The Top 10 That Make You Smile

There are times when you walk into a department store or liquor store and you hear it.

You could be thinking about what to make for dinner, picking up the kids, your budget, the ugly sweater and how sad it is that you can’t even afford the ugly sweater, or you could still be fuming over the fight you had with that stupid someone over the parking space they stole from you. But then you hear it and it’s unexpected. You stop and you smile.

You don’t even look to see if someone is watching you … you just start bobbing your head to the beat and you mouth the words. Sometimes your foot starts tapping. And then there it is … your freak flag is flying.

This is the scene that occurred to me when I read a recent post from a fellow blogger “50 Things That Make Me Smile”. She had some good ones on the list and even inspired me to make my own list. But then I realized that some of my own 50 list items had to do with television shows or music.

Yeah.

So I went back in my Guat brain for the television moments that helped me flip the switch no matter what and I realized it all started with the theme song. I could be any where doing anything, doesn’t matter. If I hear any of these songs … BAM smile on my face, singing or humming the song, followed with some awesome Solid Gold Dancer moves. They’re pick-me-ups. And everyone needs a good pick-me-up.  So I paused my 50 Things That Make Me Smile list and created this one.

So if you’re having a rough Thursday here you go … the top ten television show theme songs. Guaranteed to make you smile, give you some Vitameatavegamin-pep-pick-me-up kind of mood. Snaps you out of it … for at least two minutes.

 

10. Magnum P.I.

 

9. Party of Five

 

8.  Night Court

 

7. Psych

 

6. The Greatest American Hero

 

5. One Day At A Time

 

4. Bosom Buddies

 

3. Rescue Me

 

2. The Jeffersons

 

1. Sanford & Son

 

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What Happened to My Show? Writers Are TV Worthy Too.

Something’s missing.

They got The Voice, America’s Got Talent, The X Factor, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef and a couple of other shows I’m sure that I haven’t mentioned where people showcase their talent in order to get a little bit closer to their dream.

Then you have crappy shows with a bunch of jackasses, families, and desperate housewives that aren’t really wives putting their drama and fake personalities out there just to get noticed. Just to get their 15 minutes when all they really need is 15 seconds.

As you can tell I’m more of a drama or comedy series type of person. I’m not a big fan of reality television or contest type of shows. However there is one that  I actually do watch occasionally: The Voice. The only reason why I watch it is because of that tall, blue-eyed country hunk Blake Shelton. He really does it for me. Adam Levine from Maroon 5 isn’t bad on the eyes either.

However something’s still missing, and I’m waiting.

I’m waiting for the writing show.

What’s up? Writers are people too. We’re interesting. We’re good-looking. We’ve got  talent. We’re dramatic and funny.

I’m waiting. I’m waiting for some Project Greenlight kind of magic to happen. Something where agent-less writers like myself who don’t know anybody in “the business” get a chance … a chance to get one step closer to their dream. Although Project Greenlight was more of a directing competition instead of the writer thing.

But I guess there’s a reason for that. Writers don’t want to be in front of the camera. We’re all good being behind the scenes, and it has nothing to do with the fact that we wear Costco sweatpants to our “office” a.k.a. the couch or Starbucks. It’s the writing process. It may not bring in the big ratings. A chick typing on her laptop in the middle of the night may not be as interesting as a family dealing with a sex-tape scandal and botox appointments.  I guess it would be hard to make the process of writing interesting for television viewers to watch. Most of the time we just sit there and stare at the screen. Although it may look like nothing, we’re actually doing a lot. Thinking.

Maybe that’s why blogging was invented. Maybe that’s why we’re on Word Press. It’s not a contest and it’s not reality television, however we look forward to making that Freshly Pressed page and getting the exposure. Our little 15 minutes of fame. But even without that there’s a lot of drama, comedy, tragedy, travel, and adventure out here in the “blogosphere.” And anybody can have access to it. Anybody, from anywhere can just click on your post and read. I mean even from places like Latvia.

Dude.

Latvia.

I had to look that one up on a map. I knew it was in Europe somewhere, but exactly where … didn’t have a clue. It’s near the Baltic Sea.

So I guess there’s a silver lining to not having a writer’s reality TV competition … no one will see you in your Costco sweatpants and no annoying TV Show host. Although I’d put up with an annoying cheesy smiling fake dude if it meant one step closer to the dream. But until then I got Word Press and the blogosphere, which apparently extends all the way to Latvia.

Giddy up!

Sorry No Meth Empire or Advertising Dudes With Statues Tonight

No hors d’oeuvres. No nachos. No special drinks. No Emmy pools. No Red Carpet-like feelings. Just me with some Rold Gold Pretzels, trying to calm the family storm that comes with two kids and only one Wonder Pets Car.

The family chaos prevented me from being fully engaged in the The Primetime Emmys — a SuperBowl to television addicts like myself and my dad. I usually go all out. But apparently my other half forgot it was Emmy Awards night and decided he was going to wash the car … at six in the evening. Who washes the car at six in the evening? Who?

Someone who hates the television. It’s my only explanation. I mean I know it was 100 degrees in the afternoon and it couldn’t happen then, but why not wait until morning? Or why not wait until the car is actually dirty. I mean it’s not like we went off-roading or camping. It just had regular weekly dirt and toys inside for the kids. A couple of books. The stroller. Our beach supplies and maybe even some sand. Was it completely overwhelmed with clutter? No. It was just a really prepared vehicle in case of an emergency kid breakdown.

But he felt the need, the urge to clean it immediately before dinner, in the middle of the show. So my only conclusion was that he hated television. And me … I was left to control the battle for the Wonder Pets car, feed the kids, and try to watch The Emmys.

 (Photo credit: nasa hq photo)

Although I’m kind of glad I wasn’t at the edge of my seat to witness my main men from AMC fall short of holding the golden statue.

Bryan and Jon, I thought one of you had it locked in for lead actor in a drama this year. Locked! I mean Walter White the badass meth cook who gets a little crazy and begins successfully running a drug empire after surviving cancer … c’mon now. And then there’s my main man Don Draper, a partner in the Sterling Cooper, Draper, Pryce Ad Agency who says stuff like … “You don’t cover for me, you manage people’s expectations.”

Dude.

My men and women from AMC fell short.

No statue tonight. Although Aaron Paul scooped up the supporting actor win for his role on Breaking Bad, and that helped improve the mood a little bit.

But the funny thing is that even though I attempt to incorporate humor in my everyday existence, and I enjoy watching movies that make me laugh, the humor category at these awards was not on the top of my list. Well not since Seinfeld went off the air. What takes priority here?

Drama.

This is a house of drama. We like to laugh, love to laugh, but AMC, HBO, and FX seem to dominate the DVR. So I was really disappointed to see my men and women not make it to the stage, hold their statue, and say some words. Although I think they were probably more disappointed. But I’m sure after a few drinks and conversations, they’ll head back to their million dollar homes and get over it — hanging out in million dollar homes will probably do that. I don’t know, I’m just saying.

 

 

I Had Become a Behind-The-Scenes Nerd

What kind of nerd looks at the behind-the-scenes footage of a movie or TV show on DVD? I’m not talking about the outtakes or bloopers. I’m talking about the actual behind-the-scene footage where the director, actors, or writers give you the commentary. No acting, just the nooks and crannies.

Image via tornasol-films.com

Who does that? Who listens to these people talk more after the story is done. I mean the credits roll for a reason right? What kind of nerd makes time for this?

Me.

I do.

I’m that nerd.

I’m all about the nooks and crannies. I’ve always been, I think that’s probably the same reason why I watch shows like Law and Order SVU, Breaking Bad, and anything involving AMC or HBO. I imagine it’s the same reason why I pursue a writing career.

Behind the Scenes: it’s all about the intention, the meaning behind the story, the creator’s vision. And I’m all about finding that out. I want to know the “why” and it’s not like I’m ever going to run into these people at In-and-Out so that I can ask them. So this is my chance to find out.

The thing is … I’m curious, but I’m not stalker curious. I’m not one to watch gossip shows, or scan the web for celebrity nonsense.  I’m a behind-the-scenes person that checks out the creative nitty-gritty.

It’s like an encore, without the curtain or stage.

How did I realize I was this kind of nerd?  The Olympics and Adam Levine.

I hadn’t thought about it before, because for some reason it was automatic. I’d rent movies or watch a tv series on DVD, and it would be second nature to press the behind-the-scenes button. But when I saw a commercial for the Olympics just recently and Adam Levine’s new video for his song Payphone … it hit me. I was a behind-the-scenes nerd.

Every four years NBC does a behind-the-scenes look at all our American athletes doing their best to win the gold. Sometimes they get a little crazy with behind the scenes information and feature too much. But for the most part I love these stories. I get to see how these athletes began, what makes them unique, and how they got to the starting line. It’s the reason why I cheer for them. This is where I thought it began.

When did it go too far?

When I was watching the Maroon 5 video for their new song Payphone. I love Adam. He’s pretty good-looking. I like Marron 5. Their songs rock. So when the video finished and I was asked, want to go behind the scenes? What do you think I said?

Yeah. I did it.

And then it hit me. I was all about the nooks and crannies, and this was just a video. The making of it. Nothing dramatic. Just Adam telling us about the song and his character in the video.

I knew … I knew right then and there. I had become a behind-the-scenes nerd. No escaping it. Just embracing it. Embarrassing or not. It’s just another part of being The Guat.

The HBO Club and My Dad

It was no surprise that as I flipped through the channels I would think of him.

It was no father-and-daughter tearful family moment on a television drama. Nor was it was a family reunion of the long-lost daughter meeting her Dad for the first time on a made-for-TV movie on Lifetime. It was detectives Lester Freamon and Jimmy McNulty trying to figure out the code Baltimore’s notorious drug dealers used on The Wire.

The police; from left, Roland “Prez” Pryzbylewski, Cedric Daniels, Jimmy McNulty, Rhonda Pearlman, seated: Lester Freamon, and Kima Greggs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This show featured violence, drugs, corruption, and the media. It’s a cop show, but not like the others. It was HBO. Apparently it won the Peabody Award … that David Simon is badass. HBO … My Dad loved that channel. He must’ve seen every original drama that channel produced … and we were there watching every minute of it.

Well … my Dad started The Wire at season 1, I didn’t come along until season 5. He kept talking about this one show and how he couldn’t miss it. He’d be glued to the TV. Then I saw one episode and was hooked. We had HBO power-talk sessions after each show, analyzing characters, examining plots, and throwing out predictions for next week. It was like a book club, but without books. It was the HBO Club. We had snacks. My dad was the organizer, leader, host, remote-control holder, and caterer. I was the moderator.

A week before the series finale I was able to get us into a lecture and Q&A session with creator David Simon. It was hosted at my alma mater. My dad was so excited to have been there. It was a bunch of college students, alumni and my dad. It was awesome. My dad was able to meet the dude that created this series and I was so happy I could do that for him.

So as I was flipping through the channels and saw a re-run of the show, it brought memories of our HBO Club and our little field trip to my old college campus. I missed my dad and our conversations. I wished he hadn’t passed away. So in an effort to be somewhat closer to him, I had a HBO Club Pow-wow myself. I rented the first season of The Wire on Netflix. It was a marathon. I saw six episodes in one sitting. It was a late night, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I thought of all the things my Dad would say as I watched part of the first season.

It was good to have the HBO Club resurface. But now I was the organizer, leader, host, remote-control holder, caterer, moderator and lone member.

Club is still in session and my Dad is watching from above.

DVR Worthy

You create expectations. You get invested. You get emotionally involved, and then they pull the plug.

There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s out of your control.  They’re gone.

Dramas. I love them. I’m not a reality tv fan, I’m a drama fan. Ever since LOST and 24 it’s been hard to find good ones, but when I see something I like it becomes DVR worthy and I become DVR addicted. There are a  few shows that get the I-need-to-record-you-every-week-just-in-case-I-don’t-make-it slot. They carry action, suspense, good writing, good characters, and great story, but most of all drama. Drama … it’s that thing that makes you gasp and unconsciously ignore the people around you as you watch the show. It’s the holy-crap moment that really gets you. This is what becomes DVR worthy. If you don’t have a holy-crap moment you’re not making the DVR or TiVo record list.

And now because of these suit and tie people my DVR will get no action. It’ll be stranded and alone. Like a cheap hooker with bad perfume.

As a lover of television, the summer is a scary time of year. It’s the season where good shows go to die. Sometimes your best distraction during the week ends up getting the ax, and then your stuck with stupid shows like the Bachelorette. I mean if I was interested in watching some chick cry and kiss a bunch of dudes and then pretend to fall happily in love for eight weeks, I’d watch Univision … they have hotter looking dudes with accents.

Ugh. Television Suit and Tie People … sometimes I don’t know what you’re thinking.

Ashley Judd — Missing

Ashley Judd is a badass … you must be haters of women if you don’t want her on television. She was a strong woman, mother, and former CIA agent  in search of her son who was kidnapped by a rogue agent,  involved in espionage and trafficking. That same rogue agent framed her husband, who had to disappear for ten years, also had her Italian love interest shot. Yeah … a regular family drama with badass car chases and kicking skills.

Alas it has been cancelled … so I am in withdrawals as I have to go through all these upcoming dumb shows of the summer and fall.

Thank God for cable. At least I’ve got the AMC and the USA Network channels, they’ve got some pretty good shows with awesome writing. At least my DVR will not feel lonely for long. I got some DVR worthy programs coming up.

 Giddy up!