February 2010
4 posts
I just saw a commercial for “faith” and “love” DVDs, featuring “select favorite episodes” of Touched By an Angel…I imagine there are lots of things to say/laugh about this, but I’ve never seen the show, so all my commentary would be pretty watered down [“I guess a show that insipid would need to rely on arbitrary collections of...
January 2010
38 posts
Oh, NBC...
It’s too late for me to chime in on the Conan/Leno debacle, and to be honest, I wouldn’t have much to say even if it wasn’t too late, but wouldn’t you think that NBC would make a point of stepping up its game in other areas to make up for that mess?
After last week’s beyond phoned-in Office clip show, I was gearing up to get excited about this week’s Thursday...
1 tag
White Collar? More like Why Bother, amiright?...
The problem with White Collar is, of course, that it’s just awful. I kept watching it, hoping that this would be the episode where all the pieces finally came together, but it never was. The thing that’s so frustrating is that all the initial elements that got me so excited are there, but even still, it’s not enough.
It’s true, Matthew Bomer’s character, Neil Caffrey, is charming, but he’s...
5 tags
White Collar? More like Why Bother, amiright?...
[a two-parter, for the sake of your dashboards]
I went to buy new sneakers the other day (my old ones had too many holes in them for even me to pretend they’re still acceptable), and it was so hard not to just buy yet another pair of Converse. My eyes kept slinking back to the rows and rows of them, and I literally could not even begin to assess how I felt about the multitude of other options...
A Question for the Studio Audience
What shows should I be watching and/or writing about?
4 tags
It IS Complicated! (pt. 3)
The biggest obstacle The Office has set for itself is the Problem with Jim. The character is lazy, and not terribly ambitious, but he’s also funny and clearly smart—he’s the go-to character when the writers want someone to make an intentional joke, not just do or say something absurd. Like I said before, he’s the charming-and-sensible-amidst-the-chaos character. It’s no coincidence that he makes...
3 tags
It IS Complicated! (pt. 2)
There are basically two kinds of fans of The Office: those who watch to see Jim and Pam and those who watch to see Michael and Dwight (and then, of course, I suppose there are those who watch to see Jim and Dwight, but I can’t help but feel that a love of Jim’s pranks is universal). I’m—obviously, obviously—much more in the Jim/Pam camp of viewers than the Michael camp. All of my favorite moments...
5 tags
It IS Complicated! (pt. 1)
[This post was becoming epically, inexcusably long, so I’ve serialized it, so you won’t all resent me for clogging your dashboards]
Last week, I went with a friend to see It’s Complicated (un/minimal-employment + cheap movie Tuesdays = perfection). We both somewhat shamefully admitted that the parts we liked the best—the lines we actually laughed at—were ones delivered by John...
1 tag
Is This Supposed to Be Some Kind of Joke?
(Originally written May 7, 2008)
Allow me to set the scene: I’m making dinner, Mr. Wilson’s doing something work related on his computer (hello, 1950s dynamic [+ technology]!), so I ask him to put something on so I can watch TV while dealing with garlic and lettuce and the like. Mr. Wilson, still not entirely sure what this box in his living room is, managed to get it to turn on, but...
The Departure of Jezebel James
(Originally written March 27, 2008)
Note: This is now apparently a moot point, but I wrote it, so I’m posting it.
I spent the better (?) part of last weekend watching season one of The Gilmore Girls. It’s not a perfect show by any means, but (certainly before Rory abandoned Crimson for Bulldogs and Amy Sherman-Palladino abandoned the Girls all together), it’s pretty damn good. Yes, some of the...
Their So-Called Show...
(Originally written March 18, 2008)
I have a friend—who shall remain nameless so that I can continue to describe her as such—who told me a few months ago that she was considering buying the My So-Called Life DVD. She then shamefully confessed a few hours later that she was not only considering the purchase, but she had already made the purchase earlier that day. She just wanted to vet my reaction...
An Open Plea
(Originally written February 22, 2008)
Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m as happy as anyone—happier than most, even—that the writers strike is over. I can’t wait til late March/early April rolls around, and I can get my Much-Needed-Fix of Must-See-TV. The thing is, though, if I’m going to be completely honest (and really, what’s the point of having a blog if you’re not going to be Completely Honest and...
The (Secret) British Invasion
(Originally written 2/15/08)
The other day, I was watching Eli Stone, ABC’s new show (which I’ll write about in more detail at some point…probably) about a shallow L.A. lawyer cum prophet, and all was well and good, until the eponymous main character, played by Jonny Lee Miller, delivered an impassioned closing argument. Something was amiss. His words were coming out…just...
Not technically about TV, I suppose...
Friday night, we found ourselves at a party in Williamsburg. It was exactly what you might expect a party in Williamsburg to be. The apartment was in a converted warehouse (of course) and came equipped with a functional drawbridge (everyone’s an artiste!). People wearing the standard hipster uniform (embroidered dresses, skinny jeans, skinny ties, backpacks and bowties, and Buddy Holly...
Notes From the Underdone: Two Lives Change, but...
(Originally written April 30, 2007; the swan song)
I had grand plans for my last column for the Independent. I was going to write about a show that somehow represented all that is wonderful about TV, singing its praises from the metaphorical rooftops. Failing that, I was going to eviscerate some pitiful excuse for entertainment that desperately needed to be mocked. At the very least I was going...
Only Happy When It Raines
(Originally written April 10, 2007)
[Just for the record, this is actually my most re-blogged post. Thank you, various creepy Vincent D’Onofrio fan clubs!]
It’s time for a confession, gentle readers. Of all the Law and Orders, I like Criminal Intent the best. I know that for most people, that’s tantamount to sacrilege, but I just can’t help myself. Don’t get me wrong—I adore the original...
Boredom, By Design
(Originally written February 12, 2007)
One fateful day last summer, the unthinkable happened: I turned on the TV, and there wasn’t a single episode of Law and Order on. Not the original, not Criminal Intent, not SVU. It wasn’t on NBC, Bravo, TNT or USA. Nothing. Nowhere. So, in desperation, I decided to watch Project Runway instead, simply because it was on. I had pretty low expectations—I know...
Big Day Break
(Originally written December 11, 2006)
I used to watch 24. I followed every twist and every turn, I watched good guys turn out to be bad guys, bad guys turn out to be secretly decent, I watched Jack Bauer, his friends and family almost die, then almost die again, and then, from time to time, actually die. And then…I stopped. I can’t remember why, I just know that, with about four hours left in...
3 tags
The People's Murderer: Finally, a Serial Killer We...
(Originally written November 7, 2006)
My brother, worried that I might turn into too much of a girly girl, made it his personal mission to acclimate me to horror movies—by the time I hit double digits, I had seen all the great slasher movies (Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th) and a fair number of the less-than-great ones, too (Sleepaway Camp 2, Dr. Giggles, Horror House on...
1 tag
Friday Night Lights
(Originally written October 31, 2006)
I think my high school football team was pretty good. I can’t say for sure, of course, because in my four years at Montclair High School, I never once went to a football game. Come to think of it, I don’t know if I really know anyone who went to football game—at least, not of their own volition. The town newspaper seemed to write about the football team a lot...
1 tag
Real Desperate
(Originally written April 19, 2006) The other night, instead of working on my 20-page Junior Tutorial paper (only 19 pages to go!), making any attempt to salvage my embarrassingly pathetic Science B grade, or attempting to clean my room so that the floor is at least vaguely visible in a place or two, I watched three episodes of Bravo’s latest reality show, Real Housewives of Orange County. Now,...
3 tags
A lack of Conviction
(originally written February 28th, 2006) Okay. It’s time people knew the truth. I think I need to come clean. I, Jess Manners, don’t actually have a TV. (At least no one can say the Harvard Independent is not an equal opportunity employer…) I mean, technically, there’s a box in my common room with a screen and a remote and all that, but unless the television I happen to want to watch comes on a...
1 tag
Development Arrested
(originally written February 14th, 2006) I used to hate when my friends in middle school and high school would start to reminisce about TV shows. Admittedly, this was in part because for one reason or another I was never all that into Family Matters or Saved By the Bell or whatever, so while, yes, I had seen Steve Urkel’s transformation into Stephan Urquelle, and I did know about Zach Morris’s...
3 tags
Just a Little Sketchy
(Originally written October 18, 2006)
Forty seconds into the pilot episode of 30 Rock, a triumphant Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is marching down the streets of Manhattan joyfully giving free hot dogs to the people she sees, while an overly upbeat song plays overhead (Who’s that kid coming down the street/causing a stir! That’s Her! That’s Her!). She’s a modern Mary Tyler Moore, complete with her own...
The Devil Wears Betty
(Originally written October 10, 2006) [This is probably the weakest of my columns…it was written in about an hour to fill a last-minute space left by a staffer who was evidently even more irresponsible than me] I’m obviously not the first person to notice how many movies seem to be repeating each others’ plots lately (not that the phenomenon is entirely new, but, well, that’s beside the...
Ms. Manners Does TV: Heroes
(Originally written September 26, 2006) My boyfriend reads comics. Not comic strips, and not graphic novels (although he’s read a fair number of those, too—in fact, he’s even cited as a source for the wikipedia entry about the latter.), but comics, about superheroes and arch villains, about absurd plots to take over the world, and the equally absurd ways of preventing said plots from reaching...
Coping With Loss
(Originally written September 4, 2006) [quick explanation of this one: it was written for the “Freshman Issue”—the first issue of the school year, geared entirely at freshman; it’s mainly anecdotal stories intended to a) give freshmen a sense of What Life At Harvard Is Really Like, b) give writers a little freedom to reminisce and c) try to trick unsuspecting freshmen into...
Middle of Nowhere: The Small Screen's...
The midseason replacement is a strange, sad phenomenon. I had initially intended on drawing the (fairly obvious) analogy to being waitlisted for a school, but really, it’s far, far worse than that. I mean, the analogy would only be fair if we were talking about being waitlisted at a school that only let you in once other students have failed out, and even then, you’re still not guaranteed the full...
Os-car Crash
(Originally written March 7, 2006) A few days before the Oscars, it occurred to me that I couldn’t think of a single reason why I should waste any of my precious Sunday night watching Hollywood’s annual salute to itself. Even if I didn’t have papers to write, midterms to study for, books to read, classes to attempt to stay awake in; even if I had all the time in the world, there’s still no reason...
Deunited, and It Feels So...Bad. Kinda.
(Originally written February 7, 2006) When I heard sometime over winter break that Fox had cancelled Reunion, I have to say there was a little part of me that was disappointed. Now, don’t get me wrong. Reunion was an awful show. It could have been (and was, for all I know) written by eighth-graders, each episode’s plot jumping jerkily from one cliché to the next. The only thing shocking about most...
5 tags
Broadcasting Cheer, Year after Year
(Originally written December 13, 2005) I come from a long line of atheists. Or, to be more specific, I come from a long line of vaguely communistic, Jewish atheists. So, naturally, my favorite holiday is Christmas. Of course, my Christmas has much less to do with the Birth of Jesus as it does with the Birth of Santa, but even with all possible religious connotation mercilessly squeezed out of the...
The Wife Obsession
(Originally written December 6, 2005) The concept of the “dysfunctional family” is running the risk of becoming overdone. Come to think of it, it’s probably been running that risk for years. It might have been novel in the Leave It to Beaver era, but now, well, frankly, I can’t think of a single TV-family that couldn’t fall into the dysfunctional category (unless you count 7th Heaven’s Camdens,...
Pride, Prejudice, and the Popcorn Flick: Austen's...
(Originally written November 15, 2005. Not technically a column, but it’s still about people moving around on a screen, so I’m including it.) It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman in possession of literary taste must be in love with Jane Austen. To adapt an Austen book for the screen, especially one as beloved (and well known) as Pride and Prejudice is an extremely risky...
Ms. Manners Does TV: Gilmore Girls
(originally written November 15, 2005—it was never given a real title for some reason, and if I couldn’t think of one then, I certainly can’t think of one now. It was written for “The Game” issue (Harvard-Yale football game), hence all the rah-rah Harvard stuff) Gilmore Girls entered into my regular repertoire of TV shows back in high school for two main reasons:...
Sweeping the Networks Off Their Feet
(originally written November 8, 2005) Ah November. The month of pumpkin pie and turkey, of changing leaves, of Harvard-Yale football games (if you’re into that kind of thing), and, (most importantly) Fall Sweeps. This is the month where shows pull out all the stops, each trying to woo you, the viewer, in their own would-be unique way. After a careful analysis (i.e., walking the fine line between...
Related, but not quite Friends
(originally written October 27, 2005) Like most people who had access to TV from September of 1994 to May of 2004, I was really into Friends. It has made an indelible mark on the corner (oh, who are we kidding? It’s more like half) of my brain devoted to pop-culture. I can still quote (or, at least paraphrase) extensive scenes from almost every season. The sentence that starts something like, “oh,...
OC, Can You See?
(originally written October 20, 2005) So, last Thursday night, I actually did my reading assignment for my science core, I did laundry (for the first time - I had to ask my roommate where our laundry room was), I cleaned my room, and I even ventured into the “Quad Library” to do some reading that was due a week later. In other words, I was at a total loss. Fox’s decision to show...
The Deal
I used to write a TV column. Then, I entered the real world and found that there was a shortage of little-read newspapers run by my friends, and therefore a shortage of people willing to let me write pretty much whatever I want just so I can rationalize my television obsession. Luckily, I heard some rumors about this thing called “The Internet.” I hear that it, too, will let me write...