Glee "On My Way"

Glee's winter finale has garnered much attention over the sensitive topics discussed in the episode of teen suicide and bullying. People have been torn on whether or not Glee handled the issue correctly. The main issue which is such a concern is that such a big issue of teen suicide was folded into an already packed episode with Regionals, Finn and Rachel's wedding and the cliff hanger ending showing Quinn getting hit by a car. Although I commend the show for tackling the issue I don't feel they did enough. As much as I love the touching scene in the hospital between Karofsky and Kurt it shouldn't have happened. The show didn't go far enough and really Karofsky should have been successful in his attempt. In fact I though he was dead which I thought was a bold yet admirable statement from the show only to be disappointed when it tuns out that his dad found him in time. My problem with his failed attempt is that everything turns out fine. It's too much of a fairy tale when teen suicide and especially suicide's by bullied gay teens are being carried out all the time.

They took so much time to show Karofsky's struggle with what he was going to do only making his follow through that much more emotional. Other article I have read about the episode think that with everything else in the episode that Karofsky's suicide become trivialized but I think it's that fact that he survives which makes it trivial. What it says to me is that if you commit suicide it'll be okay because someone will save you and you'll make a new friend. He should have died to show the real repercussions of what happens to teens struggling. Yes the hospital scene is touching but we've seen it before with Santana and her grandmother refusing to accept her. The show needed to move beyond that and they failed to do that.

They did deal with the aftermath of Karofsky's attempt to a certain extent with Kurt going to the god Squad for help because he was so affected and felt bad for not returning Karofsky's calls but the show could have done such a better job. We already knew Kurt has rejected Karofsky on Valentine's Day so they should have built on that. Showed Kurt rejecting the calls and Sebastian mocking him and end with the suicide of Karofsky. Maybe since now they're going on a hiatus that wouldn't be the best thing to do but it would have made for more of a shocking ending then what they end up with. Instead they endanger Quinn, either putting her in the hospital or the grave as a cliff hanger as a stance against texting and driving. To top it off they have the wedding of Rachel and Finn to deal with. One word: Ridiculous.I do admit that I enjoyed Jeff Goldblum as one of Rachel's Dads but it took away from what really mattered in the episode.

Miami Ink & LA Ink

If you've never thought of getting a tattoo before watching either Miami Ink or LA Ink may change your mind. At the beginning I really liked Miami Ink. It was something different and about an art form I know nothing about which helped make it interesting and increase the level of my focus. The artwork is beautiful and the great thing about is that even if the pieces they do would be something that I would never get permanently on my body I can still appreciate the beauty of the art and design.

In order to ward off the repetitive nature of the show of giving people tattoos the show focuses more on the stories of the individual clients and the personalities of each of the tattoo artists. The stories are always the plus. It's interesting to hear the reason behind the tattoos people get. What has happened in their life to get to this point that they want to mark it on their bodies. The ones that are the hardest are the memorial tattoos. Although I do find it rather odd though especially when the person they are immortalizing didn't like tattoos when they were living. But people deal with death in many different ways. The one story that really stuck in my head as much for the story as Ami's reaction to is when a young woman came in to get a tattoo for her mom who was murdered by her father who then committed suicide. The story was shocking and not something Ami was expecting when he asked her the question of the tattoos origin. What can you really say to that?

Even without these stories the show would do fine with the tattoo artist. This however, is where the show lost my viewership. I love Darren Bass, Chris Garver and Kat Von D (it's telling that I only watched Miami Ink until Kat left the show). Yoji I don't really take seriously but he's good for a laugh. Although at times I like Ami's attitude both him and Chris Nunez I have problems with. My problem is god forbid a feminist one. I hate the way they treat women or rather what goes unsaid. Because the show is set in Miami there are a lot of fit women in bikinis and the guys are constantly falling over themselves. The problem is they make it obvious that they only want to work on these beautiful women and that anyone else is not worth their time. And it has gotten worse as the series progressed.

With the departure of Kat D not even Garver could keep my especially with Kat's own show LA Ink. It was amazing to me the breath of fresh air Kat's show brought to the tired format. I would attribute the differences to gender - a mostly all male cast versus a mostly all female cast. It really is amazing the differences in the atmosphere of the two shows. I do get tired of all the 'celebrities' in LA Ink although given it's location it's understandable. Also Kat is not the best business woman and I do at times cringe at her bad organization skills.

All in all I would rather watch LA Ink over Miami Ink but truth be told after five series of tattoos I'm worn out and I'm sure it doesn't help that I binge watch it which gets me tired of it sooner rather than later. Although I couldn't imagine going back to watch either Miami Ink or LA Ink or even the last in the series NY Ink every week. In the beginning I think not knowing anything about tattoos held my interest but it also caused me to lose interest overtime unlike baking shows where I could get ideas from.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Of the three television series written by Aaron Sorkin, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is by far my favorite. This may largely be due to the fact that it lasted only one season which impacted the ability of the show's writers or cast members to screw up the show. In fact its one of just a handful of shows which I consider perfect one season shows. Not that I would have minded if it had lasted more than one season but everything was wrapped up nicely by the end and you felt good about the direction the characters where going in.

Sorkin's gift is also his curse as his shows are too intelligent for broadcast television and I was super happy to hear that his new show he's working will be airing on cable where it might have a chance. I think The West Wing was a strange coincidence lasting as long as it did but even it suffered when Sorkin was away dealing with his addiction. I fell in love with his writing style, specifically the pace of it. It was so fast but it gave the show a driving force. He could do it all though - bring in comedy with wit and language, something the rest of the television landscape then and now seriously lacks, and still be able to deal with the dramatic moments.

A problem I have with Sorkin is that he repeats himself a bit too much although I guess that's part of his charm as well. I think I'm just to mystified by the great television that I don't mind that fact that he takes the same premise - a behind the scenes look - and just changes the environment which we as the audience are going behind the scenes. First in Sports Night we look at a sports show, then we have The West Wing looking at white house staff and now Studio 60 looking at how a SNL type show works. Oddly enough I didn't like the sketches, what little we saw of them, that were shown either in bits or as a whole. The point wasn't so much the sketches but rather surrounding material. Plus the comedy used in SNL is more slap stick stuff and really I just think sketch comedy isn't my thing I much prefer the use of language to promote comedy than an impersonation of Nicholas Cage. The Cage sketches went way over my head I have to say. I really didn't get them when the show first aired and now four years later. The Cage that was being portrayed didn't feel like the Cage from that moment on in time. The Nancy Grace stuff also I didn't get. If the show could have done anything better it would have been to make the sketches better and more relevant to the times. Rewatching it I took joy in seeing Howie Mandel host the fictional Studio 60 comedy show and playing on his Deal or no Deal show which I remember being so popular. Even though the sketches were for the most part horrible it wasn't what the show was really about and in consequence is overlooked by the brilliancy of the main meat of the show.  

The cast was spot on and everyone worker really well together from the main cast and the guest appearances. I'm sure I could write a 5,000 word essay about the intersexuality of Sorkin's shows and its fun to be aware of it while watching it adds another layer of enjoyment to the experience. 'The Disaster Show' with Allison Janey is a prime example. Her banter with Cal played by Timothy Busfield brought back the memories of the relationship between their characters in The West Wing. On this note, I think it's quite weird because the actor is playing themselves in a fictional world. There's a strange relationship between reality and fiction that I dwelt on while watching the show this time around. It's as if the presence of 'real' people in the fiction narrative adds to the reality of Studio 60 existing in our world. Something that wasn't apparent in The West Wing or Sports Night.

The intertexuality continues into the main cast as Danny is more or less a continuation of Josh which makes Bradley Whitford the prefect fit for the role. I absolutely love him and paired with Matthew Perry its just magic. This was such a good move for Perry after friends to still have comedy in the role but to add more drama. Some of his best episodes are his darkest which also happen to be a bit semi-autobiographical of both Perry and Sorkin and their battles with addiction. I've mentioned Timothy Busfield as another reoccurring actor but I loved the fact that he was given a regular role this time around. Sorkin writes women well and both Amanda Peet and Sarah Paulson did their characters justice. Overall it was a nice ensemble cast with a few familiar faces and some not so familiar. More importantly they all seemed very real and I'm not talking Hollywood real where everyone is drop dead gorgeous and a size 0 either. I'm talking more everyday real which is more in line with how I feel British television is cast. (I've got this thing about Phillip Davis at the moment) 

So many things could happen in just one episode because of the fast paced writing which I think makes it more akin to British television. Some may not agree but I feel that although British shows are usually limited to only 6-13 episodes for one series a lot tends to happen in a small amount of time. It's almost like they get more story out of 6 episodes than America shows do out of 22. Lately I've found that 22 episodes just makes things drag on for way too long. What happens in Studio 60 is more happens in its 22 episodes so it seems more like two series of a British show than one season of an American show. All that matters in the end is that I could watch this show over and over. It was nice for a change to watch a show in which every episode was my favorite.

DC Cupcakes

I don't even know where to begin my long list of complaints about this TLC show.TLC has been pretty good up till this point with Say Yes to the Dress and Cake Boss but DC Cupcakes doesn't live up to the standard and I've only continued watching the show to yell at my screen and write this review. I had hoped that maybe in the second series it would get better but that hope was dashed. My main problem is that Katherine and Sophia, sisters who have left the 'corporate world' (and what the hell does that mean?) to open a family bakery, should not be baking. Not that you see them doing much baking anyways, they really like to delegate tasks and then just be in charge of the frosting since they claim no one else can do it. For people whose dream it was to open their own bakery they have no clue on how much work goes into it. I realize that they must be doing fairly well because they have their show and several locations of Georgetown Cupcakes but I'm not convinced that their success will last. They run their bakery in the way that you shouldn't run a commercial bakery and I have some experience in this so I know what I'm talking about.

First off you do not measure ingredients with cups and tablespoons you weight ingredients so the product turns out the same every time. The girls seem to know nothing about baking percentages which would help them immensely. Their signature swirl should not be something they're proud of it looks like crap, and I do mean literally. The fact that they are so insistent on it being done the their way is way over the top. Really I think they do the frosting that way to cover that fact that most of their cupcakes are sunken in the middle. Not to mention sanitation problems i.e. no hair nets or when in one episode they dropped everything on the floor they just carried on!

But the ridiculousness of the show doesn't stop there. Oh no, it can't just be a bakery that specializes in cupcakes but needs to make giant projects like Cake Boss does but out of cupcakes. This to me is such a rip off. These two women are no were near qualified for the work they undertake and never understand how much work needs to go into each project before they start leaving them way over their heads always. To this end they are constantly relying on other people to finish their projects or get them started. Something that really irritated me was the constant claim of 'I'm a baker not a...' a sentenced when ended with the current job  they are sourcing out to someone else because they really aren't bakers either. And this is with them one doing one project a show whereas Cake Boss will do two or three projects per show. Plus the bases of Buddy's cakes you can eat whereas chicken wire and foam cannot be consumed and really I'm not sure I want my food on top of foam stuff. I don't care if the food comes in its own wrapper.

Overall the women are not professional with their pink aprons and matching rain boots! I mean come on! Wear a chef's jacket and non-slip shoes! Maybe if I didn't bake and couldn't point out all the things they did wrong I would enjoy the show more but really its just too frustrating for a real baker to watch or recommend. The cold hard fact is that these women have nothing to recommend them but their looks.

You Again

Much like No Strings Attached I had wanted to see You Again when I first saw the trailer and let me say it was not Betty White who drew my attention but rather Kristen Bell whom I'm a big fan of. Unlike No Strings Attached the surprise this film gave me was a good one. I went into it thinking it was going to be more of a romantic comedy than what it turned out to be. However, it was not a disappointment. It was funny and I could totally identify with Bell's character although my high school years were not as bad as hers. Bell's costume and overall look in high school was great and at least somewhat believable. I loved the fact that she by accident goes back to her high school look which just brings home the rivalry between her and her brother's fiance.

What I felt the film could have done better was worked the relationship between Bell's character and the guy she liked in high school better. It made it a bit less predictable because they didn't have that relationship but it could have worked nicely.