BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (JOSS WHEDON, 1996-2003)
Pretty sure I have class way the fuck over on the opposite side of campus in five minutes, but instead of hustling over there or buying books that I’m supposed to have read this past weekend in preparation for lecture, I am sitting in the Science Center photoshopping my face onto Sarah Michelle Gellar’s body and IMDBing all the movies she’s ever been in.
ZOMG BRING BACK DA MEMORIESSSS.
WB MARATHON AT MY PLACE, LADIEZZZ~~~
— Jeff Winger on “Community” on the perfect retort
I may or may not judge people on how much they like watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In other related news, true happiness does come in the form of kitty GIFs. Meow.
— Ari Gold on Entourage
Does anyone else remember the show Popular on the now-defunct WB? I was in fourth grade in 1999 when it first began airing, but all I really remember was how much I loved every minute of the scheming trash every episode diligently provided, way more than a normal fourth grader should.
Sisterly love… of an alternative kind.
Every show the WB churned out in the late ’90s/early 2000s led me to believe that when I was “all grown up,” I, too, would a) go to boarding school and Yale (you’d only find this funny if you know me or grew up with me) b) cut off my hair in a fervor of self-actualization, or c) realize my witchcraft genes and vanquish demons in leather halter tops. In essence, reality wasn’t actually reality. If the WB didn’t take a sort of lifestyle and manifest it as a paradigm of maturation, it wasn’t a life worth living. But what I believe to be Ryan Murphy’s master oeuvre did this in a way that was much more believable than the rest. In a nostalgic wave, I did what every predictable fangirl in her right mind would do and Wikipedia’d that shit. Mary Cherry’s character description should give a good impression of what the show was all about.
“Mary Cherry (always referred to by both herself and all other characters with both names) is an idiotic, bubbly cheerleader in the popular group. Mary Cherry comes from a very rich family, and as a result tends to be spoiled and rude to those who aren’t popular, though she is exceedingly generous with her money. Mary Cherry has a long history of mother issues; her mother, Cherry Cherry (Delta Burke), often insults and degrades her even though she claims to love her. Mary Cherry’s character is a consistent example of the series’ brush with hyper-reality; she is seldom believable as an actual person, and is often referred to as “borderline retarded” by other characters, but appears as a great comic effect throughout the series. She develops a crush on Harrison, whom she calls “Joe” even though she eventually reveals that she does in fact know his real name. In the final episode of the series, it is revealed that she has a long-lost twin sister, “B.Ho”, who was raised in the Bronx. After Mama Cherry chooses B.Ho over Mary Cherry, Mary Cherry becomes an orphan.”
Ummmmm… so yeah. Maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to admit my past. The plot seemed completely basic and plebaien-esque, allowing viewers to laugh off the irrational emotions of the characters in the story, so easily manipulated because of unreasonable insecurities and paranoia. Yet often, most people without fail become victims of their own self-consciousness, especially in an environment filled with egomaniacs disguising their self-loathing. In retrospect, it doesn’t seem all that shallow—certain parts of my high school experience did somewhat resemble this microscopic examination of social hierarchy and could be referred to as a four-year trivial buffoonery. (Hell, it can even resemble where I am now.) And if a show featuring David Hasselhoff can still be at the top of the Nielsen ratings (deja vu, anyone?), I don’t feel guilty at all about swooning over the past life of Ugly Betty’s Henry Grubstick.
OK, so maybe that nostalgic wave was more of a tsunami.
“Every now and then, we have these little gatherings, and Leslie gets plastered. One time, I convinced her to try to fax someone a Fruit Roll Up. She, one time, made out with the water delivery guy. In her office. On Halloween, she was dressed up as Batman. Not Batgirl; Batman. And I convinced her to go stop a crime that was going on outside. And it is my favorite thing in the world.” —Tom
Dream team. Of Indiana.
Why did no one tell me that Parks and Recreation is an amaaaaaaazing show? And here I was, watching syndicated and sexy Levar circa 1989 read me bedtime stories—INAPPROPRIATE.
I’m furious. It’s like all the magic of The Office, only minus a really annoying sometimes-dick named Steve Carell. Isn’t this a guy who’s supposed to be funny? I feel like it’s the chest hair that’s sucking the comedy out of him.
— My mother
— Conan O’Brien (also answers to “God”)
“Um… when you first became a baby daddy, did you have an immediate connection with that baby, like the first time you held it. Did you find that, with your baby baby?” —Michael Scott, The Office
It always bothered the very core of my inner grammar Nazi that the term “baby daddy” exists, and this episode totally proved my point. There is the current common assumption that society is on a cognitive downward spiral, but pardon me if I continue to question whether this type of obvious lexicon is really necessary.
| Brian: | So what was it like on the other side? |
| Stewie: | It was all right. I met Jesus. |
| Brian: | Oh, what's he like? |
| Stewie: | Believe it or not, he's Chinese. |
| Brian: | Oh, really? |
| Stewie: | Yeah, and his last name is Hong, Jesus Hong. He said he doesn't know where everyone got Christ. |
— Paris Gellar from Gilmore Girls
