Very early yesterday morning I received a Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection (otherwise known as a ‘walking epidural’) in my lower back to help reduce the inflammation of nerves that have made the last few months of my life very annoying. It was a non-surgical procedure, although it did require an IV and anesthesia. Apparently I’m more gregarious than usual right before going under; I remember rambling on to the kind medical staff about the World Series, wild turkeys roaming our suburb, and how much I love those Claritin RediTabs for immediate allergy relief.
A brief synopsis of right before and immediately following the procedure:
Me: “Do you buy medicine in bulk from Costco too? Hey, I feel kind of funny. Did you add drugs….”
And: scene. I’m out cold. Cut to 20 minutes later. I am behind a hideous, outdated pastel curtain in another room. Somehow they managed to turn me over so that I was lying on my back when I awoke, and for that I feel sorry for the nursing staff in retrospect. I’m sore and stiff, and feel like I’ve been run over by an 18-wheeler, but look forward to ‘roid rage. I mean recovery. Unfortunately, all of my best laid plans to finally win the office Halloween costume contest will have to be put on hold until next year due to my physical inability to actually wear my clever homemade costume. Sigh.
Long story short, because I am limited to sitting and sleeping for a week and have some time on my hands, I thought I’d blog about the random topics that have been on my mind.
AMERICAN DREAMZ
I had higher expectations for this movie, a blatant American Idol parody that didn’t fair too well at the box office. Given that it was written and directed by Paul Weitz (About a Boy, In Good Company) and featured Hugh Grant channeling Simon Cowell, I thought it had great promise. But the dialogue and flow were disappointing, and the transparent Bush and Cheney caricatures were entirely too campy. The saving grace is Mandy Moore; she really is an underrated comedic actress (see: Saved).
DEADWOOD/LOST CONNECTIONS
Was anyone else disconcerted by the sudden appearance of Trixie from Deadwood appearing as an Other on Lost? Although her role was short lived, I have to admit that it was difficult for me to imagine her as anything other than a sassy prostitute. It was also nice to see Kim Dickens (Joanie Stubbs on Deadwood) again as Sawyer’s conned ex, Cassidy. I’m sure that Liz Sarnoff, who was a writer on Deadwood and has written several of Lost’s best episodes, had something to do with their casting.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
At first it bothered me that the series is filmed exactly like the movie, pseudo-documentary style. But the acting is stellar, starting with the surprisingly compelling Kyle Chandler. He is putting his Georgia accent to good use, and his strong but flawed character is the centerpiece of the entire show. I also love Connie Britton, who not only plays Chandler’s wife in the series, but also filled the role as the coach’s wife in the film. I hear rumors that this show is on the brink for next season, as viewership is low despite critical raves. So if you haven’t jumped on the Friday Night Lights bandwagon yet, hop on now.
HEROES
Tied for my favorite new show of the season (with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). I love how each episode is a cliffhanger that does not acutally leave you waiting around all season for answers; resolution begins at the very beginning of the next show. I continue to think of Hayden Panettiere (who plays indestructible cheerleader Claire), as Ally McBeal’s daughter, but her character is fascinating and my favorite to follow among the many storylines. It is also fun to see Jack Coleman again (Steven Carrington from Dynasty), this time as a mysterious and menacing man who happens to be Claire’s father. And if there were an award for smarmy, Adrian Pasdar (a.k.a. Mr. Dixie Chick – his wife is Natalie Maines) would be the clear winner. We don’t even know if he is good or bad, but it sure is easy to dislike him on this show.
LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN
Let me first state that I am not a Josh Hartnett fan. I’ve never really understood his appeal nor have I enjoyed any of his performances in previous films. He is tolerable in this one, primarily because he is surrounded by a strong supporting cast that includes Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley and Bruce Willis. The movie attempts to intermingle aspects of The Usual Suspects with Pulp Fiction, but isn’t as good as either. I enjoyed the ostentatious set design more than the overall story and film, to be quite honest.
THE OFFICE ON MYSPACE
If you’re on MySpace and a fan of The Office, I highly recommend adding the cast as your ‘friends.’ Many of the actors post pages as their characters, and offer entertaining insights and tidbits behind the scenes of both episodes of the series and real life experiences (i.e. attending the Emmys and winning Outstanding Comedy Series in 2006). They’ve also been known to write you back if they have time. I read their often hilarious MySpace blogs (usually written while actually on set and at their desks), and my personal favorites include Pam (Jenna Fischer), Angela (Angela Martin), Meredith (Kate Flannery), and Kevin (Brian Baumgartner). Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) has a hysterical blog on NBC.com but is not on MySpace.
Side Note: Most of the episodes of The Office are produced and written by three of the actors on the show (Mindy Kaling – Kelly, Paul Lieberstein – Toby, and BJ Novak – Ryan the Temp). I love that.
PARTY OF FIVE ON ABC?
So we have both Matthew Fox (Charlie from Party of Five) and Scott Wolf (Bailey from Party of Five) gracing our living rooms once again. And they’re both playing doctors (Fox on Lost, Wolf on The Nine). The network might as well add Neve Campbell to the cast of Grey’s Anatomy and Lacey Chabert to Brothers & Sisters just so we can all enjoy the Salinger clan once again.
Side Notes: Tamara Taylor, who was Matthew Fox’s girlfriend for a season on Party of Five, plays Walt’s mom on Lost. And talk about six true degrees of separation in casting and directing – Daniel Attias has directed episodes of Party of Five, Deadwood and Lost. It’s a small world after all.
PROJECT RUNWAY
The finale was kind of anticlimactic and I thought Uli deserved to win. Clearly I am not in the fashion world, but as a woman and consumer, I was much more drawn to both her line and Laura’s. Michael appeared to fizzle out toward the end, but something tells me he’ll do just fine with his talent and popularity. In my opinion, very few women outside of the fashion and music industries would choose to wear one of Jeffrey’s pieces; Uli and Laura created clothing that have much broader appeal to everyday women.
SCRUBS V. GREY’S ANATOMY
Why, why, why?! I was thrilled to hear that Scrubs is finally returning. But NBC has scheduled it opposite Grey’s Anatomy. Yes, they’re both doctor shows, one that is really funny and one that is fairly dramatic with moments of levity. It is very frustrating that networks fail to realize that these two shows have a lot of the same audience and want to watch both shows. If NBC is really trying to bring back Must See TV comedy on Thursday nights, they should put Scrubs at 8pm, followed by The Office at 8:30pm. Place Twenty Good Years out to pasture instead at 9pm, so that Scrubs won’t have to face the juggernaut that is Grey’s. Not every household in America has TiVo or the capability to tape one show and watch another at the same time. I am pissed, so I can only imagine how Zach Braff and co. feel.
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