Episode 609

I'm writing this while sitting on the floor of SFO, waiting to board my flight to LAX (four-hour delay and counting). As much as I love the people-watching, this does mean I'm missing Thursday-night TV, including an episode of The Office called "Threat Level Midnight." (Can. Not. Wait.) To console myself, I'm going to write about a few things I loved this week on TV:

1) Michael Emerson on Parenthood. The one drawback of that otherwise flawless show is (and my driver in LAX agrees) the one-note portrayal of Max, the middle-schooler with Asperger's.  I'm not sure if it's the fault of the writers, the directors, or the child actor with a tremendously difficult role to play, but Max - who should be one of the show's more dynamic and sympathetic characters  - falls flat.  In any case, Michael Emerson (with just the right amount of Ben Linus in him) guest starred in this week's episode as a man with Asperger's - and he gave one of the most nuanced performances the show has ever seen (which is saying a lot given the knock-out talent on the regular cast). It's worth checking out (hulu.com - sorry for lack of links, I'm writing this old-school Notes style and will even if you don't follow the show.  P.S. Can we agree that Michael Emerson is the Christoph Waltz of the small screen?

2) The new feedingamerica.org ad campaign. This is a little less exciting when I can't link to examples, but let's just say that Taye Diggs, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck made me want to pick Feeding America next time they ask me to choose a cause at Whole Foods. Commercials for charities that don't rely on Sarah McLachlan songs to elicit the tears are always okay in my book.

3) Elmo showing Padma who's boss.  The stars of Sesame Street were the (best) guest judges (ever) on Top Chef: All Stars this week. The challenge was to make cookies worthy of Cookie Monster. When one chef made a cookie with cinnamon and it was mistaken for cardamom, Padma, in true attempted-snobbery style, informed the Muppets that "cinnamon and cardamom come from the same part of the world." Elmo then retorted with what every viewer was thinking (and I quote): "TMI." 

Speaking of TMI, my butt is a bit sore from all this floor-sitting, so it's time to wrap up and take a stroll. Hey, it could be worse; it's 10:45pm on a Thursday - I could be watching Outsourced.

Episode 608

Yes it is, Entertainment Weekly, yes it is.

Episode 607

Maybe it's because Modern Family has been on a too-long hiatus, or maybe it's because of my blatant obsession with all-things-celebrity, but the other night, I had a dream that I met Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitch) and we became fast friends.  It felt incredibly real, because, in the dream, I was appropriately starstruck and shocked at how quickly he warmed up to me.  Cam was there, too - we also got along, but he was a little wrapped up in some other dream-weird activities.

In any case, it got me thinking - people always ask which celebrities you would want to meet, and the dream made me realize that the important criteria should not be fame or, say, utter hotness, it should be relatability.  Because how much would it suck to meet George Clooney, only to find out that you can't hold a conversation with him (let alone point to Darfur on a map)?

But how can you know who you would be able to relate to?  I mentioned before how celebrity interviews can be illuminating - and I think this is the key.  Be sure you relate to the actor, not just the character.  For instance, I love Ron Swanson, but on an interview on Conan recently, Nick Offerman (the actor behind Ron Swanson) listed off a few of his pet peeves, and I fit the people-he-hates bill just about perfectly...particularly in the "flip-flop sandal"-wearing category.

Luckily, based on interviews, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and Ty Burrell all still make the cut.  They might (might!) be funnier than me and at a slightly different life stage (maybe I'd fare better as a middle-aged man...), but I think they'd appreciate my jokes as much as the next guy.   That is, not at all.

Episode 606

Remember the good old days when parents were protesting against Dawson's Creek's "sexual frankness?" Pacey is sleeping with his teacher! Jen said penis! Dawson admitted to "walking his dog" to Katie Couric! (Okay, that last one is actually kind of traumatizing, but for entirely different reasons.)  Well, it's no revelation that we are now a far cry from the tame raciness of the 90s: sex, drugs, and rock and roll are all the Network Formally Known as The WB can talk about.  Until today, I might have argued that 90210 and Gossip Girl were leading the pack in showing Mothers Against Dawson's Creek who's boss.  And then I saw the commercial for Vampire Diaries - one phrase, two words, three syllables -- immeasurable implications:

CATCH VD.

What I find most fascinating about this slogan, other than its undeniable brilliance, is the fact that most of the demographic that watches Vampire Diaries probably had to Google "VD" to get the double entendre, yet every adult who would be mortified by the implication doesn't even have to think twice. I think Perez Hilton put it best (if I had a nickel for every time I heard that...) when he said: "And the Parents Television Council loses its mind in 3…2…1…"