Earlier this week Sage posted her Top 5 TV Boyfriends, so clearly I must do the same. It’s funny, because as I was putting list together, I realized that I not only have a physical type when it comes to my TV boyfriends, I clearly have an emotional type as well. All of these men are men who are SURE. They are SURE in their love for their partner, even when they are not in a relationship with them. Their love never wavers. Clearly, that says something about me, but that analysis is probably better left to a shrink.
There is a quote from Grey’s Anatomy that sums all of these guys up:
I am sure. I am steady. And I know that I am a heart man. I take them apart and I put them back together and I hold them in my hands. I am a heart man. So this I am sure, you are my partner, my lover, my very best friend, my heart…my heart beats for you. And on this day, the day of our wedding, I promise you this: I promise you to lay my heart in the palm of your hands, I promise you me.
(Now, let’s IGNORE the fact that the above wedding didn’t actually happen. That’s neither here nor there.)
So let’s take a look at these men who have given women everywhere incredibly unrealistic expectations for relationships, shall we?
1) Seeley Booth – Bones
I’m just gonna go ahead and quote Angela Montenegro here: “Booth is a big, strong, hot guy who wants to save your life. I mean, you actually have a knight in shining FBI standard-issue body armor, so cut him some slack.”
Enough said. Next please.
Also I CANNOT with how he looks at Brennan. Boreanaz has TRULY perfected the “I love you so much it physically hurts me” look, no?
And if that’s not enough, as we saw in last week’s episode, he puts on carnivals for sick children and wants to remain anonymous about it. *DIES*
2) Pacey Witter – Dawson’s Creek
Pacey Witter treads the line between TV Bad Boy that we love anyway (our post about THOSE is coming in the next few weeks) and perfect TV Boyfriend. But come on. HE BOUGHT JOEY A WALL (well…rented it. BUT STILL). He counted to ten before kissing her again just in case she wanted to stop him. He “remembers everything”. He named his boat “True Love” for Joey. Basically, underneath all of his bravado, Pacey Witter was the world’s BIGGEST romantic.
Stop it.
Sure Pacey was very often self-destructive and plagued by feelings of unworthiness (UGH THE END OF SEASON FOUR). He always had the best of intentions, but often messed up in trying to carry them out. But his flaws are what made him perfect. No matter what, no matter how badly he would muck things up, you always cheered for him and wanted him to be happy. Even if it WAS with Joey Potter, who didn’t deserve his wonderfulness.
Yeah I said it.
Recreating the End of the Pilot
I don’t even know where to start.
CommuniCon had been a pipe dream since the third season hiatus. I think the term was coined during the Paley Fest panel when we realized how many of our Twitter Study Group were either in the actual audience, at the “Greendale Pep Rally” at the NY Paley center (where the panel was being streamed) or huddled around computers watching the feed from Paley’s website. Someone tweeted that it felt like we were all at our own convention and the term “CommuniCon” was born. We started calling any gathering of two or more Community fans CommuniCon and we all talked about how wonderful it would be if a fan convention could happen.
But I never thought it actually WOULD happen.
Not that I don’t have faith in my fellow Community fans. It’s just that organizing an official convention is a massive undertaking. But I should have known better. The one thing you don’t tell a Community fan is that something is impossible. Community fans MAKE things possible.
My lovely friend Gillian followed our favorite instinct here at Head Over Feels (“Screw It, We’re Doing This”) and CommuniCon became a reality. Over the next few months, Gillian, along with me and the rest of the “Tranny Queens” Sarah, Jen and Catherine, emailed and brainstormed and flailed about and maaaaaaaaaaaaybe abused an imdb pro account (*innocent whistle*) to put it together (it should also be mentioned that NONE OF US lived in Los Angeles, where it was held). Tickets to the Con sold out in minutes and there was a wait list up until the very last day. I cashed in my long saved frequent flier miles for a trip to LA, booked a hotel room with my future wives and BARELY beat Winter Storm Nemo out of New York City on Friday.
It was better than I could have even imagined it would be.
Yvette Nicole Brown and Gillian Jacobs decided to crash the Con
“We’re together. That makes this the perfect timeline.”
Two years ago my friend Tevy changed my life when he handed me the DVD of the first season of Community and said “Kim, I don’t know why you aren’t watching this show but you should be.” Now, some people (though I doubt anyone who reads this blog) may think it is silly of me to say that a television show changed my life. But it’s true. Community unleashed the fangirl in me that had clearly been dying to get out, and I don’t regret letting her out for a SECOND. She’s a big reason this blog even EXISTS.
I have loved a lot of shows in my lifetime. The X-Files. Friends. Lost. How I Met Your Mother. Grey’s Anatomy. But little did I know what kind of love affair would launch when I started Community. I devoured practically two seasons in a weekend (the first episode I ever watched live was Season Two’s “Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts”). I found things in each member of the Greendale Seven that I loved and related to. Annie’s driven nature and competitiveness. Britta’s needless defiance and desire to do the right thing, even if she is the worst at it. Shirley’s desire to reinvent herself. Troy’s innocence and joy in everything he does. The way Abed sees everything through a pop culture lens because that’s how he relates to the world. Jeff’s struggle between being the man he thinks he wants to be and the man he actually IS. And even Pierce. Pierce just wants to belong and feel relevant. In fact, that is the common thread between all the members of the study group. Community is at its heart a show about finding where you belong and finding people who love you, no matter how weird or damaged you are. Isn’t that the very thing that all of us as Human Beings want? To know that we are not alone in this world?
I may have been late to the Community party, but once I was there, I was all in. I didn’t shut up about the show. I wanted EVERYONE to know what I had discovered: that something about this strange little study group at the world’s wackiest Community college was incredibly special. Sure, the show was hysterical, but underneath the metaness and movie parodies there beat a giant heart. I will never understand why some people don’t SEE THAT when they watch the show.
Smash, the show we all (okay, a few of us, according to last night’s ratings) love to hate watch, is back! Now, we wouldn’t DARE to try to fully recap this show because our heroes over at Vulture do it so damn well. What we ARE good at here at Head Over Feels is expressing our thoughts through gifs. And so without further ado…let’s #SmashBash!
Opening Number. Say what you want about Smash, but original tunes DO deliver.
Karen to Ivy at the elevator: “You can take the next one.”
That was way harsh, Tai.
“Karen’s part of the creative team now.”
Yes, cause the nobody actress who becomes the lead overnight ALWAYS gets to have a say in who is in the cast.
“Protect the work.”
“In Six Months, this will be you”
Yes, because all Broadway dressing rooms not only open directly onto the street, the paparazzi gathers around a Tony Winner’s dressing room to get pictures like they would for Amanda Bynes showing up at the DMV.
Julia, who continues to be a stand-in for departed showrunner Theresa Rebeck , claims she doesn’t read reviews, she just reads Tom’s Face.
I’m sorry, but NO ONE WOULD TURN DOWN A TOUR OF THE BOOK OF MORMON BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO LEAVE THEIR BOYFRIEND. I can’t believe that was even DISCUSSED.
One of the things I love most about Sage is that I can text her my TV related thoughts (that are usually CAPSLOCKED) at anytime day or night. So the following exchange is not at all unusual at 11:52 on a Friday night:
Me: First ep of The Office done. ENDING UNACCEPTABLE
Sage: GOD DAMN IT BRIAN.
Me: Like. I can’t. It’s stressing me out. STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIP.gif
(That’s right. When I can’t USE gifs, I still talk in them. I am a completely normal person, okay?)
But seriously.
When a series is in the home stretch of its final season, it is inevitable that there will be some form of Eleventh Hour Drama. Someone gets a job offer/opportunity to travel to Paris and has to decide whether to stay with her friends or to go and forge a new path. Sometimes an ex-boyfriend comes back for the lead character after realizing that she’s been the one the whole time. And he comes back for her in Paris.
But do you know why that drama worked on shows like Friends, Dawson’s Creek, and Sex and the City? Because the drama surrounded on again/off again couples like Ross and Rachel, Carrie and Big, and the Pacey/Joey/Dawson triangle, and since those relationships were all unresolved at that point in the series, some drama was to be expected (if not demanded). You didn’t see Friends throwing some sort of Hail Mary out of nowhere “is this relationship okay?” storyline with Monica and Chandler in the final season. And that’s why I am more than a little perturbed at what The Office is doing with Jim and Pam this season.
Me either, Erin.
One of the best things about The Office over the course of its nine-year run is the way the Jim and Pam relationship was handled. Yes there was a good deal of pining and angst, but once they got together, they STAYED together. And the relationship progressed naturally through dating, dealing with long distance for a time, getting engaged, married and then starting a family (though not QUITE in that order. Which made it more realistic, quite honestly). We never once doubted that Jim and Pam were a team. Soul mates. Madly in love with each other, even once they got through the ridiculous honeymoon phase. Yes, as any normal couple would, they faced struggles. But even then we never doubted that our beloved PB & J would ride off into the sunset together, with CeCe and Philip in tow at the end of the series.
Until now.
“To really be efficient, you have to eliminate what doesn’t work. You have to figure out what is important and hold on tight to the things that matter most.”
“Bad Blood”
Grey’s Anatomy 9×14
First of all, I must apologize for the lack of recaps. I’ve had a major case of writer’s block with them, and finally my sister yelled at me this week, saying “WHY HAVE YOU STOPPED RECAPPING GREY’S?!”. So here we go. I’m back
Much has happened since we last discussed Grey’s on Head Over Feels. Bailey got married. Adele Webber died. Cristina and Owen got divorced yet are still somewhat together and happy. The Airline crash case was settled, and Meredith, Derek, Cristina, Arizona, and Callie (in Mark’s stead, representing Sofia) are all now $15 Million richer (EACH). The settlement was not covered by the hospital’s insurance because of a technicality, so SGMW was responsible for the payout, bankrupting it. In an effort to save the hospital, efficiency expert Dr. Cahill (who was once one of Webber’s students) has been brought in to streamline operations, starting with shutting down the hospital’s emergency room. And lastly, Meredith has made it through her first trimester and has gone public with her pregnancy. Which brings us up to this week’s episode. Whew.
First of all, Miranda Bailey was EVERYTHING in this episode. I love how she constantly reveals that she is a super pop culture nerd, from loving Star Wars to all the references to The Hunger Games in this episode. This is the Bailey I’ve loved for 8.5 seasons: competitive, snarky, kick-ass and ultimately a big ball of compassion. I’m so glad to have her back.
Even though we’ve seen this surgery competition storyline before with the Chief and Cristina going head to head in the skills lab with new and old techniques (“That’s why they call me the CHIEF!!” Also do you want to feel old? That was way back in SEASON TWO), I still enjoyed it. Bailey, Meredith and Webber were all on fire with their various quips and competitiveness as they fought to win a freaking hoodie for mastering the new and “only acceptable way” to fix hernias.
Of course, Webber would have the most trouble with this “standardization of procedure” as he is the one who clings the most to his old school ways. And the whole thing WAS distressing, especially when the teacher finally exploded at Webber that “the patients don’t even matter”. No one wants to go to a doctor who deals with you like you are customer number one billion at McDonald’s. It’s not a comforting thought and I love how all the doctors in the skills lab revolted at that moment. It shouldn’t be about doing it one way. It should be about each individual doctor operating the best way they know, it’s better for them, and ultimately it’s better for the patient. And while Bailey won the competition, she knew it was a hollow victory for her and the hospital as a whole. And her prized hoodie? It itched.
Even though I was born in Michigan, I grew up in Nashville, so country music is practically ingrained into my DNA. I LOVE country music, and I get very annoyed when anyone says they hate it. In fact, I am convinced that anyone that says they hate country music has never really given it a chance. Sure there are some TERRIBLE songs (“Red Solo Cup” is the most recent big hit that comes to mind), but that’s true of any genre (“Gangnam Style” anyone?). To me, what sets Country Music apart as a genre is its focus on story telling. Not that a good pop song can’t tell a story (we’ve got hundreds on this playlist that do) but country songs often take it to the next level and can make you feel all sorts of emotions. Naturally, there are many country songs on this playlist that conjure up Doctor Who feelings. So those who claim to HATE country should give these songs a listen and then get back to me.
And if you get back to me and say you still hate country music, I can’t help you. And I also question whether or not you have a soul.
“Somebody Like You” – Keith Urban
“There’s a new wind blowing like I’ve never known.
I’m breathing deeper than I’ve ever done.
And it sure feels good to finally feel the way I do.
I wanna love somebody, love somebody like you.
And I’m letting go of all my lonely yesterdays.
I’ve forgivin’ myself for the mistakes I’ve made.
Now there’s just one thing, the only thing I wanna do.
I wanna love somebody, love somebody like you…”
This song screams the Ninth Doctor at the end of “End of the World”, which I also covered in my last playlist post. While the Doctor still has many many gruff moments post “End of the World” (which IS only the second episode of the series), I always pinpoint the end of that episode as the moment where The Doctor started to heal and began to open himself up to Rose. He doesn’t completely change all at once, there would be no fun in that. It’s an ongoing process. But in that moment where he and Rose head off to get some chips, The Doctor begins to let go of his past and relax and allows himself to think that there could be something more for him.
“Come on then, tightwad. Chips are on me. We’ve only got five billion years ’til the shops close. “
“I Run To You” – Lady Antebellum
“We run on fumes
Your life and mine
Like the sands of time
Slippin’ right on through
And our love’s the only truth
That’s why I run to you.
This world keeps spinning faster
Into a new disaster so I run to you
I run to you baby
And when it all starts coming undone
Baby you’re the only one I run to
I run to you.”
This song is about partnership and finding that one person you can count on above anyone else. If that is not what you think the Doctor and Rose are to each other, then you are watching the show wrong. Fact.
Well folks, with the SAG Awards airing last night, we are halfway through Awards Season, with only the BAFTAs remaining before the Super Bowl of Pop Culture, The Oscars!! While the majority of the winners were not unexpected, the SAG Awards still managed to have some fun, endearing and moving moments. Let’s reflect on them shall we?
Best Reaction to Winning (Movie Edition): Jennifer Lawrence
Look at our precious blueberry Jennifer Lawrence in that picture. First of all, she is there with Walking Pneumonia and she looks fabulous. And she was genuinely surprised at her win. This was the first head to head battle (or battle with no separate Comedy category) with the other presumed Best Actress Front Runner Jessica Chastain. The race for Best Actress is ridiculously close, especially if Chastain ends up taking the BAFTA. This speech could seal the deal for an Oscar win for Lawrence though. It’s adorable (She thanks “My Super Sweet 16” y’all!!) and gracious without coming off as fake or grating. Ahem. Anne Hathaway. I’ll get to you later.
Also, there has been much debate over whether or not JLaw’s dress ripped. Word is the dress had those sheer panels already, and they were supposed to show throughout the dress but she (wisely) chose to have the sheer panels hidden, and they only showed as she was making her way up the steps.
Best Reaction to Winning (Television Edition): The Cast of Downton Abbey
The ONE upset of the evening was in the Drama Ensemble category, with Downton beating out the likes of Homeland, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad. Clearly, SAG voters are as obsessed with British Television as we are. Apparently this win happened right as something TERRIBLE happened on this week’s airing of Downton on PBS. I’m not saying what the terrible thing was. We respect spoilers here at HoF, as Sage will be discussing shortly. As someone said on twitter last night, that win does NOT make up for what happened, universe!!
Also how FOXY is Mrs. Hughes???? And this is the most precious picture ever, even with the amount of side/underboob Lady Mary was showing.
Worst Reaction to Winning (entire show edition): Anne Hathaway
Annie. We discussed this in our post on the Golden Globes. You KNOW you are winning. Work on your speeches. You just come off as disingenuous to me. Maybe it’s nerves? Whatever it is, you’re just trying too hard. You’re also rich, so there is no need for you to joke about “just being thrilled to have dental”. This is why people roll their eyes at you. Get yourself together before February 24th please. Watch tapes of Lawrence and Chastain’s past speeches. Also wear a better dress please, cause that one was fu to the ugly.
Friends will forever be my favorite sitcom.
Yes. Even more than my beloved Community.
I grew up with Friends, as it premiered when I was 15 and ended when I was 25 (ugh, now I feel OLD). It (along with The X-Files and Dawson’s Creek) defined event television when I was in college. I often had rehearsal on Thursday nights, but I would set my faithful VCR (remember when you had to do that? #theworst) and everyone would come over to my apartment afterwards to watch together. I lived for the day when a season would get released on DVD and I could marathon it. The day of the finale, my best friend and I ordered The Joey Special (TWO PIZZAS?!) and watched our favorite episodes all day and then cried while watching the finale.
As a side note we did the same thing earlier that year when Sex and the City ended, except it was cosmos instead of pizzas. 2004 was a rough year for TV lovers.
Friends remains my ultimate TV comfort food. I tend to watch the entire series every year or so, so asking me to choose my favorite 5 episodes is a bit rough. But I’ve done it AND I have ranked them. So here we go…
5) “The One Where Ross Got High” – Season Six, Episode 9
All of the Thanksgiving episodes are CLASSICS. One of my favorite traditions is watching all of the episodes while I’m cooking Thanksgiving dinner…it’s the perfect way to pass the time while the turkey is in the oven. So why THIS Thanksgiving episode? Because I can never imagine an English Trifle without beef sautéed with peas and onions. Because whenever I am stuck somewhere I don’t want to be I do this. And because this is one of the greatest 96 seconds to ever happen on television:
If you watch the DVD commentary for this episode, you’ll learn that it took them FOREVER to get through this scene as the audience was laughing too hard with each confession. Amazing.
4) “The One With The Prom Video” – Season Two, Episode 14
Also known as the episode where Joey buys Chandler a gaudy gold bracelet that says “Best Buds” and they become bracelet buddies (THAT’S WHAT THEY’LL CALL US!!).
Also known as the episode with first appearance of Fat Monica. (“Shut up, the camera adds ten pounds!!” “How many camera are ON you?”)
Who am I kidding?
This is the episode where after MONTHS of torturing us with one of the most epic kisses ever and then immediately breaking up when he wrote a list comparing her to Julie (“She’s not RACHUM?!”), Ross and Rachel FINALLY got together for good. Well until mid Season Three anyway 😉
“See?! He’s her lobster!!” is one of the best responses ever. I remember screaming and jumping up and down when this happened. I should have known THEN what kind of fangirl I was.
One of the most anticipated (for me at least) new series of the winter HAS to be Fox’s new serial killer drama, The Following, which premiered last night. A serial killer drama from Scream mastermind Kevin Williamson starring Kevin Bacon? Sign me up! And the serial killer is obsessed with romantic writers like Thoreau, Emerson and especially Edgar Allan Poe?? And then he inspires a cult of followers and gets them to do his bidding from prison?
No, seriously, WHEN DOES THIS AIR AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE GOOD.
I am pleased to report that The Following lives up to the hype…at least the pilot does anyway.
Is the violence shocking? Yes, for a network show. I’m sure it’s much worse on shows like Dexter, which I have never gotten into, (I KNOW, LEAVE ME ALONE I REALLY TRIED TO OKAY?) but many of the images are quite disturbing. I imagine that it has given standards and practices quite a nightmare. This is a serial killer that likes to stab out EYES after all. So if you have an eye thing…um, maybe don’t watch. Unless you are a masochist and enjoy torturing yourself. And like I said in the title of this post, I am glad that I opted to DVR both Bones and The Following, as I have learned after 7.5 seasons of Bones never to eat during it.
After the success that his wife Kyra Sedgwick had on The Closer, I am surprised that it has taken Kevin Bacon this long to get on a network series. I’m sure he was just “looking for the right project” and boy, this is the right one for him. He brings the same world-weary haggardness that Kiefer Sutherland brought to Jack Bauer in 24. But yet behind all the torment and obvious addiction (he drinks vodka out of a water bottle, y’all. Either he is an alcoholic or he really knows how to party. Or both.) you can see the bad ass agent beneath it. The first time Bacon’s Ryan Hardy pursued and eventually caught James Purefoy’s Joe Carroll obviously took a toll on Hardy and eventually destroyed his life. The pilot does a good job in flashing between both the pursuit that landed Carroll in prison and the manhunt after he escapes. And the chemistry between Bacon and Purefoy? Amazing. And if you didn’t know, it resulted in this at the winter TCA conference:
MAKE OUT!
Head Over Feels 
