The Cosby Show

First off, I know.  You don't need to argue with me because I already agree with you.  I'm not here to tell you how I feel about the show now, I'm here to tell you how I felt about it 30 years ago.  So, you know.  Consider me disclaimed.

Alright, where to start?  I'm mixed.  My dad's black and my mom's white, so I'm mixed, see?  Well, when I was about six, my parents split up and I moved from living with my dad's side of the family to living with my mom's side in a tiny, wretched little town where there were basically no other black people (see the horrific ghost town here).  While I lived there, until the era of In Living Color, the only black people on TV that I knew of were the Huxtables.  I'm right between the ages of Vanessa and Rudy, so I fit comfortably into their family and I loved to hang out with them.  I wanted to be Denise so badly, and wouldn't you know it... she turned out to be the rebellious one.  I also know that a lot of people had crushes on Theo, but I never understood that.  Well, not until years later when I saw Malcolm Jamal Warner all grown up.

Okay, now I get it.

My favorite thing about watching The Cosby Show was seeing how rich people lived.  It seemed like they were all intelligent, healthy and well-adjusted which you don't get a lot of in small towns.  It was totally fascinating.  I miss watching it and I miss the warm fuzzies it used to give me.

Side note: Phylicia Rashad and Keshia Knight Pulliam were in a movie called Polly together, which I will undoubtedly write about at some point.  Check back often to see.  Or better yet, click the subscribe button and never miss a post.  And comment to let me know if you'd rather see that one sooner rather than later.

Haven

One of the shows I've gotten into lately is Haven.  Funny story about that.  The show is loosely based on a Stephen King story called The Colorado Kid.  I got all the way into the third season of Haven wondering when they were going to reference the book before I finally looked it up online.  Turns out I haven't actually read that story.  I was thinking of Blockade Billy THE WHOLE TIME.  If you're familiar with those two stories, you're definitely cackling at me right now. 

So, the show is not about a minor league baseball team.  It's about a town near Derry, Maine where tragic supernatural things happen.  The things are called 'the troubles' and the people who make them happen (usually unintentionally) are 'troubled' people.  I'm not finished with the series yet but it seems that there's only one person who can fix everything but she doesn't know how to, or even who she is.  That's quite the obstacle, as you can imagine.  It's originally a Syfy show but I watch it on Netflix, as I mentioned here.  Check it out.

Nurse Jackie

Look, Edie Falco is a national treasure, okay?  She's been on two of my favorite shows ever and she is an absolutely amazing actor.  She played Carmella Soprano on HBO's The Sopranos (rated very R) and the title role on Nurse Jackie (almost equally likely to scar a kid for life; NO KIDS).  She's won Golden Globes and Emmys and zillions of awards, and she deserves them all, plus MORE... in fact, if I ever meet her she can also have my lunch money.  Not that she needs it.  But whatever.

Okay, so here's Nurse Jackie in a nutshell:  A crew of hugely talented actors portray the real-life workings of an NYC emergency room.  It's kind of like Scrubs, if all the characters were Dr. Cox.  So, dark and cynical and funny and horrific all at once.  But they can cuss and show boobs and stuff.  You know.  Showtime stuff.  Anyway, it's all finished now and you can marathon it on Netflix.  It's really good.

M*A*S*H

Man, I've been putting this one off for a long time.  I've been supposed to post it for a few weeks in a row, and now that I'm finally doing it, it was supposed to go up about 3 hours ago.  The problem with writing about my favorite show is that I don't know where to start or what to include.  There's a really neat story that I have about Quantum Leap, for instance, that couldn't be included when I wrote about that show because it was already pretty long and I didn't want to lose you. But M*A*S*H... that show has been with me at every stage of my life.  The characters are my friends now that I'm older and they were my educators when I was younger.  The show started before I was born, so for me there's no such thing as life before Hawkeye.  Who would want that, anyway?

Okay, so let me help you out if you're not familiar with the show, or if you haven't seen it since the 80's.  M.A.S.H. is an Army acronym that stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.  During the Korean War (which lasted 8 FEWER years than the TV show), doctors were drafted to work in those hospitals in war zones alongside regular volunteer Army personnel.  The show is a portrayal of how that kind of situation may have played out.  It covers the horrors of war, social injustices that were perpetrated by Americans and affected Americans, Koreans and everyone else, and the camaraderie that can only be built from tragedy.  Through all that, there were only a few episodes that were not complete comedy.  The thing about good comedy is that even though they're jokes, they can really make you think.  You can pay attention and learn about things you'd maybe rather not think about in a way that feels more comfortable and safe in your head.

I feel like I should warn you, in case you're headed over to Netflix right away, though.  The pilot is actually a feature-length movie, and none of the actors return for the show, except for Gary Burghoff, who plays Radar.  Radar, by the way?  Awesome.  So adorable and funny and sweet, just the exact opposite of everyone else in the war.  My favorite episodes are from seasons six through eight, when there's a magic combination of Radar, Colonel Potter, BJ and Charles.  I love every season, and there's never one where they jump the shark but those seasons are just the best to me. 

Season 7 (I clearly don't own this)

There's only one actor who is in every single episode of the show, and that's Alan Alda.  He wasn't in the movie, of course; Hawkeye was played by Donald Sutherland in the movie.  Alan Alda is an incredibly talented actor, though, who also co-wrote and/or directed some of the episodes.  He's got an autobiography called Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned, which is completely hilarious and includes stories of his childhood on the Vaudeville circuit with his parents!  I recommend it.  I actually have plenty more recommendations and stories for you and I may get to them later, but I know I've used up a lot of your time today.  I hope you'll go watch or re-watch M*A*S*H on Netflix today (or online elsewhere... or on DVD if you're like me and have all the seasons already) and read Alan Alda's book.  Or all of his books.  There's more than one.  And I hope you love those guys (and the girls: Hot Lips and Nurse Kellye) as much as I do! 

I found this one here, a must-read for M*A*S*H fans!

Game of Thrones

Okay, complaint:  I don't like to watch TV shows until they're completed.  Like, when I'm a few weeks out from the final finale I'm okay to watch the pilot.  So I've been waiting patiently for Game of Thrones, right?  Because it's not done yet.  I'm not too bothered by spoilers but I can't stand the wait between episodes, or worse, between seasons.  Because...

I did my waiting! Seven years of it! In Azkaban!!!

Actually, I did do six years of waiting for one of the Dark Tower books by Stephen King.  And then six more years for the next one.  I've used up my allotment of patience. 

But then my husband decided he couldn't wait any longer and he had to watch it whether I was joining him or not!  Can you even?! So about halfway through last season we caught up with real life.  To be honest, it was a jolt.  Waiting a week to see how my Westeros crush, Tyrion Lannister was faring was horrible, but now... I swear, I've been waiting MY ENTIRE LIFE for next season to start! This is no way to live, guys.  It's barbaric. 

So while I wait, I'll leave you with a question: Do you think Jon Snow is really dead?

And with this amazing picture that my friend Carrie-Ann Pierson (who's on Facebook and takes commissions) drew for our public library's "hero" day.

 

Quantum Leap

Okay guys, I know.  More sci-fi.  But seriously, you've got to just get used to it.  It won't stop here.  One theme you might notice recurring is time travel.  I absolutely love the idea of people experiencing life in a time period not their own.  I imagine taking people into the future to see how famous they become (yes, I do sob every single time I watch Vincent and The Doctor) or taking the Hilton sisters to live alongside the Bronte sisters.  My favorite time travel story is a television series, Quantum Leap.  I watch it on Netflix and still love it, and as a kid seeing the hippies and the Motown stars was so fun!  Plus I totally believed that by now we'd all be dressing like Al and using strange neon plastic information calculators.  Actually, we do have palm-sized computers but they don't look like Al's, that's for sure!

Nice shirt, Al.  What, no double necktie this week?

Sam and Al were the perfect team.  Sam Beckett was played by Scott Bakula, whose fame followed him to Star Trek: Enterprise (you know I'm a Trekkie) and NCIS: New Orleans, which is actually devastatingly free of any science fiction at all.  Al Calavicci was played by Dean Stockwell, who has over 200 acting credits on IMDB, starting in 1945 and including this gem from 1948:

 

In case you're trying to math, his 80th birthday is coming up this Saturday! Definitely sending a card. 

So, do you like time travel?  Or do you prefer space travel?  If you know of any good shows or books set in different times that you'd like to recommend, I'd love to give them a shot.  Drop it into the comment box below.  I'd appreciate it.

25 TV Shows To Catch On Netflix

I'd guess that maybe this is a thing everyone does, but I tend to hoard titles on my Netflix list.  I've got a bit of a proposition for you: I'll show you mine and you show me yours.  These are just the TV shows, and they're the ones I'm currently partway through and enjoying.  Later I'll probably post shows I've completed, shows I'd like to see, movies I liked, movies I'm looking forward to... all that stuff. 

The Twilight Zone +

The X-Files +

Star Trek: TOS +

Star Trek: DS9 +

Star Trek: Voyager  +

Star Trek: Enterprise +

Friends +

Alfred Hitchcock Presents +

Property Brothers +

M*A*S*H +

Broadchurch

Bob's Burgers

Jessica Jones

Peaky Blinders

Supernatural

Keeping Up Appearances +

Firefly +

SeaQuest DSV +

Grace & Frankie

Quantum Leap +

Master of None

Sense8

Merlin +

Haven +

The Gilmore Girls +

Just a bit of advice, definitely check the ratings before you watch if you're sensitive or have kids.  I watch most of them WAY after bedtime, particularly the Netflix originals. There's a + next to the ones I'll watch when the kids are up, but in general they don't care to watch them.  Well, The Villain likes TNG, but that's it.

A really good article about M*A*S*H, easily my favorite show

Firefly

As I'm sure you've pieced together, I'm a bit of a sci-fi nerd.  Exactly the type who would love Firefly.  If you've never seen it, here's a very simplified synopsis: It's basically a western, but set on a spaceship.  The characters are a hodgepodge of people who all found each other by chance and formed an endearing team of outlaws.  The only completely crime-free person is the 'lady of the night'.  She's played by Morena Baccarin, who you probably saw recently in Deadpool.   It's actually super fun.

I will admit, when I first started watching it I kept expecting it to get better.  After all I'd heard about it I expected every moment to be life-altering, you know? But then one day I watched an episode called Jaynestowwn.  That was when I realized that I hated Jayne, really deeply hated him (You're supposed to, which is a testament to the acting talent of Adam Baldwin.), and that I loved the others just as deeply.  There's only one season and that episode is toward the end of it.  I finished it out and watched the movie immediately and loved that too. 

My second time through the series, and again now on the third, I enjoyed every episode from the beginning because I know all the characters so much better and I enjoy watching the stories unfold all over again.  My favorite is Kaylee, because I can really identify with her.  Not that I'm a mechanical genius, but I've spent my whole life being misjudged as much younger and sweeter than I am, even though I kind of really am pretty sweet.  It's tough to explain, but it just means that the actress, Jewel Staite, really gets me.  Maybe one day she'll actually meet me... and hopefully I'll figure out a non-creepy way to explain all that.  Fingers crossed, eh?

I used to have a Serenity decal for my car, which I got from this Ebay shop, in case you want one, but I had to trade the car in for a minivan and the sticker I got to replace it is the Enterprise.  I am in the market for a Firefly laptop skin, so if you know where I can get one or if you just have something to say about the show just cram it into the comment box below.  Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you.

Again, not my pictures.  I'm not some mogul!