Mindy, Jess, and Juliette - Television Takes on Feminism with Mixed Results

If you read this blog, or have spoken to me ever, you know I watch a lot of TV.  And I'm a feminist.

A few of my favorite shows, with awesome female-led casts, have all taken on some interesting issues of late, some with more concerning outcomes than others.  I love seeing these story lines, even when they're problematic, because they're great fodder for lunchtime conversations with my feminist coworkers.  Which probably means they're great fodder for other people's conversations and we need to be having more conversations about these things.

I generally find Jess' character on New Girl to be obnoxiously one-dimensional, but in the October 7th episode, "Micro," she took on her male friends for objectifying women and judging them based on their looks.  She then shows herself to be a hypocrite by immediately agreeing to date a disarmingly handsome man she meets at the bar who turns out to be a horrible human being (with a micro-penis no less).  Funny, irreverent, feminist.

In contrast, I tend to feel that The Mindy Project, with smart and genuinely funny Mindy Kaling at the helm, is a great portrayal of complex womanhood.  She's a badass OB/GYN and also a serial dater and rom-com watcher.  Except in "I Slipped," airing right after the aforementioned New Girl episode, which begins with Mindy's boyfriend "accidentally" engaging in anal sex with her, despite her protestations ("That doesn't go there Danny!").  We later learn he did it on purpose because he wanted to try it, but I guess was embarrassed to ask her about it.  Yea friends, that's called rape.  If you want to try something with a partner and you're not sure they'd like it or want it, or even if you feel reasonably sure they would, you have to ASK.  And they have to AGREE.  This is called consent and without it, sex is rape.

To  make things worse, Mindy feels badly about not being sexually adventurous so she uses alcohol and drugs to loosen herself up so she can engage in the act.  So much about this is wrong.  And yet it's all just portrayed as hilarious hi-jinks.

Then on the October 8th episode of Nashville, "I Can't Get Over You To Save My Life," we watch Juliette go to an abortion clinic.  Presumably, her pregnancy is the result of the time she cheated on her boyfriend and had unprotected sex with her sleazy former boss.  Then, thanks to mandatory biased counseling, she - gasp! - changes her mind.  This counseling, often full of scientifically inaccurate information, is intended to shame women and discourage them from choosing abortion.  This story line reinforces the false idea that these restrictions are based on what is best for women, rather than an unabashed attempt to impose a certain set of beliefs on doctors and patients.  This idea, that abortion restrictions support women's health and safety rather than risk it, undergirds a variety of increasingly harsh laws, including those in Texas that recently resulted in the closure of an additional 13 clinics in the state.  When, in fact, thanks to a new report, we now know that states with the highest number of abortion restrictions have the worst health outcomes for women in children.

Mid-Season TV Review

It's that dark and desolate time of year when the holidays are over, you still have three months of winter ahead, and there are no new episodes of your favorite TV shows.  Even though Santa's already made his rounds, I'm taking this time to reflect on who's been naughty and nice in the TV world, what's worth the wait, and what needs to be thrown out with the holiday leftovers. 

Now of course I don't, and can't, watch everything on TV.  So this is my opinion based on what I have been watching.  I did start off the fall TV season with 23 shows on the roster, so I dare say it's at least relatively comprehensive.

Best new comedy - Brooklyn 99
Funny and smart, I fear this comedy may go the way of many of my other favorites (RIP 30 Rock).  Andy Samberg is the clear star, but I enjoy the many funny lady cops who back him up. 

Best new drama - The Blacklist
While the serial aspect of the show can get a little tedious, the big picture plot is supremely intriguing.  Also James Spader is genius in it.  

Best returning comedy - The Mindy Project
I have a serious girl crush on Mindy Kaling and this show is hitting its sweet spot with new characters and lots of charm. 

Best returning drama - Scandal
If you work in an office with at least two female co-workers, someone is talking about this show on Friday mornings.  It just keeps getting juicer, flashier, and more outrageous and I can't get enough.  

New shows to drop
Hostages - This show might look shinier if it didn't have to compete with The Blacklist in the same slot.  Unfortunately, it just pales in comparison.
Super Fun Night - I wanted to like this show, but it just wasn't funny and I like my female characters to be, well, more than just characters (see: Mindy Project.)

Returning shows to drop
New Girl - If Nick and Jess don't make you gag, you  may need to see a doctor.  This crew just needs to grow up already. 
Glee - What is the plot/point of this show again?

Sad to see it go
Breaking Bad - It was epic. 

Excited for its return
Portlandia - Should be mandatory for anyone living in hipster meccas including Portland, Austin, and Brooklyn.  Let's hope they start off season four with a new "Dream of the 90's" ballad. 
The Following - Season one is on Netflix so get on it.  The creepy quotient is high and getting higher.  Like the best episodes of Criminal Minds, but so much better.

American Idol Season 11: Phillip Phillips is the new Casey

In line with mid-season reality television premiers, American Idol already has me hooked.  I don't like the awkward moments with people who can't sing, but I love the sappy moments, the salvation stories, and the real musicians.  Like Phillip Phillips, whose father (also named Phillip Phillips) is so proud of his son he can't contain himself.  And Phillip himself who loves his music so much he can barely contain himself either.

But let's be real - why do I really love Phillip Phillips?  For the same reason that I loved Casey last season.  He's an adorable white boy with soul, people.  Flip flops and soul.

Pentatonix Wins the Sing Off

Thankfully for all the remaining groups the votes had all been cast by the time the live finale aired because I don't know if it was excitement or nerves, but everyone was pretty pitchy.

Each of the groups got to sing with one of the judges and I was so excited to see Ben Folds perform.  He's just so nerdy and AWESOME.

Although, like most results shows, it was mostly filler it was still a pretty entertaining episode and in the end my guys won!  The futuristic a capella fivesome will now be recording an album.  Here's one of my favorite performances of the season:

Oh and as a little side note, lead singer Scott of Pentatonix totally reminds me of my days crushing on Ashley Angel of O-Town.  Oh the 90's.

A Cappella + Africa, so many of my loves in one

They only got to stay one week on The Sing Off, but I thought this Minneapolis based group of Liberian refugees deserved another shot before their swan song; so I'm giving them a little spotlight here on my humble blog.  Enjoy their "gospel, Afrocentric, soul" a cappella and smile.  I sure did.

New TV Review: The New Girl

In my Fall TV preview I said that The New Girl was one of the only new sitcoms that looked like it was worth watching.  And it turns out I was right.  The show is just like its lead actress, Zooey Deschanel - super cute and hard not to love.

The New Girl is not The Girly Show, it's not comedic genius, but it draws a decent number of laughs for a thirty minute comedy and it has heart.  Jess is the little sister, the quirky friend, and the girl next door all at once and it's sweet to watch the guys look after her. I would like to see them bring back the douchebag jar though, because that's just funny.

One odd thing: between episode one and two they try to swap black roommates and I think they hope we won't really notice.  And then the original black guy ("Coach") shows up on the new sitcom Happy Endings instead.  Weird.

Bottom line: if you need a shot of cutesy fun, watch an episode of The New Girl.  You'll leave feeling like you might want to sing!

New TV Review: Terra Nova

So admittedly, this is not the type of show I would typically tune into, except for one thing: dinosaurs.  I love dinosaurs.  Like, an eight-year-old boy type of love.  I watch NatGeo specials about dinosaurs and I totally lose it at natural history museums; it's crazy.

And the dinosaurs in this show didn't disappoint.  It was just everything else that did.  For those of you who haven't seen the previews I've got a little youtube video for you.  Basically in the future the Earth is uninhabitable because of pollution and so humans have devised a way to go back in time (85 million years to be exact) to build a new society.

If this sounds like every environmental dystopia you've ever seen, plus Jurassic Park, plus Lost you're right.  The show is incredibly derivative and just feels like a poor knock-off.  The two-hour pilot, unlike a movie of a similar length, moved too quickly to actually incite any emotional involvement because it was trying to set up a whole range of future story lines rather than exploring one and bringing it to completion.

So my suggestion: Netflix a NatGeo special instead.

What to Watch this New Fall TV Season

Fall is a great time of year.  Everything is changing and everything feels new - a new school year, a change of seasons, and a brand new season of Fall TV!  This Fall has brought me more than the usual number of changes as you all know and I'm looking forward to getting back to my familiar favorites on the tube.  Most shows start up this very week!  Below is a list of the shows I'll be tuning into and putting on my DVR and you should know that "my recommendation is essentially a guarantee."  You should also know that that's a Ron Swanson quote and not actually a fact as I'm notorious for loving terrible television.  But it's not all bad, I promise!  And what is bad, is awesomely bad so it's still worth checking out, at least in my opinion.

Monday

House 
Fox 8 pm
While I'm beginning to get sick of that predictable moment when the solution visibly crosses House's mind in the middle of a conversation it's still worth tuning into.

The Sing-Off
NBC 8pm
I LOVE a cappella!  This show is hopeful and full of beautiful voices.  Plus, it has music genius Nick Lachey, ugh I mean Ben Folds.

Tuesday

Glee
Fox 8pm
While it seemed to be sliding last season I can't wait to see the new students from The Glee Project.  Here's hoping for more Top 40 smashes and Darren Criss.

The New Girl
Fox 9pm
I haven't seen it yet, but it's one of the only new sitcoms that actually looks decent and possibly funny.  And since it comes on right after Glee, I'll definitely be checking it out.

Wednesday

Modern Family
ABC 9pm
Just won the Emmy for best comedy and it was well deserved.  This show is laugh out loud funny, true to real life and heartwarming.  The family sitcom at its best.

Thursday - aka Epic Day of Television

Community
NBC 8pm
This show has Chevy Chase.  And Joel McHale.  And plenty of quirky story lines and laughs to boot.  This show is still sort of the little brother of the rest of the lineup, but it is a lovable little brother for sure.

Parks and Recreation
NBC 8:30pm
This show is overlooked and it's so funny and so sweet.  It has Aziz Ansari and Amy Poehler who is hilarious.  It's another one with a great supporting cast (see my Ron Swanson quote at the beginning of this post) who are all unique and wonderful.  Leslie Knope for Mayor!

The Office
NBC 9pm
We're all skeptical with Steve Carrell gone, but this funny show is full of wonderful characters and you know you're curious to see where this show is going post-Michael Scott.

30 Rock
NBC TBA
This critical darling is one of the funniest shows on TV and features one of my favorite wish-I-could-be-friends-with-her celebrities: Tina Fey.  How could it possibly be the last season?  And how could you possibly not check it out?

Project Runway
Lifetime 9pm
See: Summer TV: Project Runway.  Make it work!

Jersey Shore
MTV 10pm
Like watching monkeys learn sign language - both fascinating and entertaining.

Grey's Anatomy
ABC 9pm
My favorite girly prime-time soap opera, I'm looking forward to another sappy season.  Last season ended on a very sad and distressing note so I'm hoping things are looking up for my girls when it returns, but not so much that there aren't a few good cries to be had.

Friday

Say Yes to the Dress
TLC 9pm
Can you say guilty pleasure?  It's ogling plus judging plus pretty, pretty prettiness.  To die for!

Saturday

Go out people; you can't watch TV every day

Sunday

Sister Wives
TLC 9pm
The craziest part of gawking at these polygamists is how shockingly normal they seem.  This season brings a new baby and what seems like plenty of family drama.  In a great political twist, the family is bringing a suit against what I agree are unfair polygamy laws.  It will seriously blow your mind.

Sunday at the SoWa Market

Yesterday Jake and I made our first venture into Boston to check out the SoWa market.  It was a great hybrid of arts and crafts fair, flea market, farmer's market, and food truck parade.  There were tons of neat vintage finds at the flea market and really interesting, modern art (as well as quirky tee shirts) in the craft booths.  The farmer's market seemed super fresh and had everything from veggies, to bread, to honey, to eggs and meat.  We got a couple peaches to enjoy as the season winds up.

The highlight for me though was the food.  I got my first ever bahn mi sandwich at the Bon Me truck.  Bahn mi is a Vietnamese sandwich served on a baguette with roasted pork, pate, mayo, cilantro, and pickled vegetables.  We also got truffle fries from the Roxy's Grilled Cheese truck.  I absolutely love anything with truffle and these fries were some of the best I've ever had.  We chose not to get a grilled cheese because Jake had tried them at an orientation event and found it disappointingly greasy.  There was a competing grilled cheese truck at the market with more interesting combos, but our bahn mi sandwiches were more than enough to fill us up.

You'll notice that the fries come with their own branded Next Great Food Truck Race paper liners.  This show, on Food Network Sundays at 9pm, follows food trucks as they travel around the country and compete to sell the most food.  For any lovers of street food, this show is really fun and it features Boston's Roxy's Grilled Cheese (as well as my favorites, the Korean tacos from Korilla of NYC).  

Summer TV: Teen Mom

I've always been a big fan of Teen Mom.  And I felt vindicated when the New York Times ran an article about how it can be used as a tool to teach about safe sex.  Serious newspapers take this show seriously!  This is no Jersey Shore.  People have said that Teen Mom glamorizes teenage pregnancy, but anyone who watched the previous seasons would know that isn't true.  These girls struggle with money, school, terrible boyfriends, custody battles, family issues, substance abuse, homelessness, depression, and even a child protective investigation.  It's not easy and the show makes that clear. 

But as the third season continues, the girls have become tabloid fixtures and for the first time it seems to me that the show may be doing more harm than good.  Two out of four of the moms have gotten breast implants.  Some are talking about modeling and acting as though they can now turn their stint on MTV into a full blown career.  And why wouldn't they think that when you look at Bristol Palin?

While some girls can presumably afford plastic surgery, Catelynn and Tyler have reportedly been evicted from their apartment.  It seems that none of these teens can figure out how to manage their MTV paychecks responsibly.  Amber's child protective case has made her the object of harassment in her neighborhood.  Clearly, Amber has issues she needs to work out, but most struggling parents who are working with Child Protective Services are not also subjected to public humiliation, only those being followed around by MTV cameras. 

If the show was meant to teach young people the perils of teenage parenthood, the lesson has certainly been lost on some, including the cast themselves.  Maci is pressuring her new boyfriend to have another baby even though she now has a two-year-old and is still a teenager herself. 

Teen Mom is documentary drama of the most engaging sort.  You will cry; you will cringe; and you will be grateful it isn't you.  Educational tool - probably not, Entertaining television - absolutely. 

Summer TV: Project Runway

I did not forget about my summer television mini-series.  I love competition shows.  Some of my favorites are Top Chef, American Idol, and Project Runway.  There's nothing a judge-y person like myself loves more than judging people on TV.

Like most great reality television, this season of Project Runway has a great cast of contestants including an Asian man with impeccable taste and a cosmopolitan accent that I can't place, a curmudgeon of an old man who used to design for major fashion houses, a good sprinkling of interesting gay men, and a woman who just learned how to sew a few months ago.

The challenges this season have been especially creative.  In one, the contestants had to make an outfit out of materials made entirely from a pet store (see judging below of an outfit made out of hamster bedding!) and in the most recent episode they had to dress models on circus stilts.  It's not the typical set of circumstances under which designers work, but it adds a lot of fun.

The two best parts of the show, however, are the runway show and Tim Gunn.  The runway show is a fun batch of eye candy and Tim Gunn is the picture of classiness and style.  Plus, his catch phrase makes the show: "Make it work."  It also doesn't hurt that the show highlights my favorite city, the fashion capital of America, New York.

Catch new episodes on Thursdays at 9:00 on Lifetime

Summer TV: Storage Wars

So I decided that yesterday's post would be the first in a mini-series about summer television.  We're all waiting patiently for the Fall lineup, but in the meantime there are still some pretty good offerings to hold us over during these summer months.  As I mentioned in my last post, The Glee Project is a great upbeat summer show.  My dark horse pick for summer TV is Storage Wars.  The concept is simple.  People bid on abandoned storage units and then we get to watch as they pick through them to see what they got and then visit pawn shops and experts to see how much money they can make off of it.  Below is a pretty good preview of the show. 

Part of what makes the show great is the ability to play along.  You can say, "oh yea I think that's the money unit," or "I wouldn't pay more than $20 for that pile of garbage" and then once they unearth the trash or treasures inside you get to find out if you were right.  There's a gambling element to the show that is exciting - who will win the bid, is it worth the money, will they hit it big or bust out?  There's also an Antiques Roadshow aspect where you get to ogle all sorts of cool finds and find out what they're worth. 

But what sets this show apart from copycats, such as Spike TV's Auction Hunters, is the fabulous cast of "characters."  Dave is the villain.  He comes with lots of money and a big attitude and likes to push around newcomers with his cash and bravado.  Brandi and Jarrod are a couple who constantly bicker over which units to bid on, but have a sweet and realistic romance about them.  One time Brandi bid $200 on a junky unit just to win Jarrod a mobster poster he wanted.  Darrell sometimes brings his son to add a familial dynamic, but the best of all is Barry.  He's the older guy with the slicked back hair who flirts with younger women and drives a Jaguar.  Oh yea, and he looks and talks just like Jack Nicholson.  Just check out these clips and try to deny it.

Catch new episodes of Storage Wars on A&E Wednesdays at 10pm

Are You Watching "The Glee Project" Yet?

If you love Glee, but are getting sick of the increasingly out of touch story lines and unrecognizable, slow paced musical numbers, you need to check out The Glee Project.  If you love Glee, but yearn for more earth-shaking, hand-clapping group numbers and top 40 hits, then you need to check out The Glee Project. 

12 young people compete for an 8 episode guest role on Glee.  Each week they perform two songs: a "homework assignment" song sung live and a music video for which they pre-record the vocals.  The bottom three perform for Ryan Murphy, Glee writer and creator, to determine who goes home.

Below is a video from a homework assignment song performed earlier in the season.

The Glee Project is the best of Glee mixed with the best of American Idol.  I thought after a decade of singing talent shows there wouldn't be much else out there, but the kids on The Glee Project have blown my mind.  They are so unbelievably talented and lovable, it is a joy to watch.  I hooked my sister on the show, and then she hooked my mom on it. The songs are consistently up-tempo and chances are you've heard them on the radio or had them stuck in your head at one point or another.   It's tempting to see the contestants as high school cliches - the fat girl, the rocker, the gay kid, the latina bombshell, many of which already exist on the show - but instead you see them as real people and it makes you see the characters more like real people too.

I think Glee will benefit from this infusion of enthusiasm and reality that has been missing from the most recent season.  We've been reintroduced to what made Glee great to begin with: quirky, talented youth coming of age as outsiders we can relate to and root for, plus a healthy dose of arena/broadway worthy performances.

In this video, the remaining contestants are subjected to that classic Glee hazing ritual: the slushie, and perform a song from the ever-entertaining musical genre: the mash-up.  Spoiler Alert: This is a fairly recent video, so if you haven't seen the first few episodes this will reveal who has left the show so far. 

 

Catch new episodes of The Glee Project every Sunday at 9:00 on Oxygen

The Pot o' Gold (plastic coins) at the End of the Rainbow

Extreme Couponing was a stroke of genius for TLC.  The show is as addictive and awe inspiring as any of TLC's other voyeuristic series, including but not limited to the somewhat related series Hoarders.  For those of you who haven't seen it, or heard about it, the show follows savvy shoppers who spend hours matching up store sales, coupons and promotions to whittle down grocery bills in the hundreds and thousands to single digit price tags. 

This ain't your mama's coupon clipping.  These women (and with one notable exception they are almost always women who sometimes bring their spouses along to carry carts) spend 40-60 hours a week planning and couponing; they have garages and even bedrooms devoted to food storage; and some even dumpster dive for coupon inserts.  It's not the kind of savings everyone can achieve.  It comes at the price of your time and often, your dignity. 

And for one woman, perhaps her freedom.  That's an exaggeration because I don't know many self-respecting white collar units in district attorneys offices who would prosecute for "coupon fraud."  But, Entertainment Weekly reported that TLC was "looking into" J'aime Kirlew (pronounced Jamie, not like the French I like) for just this offense.  Reportedly she had been fraudulently using coupons to purchase items not covered by the coupon discount. (http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/04/14/tlc-coupon-fraud-extreme-couponing/)

I have experienced a marked increase in instances of women pulling out envelopes of coupons in line in front of me at the grocery store, or checking out in 5 or more transactions to take advantage of as many coupons as possible.  But heed the advice of the experts ladies, always check the store coupon policy first!  Nothing is more annoying than getting behind someone who has to reorganize their order or put back half of their purchases because they failed to call ahead to find out that the store will only honor 256 mustard coupons per day, per household. 

This is not to say that I'm one to denigrate a deal.  In fact, I love a good deal.  Which is probably the source of my fascination with the show in the first place.  So I was beside myself to find out that at Big Y you can now get certain items FREE even without a coupon.  Big Y now gives out oversized, plastic gold and silver coins to those who sign up for a membership card, shop frequently, or play the "Instant Rewards" game at the register.  Who needs Foxwoods when you could win coupon coins at the grocery store?  The other day I went with one gold and three silver plastic coins in my purse and I came away with a FREE box of blueberry muffins.  And let me tell you, never have mediocre muffins tasted so sweet.