In the first of 2 all new episodes of The Office tonight, Pam finally had a bit of a freakout about quitting her job and following Michael into what seems like the hopeless Michael Scott Paper Company. Now that I've seen her freak out a little and realize exactly what she did by giving up her steady gig at Dunder Mifflin, I can totally buy the rest of the story line.
Also, as someone who is about to venture into starting a small business of my own, these two episodes made me freak out a little bit. I saved the episode where the MSPC has their first investor meeting (with Nana), because Nana asked some good questions, questions that I need to answer. Also, Pam gave me a lot to think about with her list-making. Thanks for that, guys.
Just when I was questioning my own sanity for wanting to start something up in these harsh economic times, I saw a glimmer of hope. When Pam made that first sale (oops, spoiler alert!) I thought to myself if Michael Scott and Pam Beasley can land their first client on day one (no, i'm not giving Ryan any credit here), ANYTHING is possible!
yes. i know this is all make-believe. let me have it.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Parks and Recreation
quick thoughts:
I'm becoming a bigger Rashida Jones fan all the time.
This show is CLEARLY made by "the people who brought you "The Office".
Amy Poehler...yes.
Aziz Ansari...double yes.
Pretty funny, can't wait to see more.
I'm becoming a bigger Rashida Jones fan all the time.
This show is CLEARLY made by "the people who brought you "The Office".
Amy Poehler...yes.
Aziz Ansari...double yes.
Pretty funny, can't wait to see more.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
I can't even think of a clever title i'm so bored
The most interesting thing to happen on American Idol last night was that nobody told poor Paula that she had lipstick on her teeth the whole time.
Seriously.
Ok, there were cute baby photos of the contestants that made me feel old, because I can remember watching the music videos for most of the songs that came out in the YEAR THEY WERE BORN.
So my quick opinions in a nutshell (which haven't changed much):
I still love Danny, Allison and Anoop. I think Kris and Matt are also really talented, and Scott too, but the other three are still my favorites. Here's why. With Danny, first of all, I just really enjoy hearing him sing. His voice is refreshingly different and he's just so sincere. I totally believe him all the time. Allison is just fantastic. She always sounds so good, her voice is so strong - for a 16 year old or ANY age - she just wails. She's also original without being manufactured. She's just a cool-ass teenage girl with confidence who can take criticism in stride. ANOOP! Anoop is fun to watch, and definitely an original in this competition, again without having to try too hard. His voice always surprises me and I just enjoy him so.
I think it's time for Lil' Rounds to go home. Every time she performs, this is my reaction - "meh". She bores the crap out of me and she has yet to really step it up. She has a nice voice, sure, but to be blunt, I find her onstage to be a little, well...dead inside. This is so strange to me because in all of her interviews and video packages, she's always so spunky and sassy. I think she just gets a little nervous on performance night. Which is why she no longer belongs in the competition. This is a search for a superstar, no?
and now we get to the controversial Adam Lambert. I don't know what kind of spell he has on the judges and why he ALWAYS gets to go last or second to last (prime real estate when people are calling in votes for what they remember) but I just don't buy it. YES, for pete's sake, I know he is a fantastic singer. His performance last night was lovely. I am just so over his whole manufactured persona. I just don't see what kind of album he would put out or in what market they would package him. I just don't think he's God's gift to American Idol. ugh.
Oh, I also really like Scott - and not because he is blind. I think he is interesting and every week I wonder what's coming next from him.
Seriously.
Ok, there were cute baby photos of the contestants that made me feel old, because I can remember watching the music videos for most of the songs that came out in the YEAR THEY WERE BORN.
So my quick opinions in a nutshell (which haven't changed much):
I still love Danny, Allison and Anoop. I think Kris and Matt are also really talented, and Scott too, but the other three are still my favorites. Here's why. With Danny, first of all, I just really enjoy hearing him sing. His voice is refreshingly different and he's just so sincere. I totally believe him all the time. Allison is just fantastic. She always sounds so good, her voice is so strong - for a 16 year old or ANY age - she just wails. She's also original without being manufactured. She's just a cool-ass teenage girl with confidence who can take criticism in stride. ANOOP! Anoop is fun to watch, and definitely an original in this competition, again without having to try too hard. His voice always surprises me and I just enjoy him so.
I think it's time for Lil' Rounds to go home. Every time she performs, this is my reaction - "meh". She bores the crap out of me and she has yet to really step it up. She has a nice voice, sure, but to be blunt, I find her onstage to be a little, well...dead inside. This is so strange to me because in all of her interviews and video packages, she's always so spunky and sassy. I think she just gets a little nervous on performance night. Which is why she no longer belongs in the competition. This is a search for a superstar, no?
and now we get to the controversial Adam Lambert. I don't know what kind of spell he has on the judges and why he ALWAYS gets to go last or second to last (prime real estate when people are calling in votes for what they remember) but I just don't buy it. YES, for pete's sake, I know he is a fantastic singer. His performance last night was lovely. I am just so over his whole manufactured persona. I just don't see what kind of album he would put out or in what market they would package him. I just don't think he's God's gift to American Idol. ugh.
Oh, I also really like Scott - and not because he is blind. I think he is interesting and every week I wonder what's coming next from him.
Monday, April 6, 2009
ER - thoughts on a finale
I am a big fan of series finales. I have even been known to watch the series finale of a show or two that I have never watch, just to see how they wrap it all up. So, naturally I was all in for the ER finale, a show that I have been watching since high school.
The one-hour retrospective before the finale was made for me. I am a complete sucker for stuff like that. Show me old clips, remind me of the good times, the sad times, the wacky times, etc. Show me cast members past and present talking about the show, the behind the scenes antics and even have one or two of them get emotional. I'm hooked. I am on my couch with the oreos and the tissues and I am your prisoner for the next 3 hours.
There are a few things I look for in my finales, and ER delivered.
First of all, I love it when a finale throws back to elements of the pilot episode. It's a nice way to bookend the series. I loved the shot at the begining of the episode with Morris, asleep in the break room was called awake to duty by the same nurse that woke up a sleeping Dr. Green in the pilot. This is a good sign.
In another nod to the pilot, we have of course a brand new, young, fresh faced intern (played by Alexis Bledel - don't even get me started on HER) on her first night at the ER. Much like Dr. Carter's first shift in the premiere episode, Dr. Rory has some good moments but also gets overwhelmed. She gets close to a family after the mother comes in and gives birth to a set of premature twins, and needing an emergency operation. The twins are allright - win! The mother however, does not make it - fail. At the end of the 2 hour finale, Dr. Traveling Pants (keep up, folks) tells Dr. Brenner that maybe she's not cut out for this and he gives her the pep talk, much like the one Dr. Green gave to baby John Carter in the first. Bookends, see??
Ok, then of course for the true blue fans like me (and my mom) they brought back old faces like Dr. Benton, Dr. Corday, Dr. Weaver and Dr. Susan. I don't know why I can't ever remember her character's last name, because everyone always just calls her Susan. Everyone is in town for different reasons, but they are all gathered at the opening of the Joshua Carter Center at University Hospital. I hate when a character leaves a show and you never hear about them again, especially in a workplace drama. It's nice to know that although these people don't see each other often or at all, they are still connected and are there for each other for big life events.
I love that not EVERYONE came back in the same episode. In a previous episode we saw Dr. Ross (CLOONEY!) and Nurse Carol Hathaway, but they didn't come back for a visit. We got to observe them in their new lives in Seattle. We didn't have to see them reunited with everyone, we just got a glimpse of their life and we know they are ok. I even love that the two people from County that were sent to Seattle for organs were Neela and Sam, who didn't know Ross and Hathaway from Adam. Life goes on. If I went back to my old job from 8 years ago, I wouldn't know 99% of the people that work there now. That's how it goes. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE that Dr. Ross didn't know that the kidney he convinced the accident victim's grandmother to donate was for his good friend John Carter!
Ok, back to the finale. I also am not a big fan of rushing a couple that was once together but is now apart to get back together and be perfect and happy for the finale. I mean, we all knew Rachel was gonna get off the plane, but Carrie didn't HAVE TO end up with Big after all of his...well, that's another rant for another day. So I really love how the writers started planting seeds for a Sam/Gates reunion, but never forced that moment where they ran to each other and threw their arms around each other in a fit of passion! Instead, there was just this really lovely moment when, as they were observing an old man grieving for the love of his life for over 70 years, Sam just quietly reached her hand out and held Gates' hand. That's it. A nice sign that they might be able to work things out, or just her way of letting him now that she still cares. I don't need to know that it will be happily ever after, just that these two crazy kids might just have a prayer.
So now we get to my FAVORITE part of the finale. RACHEL GREEN! No, not the one from "Friends". Dr. Green's troubled teenage daughter is back! Touring County as a prospective Med student. I love this story. I love that they got the same actress who played her as a teen. I love that lots of people didn't know who she was, but the ones that did (how much do I love Chuny?) were touched to see her. Rachel and her dad had somewhat of a rocky relationship at times and their bonding scenes in Hawaii as Dr. Green was dying still get me choked up. So to see her following in her dad (and stepmom)'s footprints was such a great way to tie together the past and present in the finale.
Ok. One more thing I loved about this finale - the whole 'life goes on' aspect. We weren't witnesses to the end of the story, it continues but we just don't get to see it anymore. No, the hospital was not closing, the staff was not being overhauled no major changes that would end most long running shows. The episode ended as so many began. A large incoming trauma. Doctors in the ambulance area to greet and treat the ambulances and patients that are arriving.
Well done, ER. Thanks for 15 years!!!
The one-hour retrospective before the finale was made for me. I am a complete sucker for stuff like that. Show me old clips, remind me of the good times, the sad times, the wacky times, etc. Show me cast members past and present talking about the show, the behind the scenes antics and even have one or two of them get emotional. I'm hooked. I am on my couch with the oreos and the tissues and I am your prisoner for the next 3 hours.
There are a few things I look for in my finales, and ER delivered.
First of all, I love it when a finale throws back to elements of the pilot episode. It's a nice way to bookend the series. I loved the shot at the begining of the episode with Morris, asleep in the break room was called awake to duty by the same nurse that woke up a sleeping Dr. Green in the pilot. This is a good sign.
In another nod to the pilot, we have of course a brand new, young, fresh faced intern (played by Alexis Bledel - don't even get me started on HER) on her first night at the ER. Much like Dr. Carter's first shift in the premiere episode, Dr. Rory has some good moments but also gets overwhelmed. She gets close to a family after the mother comes in and gives birth to a set of premature twins, and needing an emergency operation. The twins are allright - win! The mother however, does not make it - fail. At the end of the 2 hour finale, Dr. Traveling Pants (keep up, folks) tells Dr. Brenner that maybe she's not cut out for this and he gives her the pep talk, much like the one Dr. Green gave to baby John Carter in the first. Bookends, see??
Ok, then of course for the true blue fans like me (and my mom) they brought back old faces like Dr. Benton, Dr. Corday, Dr. Weaver and Dr. Susan. I don't know why I can't ever remember her character's last name, because everyone always just calls her Susan. Everyone is in town for different reasons, but they are all gathered at the opening of the Joshua Carter Center at University Hospital. I hate when a character leaves a show and you never hear about them again, especially in a workplace drama. It's nice to know that although these people don't see each other often or at all, they are still connected and are there for each other for big life events.
I love that not EVERYONE came back in the same episode. In a previous episode we saw Dr. Ross (CLOONEY!) and Nurse Carol Hathaway, but they didn't come back for a visit. We got to observe them in their new lives in Seattle. We didn't have to see them reunited with everyone, we just got a glimpse of their life and we know they are ok. I even love that the two people from County that were sent to Seattle for organs were Neela and Sam, who didn't know Ross and Hathaway from Adam. Life goes on. If I went back to my old job from 8 years ago, I wouldn't know 99% of the people that work there now. That's how it goes. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE that Dr. Ross didn't know that the kidney he convinced the accident victim's grandmother to donate was for his good friend John Carter!
Ok, back to the finale. I also am not a big fan of rushing a couple that was once together but is now apart to get back together and be perfect and happy for the finale. I mean, we all knew Rachel was gonna get off the plane, but Carrie didn't HAVE TO end up with Big after all of his...well, that's another rant for another day. So I really love how the writers started planting seeds for a Sam/Gates reunion, but never forced that moment where they ran to each other and threw their arms around each other in a fit of passion! Instead, there was just this really lovely moment when, as they were observing an old man grieving for the love of his life for over 70 years, Sam just quietly reached her hand out and held Gates' hand. That's it. A nice sign that they might be able to work things out, or just her way of letting him now that she still cares. I don't need to know that it will be happily ever after, just that these two crazy kids might just have a prayer.
So now we get to my FAVORITE part of the finale. RACHEL GREEN! No, not the one from "Friends". Dr. Green's troubled teenage daughter is back! Touring County as a prospective Med student. I love this story. I love that they got the same actress who played her as a teen. I love that lots of people didn't know who she was, but the ones that did (how much do I love Chuny?) were touched to see her. Rachel and her dad had somewhat of a rocky relationship at times and their bonding scenes in Hawaii as Dr. Green was dying still get me choked up. So to see her following in her dad (and stepmom)'s footprints was such a great way to tie together the past and present in the finale.
Ok. One more thing I loved about this finale - the whole 'life goes on' aspect. We weren't witnesses to the end of the story, it continues but we just don't get to see it anymore. No, the hospital was not closing, the staff was not being overhauled no major changes that would end most long running shows. The episode ended as so many began. A large incoming trauma. Doctors in the ambulance area to greet and treat the ambulances and patients that are arriving.
Well done, ER. Thanks for 15 years!!!
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