Office, 30 Rock, HIMYM, suddenly back on the TiVo (and up-yours, I can call it a TiVo because it actually is a TiVo). Tonight's episode of HIMYM was an example of how perfect this show can be. Barney and Robin hooked up (which has really been coming since season one) and we had a fabulous Robin Sparkles episode.

And we had James Van Der Beek.

Look, I don't know if I can add anything to the brilliance of the show, but it is so much fun, I really hope they keep it around for just one more season (at least) I actually think it's the best 30 minute show on TV.

As embarrassing as it is.

It's Frikkin' Hot!

And not in a Paris Hilton way.

It's fascinating. My absentee landlord (whom, over the course of my tenure in my apartment is actually four to six different people) never seems to be able to turn off the heat in the apartment the first day spring really comes so here we are in the apartment with all the windows open and it is ridiculously hot because the heat is still on.

You would think with the price of oil they'd actually want to turn off the heat.

Anatomy of a Shipper -- The Office

I love romance. Interestingly enough I'm not a particularly romantic person, but get two characters on a TV or movie screen together (or in the pages of a book, I'm really not picky) and I love it. I get all squishy inside.

For those not in the know, a "relationshipper", or "shipper" for short, is someone who focuses on the possible romantic or sexual relationship between two characters in a fictional medium. When referring to the character's relationship in this context it is referred to as the "ship". Now we've got the lexicon down, let me explain a little more.

The most often description of a shipper is that they are a person who would rather watch two characters making out for a half hour (on a show, in a movie, for chapters on end in a book) then watch or be involved in the whole of the show (or book, or movie) itself. For me this is not the case. Like many shippers I've turned to fan fiction to see if something good is there and most often I have been disappointed because I miss the other elements of the show (or book, or movie). Most shows work because they are a sum of their parts.

So, now I'm going to talk about a "ship" done right...and recite a bit of the shipper's mantra, "don't fuck it up".

The Office has finally come back after the evil writer's strike hiatus and on Thursday night they had an episode where Jim & Pam, the local ship, had a little conversation wherein Jim was teasing Pam about being evicted from her apartment, Pam was teasing Jim about just moving in with her boyfriend, and then Jim was not so quite teasing about it being fine with him, and then Pam was not teasing at all about needing to get engaged first and suddenly it was clear, Jim is going to ask her to marry him, and that's his intent.

Cut to what they call a "talking head" (for those that do not know, the show is done in a fake documentary style) where Jim interviews that he has already bought the ring and then shows it to the camera people.

Cut to Pam and Jim leaving for the day, walking down the street. Jim asks Pam to wait, gets down on one knee...and says he need to tie his shoe. She laughs while she tells him she hates him and they join hands.

Why is this a ship done right? This was the C storyline in the episode, this was not the main focus. When Jim and Pam are the main focus, it can get cloying. But this is a background conversation. It shows how serious these people are, how right they are for each other, and how happy they make each other. It's not about what they say, but how they say it. It's more subtle than that.

Besides, it's always nice to watch happy people. Writers tend to think conflict is required. But it's not all the time. The Office would be a boring show if it were simply about Jim and Pam, but, because it's not, the Jim and Pam story thread gives us a nice point of reference for the rest of the story.

The mantra "don't fuck it up" is very important here. I don't want manufactured conflict. These people don't have to have a perfect relationship but I want them, at the very least, to be pretty happy. There is a belief amongst TV writers that happy relationships don't happen. I don't think this is the case (maybe it is for TV writers). I think relationships change and grow and develop, but as someone who has been married for almost 9 years (and in a relationship with the same guy for 14) you still have fun with the person, you still laugh and flirt. And someone writing a ship in a TV show should never forget that.