Tag Archives: tv shows

Jul 17 2012
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Sarah

Popular

As I referenced in my post about my love for  The WB, I was a big fan of the show Popular. A little Mean Girls, a little Gossip Girl, this show as about cliques and the social hierarchy of high school. It starred Leslie Bibb (who’s been in a couple movies like Iron Man and Talladega Nights) and Carly Pope (not quite sure what she’s been in lately). Leslie’s character,  Brooke, was the super popular cheerleader with the hot bf and and Carly’s character, Sam, was the unpopular smart girl with a nerdy best friend who pines after her. Sounds like a pretty standard high school drama premise, right?

Well, this show was created by Ryan Murphy (Glee, Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story), so of course there were some twists and turns. Sam and Brooke’s single parents meet and fall in love, get married and  have a kid together. Sam and Brooke eventually fight over Harrison. Josh, Brooke’s football player boyfriend, starts dating Sam’s environmental activist friend, Lily, and they get married. Sidenote: I absolutely hate when teenage characters get married. Yeah, I’m looking at you Cory and Topanga (okay you got married in college, but still), Haley and Nathan from One Tree Hill and Finn and Rachel (well, almost, thank god Quinn got in that car accident). Anyways, there were also some crazy peripheral characters like Mary Cherry, a crazy and vapid cheerleader, Nicole, scary psychopath cheerleader, and Mike “Sugar Daddy” Bernardino, an overweight wanna gangsta.

I really loved this show and I’m still disappointed that it was cancelled after only two seasons. Plus, that series finale was crazy. SPOILER ALERT: The last scene shows Nicole running over Brooke with her car. And that’s the end of it. Seriously. We don’t know if she dies or not.

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Jun 27 2012
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Sarah

The WB

Sometimes I wish The WB were still in existence and not The CW. I mean, The WB was edgy and cool and just for young people. Like no joke, it’s main target was people below the age of 30. The network had gems like Felicity, Dawson’s Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Everwood, 7th Heaven and my all-time favorite show ever, Gilmore Girls. Also, remember sitcoms like Sister, Sister, What I Like About You and Reba? Plus, let’s not forget those forgotten shows like Grosse Pointe (a hilarious behind-the-scenes satire of a show like Beverly Hills, 90210 that was, in my opinion, cancelled way too soon), Young Americans (with Kate Bosworth and Ian Somerhalder), Brotherly Love (guys, remember when the Lawrence brothers were heartthrobs?!) and The Mountain (with a pre-Gossip Girl Penn Badgley).

And can we talk about how many celebs got their start on The WB? Michelle Williams and Katie Holmes would be nowhere without Dawson’s Creek. Keri Russell is always going to be Felicity Porter to me. Kat Dennings got her start on Raising Dad (with Danny Tanner, ahem, Bob Saget). Jamie Foxx had his own freakin’ sitcom. Jessica Biel was Mary Camden on 7th Heaven before she got nakey in FHM. And Zac Efron could not have been more awkward (with a gap tooth) in Summerland. I could probably go on forever and ever naming shows and stars from The WB. Seriously, it’s the only channel I ever watched when I was about 11-17. It was really hard, but I rounded up my top 5 shows on The WB (frankly, it was like choosing a favorite child):

Gilmore Girls: This was obviously a no-brainer. I was and still am obsessed with this show. I wanted to be Rory, except with better clothes. I own all the DVDs. I went on The WB backlot tour in Burbank (where they filmed the show) twice. I stood on Lorelai’s yard and took a picture with that gnome, Pierpont. I have a photo outside of Luke’s diner. I still have hope that one day they’ll make a reunion movie.

Popular: This show was cancelled too soon. Created by Ryan Murphy (Glee and Nip/Tuck), the show was about, what else, popularity and cliques in high school. It’s like Gossip Girl’s older sister. Plus, it had a really catchy theme song.

Roswell: Aliens, romance and teen drama. What more could you ask for? Before angsty supernatural teen dramas like Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle, there was Roswell. I have to admit, sometimes it got a little intense and even a little scary for me, but I loved it. Liz + Max 4 eva. Plus, it featured a pre-Grey’s Anatomy Katherine Heigl.

What I Like About You: Amanda Bynes at her peak. Enough said.

Felicity: There were many times throughout my college career at NYU that I stopped and asked myself, “Why isn’t my life more like Felicity’s?” I loved this show, even after she got that crazy haircut. I’m still waiting for my Ben Covington.

Also, can we just talk about the amazing promos The WB had? See above video for an example. Classic.

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Jun 13 2012
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Sarah

Veronica Mars

I guess you could say Veronica Mars was the modern-day Nancy Drew. Except she was way sassier. Veronica (aka Kristen Bell) was a high school student who joined in the family business of private investigating when her bff aka Amanda Seyfried was murdered (yikes!). After the murder, bad things happened to Veronica like her dad lost his job as sheriff and they became poor, her mom bounced, her boyfriend dumped her and she became unpopular. Cue her becoming a sassy beyotch.

Veronica was kinda the underdog which is probably why I loved this show so much. She was super cool and didn’t take shit from anyone. She also had some pretty cute boyfriends: Duncan, Logan (LOVE HIM), Piz (looked like Zac Efron, was in Private Practice and The Help) and some other random love interests here and there. She had some pretty awesome sidekicks, too, like Wallace, Weevil (bad boy, cholo-esque guy) and Mac (aka Tina from Napoleon Dynamite).

The show followed her from high school to college and there was always one larger mystery solved throughout the season and then smaller ones solved during each episode. At least there wasn’t a question why mystery followed Veronica everywhere, she actually was a teen private investigator.

Sadly, the show got cancelled after three seasons. Seriously, I was not pleased with that ending. Okay, CW, you’re gonna cancel Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls but keep The Game and One Tree Hill? Ugh. And what kills me even more is that season 4 was supposed to take place a few years after season 3 where Veronica is now in the CIA. There’s a mini-pilot that you can watch on YouTube that will make you so upset and curse whoever made the decision to cancel the show. Check it here:

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May 24 2012
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Sarah

Endurance

Anybody remember this reality show in the 2000s? It was banking on the huge popularity of Survivor and it had kind of the same format, but it was for teens. These kids get dropped off in a remote location, have to compete in a challenge to stay in the actual competition, and get put into boy-girl teams. At every episode there’s one mission where each team has a chance of winning a Samadhi which they can give to another team to weaken them. Then the teams compete in a temple mission and the winning team gets to choose who goes to the elimination round. The teams that are selected go to the Temple of Fate where they play a rock, paper, scissors game but instead it’s wood, water and fire. The team that wins two out of three rounds gets to stay. The losing team gets to give their pyramid pieces to the team of their choice (in Season 1 it used to go to the winner of the mission in the next episode). In order to win, one team needs all the pieces. The winners get to go on an amazing vacation with their families (this I find hilarious, but these were teenagers so adult supervision was needed).

The premise was pretty simple and nothing really new. But the best part was the teen drama. It was like Degrassi meets Survivor meets Real World, if you catch my drift. There was a lot of backstabbing, fake and real relationships, unrequited crushes, popularity contests, etc. It was so entertaining.

Fun fact: if you go on Wikipedia you can find out where some of the cast members are today. The girl that won the first season was on Real World: Cancun, The Challenge: Rivals, some other reality show on TruTV and in a LMFAO music video. Another kid from the first season was on an episode of Intervention where he was battling an addiction to bath salts because of his stage mother. Some of the other contestants in other seasons had bit parts on TV shows and movies and one even appeared on American Juniors.

After reading all of that, I came to the conclusion that Endurance was actually Mickey Mouse Club meets Survivor. It was a breeding ground for wannabe child stars. Now I’m questioning every thing on the show? Did they really have to sleep in those huts? Did they ever have to hunt for their own food or were craft services around the corner?

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May 10 2012
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Sarah

Friday Night Lights

Why didn’t anyone tell me this show was so freakin’ good? Last month, I started watching the first season on Netflix and I’ve been hooked ever since. Currently I’m in the middle of season 3, I’m a little behind because season 2 was crazy. Man, I just could not power through it like I did with season 1. I blame it on the murder (huh?) and Coach Taylor not coaching the Panthers. Season 3 is better but I really wish they didn’t bring that kid from Peter Pan on, he’s a poor man’s Zac Efron and is messing up everything. What’s really weird about my fascination with this show is that I don’t really know or care about football at all in my regular life. Seriously, during this year’s Super Bowl, I sat in my friend’s apartment, ate buffalo wings and played about 4 hours of Angry Birds (with a couple of pauses to watch the halftime show and a little bit of the Puppy Bowl). But this is a show all about football and I don’t really get what’ s going on in some of the game sequences but whatever. It’s just so addicting and the characters make me smile and cry. Let’s just talk about the five ways this show has sucked me in:

1. Tim Riggins. I love you Taylor Kitsch/Tim Riggins. He’s a bad boy with a heart of gold. Who doesn’t love that kind of guy? He has some pretty comedic moments and his hair is always flawless.

2. Matt Saracen. In theory, Tim Riggins would be my man, but in practice (and reality), I’m always gonna love the Matt Saracen-type more. He’s just so sweet and vulnerable. He takes care of his grandma! He’s really grown up and polite. Julie is such a bitch for treating him terribly. I would never break up with him for a Swede who drives a gross minivan and smokes a lot of weed.

3. Eric Taylor and Tami Taylor (a.k.a. Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton). Sometimes I actually believe these two actors are married in real life. Their chemistry is that good. Tami is just such a supportive and strong woman. Coach Taylor is tough but so wise. Can they be my life mentors in real life?

4. Texas. Oh, so that’s what it’s like to grow up in a small-town. And man their accents are great, right? TEXAS FOREVER.

5. Football. Yeah, I know, I don’t really care about football in real life, but this show gives me a glimpse at the high school experience I never had. You see, I went to an all-girls’ Catholic school. Sure, we would go to football games at our brother school nearby, but my high school life wasn’t exactly normal.

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Apr 26 2012
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Sarah

Zoom

I’ve said this a lot before: I didn’t have cable growing up. I think my parents thought it was a distraction or they were too cheap to pay for it. Not having cable really affects your childhood experiences. You can’t go home from school and watch Doug or Hey Arnold or Rugrats everyday (although when I used to go to my cousin’s house after school I sat in front of the TV for hours watching Nickelodeon and Disney Channel). So what kind of TV did a have to look forward to after school? Well, it was either the news, some infomercials, Oprah or PBS. Well since I was too young to find Oprah compelling at 10 years old, I tuned into PBS and watched Zoom.

Zoom was pretty wholesome and I so wanted to be a Zoomer. If only I lived in Boston, MA 0-2-1-3-4 (cue song) then I could have been on the show. They made crafts, conducted science experiments and cooked. They danced and told jokes. They solved problems and talked about issues like keeping the earth clean and racism. I remember I did a bunch of crafts and made recipes from the show — let’s just say they did not turn out the way they did on the show and my parents were pretty annoyed at me.

My favorite Zoomers were Zoe (she went to NYU!), Jared (RIP!), Kenny (I had a crush on him and when I recently Googled him, I found out that he’s 28. um what.), Keiko and Caroline. Where are they now? Seriously, Vh-1 or E! has to do a special on that.

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Mar 20 2012
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Sarah

California Dreams

don't wake me up, don't wake me up if i'm dreaming

Fire up the synthesizer and let’s talk about another classic teen show, California Dreams.  It’s less popular than Saved by the Bell, but equally amazing. For those who don’t know or don’t remember the show, it was about a group of teenagers who had a band, called California Dreams. They were surf dudes with attitude (kinda groovy). Plus, the cast was a lot more diverse than STB, the show had an Asian (Sam, who was a foreign exchange student from Hong Kong) and a Hispanic (Lorena, the groupie).

But if we’re gonna be real here, California Dreams was basically what would have happened if the kids on Saved by the Bell formed a band. Here’s a comparison:

Hangout: Their version of the Max was Sharkey’s, a beach restaurant where they hung out and where they conveniently had some gigs.

Annoying and dumb character: Their Screech was Sly, the band’s smarmy manager.

Core couples: I’d say California Dreams’ Kelly and Zack were Tiffani (blonde bass player) and Jake (the second guitarist and overall bad boy). Jessie and AC Slater’s doppelgangers were Sam (vocalist) and Tony (drummer). If Lisa and Screech ever got together, they would be Lorena and Sly (opposites attract?).

I really like California Dreams. My 5 or 6-year-old self actually believed that when I was a teenager my life would be exactly like that. I mean, I did live in California! Sadly, my teenage life wasn’t like that, but who knows, maybe I’ll join a band and learn to surf one day?

But the redeeming quality of California Dreams? They actually got their sh-t together to reunite on Jimmy Fallon! Yeah, they did. And they sang the theme song, like how cool is that? It was awesome. Take that, Saved by the Bell. Unfortunately, Jimmy Fallon doesn’t have the video up anymore, but damn what happened to you Jake? Tiffani, Sam and Tony look like they haven’t aged. And I’m pretty sure Sly got better with age.

So since I don’t have the reunion video, I’ll just leave you with the theme song:

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Feb 28 2012
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Sarah

The Time I Named My Baby Sister After a Character in Full House

whatever happened to predictability?

I had an unhealthy obsession with Full House when I was little. The Tanners were just so cool — they had the best dog ever (Comet!), a huge house that could fit nine people  (and sometimes Kimmy Gibbler and Aladdin, I mean, Steve) plus a recording studio and they lived in San Francisco and took cable cars all the time. Side note, one day I want to live in San Francisco and I imagine my days will consist of riding cable cars and eating clam chowder in bread bowls. Anyways, I never missed an episode of Full House on TGIF (we’ll get to that ground-breaking block of Friday night television in a future post). Yup, I was there when DJ had body issues and worked out a lot, when Stephanie crashed the car into the house and when Aunt Becky broke the news to Uncle Jesse that she was pregnant by making him a dinner of baby back ribs, baby corn and baby shrimp (that’s totally how I’m gonna break the news to my future babydaddy).  I had the Full House board game (it was boring but I pretended it was the most riveting game in the world). And did anyone try to sleep in their bathtub like Stephanie did when she didn’t want to share a room? I did. I was a mega fan.

I was also an only child for the first five years of my life. It was pretty great. I got all the attention. I had an imaginary friend (Jenny! She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Are you creeped out right now?). But one day my parents told me I was going to have a baby sister and I got stars in my eyes. Because with my days as an only child numbered, I was going to use it to my advantage.

you got it dude

I told my parents to name my baby sister Michelle after the one and only Michelle “You got it dude” Tanner. And they did. My mom doesn’t even regret it. So how did I do it? Well, this is where I learned that persistence really does pay off. A life lesson, I tell you. I begged and begged them to name her Michelle. Every day I talked about how great Michelle Tanner was. I drew pictures and sang songs (“Everywhere you look…”) Maybe my parents are complete pushovers or maybe I’m really persuasive and charming and annoying.  When I asked my mom about it a few months ago, she said, “Yeah we named your sister Michelle because you wouldn’t shut up about it.” How many people get to name their siblings? It’s my claim to fame. And if you were wondering, my sister Michelle likes her name (but rolls her eyes whenever she hears this story).

-SARAH

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