| Aug112007 | Some TV moments |
I had no idea how big a TV junkie I am. Seriously. I thought I watched a little more than most people but it turns out I watch a lot. A lot of people I run into don’t own a TV. But I guess that’s the “cool” thing to do when you’re living alone. Who needs a TV when you live in a friggin’ shoebox! Woohoo!
So I’ve going to do the lazy Digg-style post and just give you a list of TV moments that I like. I’m not going to try and sell them to you as the BEST EVAR but I can look on these moments and think, “TV is capable of being so good.” If you think I’ve missed any awesome moments, let me know.
Grey’s Anatomy – George’s father after surgery
George’s dad has cancer and he needs to have surgery and George shows his darker side. He’s willing to go to hell and back for the people in his life but he’s just as ready to throw all those people aside for the sake of his family and what he believes in. He yells at his friends and doubts their skills as doctors all in the name of getting his Dad the best care possible.
After spending all this time being angry and directing all this anger towards everyone besides his father, he breaks down. His dad is post-op and wrapped in bandages and tubes and machinery and he finally has to face his father’s mortality. All the distractions and mixed emotions are stripped away and all that he’s left with is this inner child who is afraid of losing his dad.
Heroes – Hiro comes to New York
The very end of the very first episode. Simply amazing. It summed up every single moment as a kid that I spent wishing I had superpowers.
This Youtube clip doesn’t set it up very well but Hiro has spent the episode displaying hints of powers: freezing time for a split second and teleporting from the bar into the women’s bathroom. He believes he is destined to be a superhero but his friend reminds him of their meaningless existence. Discouraged, he boards a Tokyo subway train and joins the rest of the faceless worker drones. We watch him as he stares of into space and BAM he’s in fucking Times Square.
All it took was a screen wipe and a match shot to make me jump out of my seat and declare my undying love for this character. It was such a modest transition but so damn effective and a perfect ending to a first episode.
Scrubs – Ben’s funeral
Dr. Cox has been having a serious nervous breakdown and refuses to leave the hospital. Really, he’s completely overreacting to J.D. losing of a patient while he was gone but we don’t have time to waste questioning that because here’s Brendan Fraser! He’s a funny guy! He works well with this cast and his style of humor fits in nicely. You can’t help but hang off his every word because you know he’s a movie star so he’ll never be a permanent character and you have to make the most of every moment he is on screen.
Then we see Dr. Cox awkwardly strutting around in a black suit. Just like that, Brendan Fraser is taken away from us and suddenly everything adds up and you feel really sad. I was genuinely surprised when I found out and kind of astounded that the Scrubs had the balls to do a Sixth Sense episode. I think it was a tremendous gamble and it paid of well.
30 Rock – Tracy finds out he’s white
Tracy finds out he’s a descendant of Thomas Jefferson but starts to protest as his “whole persona is based on the in-depth analysis of the differences between black and white.” Cut to a flashback where he is standing in front of a brick wall making some non-nonsensical joke about dialing the phone.
Haha, very funny, right? Tracy is crazy and he’s also a bad comedian who is willing to stoop to the lowest level so that’s why he’s resorting to making fun of the differences between races.
Until he picks up the phone and starts to call his wife. It cements the idea that Tracy doesn’t just act crazy, he is actually crazy, it revives the joke and the whole episode starts to chug along with the idea that Tracy is actually white. This entire series is just so much fun.
Dexter – Opening sequence
What can I say? This intro creeps me the fuck out. If you don’t know, Dexter is a show about serial killing in creepy, precise and ritualistic ways. This intro sets the perfect mood by glorifying (gorifying?) a humble morning routine. The close-ups and the high frame rate fetishizes the little details in the same way that Dexter seems to walk around with a boner after investigating a corpse that’s been frozen stiff and butchered into convenient packages.
It’s like, “Hey! This is all pretty gross but beautiful at the same time!” Kind of like when you watch Animal Planet and you can’t look away whilst a spider paralyzes a butterfly and proceeds to destroy it.
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