TV Meme: Day 30 - Saddest Character Death.

Warning: If you have not watched Season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 3 of 24, or Season 3 of LOST, and you intend to, DO NOT READ THIS POST.

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We reached it, people! Day 30--the final day of the TV Meme. And today we're discussing the saddest character death. Of the three choices I came up with, my actual answer is the second of the three. So let me explain the others first.

My first thought, of course, was Charlie Pace from LOST. Sure, his character started to get a bit annoying in Season 2, but then he begins redeeming himself in Season 3. And right when you start to love him? He dies. Sacrificing himself within the Looking Glass Station, Charlie saves Desmond by locking himself in a flooding room. Then comes the iconic moment when he places his hand on the glass with a note declaring "Not Pennys Boat," Desmond putting his hand to the other side. And then he dies. The full scene can be seen here:

The final one I came up with is one I'm surprised actually took me that long, considering it's the most recent one of the three I've seen. The death I'm talking about here is, of course, Ryan Chappelle from 24. Chappelle was a very hateable character. Almost not even in a love-to-hate him kinda way. You just disliked this guy. But then comes the moment when Jack is told that he needs to kill him. Ryan is immediately flustered, showing he's not the tough a-hole he appears to be on the outside. The majority of the episode is dedicated to them trying to find the terrorist, but they end up in the wrong location, and time runs out. Jack takes Ryan to the designated train yard. They have their final talk. Ryan tries to dignify it by killing himself, but he can't go through with it. Jack then takes the gun and does it himself. I have to say, this episode had amazing writing. To take a character you hate and, in less than an hour, make you care for him so much to where you're nearly in tears by the time he's dead... wow. But it's not the best one (or saddest), in my opinion.

The winner, if you haven't guessed it by now from the warning at the top of this post, is Joyce Summers in Season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Previously Joyce having thought she was over her brain tumor, it suddenly resurfaces and kills her. The episode begins as Buffy walks into the living room and sees her mother dead on the couch. The rest of the episode is how everybody deals with the death (which also leads in to Willow and Tara's first on-screen kiss). I think what helps the sadness in this episode is the fact that there is no music playing throughout the entire episode. It's just this uncomfortable stillness and silence. Most movies or TV shows always accompany their major death scenes with dramatic music. This episode shows you how to make a highly effective death scene without it. Here is a short video of clips from the episode set to "Mad World":



And that's my saddest character death.

Thanks to everybody who made it through this last 30 days with me! It's been fun (and challenging) to come up with answers for every day, with some days where I just felt too lazy to do it. But I did it anyway! Below is a list of all the days over the past month and my answers:


Day 01 - An Unfairly Canceled Show (Dead Like Me)
Day 02 - A Show Needing More Viewers (Greek)
Day 03 - Favorite New Show From This Past Season (Glee)
Day 04 - Favorite Show of All Time (Boy Meets World)
Day 05 - A Show I Hate (Dancing With The Stars)
Day 06 - Favorite Episode of My Favorite Show ("And Then There Was Shawn")
Day 07 - Least Favorite Episode of My Favorite Show ("On The Fence")
Day 08 - A Show Everyone Should Watch (Glee)
Day 09 - Best Scene Ever ("Bohemian Rhapsody" - Glee)
Day 10 - A Show I Thought I'd Hate But Ended Up Loving (Battlestar Galactica)
Day 11 - A Show That Disappointed Me (Leverage)
Day 12 - An Episode I’ve Watched More Than 5 Times ("Road to Rhode Island" - Family Guy)
Day 13 - Favorite Childhood Show (Power Rangers)
Day 14 - Favorite Male Character (Eric/Cappie/Lafayette/Spike/Dexter)
Day 15 - Favorite Female Character (Sue Sylvester)
Day 16 - My Guilty Pleasure Show (iCarly)
Day 17 - Favorite Mini-Series (Harper's Island)
Day 18 - Favorite Title Sequence (Jack of all Trades)
Day 19 - Best TV Show Cast (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Day 20 - Favorite Kiss (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Day 21 - Favorite Relationship (from Gilmore Girls)
Day 22 - Favorite Series Finale (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Day 23 - Most Annoying Character (from Dexter)
Day 24 - Best Quote (from Greek)
Day 25 - A Show I Plan on Re-Watching (Dexter)
Day 26 - Biggest Season Finale Shocker (from Dexter)
Day 27 - Best Pilot Episode (Glee)
Day 28 - First Show Obsession (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Day 29 - Current Show Obsession (True Blood)
Day 30 - Saddest Character Death (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed it!

TV Meme: Day 29 - Current Show Obsession.

Day 29's "current show obsession" was a no-brainer. Even going by yesterday's "collector" definition of obsession, I still found this one easy. My current show obsession is none other than True Blood.

I wasn't sure what I was going to think about this show before I started watching it. But I almost immediately loved it. The characters are fun. The stories are interesting. The acting is good (though I know some people are annoyed by some of the southern accents). And you get to see Anna Paquin naked. Bonus! The best thing? It's better than Twilight (though that's not very difficult).

Also, you may be wondering what I've collected from the show. OK, so it's not much. I actually just own the first four books in the series the show is based on, though I was having trouble getting through even the first book due to already knowing everything that was gonna happen. Oh well.

Still, True Blood is definitely my current show obsession. I would have even watched it a couple weeks ago while I was gone on vacation if I hadn't been sharing space with my elderly, uber-conservative grandmother. That would have been awkward... especially considering it was the episode when this happened:



Yeah... that would have been awkward.

As a side note... watch that same scene here, but there's been a bit of an addition near the end that's hilarious:

TV Meme: Day 28 - First Show Obsession.

Day 28--my first show obsession--was a tough one. Not too hard... but tough. I remember being obsessed with a handful of shows all around the same time. But then I thought about this: what do I consider obsession? Is it just watching the show? Or is it going out and buying everything attached to said show, as well (toys, etc.)? But that still only narrowed it down to two. Luckily, I know that Power Rangers came a few years after these two shows, so it automatically dropped from the running. So I think I'm gonna go with the first of these two that I'm left with, mostly because it was a much bigger obsession... much.

And that obsession being? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That's right, the TV series that began in the late 80s. I loved TMNT. I watched the show. I had episodes on VHS. I had about an infinity of action figures. I had video games. I had a TMNT lunchbox AND thermos. I had a TMNT pillow (in the shape of Michelangelo, I believe). I'm sure I had TMNT bedsheets. And I'm pretty sure I even had a TMNT backpack.

And then, oh, the live action movies! Let's just say the VHS box of the first movie was so torn up. I still really loved the second movie, as well, despite the lack of my favorite character--Casey Jones. And then... well... there was a third movie, but we don't like to talk about that one. And then a few years back when they made the CGI movie, I was still pretty excited. And then I saw it. But I hear they're making another live action one. I hope they get Corey Feldman to voice Donatello again.

But anyway, none of that stuff would have mattered to me if it weren't for the original obsession: the TV show. Oh... and I'm sure you're curious. The other TV show I nearly chose? Pee-Wee's Playhouse (I did have Pee-Wee dolls or whatever, and I apparently went around chanting "Pee-Wee Herman" quite often). So... yeah.

(P.S. No, I haven't watched any of the new TMNT shows. I've seen clips and... they look like crap.)

TV Meme: Day 27 - Best Pilot Episode.

Hmm... it's Day 27... and I have to figure out what I believe is the best pilot episode. This really was tough one. One that could have made it, but didn't, was the (I guess) pilot episode to Battlestar Galactica. I don't mean the 3-hour miniseries that spun-off into the series, but the first episode of the actual series entitled "33." Talk about a hardcore (and amazing) opening to the show. Though I'm not sure if that actually counts considering the miniseries. Anyway, I think I'm gonna go with a cop-out answer... mostly because I don't want to think about it.

Glee's pilot episode was shown months before the show even aired. Its pilot episode was advertised as being online for an entire summer before the show even aired. They were really pimping out this pilot episode... long before the show even aired. So was it worth all the hype? Hell yeah.

This pilot amped up the buzz for the show even more than it already had, and the anticipation level skyrocketed by the time the show actually began airing. And it was a great opening, giving you pretty much everything you should expect from the series (though it did become more realistic and human as the show went on).

TV Meme: Day 26 - Biggest Season Finale Shocker.

Warning: If you have not finished Season 4 of Dexter, do not read this post. It contains massive spoilers.

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Well, obviously, I'm going to be talking about the season finale shocker of Dexter - Season 4 for Day 26 of this TV Meme. For a while I considered talking about the Battlestar Galactica season finale wherein you find out the "Final 5," as that was one of the most brilliant season finales I've ever seen... on many different levels. But I'm not exactly sure it was a major shocker, considering you saw quite a few of them coming prior to the reveal.

Instead, I'm going to talk about this shocker of a finale, which I didn't see coming until maybe moments before it was revealed. Again, if you haven't seen the end of Season 4, do not continue reading... unless you just want some pretty big spoilers. Anyway, here goes...

Rita takes the kids out of town on a trip while Dexter stays back. He tells the wife that he has to finish up work, and he'd catch up with her later. The truth is that he had to have his final showdown with the Trinity Killer. So after finally catching and killing John Lithgow, Dexter makes his way home. He checks the messages on his cell phone, hearing Rita's message that she had to come home to get her I.D., which she left behind, but that she'd meet him at their vacation spot later. Dexter goes to call Rita's phone, but hears it ringing in their home. This leads him on a search through the house where he finds Rita dead in the bathtub, killed by Trinity just like his other cycles. He also finds his baby son Harrison in a pool of his mother's blood, crying, just like what happened to Dexter when he was young, which is what turned Dexter into a killer himself. The end.

Talk about a crazy ending. What makes it so brilliant is its unexpectedness. In the past seasons, you knew exactly how it would end. Dexter killed the big bad guy and got away unscathed, to move on happily with his life. But this time, the big bad guy was one step ahead and royally fucked him over, killing his wife and scarring his son.

And that's my season finale shocker.

TV Meme: Day 25 - A Show I Plan On Re-Watching.

Almost to the end now, huh? We're at Day 25, and I must now discuss a show I plan on re-watching. This wasn't too difficult of a choice, as there are a couple shows I wanna re-watch. I'm currently re-watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, so I can't necessarily count that as my choice. And I do, eventually, plan on re-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (potentially in a similar format that Rachel is doing, where I alternate with Angel, considering I never watched it). But I've already talked Buffy to death recently (and I'm not done with her yet), so I figured I go another route.

One show I eventually want to re-visit--and potentially buy, which is a rarity with me--is Dexter. I'm not exactly sure this show qualifies considering it's still going on, but I'm going with it anyway. I love this show to death. It's clever, funny, dark, twisted, violent, and suspenseful. All the characters (with one or two exceptions) are great and grow as the show does.

The first season was a brilliant opening to the show, but the second season is where it really hit its stride. The second season was brutally suspenseful, not to mention the interactions between Dexter and Doakes in the later episodes were brilliant. Those were some of my favorite episodes. Season 3 was a bit lackluster, though I think that's mostly due to coming right after such an amazing season. If Seasons 2 and 3 switched, I wonder how many people would still dislike Season 3 (I know they can't be switched story-wise, but still...)?

And then Season 4 came along... one of the best seasons of any television show period. Even my mother, who had sworn to me she didn't like Dexter after seeing part of the very first episode (not much for blood and whatnot), became hooked on this season... despite never seeing the previous 3. That's how good this season was.

So yes, I totally plan on revisiting the earlier Dexter seasons, probably sometime before Season 5 begins. It's great stuff.

TV Meme: Day 24 - Best Quote.

Not much to say for Day 24, best quote. So I'll keep this short. I loved this quote from the second I heard it. It's from the show Greek. The episode is in Season 3, entitled "Camp Buy Me Love." Casey and Cappie are out camping with Cappie's hippy parents. Cappie and his father wander off for a minute, leaving Casey and Cappie's mom April, played by the wonderful Lea Thompson, to speak with Casey for a while.

They get into discussing relationships, as Casey has been worried about Cappie's wanting to stay in college as long as he can, while she's ready to move on with life. They love each other dearly, but they're at this fork in the road, and Casey isn't sure what to do. This is when the following quote happens, with April giving her a bit of wisdom (see below the picture):

"Some love stories are short stories, but they are love stories all the same."

TV Meme: Day 23 - Most Annoying Character.

Again, going into Day 23, the most annoying character, I literally had no idea who to choose. Unlike any of the others, I didn't even have a single option going in. Most TV show characters don't annoy me like they do everyone else. For instance, you know Claire on Heroes? Or Kate on LOST? Both are considered highly annoying to the audiences of each respective show, but neither of them bothered me in the least. Needless to say, this was a very difficult day for me.

But there actually is one character that, now that I really think about it, springs to mind. And for this character to annoy me pretty much means that the character is truly and terribly annoying. While the show is one of my all-time favorites, this character... is not. And that is Rita from Dexter. Dear God on a Popsickle Stick, this woman grates on my nerves.

She started off the show as an interesting character. She was pretty much the Yin to Dexter's Yang. But then she got over the sexually timid thing, which was the only thing keeping her character interesting. From there, it seems the writers weren't sure what to do with her. She became whiny, mopey, and bitchy. There was even a moment in Season 4 that drove me up the wall. Dexter hadn't gotten any sleep for a few days now, and every single night he was the one getting up to take care of the baby. Did Rita volunteer to get up in the middle of the night to go to the baby when it started crying? Nope. It was all Dexter. And then she has the gall to complain and yell at Dexter that she's too tired to do anything, so she asks him to take on all these extra things (taking the kids to school, etc.). And this character trait never went anywhere. It's not like the writers were doing it so that Dexter would explode at her eventually. He doesn't. She's just... ugh... so annoying in so many ways. And I hated that the show started to give her more and more screen time as it went on.

So yeah... that's my most annoying character.

TV Meme: Day 22 - Favorite Series Finale.

Going into Day 22, I honestly had no idea what I was going to choose. A few others have said it already, but I'll reiterate. What makes choosing a favorite series finale so difficult is that series finales usually suck. They don't live up to expectations, the content of the show has drastically declined by that point, or a plethora of other reasons that I'm sure you can figure out on your own. I've done Google searches to see what other people have said were their favorite series finales, and the majority of them are for shows I never watched (Newhart, Six Feet Under, etc.).

There are so many shows I have watched that have had disappointing (to some degree) series finales. Battlestar Galactica, while wrapping up pretty much everything, still left me feeling unsatisfied with the answers I was given. LOST, while giving me almost no answers, was simultaneously decent and disappointing. To be honest, those are really the only two (besides the better two I'm about to say) that I can recall even seeing. Most of the shows I've watched seem to get canceled before even getting a proper series finale. The one I was gonna go with for a while was that to Boy Meets World, but that didn't sit too well with me as a choice. Why? Because, essentially, it was just a montage episode. You know, one of those episodes that just has the characters recalling events from all the past seasons for the nostalgia factor. Of course, there were some great moments in this finale, specifically the classroom scene at the very end with Feeny telling them all (after they leave) that he loves them all. It's a tear-jerker scene.

But for all-around quality, I think I'm gonna go, yet again, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There was a battle of epic proportions. Every character got a shining moment (some more literally than others). There was good comedy. There was a major character death. There was a great "relationship" moment. There was a bit of final redemption. And there was a closer that was reminiscent of the opener, book-ending the whole thing nicely. I can't say I've seen a finale any more satisfying than this one.

TV Meme: Day 21 - Favorite Relationship.

This one was incredibly easy. From the moment I read "Day 21 - Favorite Relationship," I knew exactly who I was choosing. This is pretty much the relationship to base all other TV show relationships off of. It's so hardcore, I even just ended a sentence with a preposition. And no, it isn't Cory and Topanga (Shock! Gasp!). My favorite TV relationship is none other than Luke and Lorelei from Gilmore Girls.

That's right, people. I was a Gilmore Girls fan. What can I say? It was a very smart show. And the relationship between Luke and Lorelei was outstanding. From Season 1, you know the two are meant for each other. You know that the show will end with the two of them getting together. There can't be any other way. It just has to happen like that.

Needless to say everybody was pissed (myself included) when she chose Christopher in the final season. Granted, she doesn't stay with him, and she does get with Luke in the end. There's no grand wedding or anything. They kiss, and it's assumed they're together in the end. I couldn't find a good enough video to showcase their entire relationship, so here's a video of their first kiss instead:

TV Meme: Day 20 - Favorite Kiss.

Warning: There are spoilers in this post (this is primarily aimed at Rachel).

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I didn't want to do the same couple for Day 20 (Favorite Kiss) that I'm doing for Day 21 (Favorite Couple). So I'm changing it up a bit. Today, I'm going to talk about a kiss that was the talk of the town when it first happened. There really hadn't been much like it on regular TV before this, where gay/lesbian couples would straight-up make out during a television show (and actually, one of the characters is involved with the very first lesbian sex scene on network television). Not to mention they were just the cutest couple ever. Yeah, that's right, I'm talking about Willow and Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The first kiss happens in essentially one of the most depressing episodes ever, which I won't spoil... in this post, anyway. But my favorite kiss is probably from the Season 6 episode "Entropy," where they try to gain back trust with each other and, well... this happens:



Yeah. Best. Kiss. Ever.

TV Meme: Day 19 - Best TV Show Cast.

NOTE: I will be on vacation starting today, but posts will continue. I have set things to post on certain days... I'm on the ball! Not like you would have known one way or another, though... just felt like sharing.

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Day 19, best TV show cast, was always between a handful of choices. When I think of a great cast, I generally think that it has to be great from the main character down to the most inconsequential of characters. Or there are ensemble casts, where every character was cast just perfect for the role. And then, of course, the characters have to be good/engaging/entertaining, even if you just hate them so much you love them. It has to be a cast where you just can't possibly see any other people in those roles and doing it any better than the ones that were chosen.

So, of course, my mind went to two immediately. The first, of course, is LOST. It was a show that relied so heavily on its ensemble cast, and you came to know them so well, even down to those characters that may have been in one episode. Those characters still made an impact... sometimes literally (Arzt, anyone?). But I'm not choosing LOST. Why? Because everyone and their mother (Hi, Mrs. Thuro!) choose LOST for this. The second show that came to mind was Heroes. Despite it being the cool thing to hate Heroes after season 1, I stuck with it and actually enjoyed it (for the most part). Sure, it went off the rails, and there were a ton of missed potential moments. But we're talking about casting, not the show. Can you picture anyone else than Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura? Or Milo Ventimiglia as Peter? The casting for the show was perfect; the problem came from the writing. So why not go with Heroes? Because, well, I did say one of the requirements was characters had to be "good/engaging/entertaining," and some of them just got awfully boring or annoying after a while.

So where am I going with all of this? What cast am I choosing? The one that includes Xander, Willow, Giles, Tara, Anya, Angel, Spike, Faith, Dawn, and (yes) Buffy... and eventually another that I won't mention for Rachel's sake (it's a season 6/7 thing). But he's hilarious. Oh, and formerly Oz and Cordelia. If that wasn't enough, of course I'm talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Forget LOST and Heroes, these characters are iconic and part cult history. They all have different personalities. They're all likeable in different ways (again, even if it's in a "love to hate" kinda way). What other cast could pull off vampires, werewolves, hunters, demons, 'key of light' thingy, witches, nerds, and lesbians (and sometimes nerdy lesbian witches) so well? Not really much more to say... so I'll leave it at that.

TV Meme: Day 18 - Favorite Title Sequence.

It's Day 18, where I shall discuss my favorite title sequence. This one was incredibly easy. Sure, there are some amazing title sequences out there. Mystery Science Theater 3000. Dexter. True Blood. All are brilliant in different ways. But my favorite? My favorite comes from a show probably none of you have seen. It was a show that only lasted about a season and a half and starred Bruce Campbell as a Zorro-type figure in the Napoleonic Era (and Verne Troyer played Napoleon). It was called Jack Of All Trades, and it was a great and incredibly cheesy show. But I always loved the title sequence, and I just had to watch it every time instead of fast forwarding (I watched it on DVD). I won't try to explain it to you. Instead, take a minute out of your day and just... enjoy it yourself:

TV Meme: Day 17 - Favorite Mini-Series.

Day 17. Favorite Mini-Series. This one is particularly tough because I hardly ever watch a mini-series. And when I looked through lists of different ones, I had only seen a few, and of those, only cared for a couple. And it was really tough to go with one over the other, but I did decide. The deciding factor? The ending. I've always said the ending to something can make or break the entire experience for me. And the reason the otherwise brilliant mini-series "The Lost Room" didn't make the cut is for its incredibly lackluster ending. I believe they left it as they did for purposes of a spin-off series, but that never happened.

So instead I'm going with another mini-series that nobody watched. It's from the creators of Lonelygirl15. Yeah, remember that? It was a controversial internet show because it started off like a real girl vlogging about her life and her friend Daniel, only for a bunch of weird stuff to start happening... with apparently her being involved with some type of cult. Anyway, it turned out that it was made as an internet TV show, which is what kind of spawned the sensation (such as with Felicia Day's The Guild). The series ran for a couple years, even having a few spin-offs, and I have to say I did follow it pretty much through its entire run. What can I say? It was entertaining. But I'm digressing pretty bad here.

Anyway, after the popularity of Lonelygirl15, the production company (whose name escapes me at the moment) got hired by CBS to create a 1-season show and/or mini-series that essentially played out like a murder mystery, with at least 1 person getting killed off per episode and ending the whole thing with the reveal of the killer. The show was called Harper's Island.

The story of the show was that a couple were going back to their childhood home of Harper's Island to get married. But the island had a dark past, wherein a serial killer had, well, killed a bunch of people on the island many years before, including the groom's best friend's mother. And Abby's (the best friend) father became obsessed with the whole thing, and it destroyed their relationship. Despite the show being about the wedding and the couple, Abby is pretty much the main character.

For the first handful of episodes, the killings are pretty secret. Nobody realizes what's going on, and most people just think those killed went back to the mainland or are just doing something else. But after a while, especially after the first public killing, they realize what's going on. But they can't escape, because the killer blew up the boats, cut the phones, etc.

The production value of the show was incredibly low budget, though the horror bits were pretty realistic. In fact, the show was relatively gruesome, despite them not showing half the stuff that happens (for obvious reasons). Still, it wasn't poor enough to turn anyone away. Though because there was so little budget, the actors they got weren't the best, either. It wasn't the most amazing acting in the world, but it was tolerable.

So why watch it, then? The mystery. It really does keep you guessing. Every episode, you're putting clues together, trying to figure out who the killer could be. "Oh, it can't be so-and-so, because they were with this-person when third person died." They also set up plenty of red herrings. In fact, I thought it was one character for a long time on the show, as he was one of the main red herrings. But then he started turning into one of my favorite characters. It was rather conflicting. And they really set it up to be at least half the cast. By the time the show is halfway through, you've probably set blame on the majority of the characters. I won't reveal who it was, though it was a partial let down. It was one of those things that was so predictable you couldn't possibly think it was that character. But it wasn't enough to ruin the whole thing. It just knocked it down to another average murder mystery. But it was still fun.

There was another aspect of the show that was interesting, too. You could get further clues by watching a web series that acted as a companion to the show. It starred one of the later actresses to join Lonelygirl15 and followed a similar format (ordinary girl starting a vlog to discuss her life when a bunch of crazy stuff starts to happen). She played a reporter new to the island when the stuff starts going down. It kinda follows her story, which a couple times intertwines with the main story. A pretty neat concept, I thought.

Anyway, that's about it. It wasn't a groundbreaking show or anything, and I think in the grand scheme of things, The Lost Room was actually a better and more original mini-series. It's just that the ending totally killed it for me.

TV Meme: Day 16 - My Guilty Pleasure Show.

This is one of my deep, dark TV secrets. It's Day 16, and I have to discuss my guilty pleasure show. Granted, it was rough choosing a show for this day, because both the shows that crossed my mind for today I haven't watched in quite some time. I'm going with my first choice, because I doubt I'll be watching my second choice again anytime soon--mostly because it comes on earlier in the morning during the week, and my schedule doesn't allow for that. That show being The People's Court.

But the show I'm going to talk about today is truly a guilty pleasure show... for somebody my age or really anybody in general. And that show is... (deep breath)... iCarly. That's right, iCarly. Again, I haven't watched it in quite some time, and thanks to Netflix Instant Streaming, I'll probably never be bored enough to watch it again. But there was a time in my life, not that long ago, when I'd flip through the TV looking for something to watch, not find anything, and then see a new episode of iCarly.

For those of you who don't know what this show is about, it's about a teenage girl named Carly (played by Miranda Cosgrove) and her best friends Sam (a tomboy) and Freddie (a dork who has a major crush on Carly). Carly lives with her older brother, a goofy artist named Spencer, in a pretty nice apartment. And one day, Carly, Sam, and Freddie decide to start up a web show entitled, you guessed it, iCarly.

The web show sequences themselves are completely stupid, childish, and the pinnacle of uninteresting. But there are other aspects of the show that always grabbed my attention. Spencer is like a poor man's Eric Matthews in the sense that he's an over-the-top goofball with the occasional serious moment, but oftentimes the writers try way too hard to make him funny. Still, he's entertaining. I'm also a sucker for relationships, and no, I'm not actually interested in Carly/Freddie. I actually like the pairing of Freddie and Sam, who hate each other. There are actually a couple episodes that I've seen that play at a relationship between them, which are always cute. In fact, Carly is probably the least interesting character on the show. Though she is essentially playing the "straight girl" amidst a cast of wacky characters.

Anywho, I think I've talked enough about this embarrassment. So... yeah.

TV Meme: Day 15 - Favorite Female Character.

Unlike "Favorite Male Character," Day 15's choice of "Favorite Female Character" was incredibly easy. Why? Because in a male-driven industry, there aren't all that many females that stick out. Most of them are simply the love interest or the ditz or the one struggling to "make it." Only every now and then do you have those who stand out in people's minds, like Buffy or Chloe (from 24) or Judge Judy. But my choice today, ladies and gentlemen, transcends them all. She is one of the most cleverly written female characters in quite some time.

I'm speaking, of course, of Sue Sylvester from Glee. Her snappy one liners and all around sick and twisted personality all played by the wonderful Jane Lynch make her a joy to watch. And when there is an episode lacking Sue? It sure is noticeable (not that the episode is bad, but you just miss her so much...). Not to mention her fascination with Will's hair. But don't take my word for it. Check out the following video (which doesn't even come close to representing her awesomeness, and I swear isn't all hair jokes. They just last a little while):

TV Meme: Day 14 - Favorite Male Character.

Welcome to Day 14 where I will discuss my favorite male character(s). I'm gonna do something a little different here, because, well, this is a day I've been dreading. There are just way too many to choose from! And it's not just like favorite show or whatever where you can narrow rewatchability down or whatever. There are just way too many male characters that I love equally and for different reasons. So what I'm doing is probably considered cheating. I'm going to make a Top 5 list of my favorite male TV show characters. And yes... because I will be discussing my number 1 in some amount of detail, so I'll technically be talking about my favorite male character... and then some (maybe you can see the rest as extra credit?). Anywho, here is my list.

Top 5 Favorite Male TV Characters

5. Eric Matthews

Show: Boy Meets World
About: Cory's older brother. Total goofball with heart.
Thoughts: What can I say about Eric that I haven't already? Yes, he was almost purely comedic relief, but there were moments that focused on him specifically that were great. These moments were even better if they were more dramatic and you got to see another side of Eric. He was one of my favorite TV characters for many years. He made me laugh; he made me care; he made me with I had a Mr. Feeny of my own. Here is a compilation of funny Boy Meets World moments. Not all of them are Eric, but the majority of them are:




4. Cappie

Show: Greek
About: Rusty's "Big Bro" at Kappa Tau. Partier. Lazy, but smart.
Thoughts: I said in a past post that Cappie is similar to Eric, and that I consider Cappie to be one of the best written characters on television. So why isn't he higher on the list? Well, I did say "one of" the best. Cappie is like an evolved version of Eric. He's not as much of a goofball, nor is he as over-the-top silly. Cappie is equal parts comic and serious, and his comedy is more sophisticated, as it were. He's always around for advice, and sometimes he works in mysterious ways. I guess he could be Eric and Feeny's love child. But he does have great character growth, particularly in his relationships to the other characters. Here are a couple good clips of Cappie (which were insanely hard to come across... not these specific clips, but any clips at all). Click here and here.


3. Lafayette Reynolds

Show: True Blood
About: Cook. Gay. Not afraid to step up or give attitude when needed.
Thoughts: I find I love Lafayette more and more every week. He acts similarly to Hugo/Hurley from LOST in the respect that he kind of says what the audience is thinking. But he's also more than just that. He cares for his family and friends and will always be there for them, whether physically or verbally. He's also hilarious. Here's a great scene from Season 1 where some rednecks stereotype him for being gay:




2. Spike

Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
About: Vampire. British. Snarky.
Thoughts: The reason I love Spike so much, beyond his general snarky and sadistic attitude, is his character growth over the show. I think out of all the characters over the entire course of the series (Buffy included), Spike has the biggest growth. He starts off as just another one-off evil character. But he was so popular they extended his role and then brought him back. And by the end of the series... well, if you haven't finished it yet (Rachel), I won't spoil it for you. Again, here's a video... it was almost impossible to find anything on Spike that wasn't a fan-made music video. Even his "best of" moments were just clips with music and no dialogue. This is the best I could find, and half of it isn't even Spike:




1. Dexter Morgan

Show: Dexter
About: Serial killer who kills serial killers.
Thoughts: Kind of an obvious choice, really, which is partially why I wanted to make the list. I didn't want to come off as just yet another guy who chose Dexter as his favorite male character. Dexter is a fascinating character in all regards. The way he has to handle his family and friends along with his... um... hobby. And his voice overs work to great effect. Even if he weren't just a great character to watch, he'd be a fascinating one. Finally, here's a clip of some of the best moments between Dexter and Doakes.

TV Meme: Day 13 - Favorite Childhood Show.

Welcome to Day 13 where I discuss my Favorite Childhood Show. This, ladies and gentlemen, was one of my hardest. The one (along with Favorite Show and First Show Obsession) were some pretty tough categories. Why? Because I had to rotate choices. Boy Meets World was originally in this spot, but then I moved it to Favorite Show. So I had to come up with a new one for this one, which means I had to flip around First Show Obsession, and it was just some big mess (remember, I'm not wanting to use the same show for any 'favorites'-type category).

And then I started wondering... what age range does it mean by childhood? There was my really young years (which I what I'm going with for Obsession), my mid-childhood (which is what I'm using for this one), and my later childhood (which was Boy Meets World). Obviously, as I just said, I'm going with mid-childhood, which is in the age range of, oh, 6-12 or thereabouts--and yeah, there's some overlap with the other age ranges... which makes no sense, but whatever.

Anyway, let's get on with it. So what am I considering my favorite childhood show (pretty much based on process of elimination)? Power Rangers.

That's right. Starting with Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and going through In Space (and partially Lost Galaxy), Power Rangers was everything to me. It was basically my second major television obsession growing up. I had VHS tapes (including Alpha's Magical Christmas, I believe it was called... as well as a "learn karate" video tape that I believe was hosted by Tommy). I had action figures. I had a video game for my Sega Game Gear (yeah, remember those?). I had a set of their weapons that combined together into one ultimate weapon. I had at least one morpher. I had both movies. I had a framed poster. I think I even had Pink Ranger gloves that talked when you hit them right (or something like that... and why pink? Yeah, I dunno). And on top of that, I never missed an episode. I even watched the rip-off shows that were even remotely similar (Masked Rider, Big Bad Beetleborgs, etc.).

The Mighty Morphin' years will always be the best, despite--apparently--a lot of fan love for In Space, which I hardly remember. The relationship between Tommy and Kimberly; anything to do with Tommy in general, really; Rita and Lord Zed; Bulk and Skull--how can you not love it?

The Mighty Morphin' years started to come to a close around the time the first movie came out, in which they gained new powers and Zords (the Ninja Zords). Granted, they didn't use the movie as canon and gave an entirely different story on the new powers/Zords through the show... but whatever. This "ninja" era was cool, especially for the fact that they had an 'in-between' power up that wasn't regular weakness, but also wasn't full power morph.

Unfortunately, this didn't last too long as they decided to go Zeo, which was a pretty cool concept, I suppose. But they couldn't keep that very long either, having to shift into Turbo. This was by far one of the stupider seasons and one of the least liked. This one, too, started with a movie. Though the movie here was used as canon, strangely enough. But like Zeo, it didn't last very long. From here they went In Space, which is supposedly one of the best seasons of the original run. In Space was supposed to be the last season, but they kinda gave it one more nudge after that one had some of the highest ratings the show has ever seen. That final nudge was Lost Galaxy, where the majority of viewers stopped watching, myself included. I don't think I made it very far into this season. And after this, they pretty much rebooted the show every season with a new concept, new characters, new everything. Some might say Lost Galaxy is the first to reboot itself, but it actually had some long-term appearances by original-run characters throughout, so I can't say it was a full reboot like the seasons to follow.

However, if you want a good, detailed look back at the Power Rangers, check out Linkara's History of Power Rangers. Those videos are amazing. Just make sure you have a lot of time on your hands, because they can be pretty long. As of this posting, he's gone all the way through Lost Galaxy, but he's going to continue on with the one-off seasons that followed.

TV Meme: Day 12 - An Episode I've Watched More Than 5 Times.

Today, Day 12--an episode I've watched more than times--was one of the harder ones to figure out. Why? Because I almost never watch episodes more than a couple times at most. And if I do, they're usually sitcoms or something like that, which I don't watch on a regular basis and thus have a hell of a time remember which episodes of what shows I've watched more than 5 times.

Do I know if I've actually watched any episodes of any show more than 5 times? Not at all. So with today's post, I'm just gonna take a wild guess. What I'm going with today is a show where I've seen the same episodes multiple times, and I know this for a fact. And the episode in particular is one of my favorites (if not my favorite), and I know I've seen it quite a few times, because I'll stop and watch it if I catch it on. So what's the show? Family Guy. And the episode? It's the thirteenth episode from Season 2, "Road to Rhode Island."

In this episode, Stewie had gone to his grandparents' house in California, and Brian volunteers to bring him back home. However, they miss their plane and have to travel cross-country by various means on their own. Meanwhile, Peter becomes addicted to marriage counseling video tapes that are presented like porn.

This episode has some incredibly memorable moments. Here are a few:

-After a few mishaps, they begin hitchhiking. They end up in the back of a truck with what appears to be illegal Mexican immigrants, where Brian has the following conversation with one of them (paraphrased):

Brian: "Me llamo es Brian."
Man: "You don't need the 'es'. Just, me llamo Brian."
Brian: "Oh, oh! You speak English. That's great."
Man: "Que?"

-Brian and Stewie end up in Austin, Texas (which looks nothing like Austin, Texas), where Brian was born. While there, they discover--to Brian's mortification--that his mother has been stuffed. The burial scene is hilarious as Stewie does a eulogy retelling the story of Abraham almost killing his son Isaac.

-All the Peter/Lois stuff with the video. One of the best parts is when Lois figures out what's going on and records over the video as herself stripping... and then when she appears in the room and begins to seduce Peter, he continues trying to watch the video of her, despite her being right there.

-And, of course, the "Road to Rhode Island" song, which just tops off an already great episode. Here's a video of it (it's not the video footage, but the song put to pictures... still, it's the song):



There are a few more great moments, but then I'd practically be telling you the entire episode. So I'll leave it at that. And that's an episode I've watched more than 5 times (I think).

TV Meme: Day 11 - A Show That Disappointed Me.

It's Day 11. Man, I'm just flying through this thing, huh? Well, it's time for a show that disappointed me. After a bit of thinking, I could only come up with one real answer.

Leverage. Now it's not a bad show by any means. It's still pretty entertaining. But here's what happened. I watched the first 3 episodes via Netflix and was blown away. The show was outstanding. It was like every episode was a heist and/or perfect crime scenario. It was exactly my kinda thing. I was loving it so much that I didn't bother to wait for the rest of it on Netflix and, instead, went out and bought the first season on DVD (it was pretty cheap).

And do you know what happened? I continue watching the show, and the quality of excellence just plummets. The majority of the episodes are no longer about heists or perfect crimes. The characters were good, but most of the middle episodes were just... incredibly lacking. Fortunately it picks back up again near the end of the season. I just wished the entire season was like the beginning and ending. Granted, there were maybe 1-2 episodes in the middle portion that were really good, but for the most part they were just... blah. Still, a thoroughly enjoyable show, but it just wasn't up to par with what I was expecting when I got it.

(For further information, I reviewed season one of the show here.)