Why Happy Endings is ah-mah-zing

I didn't give this show much of a chance when it first came out in 2011. All I knew was that it seemed like another Friends rip-off, starring Elisha Cuthbert, who I only refer to as mountain lion (after that awful episode of 24 when she was chased by a mountain lion). After some prodding by my friend Cory and a couple good reviews by EW, I decided to give it another chance. I watched all of Season 1 on Netflix streaming and now that they are into season 2, it's one of my favorite shows to watch each week.

Here's why it's great:
1. It isn't stereotypical AT ALL. Yes, there is a gay character, but do they make him flamboyant and a good dresser? NO! He's constantly teased for being fat, sloppy and just plain lazy. In fact, we probably wouldn't even know he was gay unless they occasionally gave him a love interest.

2. This show has great throw-away lines that span the decades. When Penny gets excited about potentially having a new step-brother, she talks about her childhood companion:
Penny: "I always wanted a sibling, but the closest I got to a kid sister was a My Buddy doll."
Max: "Why didn't you just get a Kid Sister doll?"
Penny: "I did, but we weren't that close."

That one was for the 80s kids. In this week's episode, Alex gave us a 90s reference:
Alex: "I just got the Criterion Collection of Clueless, so I'll see you later. I hope not sporadically."

And finally, in this week's episode, in the midst of Brad and Jane's big fight, the guys want to go to a strip club and a steakhouse, but Brad would rather stay home and "catch up on Downton Abbey."

The show is truly funny, in part due to the improvisational styles of all of the characters (except Elisha Cuthbert. She's still kind of the weak link). Casey Wilson, as Penny, gets to show off her comedic skills way better than she ever did on SNL. The characters also make fun of themselves. There was a great scene last season when Elisha Cuthbert claims she isn't ready to date yet, and Penny asks, "But what if you were being chased by a mountain lion and your dad was, like, this counter terrorist guy".
Or in last week's episode when Penny gives a tongue-in-cheek reference to her catch phrase:
Penny: "It's ah-mah-zing. What? I haven't said it barely at all this season!"
Dave: "Season? You mean winter?"
Penny: "Yeah, it's more of a summer saying."

The show is quirky, sometimes a little too quirky (I didn't care for the Max as a bear plotline), but most of all, it makes me laugh, out loud, every week. If you haven't seen it, get season 1. Watch it all in one sitting, preferably without any distractions, and tune in Wednesday nights to catch up with Season 2. You'll thank me.

Books I read in 2011

My friend Jessie suggested a couple years ago that we post what we've read throughout the year. I love seeing what other people are reading and am always looking for suggestions, so add your favorites to the comments section!

Side note: In the 2nd grade, my grandmother gave me a sweatshirt with patches sewn on that read, "Reading is cool" and "Books Belong". I wore it once, was made fun of, and never wore it again. If I still had that sweatshirt (and it still fit), I would wear it proudly.

Books I read in 2011
1. The memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
2. Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian
3. The Living Great Lakes: searching for the heart of the inland seas by Jerry Dennis (I read this book for book club and really loved it. I learned a lot about the history of the Great Lakes.)
4. Room by Emma Donoghue
5. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
6. Night by Elie Wiesel
7. Squirrel seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
8. Full Dark, no Stars by Stephen King
9. Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
10. Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
11. Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
12. Matched by Ally Condie
13. Bossypants by Tina Fey (Such a fun read. I think we can all relate a little bit to her childhood)
14. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
15. Sarah's Key by Tatiano DeRosnay (Heartbreaking. I thought they did a good job with the movie adaptation)
16. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
17. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
19. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
20. Palo Alto Stories by James Franco
21. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audry Niffeneggar (NOT as good as the Time Traveler's Wife)
22. The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
23. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress bny Rhoda Janzen (Ugh)
24. Under the Dome by Stephen King (Believe it or not, this was my favorite of all the books I read this year. The character study and intense plot line made the 1,000 pages fly by. It was also cool to get all the Maine references. I just bought his new one 11/23/63 to read in 2012)
25. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
26. Before you Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian
27. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
28. Admissions by Jennifer Sowle
29. Is Everyone Hanging out Without me? by Mindy Kaling - My second favorite book of the year. She is totally relatable, I laughed out loud several times and I want to be her friend.
30. Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah
31. Heat Wave by Richard Castle (I know, I know. But somebody took the time to write the actual book, so I took the time to read it. And it was free on my Kindle)
32. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (Jessie Jones lent me this book in July and it took me almost 6 months to finish. Not as quick of a read as Pillars of the Earth, but a great historical fiction account of WWI told from the point of view of several characters in different parts of the world. I can't wait for the next book in the trilogy)
33. Ape House by Sara Gruen
34. The Leftovers by Tom Perrota (I loved Election and Little Children and this new one from him was really cool)

Happy New Year everyone and here's to great reading in 2012!

Fall TV Preview

It's the most wonderful time of the year! As it gets colder outside and I start to go into hibernation mode, my DVR heats up and the fall TV season begins. In terms of new programming, so far I think I'm going to invest in The New Girl, A Gifted Man (I love me some Patrick Wilson) and Up All Night. I gave Charlie's Angels one episode. It reminds me a lot of Alias (especially with Victor Garber as Charlie), but as much as I like Minka Kelly, I hate that girl from Grey's Anatomy last season. No thanks. I'm also ditching a few shows this year. Don't judge, but I've been watching Gossip Girl and Desperate Housewives since they both debuted and I think I'm done. Surprisingly, I also decided to get rid of the Biggest Loser. It's just too long. I don't have two hours every week to watch ads for Jennie-O turkey.

Ok, let's break it down by day:

Sunday: I'm super into The Good Wife after watching the first two seasons on DVD over the summer. I've heard that Michael J. Fox is coming back this season too, so yay. The Walking Dead, Dexter, Homeland (new), Breaking Bad and The Amazing Race make for an exciting start to the week. I got through 4 episodes of Boardwalk Empire over the summer, but I just consider it too much of a "boy" show. Sorry Buscemi.

Monday: House without Dr. Cuddy is hard to imagine, but sending House to prison is a great way to break up the formulaic monotony of the show. I'm a little skeptical about the whole Charlyne Yi storyline, but have missed Dr. Crankypants over the summer. I've heard 2 Broke Girls is funny and may give it a shot. I don't watch singing or dancing reality shows, so don't try to get me to watch Dancing with the Stars or America's Got Talent.

Tuesday: I have enjoyed the first two episodes of Ringer and will probably continue with that. The fact that it's on the CW gives them a little more leeway with outrageous plotlines and it's about time Sarah Michelle Gellar was back on TV. I'll be honest. I'm only watching Glee this season to see the story arcs of "The Glee Project" winners and if they are all like Linday's performance last week, I'm in. I think Parenthood is one of the best shows on TV right now and can't wait to see what happens to the Bravermans this season. Is Michael B. Jordan leaving?

Wednesday: I loved Modern Family before they won every Emmy possible. That show is hilarious. Survivor: South Pacific is entertaining this season because the dragon slayer and a hippie version of Ozzy are back. If I can get through Top Chef: Just Desserts, Top Chef: Texas is starting in a couple weeks.

Thursday: I had to give up hosting trivia Thursdays to have time to watch all my Thursday shows. You think I'm kidding. Parks and Rec without a Ben/Leslie pairing is heartbreaking, but that cast is phenomenal and I'm sure this season will rock. I'm not so sure about the Office sans Steve Carell. It seems a little gimmicky, but I'm willing to go along for the ride. I hate having to wait until January to get my Liz Lemon fix on 30 Rock, but I'm sure the wait will be worth it. I'm also watching Grey's Anatomy and The Mentalist (I love a man in a 3-piece suit). I had been watching Project Runway over the summer, but may give it up.

Friday and Saturday: Now that my beloved Medium is over, I'm giving Patrick Wilson's a Gifted Man a chance, although I really can't stand that actress who played Rita on Dexter. And of course, SNL makes for good hungover Sunday morning DVR watching. It's not gay if it's a 3-way.

Time to wrap up in my Slanket and settle in for the long haul. What am I missing?

Farewell Tommy Gavin & 62 Truck

I was first introduced to Tommy Gavin and the rest of 62 Truck during the summer of '09. I think FX was starting the latest season of Rescue Me and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Since I am obviously too impatient to wait for Netflix, I went to Videoport 3 or 4 times that weekend and plowed through the first couple of seasons. The show follows one house of the NYFD in the wake of 9/11. Tommy Gavin, played by Denis Leary, lost his cousin and best friend on 9/11 and deals with it through alcohol, infidelity and numerous other self-destructive behaviors.

In the series finale, Tommy has a dream that leads us to believe that 5 firefighters died in the big warehouse fire, but we eventually find out that Lou is the only one who did. Janet has her baby at home in a matter of 3 minutes and Tommy wants to name him Lou, but Janet decides on Shea, which was Lou's last name. The final episode had a lot of the typical goofiness, but comes full circle when Tommy shows the new probies a banner with the names of the firefighters who died on 9/11 and tells them what it really means to be a hero.

Although the show dipped into the absurd a few times (mainly involving Sean's love life), there were some really touching moments throughout the seasons. It's fitting that the show wrapped up almost to the day of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Rescue Me gave us an insight to the guilt, rage and eventual healing that the firefighters of New York felt in the years following 9/11. I could have done without the actress who played Tommy's daughter, Katie. In fact, she was terrible, but guest appearences by Maura Tierney, Tatum O'Neal and Michael J. Fox more than made up for it.

All in all, an entertaining and inspiring show. I raise my glass to you, Tommy Gavin!

Why There Should Be A "Glee Project"-Type Competition For Every Show

I just now got to watch Sunday's season finale of the Glee Project. If you aren't familiar with this show, Oxygen network looked at 40,000 auditions and narrowed it down to 12 finalists competing for a 7-episode arc in season 3 of Glee. Each week, the contestants had a group song and music video featuring a theme (vulnerability, sexuality, etc). The producers would choose three contestants who didn't do so well to perform last chance performances for executive producer Ryan Murphy. His least favorite would go home. The downfall to the show is that Murphy ultimately chose the winner as opposed to audience votes (otherwise, Cameron would be the winner). While I think that Glee is fine on its on, I am way more excited to watch this season when I know Damian and Sam's back stories and know what they had to go through to get the role.

SO, imagine how fun this type of show would be for, say, House. Contestants would compete to replace Olivia Wilde when 13's character leaves this season. Challenges would involve tongue twisting medical monologues or seeing who has the best chemistry with Omar Epps. Or, how about a competition to find the next trainers for The Biggest Loser. Instead of sticking us with the "unknowns" like they did last season, let me decide before the season even starts whether I'll want to watch it based on the trainers' catch phrases and interesting training techniques.

As anyone who knows me knows, I always claim not to watch singing or dancing reality shows, but when the prize is a role on a show that I watch, I'm in! There's something about rooting for the unknown, little guy that I love. It's like we're in on a secret about the show and I always like to be in the know. So, as we head into the fall television season, let's think about this method for some of our favorite shows. Let's use the method to find the new boss for the office, a third lab tech for Walt and Jesse on Breaking Bad or a fifth douchebag to hang with Vince and his posse on Entourage.

Take The Money And Run

Maybe it's just because I'm well into season 4 of Alias, but the premise of the new ABC summer show, "Take the money and run" had me intrigued. Let's not mention what other ABC show I was watching when I saw the first preview for this show (Really? JP over Ben?). Anyway, I digress. This show totally plays into my current fascination with the CIA and covert ops. Basically, a team of two is given a  briefcase with $100,000 in it and they have one hour to hide it in their hometown. In the case of the premiere, two brothers have to hide the suitcase in San Francisco. The detectives and profilers have 48 hours to find the briefcase. If they do, they get the money. If not, the brothers keep it. All the detectives have to go on are the phone records from the hour the brothers had to hide the cash, the GPS coordinates from the route the brothers took, and any information gleaned from interviews while the brothers are in custody. It's amazing in this first episode to see how the brother Paul is completely breaking down despite the fact that he only has to wait it out for 48 hours before he and his brother can walk away with $100,000. He even talks about how they'd give some money to their mom, who had breast cancer. Toughen up, buddy!

I've never been to jail or slept in a jail cell, but I can't imagine that it would be that hard to lie to the detectives and wait it out. I guess the other part of this game would be having a partner you could really trust. You'd have to come up with a lie that you could both stick to. In this case, the brothers buried the briefcase in a park, which I think is brilliant. They then don't have to worry about any of the friends they called giving them up.

There are so many ways you could play the interrogation. To see Paul give up the location with only 18 hours left to go drives me CRAZY! It's a game! A TV show! For $100,000! The detectives walk away with the money. And the other brother is ok with it? Ughhh! This show is my new obsession.

Time To Give Up The Dream

I've been watching Alias on DVD. Not sure if you caught this gem from JJ Abrams that ran from 2001-2006 on ABC. The main thing I get from this is...working for the CIA is cool! Why couldn't I do that? How hard could it be to learn hand-to-hand combat techniques, be able to disable bombs, break any code out there in record time, wear cool disguises and travel all over the world? I'm in. Upon further investigation (going to the CIA website), I was disappointed to learn that I technically have no marketable skills to provide the CIA. First of all, the majority of field positions are available to people ages 23-27. Ok, so I missed out there. What about a linguist position? They accept people up to age 35. Despite the fact that I majored in French in college and can speak it fluently, even Michael Vartan who plays a CIA agent on the show is more bilingual than I am. And French isn't really the main language they're looking for today. They prefer that you be fluent in Arabic, Mandarin, Russian, Farsi and Kurdish. Come to think of it, I don't really keep secrets all that well. I think it's time to give up the dream...and live vicariously through Jennifer Garner.