Is the lack of a designated brainy girl a curse or a blessing?

OK, I promised myself I'd write every weekday (I would say for a month, but I won't during my vacation, I don't think), and even though I still am not feeling like it, I'm gonna do it anyhow. I do need to remember to post before I read commentary on my shows, as I have nothing new to say about Ugly Betty or The Fashion Show. It's tempting to totally detox from TV this summer, but aside from finishing my Rhoda DVD (one disk left with 5 episodes plus a special feature doc) and The Sopranos (I have four seasons left I'm just getting them through Netflix), I'm sure I'll end up watching the final season of Monk, Psych, the new Mark Feuerstein show on USA, the rest of In Plain Sight, Secret Life of the American Teenager, probably at least the pilot of 10 Things I Hate About You (sooner or later I'm going to have to draw the line and not watch every teen show), the rest of The Fashion Show, and Project Runway, which doesn't come back until August, plus of course Jeopardy, and the Daily Show/Colbert Report (which are both dark next week). In other words, nearly as much as I watch during the year, but nothing that isn't reaired 6-10 times a week, so I won't even care that my TiVo is on its last legs and frequently either freezes up in the middle of a show, or drops out the sound, or, a first the other day, freezes the picture but keeps the sound going (but I will replace it before September). I definitely will declare at least a few nights a week reading night, although I'm a little stimeyed in that as the library thinks I didn't return a book that I know I did.

So anyhow, the stealth smart girl idea. A friend and mentor (thanks Peggy!) had a sort of a different take on this idea than my initial thoughts. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that the geeky type brainy girl is gone, replaced by the girl who is simultaneously smart, beautiful, attractive to boys, and popular with other girls? Her take was that this puts a lot of pressure on girls, and that girls put pressure on each other, to be all of those things. Rather than thinking that smartness has been integrated and isn't something to be concealed and erased as the girl gets popular and loved, as in the older shows, it's something to be flaunted, but in equal measures to the other characteristics.

Certainly that was the case for Veronica Mars once she was done being the outcast--she was up for valedictorian, she had two rich boys, and every other boy in school (plus another guy in college), interested in her, and tons of tertiary characters praising her beauty, sexiness, niceness, and coolness.

It's definitely true of Blair Waldorf who, while one would never call her nice in general, is always there for her friends, ready to pull some elaborate scheme. No matter how often she and Serena stop speaking to each other, they always get back together with avowals of eternal friendship, and she and Chuck have followed a two season long come closer/go away/come closer pattern that I'm sure will continue into next season. She also demonstrates extreme power over the other girls, who want her approval, even as she treats them like dirt.

90210 is my problem. It's too muddy to even deal with yet, only I need to. The only attention we've seen paid to academics at all is Naomi trying to get out of writing papers (and having her parents back her up on this), and Silver going overboard with her assignment for the English teacher and making a borderline pornographic film. Annie and Adrianna seem only to care about drama class. Each girl is considered extremely desirable from the start. Part of the reason the original was good was that we had to see Brenda and Andrea learning to fit in with the rich and troubled crowd, while Annie just did, pretty much right away. Add to that, there being no "crowd as such"--the episode before the finale suddenly had all the girls at a baby shower, and all the boys at a bachelor party, seemingly having been best buddies forever, even though we never really saw Adrianna and Annie together much, and especially since we never even saw Liam and Naveed speak before--and it's just hard to read the interactions. Supposedly, Naomi, Silver, and Adrianna were all best friends at some point, hence the matching tattoos, but mostly we've seen every pair of characters off in their own storyline. It makes it easy to ask questions like what was up with Annie's totally non-promlike short ugly dress, and hard to ask who the stealth smart girl/perfect girl is in this scenario. Odd, as we've seen a lot more scenes in actually classrooms--given the co-star status of the principal, a teacher, and the guidance counselor--than we have on Gossip Girl, where all action happens in the hallways/courtyard/out in the city/in private homes, bars, or hotels.

The other way to look at it is that no one really cares if the girls are smart on these two shows because in this society, money talks. Naomi's dad tries to convince her teacher to change her grade due to his money and clout. Although no one in Blair's family seemingly can get her back into Yale once her detention for bad mouthing a teacher (who was sleeping with a student), gets her offer rescinded, Nate's grandfather offers to get her into Columbia if she will only convince Nate to go there, instead of Berkeley (I think--too lazy to look all this up for now), and her lawyer stepfather knows a friend on the board of NYU, which is how she gets acceptance there, despite not applying. Serena gets into Brown because she frequently appears on Page 6, with other socialites, and despite her mediocre grades, and apparent lack of concern about academics.

That might be why this show doesn't have smart girls, while Secret Life of the American Teenager does. Everyone on that show is similarly middle class, except possibly for Adrian who I guess is supposed to be poorer (but still has her own convertible). No one can pull strings because of all their money. Grace's dad is a doctor, and Lauren's dad is a psychologist, who you think would have more money than a furniture store owner, but it's hard to tell. It's a measure of how retro this show is that I do not know what either of the mothers do, and it's a plot point that Molly Ringwald's character Anne (this show is big on A names for women) dropped out of college to stay home and raise Amy and her sister Ashley and is only now trying to have a career. I believe Adrian's mother is a flight attendant. Other than 15 year olds getting pregnant, and plot points that sometimes revolve around cell phones, and a fixation with sex, for the most part this show could easily have taken place in pretty much any decade. There's absolutely nothing forward thinking here. Adrian is free with her sexuality, but is essentially punished for it by having the boys leave her for "nicer" girls. Minor character Alice can talk a good game about sex, but ends up having it and not much liking it.

Well, clearly this migraine isn't helping my thought process much. I'll think more about this next week.

Picturing the Upfronts

OK, turns out Vanessa is going to college (see previous post), NYU, in fact, same as Blair, Dan, and evidently Georgina Sparks (who somehow looks wrong for this show to me. Not unattractive, but lacking the delicate prettiness of the other girls). I completely forgot Nate helping her to take the SATs, and still don't remember the circumstances. No news on Serena and I guess Chuck is a little busy running an entire multi-billion dollar empire to consider college, though he has time to galivant around Europe, buying Blair gifts. But for the absence of Dorota, (surely she'd be at Miss Blair's graduation--she's not just in it for the money, right?) and my total confusion about Hazel, Nelly Yuki and the other nameless drones, who were totally seniors, since they were at Blair's SAT pamper party and Nelly got into Yale, caring about who high school queen would be, and Jenny's hair, that was a pretty darn good episode. I knew who the mysterious new NYU student was as soon as they showed him, even to getting a shiver down my spine.

But what I'm really thinking of today, and this doesn't help me with my smart girl stuff but is still important, is the Upfronts. I was just looking at photos of the new shows on ABC, and decided to do a little count. For every one of the fictional new shows (I'm leaving out some reality show with Shark in the title) they have a photo. In every one of those photos a white person is in front, with a second white person slightly behind in the case of all but family shows (where the tall people ((i.e. the parents)) are in the back, and in two of those cases the family is white). I counted 12 people of color, although I'm basing this by mostlty knowing which actor's name went with each face (because there are a lot of familiar faces on their slate, and the few others can be determined by gender-specific process of elimination), and either knowing they were of color or guessing by looking--nearly always at the people on the periphery of the picture. I already know that Sofia Vergara and Lourdes Bendedicto (who cannot act and was just awful on both ER and Dawson's Creek) is Latina, and Rochelle Aytes, who I've never seen before, may be (or Black or mixed), and Ian Gomez (who is great, but is on Cougar Town, a show I wouldn't watch just on the basis of the name) Latino. Lindsay Price (who is one of the three leads on Eastwick) and John Cho (who is toward the front of the photo for Flash Forward, the only one of these shows that remotely appeals) are Asian (or at least partially so), and Reiko Aylesworth is 1/4 Japanese, so I guess she might count,, and Courtney B. Vance is Black, along with, I assume, someone named Robert Wisdom on the show Happy Town. In the show in which Ed O'Neill is married to Sofia Vergara, presumably the kid in between them, Rico Rodriguez, is either her kid from a prior marriage or is supposed to be the product of both of them. That's the show that also features what looks like a "normal" family (i.e. all white), and a gay couple with a baby. At the same time, Ugly Betty, the only Latina led show on the main networks, is moving to death slot Friday (which is good for me because then it won't be up against 30 Rock).

Who cares, right? Boring. But it strikes me that for every step forward characters from formerly disenfranchised groups take, they take a step back. The networks keep trying Black (male) leads, every few years, but when these shows don't work, they won't do it. It's pretty clear from this lineup that when there are black characters, they need to be in the background, and that the order of "threat" from least to most goes, Asian, Latina/Latino, Black. This way, the networks can say they are adding representation from non-white groups, without making any real social strides in terms of actual race-blind casting. But, although by now most Americans have no problem with an Asian kissing a Caucasian character, and they're getting used to Latina/white mixing, Latino/white or Black/white is still very controversial and they are much less likely to go there, and if you have a Black man or Latino man that means you have to add same raced women, and that tips the balance of the show and threatens your viewer base. Most of the Black men on the upcoming shows seem to be older "chief" types who will be less involved in all the mushy kissing and stuff.

Semiotically, the photos are very important. The makeup of the photos is a clear indicator, for the most part, of the actor's place in the pecking order. As far as I can tell, television shows are more hierarchical than the military, with everyone fully aware that they're the "first lead" or the "third female lead." It's obvious that whoever is in front is the first lead (which is why some shows have everyone lined up evenly like Modern Family). The first lead makes more money, and the top four to six may have contracts that say they are in "every known episode," while others may only be in some episodes, which is why Navid can disappear for episodes at a time on 90210. It used to be that actors would get paid even if they weren't on, but I think that changed a few years ago, at least on some networks. I guess I need to look into how that all works.

Maybe I'm reading this all wrong. I've heard no protests about Dixon (who is Black) and Silver (who is white) on 90210, yet they just broke up and it looks as if the goal was to put Silver and Ethan (a white guy) together--except that actor was fired so it won't actually happen. I don't think the CW has put out such a release with yet, though I know they are picking up Vampire Diaries and Melrose Place, but I'll look into it. I'm pretty sure Girlfriends and Everyone Hates Chris won't be on it, taking the last "black shows" off the major networks. I'll try to write about this in the next few days.

Anyhow, I won't do every network--personally the only thing I ever watch on Fox is the occasional Simpsons, though they have a decent slate for next year, and on CBS only How I Met Your Mother, (yes, a show with all white characters--they haven't even bothered to make Josh Radnor or Jason Siegel's characters Jewish), and nothing new they've signed indicates to me that next year will be any different. But I will do NBC.

NBC has always been the liberal network, the highbrow/sophisticated network, but I'm sure they're going to be upping their average age significantly when Jay Leno takes the 10PM hour five nights per week. Chuck is saved, so my venom isn't as strong as it could be for that decision, which I still hope fails miserably, but with the budget cuts on Chuck, if they get rid of characters, or use them less, who will they be? My guess would be the Asian Anna (who face it was on about four episodes anyhow, though she's a fan favorite), the Indian Lester, or the Latino Morgan. Let's hope it's Jeff, though, not because he's white but because he's unpleasant.

Anyhow, due to that, they've only picked up six new shows. The picture of 100 questions shows four white people but someone named Amir Talai is on the cast list and IMDB shows a picture of someone not in that photo. So someone presumably with Middle Eastern Ancestry (the only thing IMDB says is that he was born in San Francisco.) Since I was thinking the cutting of the picures was the fault of the site I was on, not NBC so I did a search. Strangely, the photo on the NBC site includes the Asian looking Elizabeth Ho, off to the right and hence cut off of the original, but not him but two people of color in a six person show is interesting. Community (with John Oliver, yay, but Chevy Chase, boo) has Black actress Yvette Nicole Brown (in back of photo). Trauma, a doctor show I'm not terribly likely to watch, has Black Derek Luke and Latina Aimee Garcia. Only Zap2it has cut Derek out (he's in the way back). I thought the rest were white until I looked up Cliff Curtis, the front man--he's from New Zealand and is of Maori descent, so there's some extreme minority action for you. Parenthood has an actress called Sarah Ramos, but since it's about a giant family, and she's a teenager, and the character has the same last name as the rest of the family, I'm guessing she's playing the Martha Plimpton role from the movie, or Peter Krause and Maura Tierney's kid, hence white.

On Mercy, a show about nurses (which has Michelle Trachtenberg in it so I guess her tenure on Gossip Girl next year will be short), there seen to be three characters of color including Delroy Lindo, who is very cool. Jaime Lee Kirchner is new to me, and her ethnicity is unclear, but she's interesting looking, and Guillermo Diaz was very threatening on Weeds, so it'll be odd to see him on a medical show.

Oh, what do you know, despite the fact I am now officially in a hurry to get to other work, I decided to go ahead and look at Fox (the only other one that has photos yet) and Brothers is an all Black cast (in a sitcom, of course, not a drama), so I was wrong up above. I'm probably the only one who remembers that there already was a show called Brothers, about three white brothers, one of whom was gay. I just looked it up, and although I remember it coming and going, it was on for five years, from 1984-1989. It was not funny. Anyhow, The Cleveland Show (the spinoff of Family Guy) also shows an all black cast, though they are animated. Glee's photo shows a little bit of everyone, including a guy in a wheelchair, but that's no the photo I've seen before. Human Target has Chi McBride, who was so great on Pushing Daisies, (plus Mark Valley who is cool, and Jackie Earle Hailey who is good at being creepy) but no women? Past Life has Ravi Patel, cut off in Zap2it's photo, Sons of Tucson (which I definitely won't be watching) has a Latina woman, and some boys who could be. Wanda Sykes is getting her own late night show. So I guess Fox wins in this sweepstakes by far, which is appropriate as they started off serving "underserved audiences," but in the last few years have not been other than reality-wise. Maybe it's really just ABC that's falling down on the job.

Out of time to actually add the pictures, which wasn't the point anyhow. More tomorrow.

The Stealth Smart Girl

OK, so I've been very lax about keeping this blog, but now that it's summer (though you would never guess it since it's about 50 degrees outside), and I'm not teaching, I'm determined to do it more often. Not only can I get some thoughts out, but hopefully I can work on ideas that will become either an article or the revised conclusion of my book.



Normally I'd start out writing about last night's shows, but the less said about Desperate Housewives' season finale, the better. That was dead boring. Although yay, Chuck has been renewed! Only for 13 episodes, but hey, that has helped a lot of shows really focus, and I don't know what the budget cuts will do, but it's all better than not having the show.

I've written, as anyone reading this blog or who knows me in general may know about the Smart Girl character on television. I've tried to set a boundary between teen shows that took place between 1990 (when Beverly Hills, 90210 began) and 2006, when Gilmore Girls ended. In my dissertation I proclaimed the end of the teen show era after that, but I suppose I was premature.

What may have died out, however, was the brainy girl archetype. Neither Gossip Girl nor the revived 90210 has an Andrea Zuckerman, or even a Rory Gilmore type--driven, book obsessed, school oriented. Useless Vanessa on Gossip Girl is supposed to be a filmmaker, and is clearly intelligent, but is being home schooled (without actually living at home, so it's unclear how that works or actually where she lives at all) so definitely isn't the standard type. She's significantly less well fleshed out as a character than Blair, Serena, or even Jenny. Her job seems to be, for the most part, to be judgmental and to be "good" in the way Dan is. Unlike Blair and Serena, she hasn't mentioned college, so it's not even clear what year she would be if she were in school, or if she already graduated and just plans to make films or what (how's that for ringing academic prose?).














Blair, on the other hand, is what someone I know--and actually I'm sad to say I cannot recall who, so if you are reading this, please speak up,--called a "stealth smart girl." Although the most popular, best dressed, and one of the richer girls in school, she has had perfect grades (although I don't believe we've ever seen her study), and a high (if unmentioned) SAT score and earned entry into Yale. She isn't going to Yale, due to some bad actions on her part and because of ifwesendourcharactersawayhowwilltheshowcontinueitis, and may end up at NYU. Still a good school. Like Rory Gilmore, getting into the Ivy League (in the pilot Rory says Harvard, but later obsesses over Yale, which is much closer to Stars Hollow and from which she graduates), has been presented as Blair's be all and end all, along with becoming Audrey Hepburn (a goal after my own heart). It will remain to be seen how the story treats her at NYU, or whether it becomes Columbia after all (it would have made more sense to send Nate to NYU and Blair to Columbia), but it will be interesting to see if they have school challenge Blair.

The season finale is tonight and I'm "unspoiled" but I'm guessing Serena's recent arrest is what will torpedo her going to Brown. She's never been school oriented and it wouldn't be surprising or terrible if next year she didn't go to college but modelled or something instead. The final girl on that show is Jenny, who won't be ready for college for at least one more year (maybe two--these shows are so vague). As a fashion designer she is outside the realm of the "smart girl" no matter what her grades, which have never been mentioned--she is instead an artsy girl.

90210 also didn't include such a character. Andrea Zuckerman's daughter Hannah was introduced in the pilot as the anchor for the school TV news show Navid runs, but was barely seen and has never been mentioned again. Annie is the good girl, and the actress, but is much more Brenda than Andrea, only tons more annoying. Even when the world hated Brenda, Shannen Doherty was tons more convincing and good in the role than Shenae Grimes. Anyhow, as PK (Principal's kid), it seems likely Annie gets good grades, but we've seen no evidence of her stressing over anything other than boys and whether she's the lead in the school show or not. Silver is the blogger (like all smart people are), but mostly the rebel with problems and actress and druggie Adrianna and popular/bitchy Naomi are far from school oriented. So far no one is a stealth smart girl, but any of them could turn out to be a genius.

Friday Night Lights also didn't have such a character. Coach's daughter Julie is shyer than the other girls, but not flamboyantly brainy. Lyla got into Duke, but was more into cheerleading, then Christianity, and later boyfriend Tim than school while Tyra was the classic underachiever who ultimately did get into college, but through a great deal of struggle.


Finally, there is The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Unfortunately for me, despite having just completed a season, this will be back in July and I'm sure I will watch every minute of the total train wreck this show is. This show alone might include the brainy girl in the lead, Amy. She plays the French horn and, until shortly before the show began was of the "never been kissed" variety of girl I discuss in my sex chapter. However, by the time the show starts, not only has she been kissed, she is pregnant. Although frequently referred to by the actual words "smart girl" we never see her do anything particularly brainy, and in fact she, and most of the cast, come off as quite dim. An interesting character, however, is Adrian, a very stealth smart girl. Although clearly the sex pot (she sleeps with the father of the baby, another girl's boyfriend, and her new stepbrother), she is also determined to do well in school. She will admit it, but even her friends (and she starts off wanting few) are surprised to discover her devotion to school.

So, what does the stealth smart girl mean? Does this mean that braininess is now a less outsider characteristic? Given that some of these shows actually have characters of color (though Gossip Girl only does as recurring characters, including an Asian girl with gigantic glasses, and 90210 and Friday Night Lights have had only boys of color), is that enough? Are we supposed to see all the characters as so well integrated that they don't need obvious signs of smartness as glasses or huge piles of books around them? I'm not sure, but it's something I want to think about this week.

So realistic

Girl Who (Doesn't) Wear Glasses of the day/week/month

Gossip Girl's Nelly Yuki.

She started off as the girl that was going to keep Blair from getting into Yale, because she was prepared to get perfect SAT's but Blair drafted her into her little mean girls group. Somehow this year she's on probation and we're supposed to see her as a wannabe. It's pretty sad because she seemed pretty cool--Lane Kim without the rock and roll, so not all that cool--but she's taking Jenny's place as the main wannabe. Anyhow, since Blair may get top grades but doesn't fit the smart girl paradigm, and Jenny is more the artist, and Serena just drifts through life and clearly doesn't care about much besides her family, friends, and love life, Nelly is the closest thing to a retro smart girl there is on this show. It would be nice to think she'll break out of her mold in a good way, but as a very minor character I think she's doomed to be the stereotype and eventually disappear as the gang goes off to college. She's got more personality than the original Asian girl on this show at least.

I really don't think the writers of The Secret Life of the American Teenager have never met any teenagers. Or any adults. Or anyone who has ever been to high school or might eventually go. No one on this show does anything at all that resembles anything I, personally have ever done in my life, or anything that anyone I've ever met, heard of, or read about has actually done. No one gets married at 15 using fake IDs to a boy who isn't even the father. No one moves into the garage when his wife kicks him out. No one starts off making pancakes and ends up in a queen-sized bed in said garage with his ex. No one has meetings between the police, the high school counselor, and students accused of making fake IDs, or between the counselor and not-really-married-students-because-it-isn't-really-legal-with-a-fake-ID with the door open, and the "wife" would never really walk past at the most inopportune moment. No one (at least no one sane) wants to be "the girl being cheated with, instead of cheated on." No one runs into your ex's ex's current husband at the divorce lawyer and has a lengthy conversation with him that is the first time she finds out her 15 year old daughter is "married."

The only thing that did ring slightly true was that when I faulted Josie Bissett last week for not calling her ex when she heard about the wedding, it turns out she hadn't bothered to ask whose wedding, so she didn't know it was Amy and Ben's. So I suppose she's slightly off the hook for that as she did pick up the phone as soon as she found out. And clearly Amy wanting to find a way out of having to go to school, work, and take care of a baby does make sense, but not this way. The really awful part is that apparently real tweens thing this show is "so realistic" and don't think Ben is a creepy stalker and for all I know probably think Ricky the sexually confused Lothario is "so cute!"

Of course, also, no one leaves their 17-year old son in charge of a multi-billion dollar company, especially their 17-year old son who has never worked a day in his life (I don't think running his burlesque club really counts), especially at said company and probably doesn't even know what the company does, since I don't, or with a planned mentoring/training system or anything like that, and no one is suprised when he fails spectacularly, but that's Gossip Girl and I doubt teens think that show is realistic. They all act like they're at least 30, and just happen to drop into school every once in a while to keep up with their social lives.

I also watched the end of Masterpiece Classic's "Tess of the D'urbervilles." Thomas Hardy sure seemed to hate men. There isn't a good one in the bunch. I'd be interested in reading about the various controversies, but don't have time at the moment. Too much TV to get to. Oh, and work, too.

Happy New Year

It's my first post of the New Year. I've not been posting, in large part because many of my shows were on hiatus for the holidays. Many I watch will continue to be so. I know we're still due three more Pushing Daisies, and Dirty, Sexy Moneys, but the last I heard the rumor was these would be burned off, presumably on single Saturdays. NBC won't be showing Chuck or Heroes this month, starting its policy of all reality (or Jay Leno) all the time. On the other hand, Monk, Psych and The Secret Life of the American Teenager (unfortunately) are back, with Greek, Lost, and I think Big Love not far off, plus the ABC premiere of Scrubs and eventually the new Cupid, which I know I'll check out, and Dollhouse eventually, so I'll probably be watching pretty much my normal amount of TV, and presumably my new students won't watch any of these shows so I'll still be out of step.

It's amazing how much I can read when TV is not demanding my time, and I am not wrecking my eyesight all day on the Internet. I read five and a half books on my trip: Youth in Revolt , which was good and Bonk, which was very funny, both of which I got for my sister, When Will there Be Good News?, nicely British and enjoyable but forgettable, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which was very interesting and informative as novels go, gifts for my mom, half of A History of the World in 6 Glasses (got through all of beer and cola and most of wine), which I got for my dad, and wouldn't mind finishing at Borders someday, and Interred with Their Bones--bought at the San Francisco airport--sort of a mix of Possession, a book I love, and The DaVinci Code, a book I thoroughly hated. Of course there's going to be another book starring the same main character who serves as literary detective. If I wrote novels, that's what I'd focus on. I'm reading one more now--much more embarrasing, bought when exhausted at the Charlotte airport where I had a three hour layover: Trading Up by Candice Bushnell. Interred had a big allusion to Don Quixote, and the Charlotte airport bookstore had two copies with lovely Picasso covers, but I was just too tired to concentrate. As it happened Interred lasted until 10 minutes before landing, which is odd as Youth in Revolt did the same thing but was 100 pages longer, a bigger sized book, and I only had a 40 minute layover. Go figure.

Last night was a typically histrionic Gossip Girl. Chuck made me think of fun words like louche and dissolute as he smoked hash in the school lobby and was pleasured by two women at once at the once-again-his-Victrola burlesque club (the slow motion stage show was pretty gross, though). I'm not sure I'm liking Blair's whole self-sacrificing routine, but I'm glad she was there for him and these two really pep up the scene. For the first time I missed Nate, though, as he should have been part of the Chuck rescue along with Blair and Serena. Once again I didn't miss Vanessa. The Jenny/Erik story was mildly interesting but basically dumb. As usual, no one cares about Dan and Serena and even though I don't care about her, she can do so much better. Since I'm going to be writing about the retro sensibility of 90210, I think it's interesting that this show embraces 40s styles, timeless preppiness (though it was making fun of a Junior League type group last night), and the mean girl ethos of the 1990s, yet we've never seen anyone announce he was smoking hash TV (as opposed to pot) or have a teen character mired in Thai sex clubs--and we'll just forget that those girls are probably sex slaves. If I think too much about this I'll have to really hate Chuck Bass and I don't want to.

In any case, it's an actually fun show, unlike The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which is just plain ludicrous. For reasons I still don't understand--not sure if it was the network, or my misbehaving TiVo, but everything's fine now--after the first sequence, the sound completely disappeared. I always have the closed captioning on so I just kept watching but I can't imagine the dialogue or story could have been improved with sound and am not sure if it made it worse. It's still impossible to know when this show is trying to be funny and when it's being unintentionally hillarious, or when it's just insane, but I got to/had to watch two fifteen years olds and everyone in their age range (14-16 I think, plus however old Grace's autistic brother is) they know get fake IDs so they could either a. get married, b. witness the marriage, or c. have drinks at the nonexistent reception, even if they don't drink or their friends/girlfriends convinced them not to drink because "drinking stinks." And somehow the autistic brother got a girlfriend who didn't look autistic, but did seem crazy. Voice tone might have given me some indication. Anyhow, surprise, TiVo's description for next week says they find out the marriage isn't legal. Ya think? And why Ben and Amy ignored the huge red flag of her once happy parents fighting, or why Grace's mom, who was once married to Amy's dad and knew the kids were going to a wedding, or the bad girl's mom who had an affair with Amy's dad, didn't have the courtesy to tell Amy's dad, jerk that he is, I do not know. I'm not happy about this show continuing and I'm baffled and upset that it's up against Gossip Girl (though fortunately since it's on cable there are subsequent airings right after), much as I'm pissed they're putting House against Chuck, no doubt sealing the latter's demise.

Best jacket ever

One of the most fun things about Gossip Girl is the way Chuck Bass dresses. It's always something different--not fashonable, but locating him in some sort of era gone by, be it the 1930s or the 1950s. Last night at the Snowflake Ball, he looked like what I wish my Ken Doll had looked like and was wearing this jacket I need to own but definitely couldn't afford. I wanted to put a link here, but so far haven't found a picture, but I will when I do. Black and totally glittery, and looked, needless to say, fabulous on him. Anyhow, that was probably the best thing about last night's episode--too much emphasis on Dan, Serena, and Jenny, and not nearly enough on Chuck and Blair, though certainly more than in the last two or three. Just get them together already--it's so artificial that they aren't because "they're not that kind of couple."

I did wonder about Serena wearing a sparkly sweater that looks a lot like the one I just ordered (see above) to high school. It's what I'm planning to wear for New Year's Eve. Hers seemed to have actual pailletes on it, though. Anyhow, it made me feel very poor that something I'd spend birthday money on for special occasion wear would be everyday wear for her, but that's the show, isn't it. The rich are different from you and me.

It's sort of interesting to me that last year there were four Chucks in primary roles on network television. Back to You, featuring Kelsey Grammer as newscaster Chuck only made it through last season. Pushing Daisies (sob) has been canceled, so relatively soon we won't have Charlotte "Chuck" Charles to kick around anymore. I'm very worried that putting House up against the show called Chuck on clusterfuck Monday will doom it, despite the full season order, which leaves Gossip Girl, which I assume isn't going anywhere and Chuck Bass. I wonder what the next shared name will be?

Otherwise, I haven't posted here in while, in part because with Thanksgiving last week was a bit lighter on TV. The Monk and Psych Christmas episodes were not very memorable, except that Monk was unbelievably rude to some homeless men, calling them "bums." I did enjoy a whole BH 90210 marathon of "Kelly's Leftovers" that they were still having commercials for yesterday. It's definitely clear when the show gets darker and the dialogue gets more unbelivable. This happened about 3PM, but before that I was enjoying it, even if I already know what's going to happen well before it does.

I guess I missed a day in there, due to three meetings yesterday and a few minor but annoying health issues. Tomorrow I need to plan for a presentation about my work for our annual All Area of Studies meeting. I'm not sure what I'll say yet, but I guess I'll backtrack all the way to the beginning, and talk about my dissertation, and then what little I've been doing since.

Anyhow, TV Tuesday was 90210--or as I like to call it, the city of Jessicas--I think there are at least four on the show right now--and House. Kelly was back, but 90210 was pretty bad, what with the over-emoting by Annie and Naomi. Naomi only think she's Blair Waldorf, she ain't even close. Nor is she pretty. However, having them as enemies makes for a better storyline than having them as friends, I suppose. Ho hum. I did enjoy Adrianna and Navid--and whoever did the production design on Navid's house did a great job--and it's interesting that more than half the teenage cast (Navid, Silver, Dixon, and Annie but not Naomi, Ethan, or Adrianna) are admitted virgins. I guess that's actually only slightly less than the ratio on the original show when it started (David, Scott, Andrea and Donna, with Brandon having sex the first time in the first few episodes, and Brenda by the winter dance), but surprising for this day and age and the style of show. I can't imagine that will last long as several couples seem on the way, if they don't break up first. Which I imagine Silver and Dixon will soon do, as they've been happy for weeks now. Thank God Brenda's back next week. Boo on demoting grandma Bluth to occasional player, though. Thinking about what her casting indicates the show was supposed to be, given the Freaks and Geeks pedigree of the showrunners makes me sad.

I watched two reruns of House because my students just love it. I could see some of the allure, but to me a good mystery means that I can assemble the clues myself and at least get part of it right. On a show like this, with my (and I assume most viewers') basic lack of medical knowledge, it's not even close. Anyhow, both episodes seemed to follow the same trajectory--in one a Mafia guy going into Witness Protection falls into an unexplained coma, in another Samatha Mathis's husband turns blue and can't breath while having kinky sex with her, in a much more disturbing and gross episode. There's a lot of writing on a flip chart. How retro. No one ever consults a computer, say, (or any books or medical journals even,) they just sit around and toss ideas around, or stare into the air and think. And House is completely right both times, and the others are wrong. I don't know if every episode is like that or not, but I assume so. I have always liked Lisa Edelstein, but that was a fantastic episode, and I didn't even recognize Chi McBride for a while--he's so much better as Emerson Cod. I may watch again, though not only has it been on the same time as my must watch for work 90210, but now they're moving it into the Monday night clusterfuck slot, against Gossip Girl, Chuck, and How I Met Your Mother, so I definitely won't watch in first run. But Tuesdays at 9 are a gaping hole unless I catch up with Privileged, so I may check it out in reruns.

Last night Pushing Daisies, and Dirty, Sexy Money, neither of which are long for this world evidently, (sob for PD, at least), were preempted, so it was once again all reality, all the time. The last interesting one of the Top Models was kicked off last night after drinking a lot of wine, so my money's on McKey but really it's just a buncha boring white girls. Stylista, same train wreck and I hope the fact that two dull people were sent home last night means it will be even shorter than planned. Top Chef seems almost exactly the same, and no one impressed me much--not surprising as I can't keep 17 people straight--although it's nice that none of the brown or black people were sent home in this first round. Just two very young white folks who knew each other from the CIA, and not the fun Chuck one.

President Obama!! It's a beautiful day!!

I was struck by a posting the other day and had a few thoughts. I never realized just how class-based my television decisions may be. I thought about all the television I watch on a weekly basis and nearly all of it is about the lives of upper-middle or upper class people, or those who aspire to be in those classes. Gossip Girl, 90210, Dirty, Sexy Money, Entourage, and 30 Rock are mostly about rich people. Everyone on Mad Men does quite well, even with income disparity. Desperate Housewives has a blend, but even when they struggle, they never lose their large homes in a well-manicured neighborhood or seem to be wearing old clothes (uglier, but not old). Project Runway, Top Design, Top Chef, America's Next Top Model, and the new Stylista are all about people who work in creative industries where there are a lot of people struggling, but where the best/luckiest can make tons of money. Pushing Daisies is in a universe of its own, as are Heroes and Lost, but none has its characters worrying about money. We are meant to believe that Chuck is slumming it, working at a big box store, but his sister, with whom he lives, is a doctor, and he works with spies who are certainly paid well. Only The Office and Life on Mars are about people who would seem to be solidly middle class.

There's a whole world of TV about lower middle and working class people too, of course. I loved Roseanne, and Grace Under Fire, but don't find any sitcom on these days really has that sort of powerful message about working people. I got sick of My Name is Earl, which makes fun of its trashy characters. I have a feeling that most of the working class people on TV are on reality shows I do not enjoy watching and actual poor people have never been anything but victims or criminals on any show, I don't think.

Anyhow, as I've mentioned, there's so much TV out there that it's really easy to find niches, whether in fiction, reality, or news, that reinforces our own sense of our selves, and the identity we've constructed, and only watch those shows and those channels.

Can't keep my mind on nothin'

I think my mind is mostly on the election today. I watched Gossip Girl, but can't tell you much about it. Blair was good, Chuck was sexy, Jenny was annoying. I also went to bed at 8:30 last night, so there's that. I really want to do this before I read reviews or go into my class but I guess I'm just too distracted today. I haven't voted yet. Neither The Daily Show nor The Colbert Report was particularly memorable, except that "How to be a Maverick" film was gross.

I know I had some great idea yesterday, but can't remember it. Maybe tomorrow. Or later.

Lighten Up, It's Just a Fashion Magazine

Last night I forewent the Obama thing in favor of Pushing Daisies, a show that's just really enjoyable. Although it's about death, and about a relationship that can never be consummated, it's also relentlessly cheery in a way we need today. Or at least I do. I seem to be the only one and the show is on the cancellation block. That will make me sad. Even if it stays on we haven't seen the aunts for three weeks. Are they trying to save money by not having to pay the whole cast? I know that's how the CW seems to work, which is why there is a b or c tier cast member (Vanessa, one of the parents, Erik, who really should be main cast) missing from most episodes, and Greek seems to have this issue too, but I don't think it's common for major network shows. Anyhow, I hope last night's ratings are either really great because people are sick of politics and watched the only other thing available on a major network, or don't really count.

Anyhow, I'm not sure if the whole Chinese restaurant/Chinese mafia thing was racist or not, and it sort of might undo a little the goodwill I had for them not even questioning the fact that white Debra Mooney was very dark Chi McBride's mom, but on the other hand I really want to play Dim Sum poker. And Ned's brothers are cute, even if magic is goofy.

I'm way behind on Dirty, Sexy Money (they don't use that serial comma that I would), but finally watched the one from 3 weeks ago that I fell asleep during (and I fall asleep in front of the TV, like once a year). It's an OK show, but somehow when they made it dirtier, sexier and monier as I asked for, they removed something. Or maybe it's just in really bad taste to be watching rich adults right now. Teenagers, like the ones on Gossip Girl and 90210 are supposed to live in a bubble comprised of their own friends, lovelives, and plans for the mythical future and don't have to understand the economy, but the youngest Darling is at least 20, so they really should be more careful about conspicuous consumption. But with Mad Men, Greek, Project Runway, Top Design, and I assume Entourage soon out of the picture for a while, unless I want to find something else to do, I'll keep watching I guess. I need something fictional to enjoy.

Top Design got it right, I think, but the only one I really liked was Ondine. I liked her home as well and am jealous of her modern design classics. She won't win, though. Nathan or Preston will. I imagine Nathan will do something really clever and pull it out. But between this and Stylista, a real train wreck, and not necessarily in a good way, I'm just sick of watching people be mean about petty shit. So Preston doesn't drink. So what? Speaking of Stylista, Kate may be very dislikable, but anyone who doesn't know that bubble tea is so 5 years ago is lame, and she was right. And I'm sure a panic attack is no fun at all and I'm sorry for that guy I guess, but seriously, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's just TV. It's only the second week, if he can't take that little amount of pressure, he can't work at a magazine, or really any other workplace.

Where's Andrea Zuckerman when you need her?

Only 6 days to the election, and I'm with Wyatt Cenac--let's just get this the fuck over already! Good news or bad, I just wanna know.

As I write this, a fourth season episode of the original 90210 is on. I've been watching the old shows once or twice a week lately, and it's really amazing to me just how much I believe those people are friends and that they are exactly who they say they are. I'm pretty sure I believed it within a few episodes.

The new show, however, oy gevult. As I suspected, without Kelly or Brenda, it's a worse dog than ever. I still enjoy Silver, and Dixon is OK but otherwise really really don't care about Annie or Naomi or Annie's parents or the so-called hot teacher or Annie's so-called love interest. The only person is intriguing, and in part that's because they clearly don't know what to do with him. He says he's been in love with Adrianna since the third grade, and mentions he wants to ask Annie out in an earlier episode but holds himself and dresses like a ballet dancer. I hate to say "he's so gay" but "he's so gay." Whether it is Michael Steger who is gay, and Navid is not, or whether Michael Steger is playing Navid gay, I don't know but the actor doesn't choose his own clothes, I suspect. Skinny jeans and a deep v-neck top on that tall willowy body with the long hair just reads gay to me. Anyhow, it came even more out of nowhere than Jenny and Nate did. I don't know why Gossip Girl can get it so right generally, and this show can get it so wrong generally. Of course, Kelly is still coming back, and I do still study teen TV, so it's staying on my season pass, but I just really don't care, and I truly don't believe these people like each other or know who the hell they are supposed to be.

Greek ended well, I guess. I read that Michael Rady is coming back so it's not a surprise that he and Casey will be together next year, (or at least in the same storyline), but I still liked seeing a girl on TV realize her future work life may be more important than a guy, even if that's a pretty cool one. I guess the idea of rival sorority is OK, but I'd rather have Casey a lot less interested in the house, and more interested in school or causes or something. We really don't know if any of those girls are smart and playing vacuous, or actually not all that bright but it would be nice to see it since I think Spencer Grammer really does come off as pretty smart. The woman who plays Rebecca too. Anyhow, with the next season coming in January, it's not the same sort of cliffhanger as Mad Men, where we have to wait 9 months.

I enjoyed the brawl between the two fraternities more than I would think, in part because I was wondering how they choreographed it. I'm sure Rusty will move into the house and realize he can't study amidst the noise and the dirt and the general busybodyness of Cappie and the gang, and will be back with Dale before long.

I don't much care, but it beats the hell out of Secret Life of the American Teenager.

"Fast Car" is my favorite Springsteen song, too.

Last night was Wednesday's episode of Stylista, then the normal Thursday Ugly Betty, The Office, The SNL Thursday Night thing and Life on Mars.

I forgot to do this first and just read that Lindsay Lohan's time on Ugly Betty has been shortened by two episodes. Good. I really hate this storyline. I know Betty is supposed to be a lovable loser, but I thought we were going to see some growth. I'd like to see her get an Assistant Editor spot or something like that. I did like that Justin got a real storyline and a new friend--maybe a boyfriend? We don't know that yet but I like that character and it's nice that both teen boy characters on prime time shows (Erik on Gossip Girl being the other) seem to have found some acceptance.

On the other hand, I really wish we could have more of Holly on The Office. She's just perfect for Michael, and as absurd as that whole storyline is, the idea that every pot has a lid is a really nice one. Looks like whassisname from corporate is going to make trouble for them, though, which is weird as practically everyone in the office (or at least the complex, if you count Phyllis) is sleeping with or has slept with someone else there. It's nice Phyllis is getting a storyline, but I wish it wasn't at the expense of Kelly, who I don't think had a line last night. I can't say I really got the whole Crime Aid thing, but it's nice how they're using some different sets, and I have to say "Fast Car" is my favorite Bruce Springsteen song, too. "Rosalita" can suck it.

Between this show and Chuck, I'm sure I've heard more Huey Lewis in the past two weeks than in the last 10 years, although he did walk past the bookstore I was working at in San Francisco. I was talking to the young skate punk from the Peet's Coffee next door when I looked up and there he was and I said "Hey, It's Huey Lewis!" Of course the skate punk thought it was funny but actually ran into the coffee shop to ask them what HL's big song was to yell after him, instead of asking me, which is weird. Anyhow he yelled "It's hip to be square" down the street. I don't know if Huey turned around.

Anyhow, I'm glad those SNL specials are over, though I guess they're doing something on election eve, but I want Tina Fey in her proper spot, which is 30 Rock, which starts again next week. I miss that show. At the conference I went to a few weeks ago there was a panel about women comedians on TV and Fey was brought up, and I argued she was a Rhoda, not a Mary. I love Rhoda and in a meeting yesterday a co-worker, one of those who claims never to watch TV except for news, was all excited about Rhoda, so I really think there's a paper about the influence of Rhoda Morgenstern on a whole generation of women (no one else better write it either). Would there have been a Daria, or a Janeane Garofalo, or an Elaine on Seinfeld, or Phoebe on Friends (or is it Janice) without her? I don't think so. There definitely wouldn't be a Cathy from the comic strips. As Tracy Jordan would say, to quote Liz Lemmon, "Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate, Ack!" Do Rhodas have to be brunette, or ethnic? What's the fundamental difference between a Mary and a Rhoda? I don't think Ugly Betty is a Rhoda really, nor is Pam on The Office. What does it mean to be a Rhoda? There's an underresearched archtype there I'm sure, but I guess I'll have to see what those panelists are saying--one told me she tried to find Rhoda the show on DVD and it doesn't exist, and at this point neither to seasons 5-7 of MTM, which is a bummer. Hopefully they show up on www.Hulu.com sometime soon, at least.

As for Life on Mars, as I suspected the music is getting more and more obscure, and there's less of it. The music supervisors do have a talent, however, for finding catchy earworms. I haven't had Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Get Down" out of my head for over a week, and now there's some crazy song about King Kamehamehamea and the King Macadamia Nuts that I don't remember ever hearing before but I'm sure is going to pop up for days. I went ahead and set a season pass because the mystery interests me, but man I hate procedurals.

I forgot to write yesterday but I think this week's prize for best episode goes to Wednesday's Pushing Daisies, if only because of the use of Debra Mooney for Emerson Cod's gumshoe mom. I was especially impressed that in the alternate universe of this show that they just simply never even attempted to explain or question how white Mooney was the mother of pretty darn dark Chi McBride. Other than their color, they really did seem an awful lot alike. The setup was an agency that rented out friends to lonely people and my favorite line by far was said by Emerson who wondered why people needed that and couldn't just say, "My name is blah blah. Do you like blooby bloo? Me too! Let's be friends" if only because there's no chance whatsoever that that character would ever say that.

Stylista was a little interesting, but a whiner group of spoiled brats I have never seen. They put the groups of model wannabes to shame. I don't know if I'll actually learn any more about making a fashion magazine than I have from Ugly Betty, but I'll give it another chance.

Monday night is cluster&6%$ night.

Heroes almost made sense to me last night--there must be something wrong with me. I still watch mostly for Hiro and Ando's scenes, which I think are intriguing because they're funny, but we're reading subtitles. I really don't know where they are going with all this though, or why I care. I'd love it if they'd move Chuck to that time slot, so I could watch it in real time, but since they're both on NBC, that won't happen. I'm only caught up until last week on that show and How I Met Your Mother, so later this week I want to get to last night's episode. I hate Monday night at 8 for being so good.

Gossip Girl is still great, though I didn't love last night's episode. I promised myself I'd write this blog before I read any other commentary and forgot and already read the recap on http://www.zap2it.com/. The reviewer and I both agree Vanessa is pointless. As I said to emily the other day (and I don't know if that's one of the two emilies I know, or one I don't), I love GG, but if I had teenagers, I sure wouldn't want them watching it to learn about love but the Blair/Chuck scenes are definitely the hottest things I'm watching these days--not that there's much competition as most shows are more like Pushing Daisies, where no one actually touches or Chuck, where they can only have a fake relationship. I'm not sure that the portrayal of Lily as a totally neglectful mother holds true to what we know about her, but it does explain some of Serena's wild child rep that we also haven't seen much in evidence and maybe more of why Erik tried to commit suicide. But Vanessa and Nate and Jenny are all pretty boring characters--they need to spice someone up. But they're all more interesting than Annie on 90210--I'm not the least bit sad that's in reruns for the second week in a row.

This week three shows I watch come to an end for the season, Mad Men, Greek, and The Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency (which I don't watch on purpose, yet have managed to catch every sordid episode--and it's been much trashier this season in the model house). I assumed there would be a Project Runway reunion tomorrow, but it doesn't look like it, so I don't know if that's next week or never. I could then replace those shows with Privileged, Fringe, or My Own Worst Enemy, (I have episodes of the latter two on TiVo but haven't watched them) but Stylista is looking like it's going to make the cut instead. I need something that doesn't require constant attention. One of the reasons I like Greek, despite it being about fraternity/sorority people, who never interested me before, is that it's so relentlessly lighthearted. I don't think most TV is like that--nearly all hour-long series tend to get darker as they get older. The ads for Privileged make it look pretty sunny, though, and a friend at the conference I was just at said I'd really like it, so maybe next week I'll try catching up in the middle (something I hate doing) since that space will be empty, and that's right after 90210, which I'd have to keep watching even if I didn't know I'm unable to look away. Anyhow, god forbid I could pick a weeknight and say "that's my reading night." There's really no law that I have to watch things the night of and I could use my TiVo to better effect, particulary if I dropped a slot or two.

If I were a really good teacher, I'd check out shows my students watch--House, Fringe, John and Kate Plus 8, The Biggest Loser, Intervention, and Little People, Big World seem to be the leaders there. But I can't bring myself to do it, especially those last four. Drippy/Sentimental is just not in my vocabulary, and I hope I'm not coming off as too judgmental. Mostly I just ask those students questions. A lot of my students seem to exist entirely on reality shows and seem to think that only older sitcoms are any good, but not so old as to be in black and white (a few were shocked to actually love Lucy). I try to make it clear that I know that there's a lot of crap out there, but that there's good stuff too. But I don't think I'm going to have a lot of luck getting working adults who are going to college on top of it (which is most of my students) to invest the mindwork it takes for Mad Men and Lost, though I'm shocked none seem to love The Office. Too real maybe?

First post

I thought if I started a blog, it would get me writing about televison and television issues. Right now my dissertation is in strong consideration for being published as a book and I've been keeping myself sort of "on deck" for that as when they get back to me I assume I'll really have to hustle, but in the meantime I have all these thoughts about TV and nowhere really to talk about them. So I am.

For anyone reading this who doesn't already know me, my dissertation was called "Girls Who (Don't) Wear Glasses: The Performativity of Smart Girls on Teen Television" and dealt with the brainy type of character starting with Father Knows Best, and moving forward through the TV decades, but concentrating predominantly on Andrea Zuckerman on Beverly Hills, 90210, Angela Chase on My So-Called Life, Willow Rosenberg on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lindsay Weir of Freaks and Geeks, and Rory Gilmore, Paris Geller, and Lane Kim of Gilmore Girls.

I finished that and am now an assistant professor of Media Studies and Communications, and am teaching my own course in Television and Culture online, and am planning to develop a course in Women, Girls, and the Media for next fall.

I'm still watching teen shows, particularly Gossip Girl (thanks to Emily for letting me know I missed the most important one!) CW's new 90210, ABC Family's Greek (technically a college show and hence outside the parameters I set for myself), the BBC's Skins, THEN's Degrassi: The Next Generation and over the summer the appalling Secret Life of the American Teenager. I'm also paying attention to teen girls on shows like Heroes, and . . . I don't think there are any on other shows I watch since they fast forwarded the ones on Desperate Housewives.

I also watch The Office, Mad Men, Lost, Ugly Betty, Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, Entourage, Weeds, Project Runway, and usually watch ER though, since it's so depressing and boring, I'm just as happy when there's something else in that timeslot and, as such, have seen the first two episodes of Life on Mars. I don't really like cop shows, but enjoy period pieces. We'll see if I keep it up. It's pretty violent. I also never miss The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, which I usually watch the next morning since I don't like politics at night, and Jeopardy.

Yes--that's too much TV. I'm supposed to be working very hard. I spend a lot of time reading about TV when I'm not watching it. Which is why I feel like I need to write about the television rather than just consume.