Episode 419

I love it when TV talks about other TV. Television in conversation with itself is just a sign of how ubiquitious it is in our society, and that kind of validates my lifestyle. In any case, my taste for inter-TV-referentiality (that's the technical term) is satisfied in a major way by Community. Abed's constant references to other television shows are brilliant, but often they're so quick, you don't even catch them, and they're certainly lost on non-TV fanatics. In last night's episode, though, there was an anything-but-subtle TV reference when Jeff -- mourning his recent break-up -- cries onto Pierce's shoulder and somehow turns it into a hysterical rejection of TV's new favorite gem.

In another similar moment, we also learned last night that Andy Bernard thinks of his own life as analogous to How I Met Your Mother. But unlike the rest of us, whose lives are nowhere as interesting or hilarious as television but we still delude ourselves into thinking they are, Andy's life is actually exciting enough to be compared to something involving Neil Patrick Harris.

In any case, the motivation behind this TV-on-TV post was something that I saw on Wheel of Fortune last night. The puzzle answer was: "Television medical drama House." The gentleman whose turn it was spun and spun right up until the end, finally bought the U, and then when he had all but the L, V, N, and C, he solved: "Television medical drama-house!" he proclaimed. He got it right and actually won a trip to Europe in the meantime, but there was a light chuckle in the audience and Pat Sajak, while congratulating him, corrected his syntax, as it were: "Television medical drama, House," he said. Silence. "It's a TV show called House." "Oh." And that was the end of it. This guy had never even heard of the show.

I'd like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, but I just Googled "House" and -- out of over 1 billion results -- the first 2 (and 4 of the first 6) hits are about the TV show. One of those 6 hits went to the House of Representatives, so I think we can fairly say that television is four times more important than politics in American culture. Sounds about right.

Episode 418

Just another moment of early modern Italian literature finding its way into the TV world (check out the quote before the article). It's a good thing I read this before I took my orals: instead of just discussing Machiavelli's divorcing of politics from ethics and his promotion of the verità effettiva over the idealized utopian model, I'll now be able to add that he was the first person ever to outwit, outplay, and outlast.

Episode 417

There are certain shows that I'm willing to give a second chance. Friday Night Lights was one of them. I tried to get through the first twenty minutes of the first episode and just couldn't do it. But something about it (perhaps the berating from my FNL-fanatic friend) encouraged me to try again, and am I glad I did. Certain shows have so much to offer and they just can't pack that all in to a pilot, so you have to have faith and see what happens.

This past week, I decided to give a second chance to The Marriage Ref. Having watched the premiere after the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, I wasn't sure how I felt: the panel of celebrities (Alec Baldwin in particular) were, not surprisingly, hilarious. Even the clips of the crazy couples who subject themselves to national scrutiny were laugh- (or at least gasp-) out-loud funny. But something about it -- and it is easy to see that that something is the host, Tom Papa -- was so incredibly grating that I wrote it off. But, when its second episode aired, I decided to give it a second shot. How can Tina Fey and Jerry Seinfeld be not funny? Well, I can't answer that, because the second time around, I only made it about 45 seconds in. I couldn't listen to one more second of Tom Papa's scripted unhilarity and so I turned it off, and just to rub salt in the wound, I deleted the recording. No turning back.

This grating terribleness might remind you of another show that I can't tolerate for more than a few accidentally-flipping-past-ABC-Family moments: Gilmore Girls. And now my least favorite show is back in the form of the new dramedy, Parenthood. Given that Parenthood is based on one of the greatest movies of all time, and that it has the same producer/writers as FNL, I was inclined to watch; but after just minutes, I was so irritated by the Gilmore Girls mom (who plays the exact same character with the exact same tiresome banter) that I had to turn it off. I haven't deleted the recording yet, but I just can't bring myself to give it a second chance. The second episode airs tomorrow, so anyone with an opinion has 24 hours to convince me to try again. Something tells me, though, that no one cares. And that, I think, is opinion enough.

Episode 416

I had a non-TV watching friend tell me today that reading my blog was like "walking into a party and realizing you don't know anyone else who was invited" -- I think that he hit the nail on the head. Have you ever tried to listen to people talk about a television show you've never seen? It's awkward, confusing, and not that much fun (sorry for anyone who ever has to spend time with me, by the way).

So instead of writing about how perfectly perfect Modern Family was last night, or finally commenting on Jake and Vienna (thumbs up on my end, by the way, especially after seeing them together on Ellen), I would just like to give a nod to a few YouTube gems that I spent some time with today. For those of you who feel like you don't know anyone at the party, these may not be for you, but at least they'll prove that me blogging about television is about a zero on a scale of zero to obsessed-with-TV.

These people, whatever awesome place they come from, have decided to do the most bizarre thing ever and re-create the intro to LOST using various non-LOST-like sitcom theme songs and intros. As far as titles, some of the most absurd are Loston Legal, Battlestar: Lostica, The Lost Bunch, LSI, and the not-as-punny Lost Anatomy. But although these people cutely changed the names, it's the actual product that counts, so I thought I would share some of my favorites.

Let me tell you that this was hard to narrow down, but I've managed to choose my three favorites. First, we have a show that, as I've mentioned before, is quite akin to LOST: Survivor. Next, an example that almost makes us wish LOST were a sitcom: Friends. And finally, the most bizarrely brilliant mash-up (and I'll make you click to find out what this one is), which made me cry, either from pure hilarity or possibly just the sheer awkwardness of it all.

Episode 415

I am back from my lengthy hiatus and the whole world is now wondering what to do from 8:00pm to midnight every day. We've all spent the past two and a half weeks glued to the spectacle that is the Winter Olympics, and Sunday night, we were hoping that our time would be rewarded with magnificent closing ceremonies. Well, I think China got our hopes up a bit too high. If you didn't catch any of the Vancouver closing ceremonies, let me summarize: they featured William Shatner as the Priceline Negotiator, made Catherine O'Hara seem not funny, and somehow managed to get Michael J. Fox to not stir up any emotions in anyone. Thanks to Robin Scherbatsky, I know that Canadians have a "different" sense of humor, but the inflatable beavers that served as the grand finale may have actually been more ridiculous than the performance of "On the Wings of Love" that Jake and Vienna (!) danced to during After the Final Rose on The Bachelor. Maybe.

Closing ceremonies aside, the Olympics were incredible for so many reasons. Not only did my childhood friend's brother-in-law (yes, I'm claiming him as an acquaintance) rock the men's aerials, he more importantly made an appearance on The Colbert Report. If anything means more to an Olympic athlete than being interviewed by Bob Costas, it's being interviewed by Stephen Colbert. And even for those of you who aren't cool enough to know an Olympic athlete, the Winter Games once again blew everyone's mind. Think about those dreams you have where you're falling from a really high distance. And then think about ski jumping. These two things are really no different. Although, not to brag, but I don't wear a helmet in my dreams.

In any case, now that the Games are over, we can all shed a few tears and move on. Although Ali has been announced as the new Bachelorette and the top 24 (now 20) American Idol contestants sound like the chorus from a high school musical production of Oklahoma, we do have a lot to look forward to. LOST slowly but amazingly creeps toward it's finish, we anticipate the return of Glee in April, and this Thursday, Jim and Pam will have a baby. Or maybe more importantly, and certainly more hilariously, Michael Scott will react to Jim and Pam having a baby.