Hi, I'm Gretchen and I'm an addict. Like most of us, there are recognizable steps in the progress of addiction. I was introduced as a child and soon began to put it ahead of other interests. Eventually, I found others who were the same and the enabling process began. I've been four months sober, but this is the week I fall off the wagon. (Or is it on the wagon?)
You see, I'm addicted to good television.
I'm thrilled to announce the First Annual TV Week here at Blog Headquarters. I'm planning a special Proselytizers of Pop for later today, as well as lists, recaps, and prizes. While it was my intention to kick things off yesterday, I happened to be out of town and vacations trump blogging. But never fear because it's gonna be legen...wait for it...
...DARY!
My love affair with television really started with Sabrina the Teenage Witch. There was this one episode where her bratty relative was going to turn her into a life-size doll and I had to miss it because of some lame family event. Needless to say, there were tears.
The second step was the summer the Lil' Bro and I borrowed the first few seasons of M*A*S*H from the library and would spend hours laughing our heads off. I think this was when I really fell in love with television. The humor of the 4077th was so timeless and you couldn't help but get attached to the characters. I may have not seen it when it first aired, but I can admit that I wept when Henry Blake died and that connects me to the millions of others who felt the same.
The final nail in my tv-loving coffin isn't hard to guess. I started obsessively watching The Office about halfway into the second season. That summer, propelled by the greatest season finale to ever grace tv, I tapped into the dangerous combination of tv fans and the internet. It was one of those joyous moments of "Wait, there are others out there like me? Let's be friends!" As my tastes and options expanded, I branched out to love so many shows.
Television connects stories and art, which happen to be my two of my very favorite things. It's only natural that I love it as much as I do. It allows for instant gratification, expansion and growth of characters, and the visual exploration of words. Even though nothing can ever replace the book, television challenges text. Television persuades, teaches, and entertains. Those can be used for evil, but just because something has the ability to be used for evil doesn't mean it always is.
Sunday was the 60th year of The Emmy Awards--the least-watched Emmys in history. It's ironic that the Academy decided to honor the hosts of reality television (who, BTW, sucked all the funny out of the room) while reality television is probably the cause of the low numbers. Not that all reality programming is bad, but every intriguing drama or comedy that gets canceled means yet another night of Deal or No Deal. Television isn't dead, but it means that those of us who appreciate it will have to fight just a little bit more. We're a rare breed, but some of us watch The Emmys with the dream that maybe one day, that will be us up there accepting the award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series.
Those who criticize and malign television don't know what they're missing, because there is so much greatness already produced and so much potential to be realized.
Basically, I'm just really glad it's September.
Here There Be Spoilers
So, that was kind of a downer, but I’m still crazy about Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. After many, many re-watchings, here’s how I feel about the songs, the characters, and the future of Dr. Horrible. (Also, this is crazy long and I promise this is the last I’ll post about it.)
Act 1
The first we see of Dr. Horrible is on his vlog, spouting off about the Evil League of Evil. He’s popular enough to be getting viewer emails and his ineptness at being a villain is apparent. A question about Penny (more on that later) leads us into the first song, “Laundry Day.” (Note: There are no official song titles yet, so I’ve taken the liberty of naming them for the purpose of this review.) “Laundry Day” is adorable—the rosy-tinted shot of Dr. Horrible and Penny dancing and the shoulder-jiggle by Dr. Horrible fits in perfectly as an introduction to the pair. The shot through the washer doors is fantastic—you can’t achieve that on stage. They’re so close to a real, audible connection! Dr. Horrible is interrupted by Moist, who brings in the mail, made limp by his powers of humidity. It’s the tiny details (like the mail) and the throw-away lines (like “I kinda thought I was supposed to end up with Bait.”) that make repeat viewings so enjoyable.
There’s a letter from Bad Horse, who really is a horse. Fun fact: one of the singing cowboys is Jed Whedon, but I can’t figure out which one. The Western-style of song would no doubt have been used if Firefly (RIP) ever had a musical episode. After, we get our first glimpse of Penny singing her “Helping Hands” song. She’s not pushy enough to get signatures, but her optimism doesn’t fade. The urgent spy music that accompanies Dr. Horrible on his overtake of the courier van is cut by the appearance of Penny. Their meeting is awkward, full of miscommunication, and mutual interest. Ah, young love! Dr. Horrible also goes by Billy—it’s unassuming and works for him without his lab coat. Her bit about how “if we can’t stick together, I don’t who can” is totally something I would say.
“A Man’s Gotta Do” is the last tune and the first time we see Captain Hammer. Sure, he’s got an ego bigger than his six-pack, but he sort of saves Penny. She’s instantly taken by his muscles and confidence. Can’t say I blame her! Captain Hammer tells Dr. Horrible that it’s “lacy, gently wafting curtains” for him—I’d bet anything that was a line they wanted to use for Mal Reynolds. Dr. Horrible walks off in shame, although he does have the Wonderflonium in hand. Balls!
Act 2
The duet (“Plain To See”) by Penny and Dr. Horrible is a musical masterpiece. It’s the exact same melody and timing, but the lyrics and emotion make Dr. Horrible’s part sorrowful and Penny’s part full of hope. That takes talent, my friends. Felicia Day really gets to showcase her lilting voice. Keep an eye out for the soup guy switch in the background! Also, the viewer can almost forgive Captain Hammer in the first act, but here he comes off as a complete jerkface.
Penny and Billy are now laundry friends and he “accidentally” brings her fro-yo. Question: Why do you eat fro-yo with a spork? Anyhow, the next five minutes bring some of the best bits of dialogue from Dr. Horrible. This is why I love Act Two the most.
1. What a crazy, random happenstance!
2. Like with pie!
3. I meant Gandhi…
4. Peace! But not literally.
5. Captain Hammer threw a *car* at my head.
6. Oh, look at my wrist! I gotta run!
7. I…don’t love these.
8. We’re meeting now for the first time.
The Bad Horse cronies show up after his epic freeze ray FAIL and tell him he has to kill someone. Bummer, because murder isn’t elegant or creative. He’s super depressed come the next laundry trip, but Penny reassures him that you have to have hope (“Penny’s Lament”). It’s interesting that this is a song about L.A. with lines like “Grief replaced with pity/For a city barely coping.” Some sort of meta-analysis on the writer’s strike when this was written, perhaps? They lean in for an almost-kiss that makes your stomach flip in anticipation. They so want each other. This scene is a lot harder to watch when you realize it’s the last time they’re alone before, well, you know.
Captain Hammer arrives and completely wrecks the mood. He’s got different plans than just French kissing in mind. This is the final straw for Dr. Horrible, who launches full force into “A Brand New Day.” This is the best song in the show, as far as I’m concerned. The rock ballad theme suits his desperation/resolve so well and the way the song is shot is powerfully memorable. Really, I just like it for the eye flick that NPH gives the camera during the first time he sings “So how can it be that you/Have shown me the liiight?” This was when I fell madly and deeply in love with NPH. Why must he not like girls?! Despite the fact that he’s singing about slaughtering Captain Hammer, you still root for him because he’s the underdog.
Act 3
“It’s a good day to be homeless!” says the newsanchor and what a good day indeed, with Captain Hammer on your side. “So They Say” is awfully upbeat for fairly downtrodden song from both Penny and Dr. Horrible. Another Whedon writer (Maurissa) makes a cameo as one of the hilarious groupies. Dr. Horrible is prepping for his overtake with a fancy new Death Ray, which means he misses out on fro-yo with Penny, who thinks Hammer is “pretty okay.” It alludes to “Brand New Day” and is a strong opener for the act. Cut to the new homeless shelter, where Captain Hammer gives a rousing speech without the aid of tiny cue cards. At least, it would be rousing if the Captain weren’t so wrapped up in himself. My favorite part is “Don’t worry that it’s hard/If you’re not a friggin’ tard/You will prevail.”
Holy tonal shift, Batman! Dr. Horrible is hiding under the blanket with a warmed-up freeze ray ready to fire. He shoots Captain Hammer and proceeds to wreak absolute havoc in the room. “Slipping” is bizarrely freakish and disturbing. Dr. Horrible keeps his cool, reigning in terror, and pauses to correct the spelling of his name. He wants all the cash, fame, and social change, but when it comes to doing the deed, he pauses for too long. The freeze ray stalls, leaving Captain Hammer ready for action. Just when Captain Hammer goes to shoot Horrible (“Give my regards to St. Peter, or whoever has his job, but in hell.”), the death ray explodes. Captain Hammer is left in crippling pain and cries out for “someone maternal.” Just when Dr. Horrible is feeling great about his victory, he notices Penny in the corner. She’s been hit with shrapnel from the death ray and even though he’s in his lab coat, she’s still able to identify him as Billy. The last words on her mouth are “Captain Hammer will save the…”
Dr. Horrible has all that he wished for, but not the girl. “Here Lies Everything” is tinged with melancholy from a chorus of ethereal angels. The Evil League of Evil (The Fake Thomas Jefferson and Dead Bowie are my favorite bad guys) gladly accept him and Moist helps in bank heists. The wicked party in his basement features a techno version of “A Brand New Day” and a bunch of his new friends. His new outfit is the color of bloodshed, but he doesn’t feel a thing. The show closes on a shot of Billy, vulnerable and haunted in his empty basement.
The End.
Joss Whedon’s religious and personal views have always affected his work. His fans are accustomed to the way he casually kills off characters and leaves things not-so-happily ever after. The way the musical ended is not terribly shocking, but it’s still confusing. Did Penny really have to die? I don’t think so. I can understand his choice to do so, but that still doesn’t keep us from wishing that things had ended where the villain gets the girl. Ultimately, there's this part of me that secretly loves sad endings, because those are the ones that stick with you.
In a traditional, full-length musical, things would have played out a little differently. It would have started with an ensemble number, introducing why the city has heroes. “A Brand New Day” would make for the perfect Act 1 closer in a traditional, two-act musical. After the climax at the homeless shelter, Penny would still be alive. She and Dr. Horrible would have a duet together that would end in a much-deserved kiss. They’d go on to do good things for the homeless and Dr. Horrible would maybe come over to the hero side.
The show is best compared to my third-favorite musical, Ashman and Menken’s Little Shop of Horrors. The music is lyrically similar and the plot lines aren’t terribly different. The movie version from the 80’s originally stuck with the ending of the play, but the producers requested that they change it because test audiences hated it. (Spoiler alert! Seymour and Audrey get married—in the play, everyone dies and I do mean everyone.) Plenty of musicals feature sad endings, such as Les Miserables, Light in the Piazza, Camelot, Sweeney Todd, and Rent. The difference between those and Dr. Horrible is that they leave you with at least some degree of hope in the world.
The dvd will provide two commentaries, a regular one and a musical version. It will be worth buying the dvd for the musical commentary alone. I’m hoping that it will provide some sort of insight into what Joss hoped to accomplish with the characters. There might be a sequel (I beg The Powers That Be to let there be a sequel) and there’s rampant speculation on the internet that Penny is still alive. (Jean Grey, much?)
2 Reasons Why She Could Still Be Alive
1. During her “Lament” scene, she’s dressed exactly in the colors of Snow White. It’s a little different than a poisoned apple, but the allusion stands.
2. “With hope, you can do your part to turn a life around,” she sings. Hope is a strong theme through the show, so keep that hope alive.
2 Reasons Why She’s Not
1. Dr. Horrible knows that there is no happy ending in his life. This isn’t how Joss rolls.
2. The viewer email inquiring about “her” is signed “Dead, Not Sleeping.” I think that’s about as clear as it gets.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is not what I expected, but I love it completely. Dr. Horrible may not feel anymore, but Joss Whedon is determined to make sure that we feel the impact of his work. It will be taken off the internet shortly, but for the love of Bad Horse, buy it on iTunes and support the cast and crew. And Joss, I’m kind of mad at you for what to did to my new favorite couple, but you can still be my homeboy. Deal?
Quick raise of the hands—who remembers what you were doing the night of May 11, 2006?
If you’re anything like me, that date has been forever stamped into your brain as the original airing of Casino Night, the Season Two Office Finale. Also known as The Most Singularly Great Work of Television Ever Produced. As a stand-alone episode, it’s fabulous in many regards. But as the capstone to the best season of tv ever, it is monumental. (I’m completely serious here. I’ve watched a lot of shows and nothing, I repeat, nothing can hold up to the begin-to-finish of Season Two. You can disagree, but you’d also be wrong.)
I should point out that this post obviously spoils everything about the episode, but this isn’t a post about how wonderful Casino Night is as a whole. I’d have plenty of material—there is nary a weak joke to be seen. The show needs to utilize Steve Carell’s writing more often, but that’s challenging when your main star is also one of Hollywood’s current comedy darlings. If you want to read a really comprehensive and well-written recap of the show, James (the creator of Northern Attack) wrote one here.
Instead, this is a post about Jim, Pam, and how the journey of two fictional characters completely altered the course of my life. Dramatic, much? Yeah, but it’s also true. I watched a few episodes of The Office back in the first season and loved it immediately. Unfortunately, I was also wrapped up in AP tests, boys, and getting ready to leave for my first semester of college only a few weeks after graduation. The show didn’t enter my radar that fall, because our lousy tv only got fuzzy, tin-foiled reception of ABC and PBS. (This lead to a short-termed McLoveAffair with Grey’s Anatomy.) I caught The Injury a couple months into my winter semester at home and that was that. I trolled the internet for spoilers and read the scripts of the episodes I’d missed. I was in love. Like any good story, a large part of my love was built into the romance of one Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly. Also like any good story, the romance didn’t come easy. This is namely because of one tiny, dull, $80 diamond on Pam’s left ring finger. (Stupid [swear word] Roy! Sorry, I just have to get that out of my system once in a while.)
And you know why nothing happened between Jim and Pam in the five-plus years they worked together? All in all, they’re average people just like you and I who are terrified of pushing boundaries and really exposing who they are. There are exceptions to this rule, but if there’s anything I’ve learned as a psych major, it’s that people don’t like change. Jim and Pam could stay within their carefully constructed borders of flirting and pranking without much modification of their outside lives. Both wanted something different outside of Dunder Mifflin, but it was comfortable. The comfort level was more so to Pam, because she had her engagement to fall back on, but even Jim tried dating to no avail. And heck, who isn’t scared stiff by the mere thought of telling your best friend that you truly, madly, deeply love them? (I kind of hate myself for quoting Savage Garden just then.)
Despite the fact that Jim and Pam were both too chicken to own up to their feelings for so long, it being television, you knew something was going to happen in the season finale. I mean, how nice would it be if real life worked this way? “Oh, it’s mid-May. I guess he’ll be kissing me in the next couple days.” But I digress. In the episodes leading up to CN, progress was made fairly rapidly. Jim was planning on being in Australia for the wedding, they practically acted like a couple during Michael’s Birthday, and Pam eventually realized that Jim wasn’t thrilled with hearing wedding talk all the time. Even the progression of CN seems to echo the intensity of their S1&2 interactions, as seen in the following scenes.
1. The opening prank with Dwight and the coat rack. These two kids work seamlessly together. Good fun and it illustrates just how close they are as friends.
2. ‘Til Death Do Us Rock! Banter and note how Pam grabs Jim’s hand. Physical contact is rare, but when it happens, it’s chaste and Jim still gets worked up by it.
3. The poker scene—they’re both taken in by the glory of the warehouse-turned-gambling parlor and let their guard down a little. Here the flirting is public. The co-workers would have to be blind or Creed not to pick up on the cues that get sent out every once in a while.
Finally, FINALLY, in The Parking Lot of Doom, the dynamic is instantly transformed. My hats off to Jenna and John for some of the best acting they have ever done. I watched this in slack-jawed, stunned silence. That raw honesty that Jim exudes is enough to make millions of girls go weak in the knees. (There’s a brief interlude in which Michael unknowingly sums up the show in a few words. “Love triangle drama. All worked out in the end, though. The hero got the girl. Who saw that coming? I did!”)
Cut to the dimly lit and abandoned office. Pam does what any sensible girl would do and calls her mom (from Jim’s desk, of all places). The “Yeah, I think I am” line is merely another log on the fire of heated speculation that filled out that summer. What follows is the clincher for my already-obsessed mind—Jim strides into the office and wraps up Pam in his arms and kisses her so passionately and tenderly that even Wesley and Buttercup couldn’t compete. Ladies, am I right in saying that all we really want is to be kissed like that? Guys, it wouldn’t hurt to take notes of Jim’s technique. Fade to black and fin.
The beauty of these scenes lies in the fact that I can watch them over and over and still get as emotionally involved as the time before. The kiss encapsulates everything that I think love should be— straightforward, sincere, ardent, and reciprocated. I don’t know everything about love, but I do know that I want someone who loves me as fervently as Jim loves Pam. It’s like what Mac said in Juno, “In my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person will still think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with.” Holla, J. Jonah Jameson! To my hopelessly romantic heart, the Jim and Pam narrative is a romance that will go down in history with the likes of Elizabeth and Darcy. I don’t know how their tale will end, but I know it will be epic.
(Okay, I’m going to try my hardest not to go into S3, because the JAM story line was so disastrously screwed up from the beginning right up to the penultimate episode. Beach Games was good and The Job was great, but neither can make up for the [swear word] that was the Jim and Karen catastrophe.)
Tomorrow night is the Season Four finale, a season that has been far too short, thanks to the [swear words] over the AMPTP. I’m not sure what to anticipate, but I have very high expectations. I do not think it will match the majesty of Casino Night, but I’m still going to wear my Dunder Mifflin shirt, eat grilled cheese, and (fingers crossed) maybe slightly relive how I felt two years ago.
Dinkin' flicka.
