Okay, so I'm going to try and turn my many, many opinions about television into a weekly blog item. I talk and think about shows so much, I might as well write about them too.
So introducing the first category of TV impressions...NEW COMEDY!
Now, I am a college student and do not have time to watch every show on earth, so these are just a select number of shows I chose to tune in to. I will also have a post up soon about some of my favorite returning shows, so look out for that.
Up All Night: Wednesdays, NBC
I may be alone in thinking this, but this looks like the most promising new show of the season! Following the debacle of Running Wilde, it’s nice to see Will Arnett in a role that humanizes him but allows him to make some of the same kind of goofy-yet-jerky mistakes that made GOB my favorite character in Arrested Development. I also think Christina Applegate is underrated as a comic actress—her chemistry with Maya Rudolph and Will Arnett make this whole show sparkle.
I also think there are several things about this show that are commendable on a kind of social commentary level. Reagan and Chris might be having a rough time adjusting to true adulthood and parenthood, but they aren’t the typical juvenile, incompetent types that would have populated this show perhaps five years ago. They really try hard and do their best—and the greatest part is that this couple is not constantly at each other’s throats. I don’t think the inversion of Chris being a stay-at-home dad and Reagan being a working mom is necessarily worthy of commendation, but I do think the show’s portrayal of their relationship and partnership is.
New Girl: Tuesdays, FOX
I had mixed feelings going into this. I admit I am not the biggest fan of Zooey Deschanel—I used to love her, back when she did The Good Girl and her short stint on Weeds, but since then my respect and admiration of her has pretty seriously waned. I also think Fox may have overexposed this show a bit, but I guess the tremendous ratings the premiere got will contend that it was a smart move.
Zooey as Jess was so-so…I found many of her lines/hijinks to be hit-or-miss (for instance: loved the “your boob is resting on a plate of chicken” bit, did not so much love the jeggings bit) and her comic timing is just not as good as it could be. However, I am a huge fan of Max Greenfield from his Veronica Mars days, so I might watch just to see how his “douche-jar-filling” character evolves.
My one major grevience to air, though, has to do with the first scene. Getting dumped while naked? I realize Forgetting Sarah Marshall was not exactly Judd Apatow’s most well-known piece, but I should think that seeing Jason Segal’s wang would rank pretty high in Moments of Pop Culture. Enough that this opening seems ripped off.
2 Broke Girls: Mondays, CBS
So, I have to say this is the show I was most excited about during pilot season. This has something to do with the fact that it is one of the few shows created by a lady , but is mainly due to my ongoing love affair with Kat Dennings…yes, she may play the same snarky I’m-too-self-aware-to-really-be-a-hipster character, but I think she is gorgeous and I love how genuine and awkward she was in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. She was even charming as the confused, outcast, hot-for-teacher ingénue in Daydream Nation, despite my many problems with that movie. All this to say my love of Kat Dennings knows no bounds.
Or so I thought. Because after the first two minutes of 2 Broke Girls, I started to think that maybe boring, blond Beth Behrs is the true star of this show. And I know it’s not Kat Denning’s fault that her first lines were so overwritten and cringe-worthy, but she’s the one on screen delivering them. For anyone who did not see this show or somehow missed the opening, we basically open on Dennings’s character Max at work as a waitress in a dingy Brooklyn diner and suddenly—le gasp—some customer is rude and unappreciative of her! So Max goes all snarky bitch on their ass and takes them to task in a way-too-long monologue that cuts them down to size for daring to snap at her.
Okay, I agree, snapping at your waitress is a huge no-no, but a.) Max would be so used to this—and worse—that it probably would not even register at this point. And b.) one of her lines is literally “I wear knit hats because it’s cold outside, you wear knit hats because of Coldplay.” This line is straight terrible, and I hope they fire whoever let it out of the first draft. Not only is it trying way, way too hard (I was frankly surprised that the offending hipsters didn’t start laughing immediately) but also because anyone who has ever met a hipster knows that Coldplay is just about the last band on Earth hipsters admit to liking. Coldplay is awesome I think they are talented and wonderful, but hipsters mainly try to deny the universal pleasantness of their sound in favor of weird sonically dissonant bands like Animal Collective, which literally frighten my cat out of the room when I put them on.
All this to say that this is a show about young, hip financially insecure ladies living in NYC that is ostensibly written by a youngish, hip lady comedian, and yet it somehow still seems like it is written by a forty-something white man who is trying to imagine what young, hip ladies might sound like based on information cobbled together from Wikipedia and the movie Juno.
This is not to say there was nothing redeeming about this pilot. In fact, I think in term of structure and plot-arc, this was one of the best pilots. It set up the situation nicely (two very dissimilar girls working and living together due to unlikely circumstances) and shows the gradual beginnings of a bond between them. I think the premise is cute, but could fall victim to too many forced sitcom-y tropes. I guess we’ll have to see!
That's all for now! Tell me what you thought about these shows, or if there are any new shows I should be checking out. And look out for my First Impressions of returning favorites, including Parks & Recreation, Glee, The Office and more!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
ROW80 Check-in
Oh dear! The weeks have gotten away from me. I've been severely neglecting this blog, and A Round of Words in general for the past month. I could blame it on finals and spending time with my family and starting my new job, but really, when isn't there something happening in my life to distract me?
As for my goals, I'm about half-way to where I want to be with Zombies!!, plus today I had a bit of a plot break-through, so I may be able to pull this one out. I'm totally stalled on 101, though. Just...completely stuck. I'm going to let it sit for a while, maybe all summer, and see if I can get into it again. I still really love the idea, I'm just not sure where it wants to go.
Instead of dwelling on all the slacking I've been doing, I will share with you what I HAVE been doing in the scant amount of downtime I've had between finishing school and starting work.
I read the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, and I might summon a blog post about that soon, but suffice to say I enjoyed it and I'm waiting for a friend of mine to finish book 3 so I can read it. I also have read Demetri Martin's new book This is a Book (and, actually, MET Demetri Martin at a book signing while I was at it). In the same vein, I'm currently reading Tina Fey's Bossypants, which is as hilarious as promised, and surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly) pointed and poignant. I just love her. I think I could write an entire blog devoted to my love of Tina Fey. I'll settle for writing up a post about her and probably Amy Poehler and Kristin Wiig and a dozen other hilarious ladies once I've seen Bridesmaids again.
Speaking of which, some good movies I've seen include the aforementioned Bridesmaids (seriously, this is a movie for all dudes and ladies who enjoy hilarity with a side of soul-crushing hopelessness topped off with a happy ending), Midnight in Paris (which is my first Woody Allen movie--for shame!), Hangover Part II (okay, yes, it is the first movie all over again, practically to a T, but damn if I didn't die laughing in the theater). I also went through most of Stanley Kubrick's stuff during reading week (because obviously, I wasn't studying, who does that?) and I have to say I absolutely loved Fullmetal Jacket and I am definitely adding that to my list of all-time favorite movies.
In other news, So You Think You Can Dance has finally started again! I honestly could not wait for this show to be back on the air and I'm so glad it is. Now if Weeds and True Blood would start again I'd be all set this summer...
As for my goals, I'm about half-way to where I want to be with Zombies!!, plus today I had a bit of a plot break-through, so I may be able to pull this one out. I'm totally stalled on 101, though. Just...completely stuck. I'm going to let it sit for a while, maybe all summer, and see if I can get into it again. I still really love the idea, I'm just not sure where it wants to go.
Instead of dwelling on all the slacking I've been doing, I will share with you what I HAVE been doing in the scant amount of downtime I've had between finishing school and starting work.
I read the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, and I might summon a blog post about that soon, but suffice to say I enjoyed it and I'm waiting for a friend of mine to finish book 3 so I can read it. I also have read Demetri Martin's new book This is a Book (and, actually, MET Demetri Martin at a book signing while I was at it). In the same vein, I'm currently reading Tina Fey's Bossypants, which is as hilarious as promised, and surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly) pointed and poignant. I just love her. I think I could write an entire blog devoted to my love of Tina Fey. I'll settle for writing up a post about her and probably Amy Poehler and Kristin Wiig and a dozen other hilarious ladies once I've seen Bridesmaids again.
Speaking of which, some good movies I've seen include the aforementioned Bridesmaids (seriously, this is a movie for all dudes and ladies who enjoy hilarity with a side of soul-crushing hopelessness topped off with a happy ending), Midnight in Paris (which is my first Woody Allen movie--for shame!), Hangover Part II (okay, yes, it is the first movie all over again, practically to a T, but damn if I didn't die laughing in the theater). I also went through most of Stanley Kubrick's stuff during reading week (because obviously, I wasn't studying, who does that?) and I have to say I absolutely loved Fullmetal Jacket and I am definitely adding that to my list of all-time favorite movies.
In other news, So You Think You Can Dance has finally started again! I honestly could not wait for this show to be back on the air and I'm so glad it is. Now if Weeds and True Blood would start again I'd be all set this summer...
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
ROW80 May 4 Check-in
Happy Star Wars Day everyone!
This week is "Dead Week" at school, also known as "RRR" week, which to me stands for Rest, Relaxation and Re-organize the sock drawer. It also means I have plenty of time for writing!
The downside is that I have not been utilizing that time, because I've become very invested in, erm, sleeping. Sleeping as much as humanly possible. It's actually becoming a bit of a problem. Getting up late really drastically affects both my mood and my productivity. It affects them negatively, is the thing. So, starting tomorrow I must go back to getting up before 10!
I have been writing almost every day, which is a plus, but I've only been churning out about 200-300 words a day, which is...decidedly not a plus. I figure if I just power through this rough patch, I can go back to writing up to 1200 words a day. I find trying to divide my time between three projects is a little taxing, so I'm planning to focus on Zombies!! until the semester ends.
Gahh! Even this blog post was kind of tough to crank out. I think they call it Dead Week because you just feel like a dead person. Or...dare I say it? Like the undead. End-of-the-semester zombie-ism. Hopefully I can get past it.
EDIT: After writing this post, and after a brief English final review with my favorite professor, I sat down and wrote...drumroll...1300 words! Here's to breaking through rough patches through sheer willpower. And lots and lots of iced tea.
This week is "Dead Week" at school, also known as "RRR" week, which to me stands for Rest, Relaxation and Re-organize the sock drawer. It also means I have plenty of time for writing!
The downside is that I have not been utilizing that time, because I've become very invested in, erm, sleeping. Sleeping as much as humanly possible. It's actually becoming a bit of a problem. Getting up late really drastically affects both my mood and my productivity. It affects them negatively, is the thing. So, starting tomorrow I must go back to getting up before 10!
I have been writing almost every day, which is a plus, but I've only been churning out about 200-300 words a day, which is...decidedly not a plus. I figure if I just power through this rough patch, I can go back to writing up to 1200 words a day. I find trying to divide my time between three projects is a little taxing, so I'm planning to focus on Zombies!! until the semester ends.
Gahh! Even this blog post was kind of tough to crank out. I think they call it Dead Week because you just feel like a dead person. Or...dare I say it? Like the undead. End-of-the-semester zombie-ism. Hopefully I can get past it.
EDIT: After writing this post, and after a brief English final review with my favorite professor, I sat down and wrote...drumroll...1300 words! Here's to breaking through rough patches through sheer willpower. And lots and lots of iced tea.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
ROW80 May 1 Check-in
Oh man oh man I missed the last check-in! That was only because I was enjoying delicious food and wine in San Francisco though, so I figure it's okay.
My semester is wrapping up so I've been ostensibly busy with writing papers and studying for finals and things, but I've done pretty well this week. If I can write another thousand words by the end of today I'll have met my word goal (5,000 words a week.)
Zombies!! has been going, but at a more plodding pace than before. It turns out I am really, really rusty writing action scenes, and I've basically had to slog through like two and half chapters of action the past few weeks. Pretty much done with that chunk though.
I haven't made any progress on 101 this week, but I do have a new project to work on! It's another short story, and I am writing it for the recently announced Machine of Death volume 2! Hurrah! If you aren't familiar with the original Machine of Death anthology, I suggest you get familiar. It's a collection of short stories all based on a concept that spawned from one of my absolute favorite webcomics. I am definitely not missing a chance to submit to volume 2! I hope to be done with the first draft of the story by the end of the month so I will be ready to submit it by the deadline, which is July 15. It means I'm adding a little to my RoW80 goals, but I think I can manage.
Well, until next time, go check out some of the other RoW80 people or go take a look at my A Picture a Day project on tumblr.
My semester is wrapping up so I've been ostensibly busy with writing papers and studying for finals and things, but I've done pretty well this week. If I can write another thousand words by the end of today I'll have met my word goal (5,000 words a week.)
Zombies!! has been going, but at a more plodding pace than before. It turns out I am really, really rusty writing action scenes, and I've basically had to slog through like two and half chapters of action the past few weeks. Pretty much done with that chunk though.
I haven't made any progress on 101 this week, but I do have a new project to work on! It's another short story, and I am writing it for the recently announced Machine of Death volume 2! Hurrah! If you aren't familiar with the original Machine of Death anthology, I suggest you get familiar. It's a collection of short stories all based on a concept that spawned from one of my absolute favorite webcomics. I am definitely not missing a chance to submit to volume 2! I hope to be done with the first draft of the story by the end of the month so I will be ready to submit it by the deadline, which is July 15. It means I'm adding a little to my RoW80 goals, but I think I can manage.
Well, until next time, go check out some of the other RoW80 people or go take a look at my A Picture a Day project on tumblr.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
ROW80 April 24 Check-in
Holy smokes, it's nearly been a month of this crazy ROW80 life!
Since I don't particularly feel like complaining how I've only written 200 words this week, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about all the wonderful things I feel ROW80 has brought me. Even if this particular week wasn't particularly productive in terms of the actual challenge, I do think it's a good example of how ROW80 has extended its influence into all parts of my life.
Truthfully folks, and this is brings me a bit of shame to admit, I haven't really Been a Writer in a number of years. That is to say, I haven't regularly written/revised/brainstormed/etc. for any period longer than a couple of weeks since I was about fourteen. I guess I can blame this on high school or something, but there are plenty of people out there who maintain full-time jobs and write routinely, so I think it's a failing of my own character for the past few years.
So now that I'm starting the process of writing routinely again, I've noticed a few things. The first of which is that it makes me happy. Really, truly happy. I don't just limit this to good days of writing, either. Obviously a day where I can sit down and mash out 2,000 words in two hours is going to be a good day. But there's a much more long-term effect going on. I feel productive. I feel like a person who is contributing to the world in some way, even though so far I'm the only one reading the crazy things I write. I feel like an interesting person. I feel more engaged with other people. All of these "side-effects" may not come as a surprise to you, but they did surprise me.
So, while my ROW80 goals may have fallen by the wayside this week, I do not feel that I have failed myself in any way. I'm finishing up my semester. I'm making awesome plans for the summer (see post below on how I scored a paid internship in LA!) I feel like I've got a handle on life in a way that I haven't before. I'm attributing this, in part, to ROW80 for encouraging me to have goals and make plans and stop just waiting around for things to happen. When I'm writing, I'm making things happen and asserting my control in this weird, fictional universe, but I think it's bleeding over into my actual universe. In the best possible way.
Since I don't particularly feel like complaining how I've only written 200 words this week, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about all the wonderful things I feel ROW80 has brought me. Even if this particular week wasn't particularly productive in terms of the actual challenge, I do think it's a good example of how ROW80 has extended its influence into all parts of my life.
Truthfully folks, and this is brings me a bit of shame to admit, I haven't really Been a Writer in a number of years. That is to say, I haven't regularly written/revised/brainstormed/etc. for any period longer than a couple of weeks since I was about fourteen. I guess I can blame this on high school or something, but there are plenty of people out there who maintain full-time jobs and write routinely, so I think it's a failing of my own character for the past few years.
So now that I'm starting the process of writing routinely again, I've noticed a few things. The first of which is that it makes me happy. Really, truly happy. I don't just limit this to good days of writing, either. Obviously a day where I can sit down and mash out 2,000 words in two hours is going to be a good day. But there's a much more long-term effect going on. I feel productive. I feel like a person who is contributing to the world in some way, even though so far I'm the only one reading the crazy things I write. I feel like an interesting person. I feel more engaged with other people. All of these "side-effects" may not come as a surprise to you, but they did surprise me.
So, while my ROW80 goals may have fallen by the wayside this week, I do not feel that I have failed myself in any way. I'm finishing up my semester. I'm making awesome plans for the summer (see post below on how I scored a paid internship in LA!) I feel like I've got a handle on life in a way that I haven't before. I'm attributing this, in part, to ROW80 for encouraging me to have goals and make plans and stop just waiting around for things to happen. When I'm writing, I'm making things happen and asserting my control in this weird, fictional universe, but I think it's bleeding over into my actual universe. In the best possible way.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Search for an Internship 2011
Well as some of you may know, I'm finishing up my freshman year of college at the best public university in the WORLD (yup, University of California Berkeley, that's us!) so I've been frantically trying to iron out some plans for summer.
Usually my summers go like this:
1) Hang out with my family (10%)
2) Sit around and watch TV. Usually go through one or two seasons of some show each week. (30%)
3) Sleep (20%)
3) Occasionally see my friends. Usually in the capacity of going to see a movie or eating some kind of delicious food. (5%)
4) Hang out with my cats (20%)
5) Babysit for a couple of weeks in order to keep up with my astronomical spending on Starbucks coffee and tea as well as my insatiable desire to buy clothes (10%)
6) Write/do other productive things (5%)
So, awesome in terms of my laziness/relaxation, not so awesome in terms of like, my future and general contribution to society. This summer, I decided, would be different. I was going to do something. I was going to get a job. I was going to have a PLAN.
This was all about half a month ago. Immediately after this, I got an e-mail from my old college counselor at my high school with a list of 74 PAID summer internships in the arts. WOOHOO! It was a dream come true! But -- I didn't have an up-to-date resume. I've never done anything awesome enough to get me an internship! There were probably a million more qualified, more awesome students applying to the EXACT SAME THINGS. What was I to do?
What I did was this: I made my resume. I made it super nice and awesome looking and amazing. I reminded myself of all the worthwhile, productive things I'd ever done in my life. There were more than I thought! I wrote cover letters. I wrote more cover letters. I went to see the Dodos play in Memorial Glade (wait...). I read Overqualified by Joey Comeau to remind myself that I was by far not the first person to get frustrated with the whole applying-for-jobs process.
I sent my applications. I waited. Two hours after sending them in, one organization got back to me. They wanted to have a phone interview with me. An interview! I was excited. I was nervous. I convinced myself I was one charming motherfucker and they'd be lucky to have me.
Apparently it worked, because the next thing I knew I was getting an e-mail saying that out of all the interviews they'd conducted, I was the best fit. BEST FIT! They wanted me! It took me, oh, about two seconds to accept their offer, and there you have it. I have an amazing opportunity waiting for me in LA when I return for the summer. I could not be more thrilled.
Usually my summers go like this:
1) Hang out with my family (10%)
2) Sit around and watch TV. Usually go through one or two seasons of some show each week. (30%)
3) Sleep (20%)
3) Occasionally see my friends. Usually in the capacity of going to see a movie or eating some kind of delicious food. (5%)
4) Hang out with my cats (20%)
5) Babysit for a couple of weeks in order to keep up with my astronomical spending on Starbucks coffee and tea as well as my insatiable desire to buy clothes (10%)
6) Write/do other productive things (5%)
So, awesome in terms of my laziness/relaxation, not so awesome in terms of like, my future and general contribution to society. This summer, I decided, would be different. I was going to do something. I was going to get a job. I was going to have a PLAN.
This was all about half a month ago. Immediately after this, I got an e-mail from my old college counselor at my high school with a list of 74 PAID summer internships in the arts. WOOHOO! It was a dream come true! But -- I didn't have an up-to-date resume. I've never done anything awesome enough to get me an internship! There were probably a million more qualified, more awesome students applying to the EXACT SAME THINGS. What was I to do?
What I did was this: I made my resume. I made it super nice and awesome looking and amazing. I reminded myself of all the worthwhile, productive things I'd ever done in my life. There were more than I thought! I wrote cover letters. I wrote more cover letters. I went to see the Dodos play in Memorial Glade (wait...). I read Overqualified by Joey Comeau to remind myself that I was by far not the first person to get frustrated with the whole applying-for-jobs process.
I sent my applications. I waited. Two hours after sending them in, one organization got back to me. They wanted to have a phone interview with me. An interview! I was excited. I was nervous. I convinced myself I was one charming motherfucker and they'd be lucky to have me.
Apparently it worked, because the next thing I knew I was getting an e-mail saying that out of all the interviews they'd conducted, I was the best fit. BEST FIT! They wanted me! It took me, oh, about two seconds to accept their offer, and there you have it. I have an amazing opportunity waiting for me in LA when I return for the summer. I could not be more thrilled.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
ROW80 April 20 Check-in
Well...I more or less managed to get nothing done so far this week. I've been caught up in a flurry of cover letters, resumes, phone-interviews and bouts of anxiety as I try to secure a internship in Los Angeles for the summer. A summer that is creeping up on me quicker than I expected! I honestly can't believe my freshman year of college is almost over, but I suppose that's for another post.
In any case, I can't quite get away with saying I did nothing on my ROW80 stuff this week, because I am still faithfully taking pictures every day (although I was sadly without my camera for one of the best moments of today--catching a squirrel red-handed as he snuck into the open window of a parked car!) Additionally, I got a lot done Sunday, which according to the way we Americans read the calendar, is the beginning of the week. So THERE. In fact, I wrote over 2,000 words on Sunday alone, and got some more out of 101. I'm starting to see the broader picture of that story. Maybe. I also tried out a new coffee shop to write with. I'm not sure it was an entirely positive experience, but perhaps one day I might go back.
Anyway, I realize it's been a while since I actually linked the ROW80 website, so here it is. Go give those guys some encouragement instead of this failure!
In any case, I can't quite get away with saying I did nothing on my ROW80 stuff this week, because I am still faithfully taking pictures every day (although I was sadly without my camera for one of the best moments of today--catching a squirrel red-handed as he snuck into the open window of a parked car!) Additionally, I got a lot done Sunday, which according to the way we Americans read the calendar, is the beginning of the week. So THERE. In fact, I wrote over 2,000 words on Sunday alone, and got some more out of 101. I'm starting to see the broader picture of that story. Maybe. I also tried out a new coffee shop to write with. I'm not sure it was an entirely positive experience, but perhaps one day I might go back.
Anyway, I realize it's been a while since I actually linked the ROW80 website, so here it is. Go give those guys some encouragement instead of this failure!
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