“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.
Music business, I am on to you. You’re all secret Doctor Who fans. Just admit it. Let your Whovian freak flag fly.
A few of you are doing a particularly shoddy job of keeping your fandom membership under wraps. Why else would your songs show up six, seven, EIGHT times on our Rose/Doctor playlist?
This week’s post is about the most well-represented artists on our soundtrack to the universe’s greatest OTP. Whether you know it or not, you’ve been writing music that perfectly scores our Rose and Doctor.
Also, Coldplay remains awesome. David agrees. Deal with it.
“Building a Mystery” – Sarah McLachlan
“You woke up screaming aloud
A prayer from your secret god
You feed off our fears
And hold back your tears, oh
Give us a tantrum
And a know-it-all grin
Just when we need one
When the evening’s thin
Oh you’re a beautiful
A beautiful fucked up man
You’re setting up your
Razor wire shrine.”
I’ve had to cross reference this song in my mind, as it has always been, until now, strictly a Fox Mulder anthem.
Look at those lyrics. That’s 100% the FBI’s Most Unwanted. But Fox is going to have to share it with my Doctor. They have a lot in common, after all. Complex and single-minded. Emotions turning on a dime. Obsessed with their own, specific morality. And they both press all my romantic, anti-hero buttons.
On a personal note: where did weird, folky Sarah McLachlan go and why was she replaced with Adult Contemporary Sad Dog Commercial Sarah McLachlan? Remember that time she spent an entire music video naked in a mud pit? I blame the kids. And the ASPCA.
“Dreaming with a Broken Heart” – John Mayer
“When you’re dreaming with a broken heart
The giving up is the hardest part
She takes you in with your crying eyes
Then all at once you have to say goodbye
Wondering could you stay my love?
Will you wake up by my side?
No she can’t, ’cause she’s gone, gone, gone, gone, gone.”
When pressed to choose, I will usually pick the “Impossible Planet”/”Satan Pit” two-parter as my favorite modern era Who episode. But maybe I should change my answer, because I keep coming back to “Human Nature”/”The Family of Blood” in these posts.
We’re mostly used to the enigmatic and manic Doctor that Sarah was singing about just a few seconds ago. But, ugh, how these episodes get right into the heart of him like no others do. The Doctor-Doctor won’t tell Rose how he feels about her. He won’t tell anyone else either, and hardly admits it to himself. But John Smith doesn’t know that. He just dreams and writes it down.
This is what’s ACTUALLY written in “The Journal of Impossible Things” and why people who deny that Rose/Ten is a real thing are just plain wrong:
“I find myself wanting to draw a perfect Rose, over and over although I cannot find a Rose anywhere!
Roses
Perfect Rose
The perfect Rose
It’s a perfect rose.
Perfect Rose
Rose perfect Rose
Perfect Rose
Perfect Rose
Perfect Rose
Perfect Rose
In my dreams I keep asking a girl where to find one, and she is dressed in the most extraordinarily immodest way.
She will not answer me, and she keeps walking away.
I keep dreaming of a girl.
Girl in my dreams
I remember this girl I have drawn her although I know her well in my dream
I know her well I know.
I know her
She is my-“
Just plain wrong, I tell ya.
I like to think I know you guys pretty well. Thus, I’m guessing that you’re pretty excited for tonight’s episode of New Girl. Considering the way my timeline blew up last Tuesday night, we’re all pretty invested in the budding attraction and possible romance between Jessica Day and Nick Miller (Nick Miller, from the streets of Chicago.) I usually catch up with the loft crew on Hulu on Wednesday morning. But immediately after it aired, I got a text from Blog Wife ordering me to find some way of getting my hands on the episode ASAP. Because it was “up there with Jeff and Annie in the season 1 finale. And ‘Casino Night.”‘ “Casino Night”? The standard to which I hold all “my-ship-is-setting-sail” moments? I think I can make time for that.
And was it ever “Casino Night” good. If I had had a pack of cigarettes on hand, I would have smoked them all at the same time. And I don’t smoke.
As much as I re-watch and flail over THE moments, my favorite part is what comes after that first kiss, love confession, or oops-we-accidentally-naked. From the preview clips, we can tell that tonight’s New Girl starts right where the last left off. And I am jonesing for some awkward, “what did we just do?” shenanigans. To prepare, I’ve collected a few of my favorite “Morning After” scenes from television and movies. Join me in the gutter, won’t you?
Chandler and Monica – Friends
Friends had been dropping hints about Mondler for an entire season, but this reveal still broke my teenage brain. I particularly enjoy how Monica is looking relatively calm, while Chandler is clutching the sheet to his body like a virgin on prom night. (We’ll get to one of those later.) Even though this hook-up was set up like a drinking-sad/comfort-sex mistake, we all knew these two were in it for the long haul. And, bonus, in the 7th season episode “The One with the Truth about London,” we get to see how the whole thing actually went down.
Ross and Rachel in Vegas – Friends
There’s something that you really need to know to truly understand me as a person. My Friends OTP isn’t Ross/Rachel. It isn’t even Chandler/Monica, though they’re a close second. I will forever carry the banner for Joey/Rachel, and I will and have gone down with that ship.
That’s a whole post on its own. But the main reason I changed allegiances is that I got the Ross/Rachel fatigue. The high drama moments were exhausting. This Ross and Rachel, the exes and friends who are kind of still weird around each other, are my favorite. Instead of dealing with an emotional crisis, they’re dealing with the fallout of epic drunkenness and a wedding that was, to quote Ross, “Nevada’s fault.” Helllooooo, Mrs. Ross. Hellooooooo, Mr. Rachel!
Brodie and Rene – Mallrats
“What are you doing? You promised me breakfast.”
“Breakfast, shmreakfast. Look at the score, for Christ’s sake. It’s only the second period and I’m up 12 to 2. Breakfasts come and go, Rene, but Hartford, “the Whale,” they only beat Vancouver once, maybe twice in a lifetime.”
Brodie Bruce’s ideal post-coital plans involve a few hours of video games before an afternoon of Olympic-caliber loitering. But Rene decides it’s still a better deal than being fucked in the back of a Volkswagen by a husky Ben Affleck. That’s what they’re talking about, right?
Jim and Michelle, sort of – American Pie
For everyone who ever wished they could have the fun night AND the bliss of waking up alone. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t have it all.
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.
If you’re here with us amongst the living, you know that 30 Rock took its final bow on NBC Thursday night. Once upon a time, I had some crazy pie-in-the-sky dream of finding something original to write about it. Yeah, about that…
Best lines? Covered. Favorite episodes? Yep. Cameos? Minor characters? A ranking of Liz’s boyfriends? Yes, yes, and yes. The pop culture web community was all over this one like Tracy Jordan on a one-armed stripper.
But HoF cannot let this milestone pass without comment. So here is my own personal note of appreciation to the show that brought Liz Lemon, “Muffin Top” and the phrase, “Never go with a hippy to a second location” into my life. I owe it this much.
Thanks for everything, 30 Rock. But especially…
For filming in New York.
30 Rock was a show for, by, and about New York. Not fairtytale, Sex and the City New York. Real, weird, gross, callous, ugly, wonderful New York. And for we in the five boroughs, it was a good feeling to know that, on any given day, those pink signs might be posted around Rockefeller Center or Scott Adsit might be in front of you in line at Eataly.
For perfectly articulating my every hope for my future mate.
“I want someone who will be monogamous and nice to his mother. And I want someone who likes musicals, but knows to just shut his mouth when I’m watching Lost. And I want someone who thinks being really into cars is lame and strip clubs are gross. I want someone who will actually empty the dishwasher instead of just taking out forks as needed, like I do. I want someone with clean hands and feet and beefy forearms like a damn Disney prince. And I want him to genuinely like me, even when I’m old. And that’s what I want.” – Liz Lemon
For bringing Donald Glover into my life.
Without 30 Rock, I may never have seen Troy Barnes cry or gotten my white-girl-swag on to “Freaks and Geeks.”
For showing me that a little self-promotion never killed anyone.
Jenna’s relentless pursuit of relevance didn’t make her many friends; but frankly, friends aren’t really what she was looking for. Sure, she’s crass and shameless and selfish, but at least she’s honest about her priorities. Put in relief of Hollywood fakery and air kisses, Jenna’s steamrolling ambition is actually pretty refreshing.
For Liz and Jack’s friendship.
Shippers gotta ship, but Liz and Jack were just the ultimate BrOTP to me. (I just tracked the “Liz and Jack” Tumblr tag to find this gif, and had to frantically scroll through some Liz/Jack fic. I’m sorry, I just can’t. It’s too incestuous.) Their friendship brought depth to this cuckoo-bird, crazy-pants backstage farce, and reflected Alec’s IRL respect and love for Tina.
For paying Tracy Morgan to do 7 straight years of bizarro performance art.
What WAS the ratio of Morgan to Jordan in there? And also, who cares?
For the gift of Elizabeth Miervaldis “Liz” Lemon.
There’s a reason that even hot, non-socially awkward girls with a healthy relationship with food have been comparing themselves to Lemon since day one. Liz Lemon is me. Liz Lemon is you. Liz Lemon is all of us, and also better than all of us. She eats night cheese and sings about it. Oprah is her spiritual leader. She has an imaginary astronaut boyfriend named Mike Dexter. She once got parasites from eating sushi on Amtrak. She’s always hungry for terrible food and has bodily functions and finds sex kind of gross, actually. Without her, we’d have no Leslie Knopes or Hanna Horvaths. We needed Liz Lemon and now here she is in our cultural consciousness to approve our Saturday nights in and that second order of mozzarella sticks. Here’s to you, bb.
For proving that an obsession with TV isn’t a personal failing.
Tell my parents that all these hours of marathoning shows on Netflix Instant are just research for when I become head of a network.
Good night, sweet 30 Rock. You served us faithfully. You served us well. Thank you for making TV for people who love TV.
“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.
