Holy Moses--it's 2010!

It's kind of amazing that the 2000s are coming to a close already.  It feels like just yesterday I was a little sixth grader, jumping on my couch and screaming "it's the millennium it's the millennium!!!" thereby waking up my sleeping parents.  They clearly weren't too excited about that.

For me and many of my peers, for only being in our 20s our lives will now have spanned across four decades, once 2010 arrives.  And for me, the 2000s were an important decade because it's the first full decade that I actually have a complete memory of...the 90s were still a little hazy having been a toddler when they began.  I give it three months before the VH1 special "I love the 2000s" comes out, celebrating 2000 popular culture that is still too close for me to find distinct.

However, that doesn't stop bloggers, celebrities, and magazines alike from making their top 10 or 20 or 100 lists of things from the decade.  I've come across a bunch of these lists, and I thought I'd share with you my favorites:

1) Top Baby Names of the Decade:  Jamie did not make the list, but I still think it's interesting anyways.  Emma and Aiden were the most popular for girls and boys respectively, which is fascinating because I don't know any people or babies alike with those names.  Unless you count Emma (Rachel's daughter from friends, born in this decade) and Aiden (from all my children--not born in this country nor this decade).

2) 50 Best Catch phrases of the Decade:  This is by far my favorite list.  I agree with a lot of the ones they picked, but many of them are just funny quotes and not necessarily catch phrases--like the term "never nude" from Arrested Development.  Actually, I'd have to say they should probably rename the whole article "50 most memorable (and quotable) popular culture moments of the decade."  I won't reveal more, but let me tell you I wholeheartedly agree with their number one choice (which is definitely a catch phrase!)

3) 12 Things that became obsolete this Decade:  As a technologically savvy person, I enjoyed this list a lot.  From fax machines to CDs, I don't think we'll miss anything too much on this list.  And just look how far we've come! I would have added VCRS and VHS to that list...(was that this decade?  I think so...)

Dreams

My subconscious has been quite active lately.  Much more so than my real life.  I think part of the reason has to do with me watching SNL clips on continuous play (on hulu) as I fall asleep.  Usually I reserve the dreaming to my good spanish friend (hiii lola!), but for the past weeks not only have I been having very vivid dreams, but I've been remembering them too.

For much of my life, I've fallen asleep to the TV, and before I had a TV in my room, I fell asleep to music.  I can fall asleep without it, but definitely not as well.  I think it's so interesting how a person can absorb what's on the TV as their sleeping.  For example, during college--I would always watch Family Guy on Adult Swim at 1:30am as I was falling asleep.  And for anyone that's watched Adult Swim late into the night, there is some very scary and disturbing programming.  You can imagine the dreams I woke up with when I forgot to put my sleep timer on.

This past week, I had a dream that I was at a Dave Matthew's Band Concert, but either the concert was in the dark or something because none of my friends could see it.  And I was like "guys, it's Dave Matthew's Band, I know their sound,"  and I was so proud of myself for recognizing the song without knowing the song or seeing them.  And guess what...I woke up and there was a DMB clip playing on my computer! (they were on SNL recently)

But more interestingly, my dreams for the past week have involved Twitter.  For those of you who are on twitter, (and hopefully you can follow for those of you who aren't), sometimes you have a thought during the day and are like....i think my readers (aka all 15 people who follow me) would be interested to know this little tidbit.  In my dreams, I've been having these little aha moments, where I think to myself, "I must remember to post this on twitter when I wake up, it's sooo funny."  And I've actually been remembering when I wake up, but everything I've thought of is complete nonsense.  For example, I thought to post, "when I wake up my cat while he's sleeping he makes the same squeaky clicking sound as my computer does when I wake it up," or "I'm making a musical montage for the opening credits of a show by ripping up ziploc bags and taping them back together."  Like subconscious Jamie, those thoughts aren't coherent and nobody would like to read about them on twitter.  Give me some good material I can work with!

Party in the City where the Heat is on..

As I was driving home from the gym, guess what song came on the radio??  Summertime by Will Smith.  This is cruel to me for several reasons.  First, it is unbelievably freezing.  And there are several feet of snow on the ground.  Second, it reminded me of the fact that Will Smith has not come out with a new album in a very long time.  How much did you love Big Willie Style as a child?  I would like to hear some more of that.  Soo Will Smith, if you're reading this--get your butt back in the recording studio, your fans miss you! The movie thing isn't going to really work out for you anyway...

A Very Gilly Christmas

On Thursday night, Saturday Night Live presented a christmas special instead of reruns of their Thursday primetime lineup.  Good decision NBC.  The special had some of my very favorite skits/characters of all time, so here is the link to watch: http://www.hulu.com/watch/116126/saturday-night-live-snl-presents-a-very-gilly-christmas.  And here are some time frames of the skits you might want to take the time to watch:

0:00:  The show is introduced with a typical Gilly sketch, with Kristen Wiig starring in the role of Gilly.  Sorry. Yah. Uh huh. What. I love this recurring character.

17:35: Adam Sandler performing his Hanukkah song for the very first time (I'm pretty sure).  So much funnukah.

25:40: Hey babe. babe.  she looks like a rabbit. yayyyy. Have you guessed the skit yet?  It's one of my favorites.  That's right.  Two A-Holes at a Nativity Scene.  I love these recurring characters...and i don't understand with Kristen and Jason Sudeikis still on the show they don't do this skit more.

30:08: Probably one of my most favorite original christmas songs ever aired on the show. "I wish it was christmas today" with Horatio Sanz, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Kattan, and Tracy Morgan.  I'm pretty sure they used to perform this every winter when they were all on together on the show.  It takes me back to my middle school/early high school days.  Highlights: Jimmy Fallon trying not to break into laughter combined with Tracy Morgan dancing with no chance of ever breaking into laughter.  I have know idea how he does it. Clearly would be a different story if he was looking in a mirror.

46:37: Probably the most well-known original christmas song ever aired on the show at this point.  It's my Dick in a Box!

58:43: Schweddy Balls.  Probably Alec Baldwin's best sketch. always a good laugh.

While these are just some of the highlights, there are many other good ones that I didn't mention.  So if you have the time, watch the whole special. You'll get a good laugh (and if anything, a good stroll down pop culture's lane).  Happy Holidays!

John Sears=Dan Scott

Don't you think it's so weird the moment I finished watching every episode of One Tree Hill the 4th Season of 90210 happens to be on SoapNet?  The ones where John Sears (aka the actor who plays Dan Scott in OTH--also known in real life as Paul Johannson) is a recurring guest star??  In both series,  Johannson plays the villain, and comes across as particularly evil playing both characters. He's super evil in OTH, like on a scale from 1 to evil, he is an evil++10583295283.  Plus, he has a fairly distinctive voice, which makes me double take the TV screen so I don't forget what show I'm watching.

In other news, the 8th season of Beverly Hills, 90210 came out on DVD and recently arrived on my doorstep via walmart.com.  Also, I decided to re-watch Dawson's Creek from start to finish.  Now I was an avid follower of the last seasons, but unfortunately, when the show started in the second half of fifth grade, I distinctly remember not being allowed to stay up late to watch.  I also wanted to stay up late to watch South Park (which also started when I was in fifth grade), and still getting the no from mom. Thanks a lot.

After I finish Dawson's Creek, what would you like to see me watch next? I will let the readers decide!

One Tree Hill

Many post entries ago, I proclaimed that I would attempt to watch the entire series of One Tree Hill after a couple of episodes on SoapNet sparked my interest in the series.  Well as of approximately 2am on Thursday, December 17, 2009, I am officially caught up.  And very much look forward to the return of the show in January 2010.

One Tree Hill debuted in the fall of 2003, when I was in my junior year of high school--and interestingly enough, the same age as the characters that I have since fallen in love with.  I never watched a single episode during this time.  Maybe it was because 7th Heaven fulfilled all my teenage drama cravings.  It's also probable that my anger over having missed the start of the OC during the summer (I was at my overnight camp for goodness sake!) which everyone was talking about carried over to the seemingly similar premise of One Tree Hill (both shows started in the same year).  I've since watched the first season of the OC (very good!) and it could not be more different than One Tree Hill.

For some reason, I'm always surprised when I find out these legendary shows have actual premises.  Like who knew Beverly Hills, 90210 had an actual premise? (it's about a pair of twins adjusting to life in LA after moving from Minnesota).  Well One Tree Hill also has a premise, and that is about two half brothers who share the same father, and the conflict that ensues over their relationship--did I mention the dad only recognizes one of the brothers as his son?  Yep, completely ignores the other one. sad day.

There is definitely something to be said about watching a series in its entirety in virtually one sitting.  It's an emotional roller coaster.   I'm not going to admit how many times I sat crying on my couch at 1:30 in the morning because I felt bad for Dan and his need for forgiveness...or when Peyton and Lucas finally get together or break up or get together or just share a beautiful moment.  I know the writers intended for the audience to feel this way, but I wonder if it actually happens unless your investment in the characters is developed in such an intense viewing experience as the one I set up for myself.

With that said, I challenge everyone to make OTH your next project.  Go out and rent the series.  Start watching it on SoapNet (they're going to start from season 1 again very soon! FYI).  There is something about this show that is just refreshing and different from all the other ones...it makes me wish i started watching it in high school.  It's the complexity of the character types, the even greater complexity of the relationships between the characters.  There's something very real about it--Brooke and Peyton's friendship (it reminds me of many of my own friendships), the volatile relationship Lucas and Nathan have with their parents, and how we deal with loss and death in our everyday lives.  There's also something very unreal and soapy about it--(we love you Nathan and  Haley--but nobody's parents let them get married in their junior year of high school)--that makes it so addictingly good.  Above all, as I've mentioned in previous posts, the show's great because of it's comparatively seamless incorporation of music--from the long musical montages at the end, to Peyton and Haley's connection with the music world, to the use of TRIC (think peach pit after dark) as a way to showcase new (and not so new) artists.  The show reflects the culture of the 2000s, while making it at the same time. It's wonderful in so many ways, and now I finally understand why it's been on the air for 7 years.

Scrub-a-dub

One of my favorite shows in the entire world is Scrubs.  I love every single aspect of the show--from the quirky character types--truly original in my opinion--to the fantastical interludes (which came first...Family Guy or Scrubs?  I don't know, but they both do it a LOT.  I think Scrubs weaves them in better...often realistically imitating my own train of thought sometimes.)

As many of you know, Season 9 of Scrubs just started this December.  I've never really heard of a show that has gone through as much as Scrubs.  Two years ago, it first it looked like it was going to be cancelled.  Then ABC bought it from NBC (i've literally never seen that done during my lifetime).  Last season, after like, a ridiculously short season, they acted as if the show was over.  I can tell you this because I cried at the Season Finale. But here we are again.  Season 9.

Before I go into my current thoughts on the new season (confusion), it is worth talking about the concept of the "spin-off."  Many shows have done it successfully (Frasier, old Melrose Place, Private Practice), while some have crashed and burned (Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Joey.  I was almost going to include Saved by the Bell: The College Years, but then I remembered, I LOVED the college years even if it wasn't on for very long.).  Most spin-offs can be recognized by their new title, a pilot episode, and most importantly, a new premise.  Season 9 has all of these things...a new title in the opening credits, "Scrubs, Med School," a new premise, which goes something like this--"our favorite old characters are med school professors until we phase them out and leave you with med school students as they struggle to make it through school."

In my opinion, it is a completely new show.  My confusion lies in the fact that while this season of Scrubs has all of the characteristics of a new show, minus a technical pilot (let me tell you, the first episode had all the awkwardness of a pilot).  It's not like ER where over time they completely replaced all the characters, because the premise of ER was always the same.  Here, they have created a spin-off (which for the most part, lets be real, are failures) and have tried to pass it off as my favorite show, thereby tainting the whole series in a way.

Now let me tell you, i am most loyal to the spin-offs of the shows I love.  I watched Joey for that whole year it was on the air just because I REALLY loved Friends. Sidenote--judging by the number of horrendous Matthew Perry movies I saw over the 10 years friends was on the air, you can see how dedicated I was to the cast (Serving Sara anyone?).  Imagine if they had made Season 11 of Friends, stuck a little "Joey" under the title in the opening credits, and proceeded to follow him out to LA to pursue his acting career.  It would be outrageous.  This is why I'm so angry about Scrubs. And while I will continue watching, because I am loyal to the show just that much, there will still be that tinge of disappointment with the creators/writers for not properly ending my favorite show before creating a brand new spin-off.

How You Know Your Favorite Primetime Drama has turned into a Daytime Soap

1) Lots of slapping. And some occasional drink throwing.

2) A character dies. And then comes back to life. (example--Dylan's dad dies in season 3 via car bomb. Oh wait, come season 9 (or 10?) he's actually in the witness protection program...alive and well!)

3) Long and drawn out Whodunit murder storylines. Note to new Melrose Place, can you tell us who killed Sydney and get Ashlee Simpson off the show already?

4) Babystealing. enough said.

5) Generic opening credits with characters posing behind generic backdrops with generic instrumental music.

6) Long musical montage at the episode's end. Does anyone else go to the bathroom during this part? I'm bored just including it on this list.

While some might be sad at that point where their favorite nightime dramas become all soapy, personally, I think it's quite entertaining. Daytime Soaps are if nothing but creative (the ones I watch anyway are on for an hour a day, 5 days a week, for like, the last bashillion years)...they have to be to keep your attention. Usually, it doesn't happen during the nightime shows until a series has been on the air for a couple seasons--which makes sense, they just have to introduce something classic, yet ridic to switch it up. But when you're fave dramas start out that way....you've got to wonder if the writers are introducing classic soapy signs so early in their career--I can't be so sure it's going to last...

TheWb.com

People--I've recently discovered a fabulous site that makes me almost as excited as hulu and fancast. Apparently it has been around for some time, but you can find tons of old shows at TheWB.com. My favorite shows like Friends, Growing Pains (they have more episodes than Fancast! EEEK!!), and my current project--One Tree Hill. They also post episodes of shows I've always wanted to watch, or might be interesting to watch--such as Buffy, Veronica Mars, and the Ben Stiller Show (random!).

This post has to be short--as the third season of One Tree Hill is only on until Dec 14. I have a lot to watch in the meantime... (but don't worry friends, I'll do it!)

p.s. I'm watching Chelsea Lately right now......i've never watched before. this woman is funny. I'd like to be her friend.

Hi best friend

Watching TV all day can get a little lonely, and really makes me miss my best friends. So I thought I'd comment on imaginary friendships instead that I would like to be a part of.

Now there are many typical types of friendships you see on TV. i've categorized my favorites into a few categories:

Type 1: Best friends who are in love with each other. If they were gay, they'd be dating. This is personally one of my favorite types of friendships--it's the Cory and Shawn friendship on Boy Meets World, and the JD-Turk friendship on Scrubs. They make their girlfriends/wives jealous, and sorry Topanga and Carla, no matter how much you cry--Shawn and JD are still going to come first. And there is really not much you can do about it. Personally, I find this type of friendship the most hilarious--mostly for the spousal jealousy as I just described, but also interestingly enough--i love shows about friends that love each other more than they fight with each other. Thus my obsession with Beverly Hills, 90210. and Friends also. they like, really never fight on that show. And both managed to stay on the air for ten years. That should be a lesson to all you conflict ridden drama shows (new melrose place).

Type 2: The Frenemies. Aka Blair and Serena, Peyton and Brooke. They love each other in the end, but often times they are the other's worst nightmare. Sometimes I like this because it makes the show more interesting, but more often than not it gets old verryyyy fast. And sometimes I get confused because I can't remember if they like each other or not from the week before. That's currently happening with Gossip Girl, so if someone wants to let me know what's going on with them--that be great.

Type 3: Friendships that are funny, but kind of lack emotional connection to each other. What comes to mind in this category include the cast of Seinfeld and it's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Now one could argue it's because the characters that make up these respective shows are rather emotionless--(REALLY emotionless in Always Sunny, I just feel like a very horrible person every time I watch), --but when you see on Grey's Anatomy how Meredith and Christina are soulmates, and that works for the show, it's kind of amazing to see how shows work when you have none of that gushy stuff. These are shows that aren't driven by emotional conflict between the characters, which I think is pretty incredible given the amount of teen soaps (and regular soaps might I add) that I manage to dedicate so much of my TV time to.

While these types of friendships work in tv land, I think they are surprisingly reflective of real life. At one point or another, I've had friendships that fit into these three categories. Where some very hilarious and emotional situations have followed. This brings me to my final point (which I KNOW you were thinking anyways)--I would make a REALLY good reality TV show.