March 2, 2005

[about schmidt] ^{5:08 AM}

While I don't have a very good memory of Picket Fences, it's been my belief for some time that David E. Kelly is only capable of having 1 good season for each of his shows.

It's a flawed theory, I know. Girls Club didn't even get off the ground (for what I hear is the best), but I don't think many people will fight me over Ally McBeal's first year, and I don't think anyone knows the infatuation I had with the freshman year of Boston Public.

I never liked The Practice. Generally I hate law shows (unless they're produced by Dick Wolf), and the few chances I gave The Practice it did nothing to impress me. But I was suckered by ABC's game. Suckered by having Boston Legal follow after Desperate Housewives.

I generally don't watch much television. I usually listen to it while I'm working, and because of this I rarely change the channel unless something godawful comes on (see: One Tree Hill or 7th Heaven). So I found myself listening to Boston Legal, and relatively enjoyed it. When David E. Kelly has an idea, he has an idea and he runs through it with a fury for 22 weeks.

Then Candice Bergen joined the cast.

It was a high profile addition that made me actually want to watch the show. I love Candice Bergen. Her episodes of Sex and the City made me giddy, reruns of Murphy Brown on Nick-at-Nite have made me a happier person, and only a mental evaluation of my bank account has kept me from buying the first season on dvd.

So Candice was big, but there's been a new addition in the past few weeks that has me grinning like an idiot: Betty White has joined the cast as James Spader's secretary.

I know everyone is going to go "The G in Golden Girls is for 'gay,'" but my love of Betty stems from elsewhere — from some of her stand-up specials that used to air on the Disney Channel when I was a kid.

So not only do we have Candice Bergen (I visited the set of Murphy the first time I ever came to LA when I was 13), but we also have Betty White, William Shatner, and Rene Auberjonois (who was Odo on DS9). It's a little Kyle Geek cast. I'm even beginning to like James Spader (tho the line about him in the Buffy pilot continues to elude me).

Also, I have a new perverse affection for HBO's Unscripted. I didn't like it at first (hated the pilot actually), but Bryan Greenberg keeps getting shirtless...

And since we're talking about my viewing habits:

While working today I popped in a borrowed screener of Million Dollar Baby. I'd had no desire to see it, but it won best picture, so there you go. Well, that's not totally true, I did have an inkling to see it over the plot twist that got leaked in a NYT press piece. I'd already seen Rudy, so I wasn't really feeling the need to replace Sean Astin with Hilary Swank, but again, there you go.

I liked it. I'm not sure if I'd call it best picture, but it was good. No tears shed tho. Neverland made me cry, Baby just made me wince a lot.

Anyways (this is being written at 5:08 am mind you), the interesting fact is that I did really good work while the not-feel-good-movie-of-the-year was playing. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I do my best cartoon work while some seriously fucked up shit is playing on my television. Is it a surprise that I do great work during my Law & Orders? Guess so.

Come to think of if, most of my final portfolio work was done to Angels in America...

I hear Maria Full of Grace is depressing. Is this true? Should I go and get it and possibly write it off as a business expense? JP also suggested The House of Sand and Fog, and now might be the time for me to venture towards Dancer in the Dark...

I already spin The Ice Storm heavily, but I look forward to any suggestions you might have.

Name:


Email Address:


URL:

Remember personal info?
YesNo
Comments: