A Laugh a Minute (at least!)

Someone who consistently cracks me up: Joel McHale from the E Channel's The Soup. I'm sure many people could take or leave the E Channel, including most, if not all, of its programming. But I have to say, Joel McHale consistently cracks me up with the delivery of his lines and his off-the-cuff quips, not to mention the nonverbals he weaves in like his silly facial expressions. His timing is also always on the money. That, combined with his sarcasm and quick comedic reflexes, is reminiscent of talents such as Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report. McHale might not quite have reached Colbert's level yet, or it may be that his personality lends itself to a slightly different style of comedy, but either way he delivers a good laugh--and that's what it's all about!

Caso Cerrado and Locked Up Abroad

Latest shows that have us hooked: Caso Cerrado on Telemundo and Locked Up Abroad on NatGeo. Caso Cerrado is like Judge Judy but 1,000 times better and with a whole lot of Latin flavor. There are all kinds of cases, not the typical Joe Schmoe looking for some monetary remuneration, a la Judge Judy. Plus, it's a good opportunity for me to practice listening to all kinds of different accents in Spanish (although the majority seem to be Cuban since the show is filmed in Miami). Also worthy of compliment: Ana Maria Polo, who presides over the cases, is a serious card and a ton of fun to watch. She's sensitive, very charismatic, takes no BS, incorporates thought-provoking quotes by famous people, and clearly tries to make people reflect on problems that can occur in daily life and how to be a better person. Plus, she's got a great psychologist on staff that she brings in to shed some light on the psychological aspects of the cases.

Locked Up Abroad details the stories of different individuals, usually somehow involved in the drug trade or inadvertently captured by guerrillas, who end up being imprisoned abroad, as the title suggests. It's definitely a show to mix with other types of programming because the storylines can begin to blur together and seem repetitive, but all in all, a good watch.

Reuniting with "I Love Lucy"

After becoming reacquainted with some long lost episodes of I Love Lucy after a long unintentional hiatus, I've come to appreciate Lucille Ball's profound comedic and acting gifts all over again. Her expressions are priceless, her delivery is always on the mark, and she is both hilarious, annoying, endearing and lovable all at once. Perhaps I see aspects of myself in her, as many women and even men probably do, such as her devious grins while hatching a plot, her "bawls" of disappointment or fear of getting chewed out, her sheer determination to see a plan through (no matter how poorly thought out), and her ability to fight and make-up with those closest to her with no hard feelings whatsoever--and that's just scratching the surface.

A few other things I noticed this time around:

-Ricky is actually understandable when he goes on about something in Spanish (I think the problem was I just didn't understand Spanish when I was a child...).
-Sometimes the show contains some gender stereotyping that's to be expected for the time period (such as Lucy being expected to be happy as a stay-at-home mom), whereas often the show breaks with gender stereotypes for the sake of humor and possibly to promote other messages as well (like when Lucy tells Ricky he should spend his hard-earned vacation staying at home with her and taking care of their son, rather than going golfing and living it up with the boys).
-Everyone rags on Ethel for eating so much and maintaining a "fat" appearance when in reality she doesn't look particularly overweight at all by today's standards (or are we now more tolerant of her size because we see such extremes?).
-I wondered how many Latino actors were on a successful prime time show before 1951 (when the show first went on the air), and whether Desi Arnaz helped pave the way for actors of more diverse ethnicities to take center stage on popular shows after I Love Lucy aired.
-The "sleeping in separate beds while married" act still cracks me up.
-All four main characters are fantastic actors--even if the lines or plot lines are cheesy at times, they group still manage to pull of the episodes with style, one of the reasons the show's popularity continues even today.

Blast from the (Educational) TV Past

I'm not sure why this came to mind, but I started thinking about all the high quality educational programming there used to be for kids when I was a toddler and "spring chicken," and I wonder if today's shows for children are equivalent in content and caliber. My favorite programs included Reading Rainbow, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Ghostwriter, Sesame Street, and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. As far as I know, all of these shows except for Sesame Street have been discontinued, although some reruns may be on PBS from time to time. One of the major problems in maintaining these types of shows on the air is, without a doubt, funding.

What would be today's substitute for my beloved shows of yore? From what I've seen, Blue's Clues appears to be a worthy peer. I don't feel I can say the same for Teletubbies or Barney and Friends, two gag reflex-inducing excuses for shows. When I have little kids, I hope that there will be at least a few viable options for them to watch, be entertained, and learn information in a different visual format, and I also hope they'll be able to look back fondly at the educational programming of their childhood as I can.

America's Next Top Model: Crap, or Cranially Stimulating?

In the past when I heard people (and when I say "people" I mean young women) discuss Tyra Banks' show "America's Next Top Model," the word "crapola" immediately sprang to mind. Never in a million years would I have guessed that I would get hooked on it like a junkie to cheap crack. Why, you ask? Because it's chock full of psychology just waiting to be observed, that's why.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, 12 aspiring young female models are handpicked by Tyra Banks and her crew from all the women who show up at try-outs, and the lucky 12 are given the opportunity to not only be discovered, but win a contract with a modeling agency and an additional $100,000 contract with Cover Girl cosmetic company. Once the models-in-making have made the initial cut, they face two challenges a week and sometimes a third when they face the judging panel, until only one remains and takes the prize. The first challenge usually involves something to push the contestants' limits, like an acting class challenge, a commercial shoot in a completely foreign language, and the like. The final challenge each week involves a themed photo shoot, usually over the top and actually pretty artistic.

Up until this point in the description, some of you might be thinking the show is absolute snoresville. Au contraire, friends. As always, it depends on your interests and the eyes with which you watch the show, but I find no end of things to ponder or analyze when watching. First of all, I like trying to guess who will get eliminated each week and I also like to root for my favorites. From watching the show, I have a newfound respect for the hard work it takes to make it in the modeling industry. I have to admit that it would probably never be a career I'd want, but I think many of us look at the finished product, like a print ad or a commercial, without seeing the behind the scenes effort it took to produce the work. Some of the photo shoots on the show are amazing and quite enjoyable to watch if you're a photography aficionado. The final episodes are always shot at an international location, and it's hard not to jump online and book a ticket to some of those places after seeing tantalizing glimpses of the different cultures and scenery. I also get a kick out of the more than obvious product placement within the show, which is actually pretty clever in that it undoubtedly assists ANTM in keeping its bank account full and its cameras rolling.

Now to the juicy stuff: watching young women of different backgrounds interact with each other, form alliances, create friendships, bare their teeth and antagonize each other. I like watching all the different personalities in the room and how interactions change as individuals are eliminated one by one. It's also fascinating to see how different people handle criticism, and often blistering criticism at that. I also like to investigate the role self-esteem plays in the competition--whether it grows, fades, or fluctuates, and what kind of confidence the girls manifest at the outset and over the course of the competition. Some of the gals come in with an enormous chip on their shoulder, and the judges work hard to bring them back down to Earth. Others, on the other hand, don't even know the extent of what they have to offer, and it sometimes ends up being their downfall in the competition. In general, what's rewarding is when some of the contestants discover positive or negative aspects of themselves they weren't previously aware of, or when they start to embark on the journey of self-improvement and make noticeable progress.

Tyra Banks contributes a few key elements of the show as well. I still can't decide whether she's an egomaniac or whether she's more or less grounded on the whole, but she's certainly a card and she knows her industry inside and out. She's well-spoken, well-traveled, and even if she's not a Nobel Prize winner or a member of Mensa, she definitely throws kernels of wisdom and a positive attitude into the mix that keep the show upbeat and inspirational despite the fact that girls are cracking under the strain of the competition and getting axed right and left. She's definitely a proponent of sisterhood and self-acceptance, and I have to admit that she and her judging panel get a lot of the personality and psychological appraisals right.

Is watching ANTM as intellectually stimulating as reading a Stephen Hawking book? Highly doubtful. Does it contain insights and "data" that might even make watching it a worthwhile use of time? I like to think so. Not everyone will agree with me on that one, but whenever I watch an episode, I'm reminded of the thrill of social analysis and why I majored in psychology.

Dreams and Watching the Dreamers from the Outside

I must really be feeling LOST-deprived: last night I had a fabulous dream in which I was in love with Jack Shepherd and we were talking on the phone. If that isn't obsessed, I don't know what is. I guess since LOST is no longer on TV, my brain has taken over for the ABC network and has started airing its own original episodes of LOST.

There's nothing quite like a nice satisfying dream that you actually manage to remember the next morning. It could be romantic, like mine was, or action-packed with superheros or obstacles to overcome, or it could be funny and have you wake up chuckling, or it could be magical, such as the one flying dream I had that I'll never forget. I wish I was as disciplined about keeping a dream journal as I was about writing in my blog. I must add this to my "To Do" list.

As I write this post, I can't help noticing Penny taking a catnap on the couch across from me. Sometimes she stretches out her legs and separates all her toes, in what appears to be an unconscious reflex as she sleeps the evening away. Other times, a twitchy movement will catch my eye and cause me to look over, only to see her whiskers quivering spasmodically, almost in unison with her hind legs and front paws. Sometimes she'll emit a little groan, as if in her dream she let the mouse get away (or perhaps centipede, since we've discovered that she's an excellent centipede hunter).

I'm also reminded of what people look and sound like when they're dreaming. I've been known to do that embarrassing twitch as I'm about to fall asleep that not only makes my heart leap for a second but also wakes me up and causes me to look around to make sure no one saw my extremities jerking around in such an unseemly manner. Although I'm not a big talker in my sleep (according to my husband it only happens from time to time), from what I've heard, my father is often overheard arguing in the depths of slumber about some unfair call made by a referee, umpire, or some other figure of authority (at this point I think the only consolation my mom has after being woken up without hope of falling back asleep is giggling about my dad's somnolent chattering the next morning over coffee). I've even caught my husband in mid-conversation a few times in the middle of the night, although it's almost impossible to reconstruct the context the next morning, as the dream has already come and retired into the inner recesses of his mind.

If I had to choose, I'd rather dream than watch the dreamers, hands down. But that doesn't mean I can't still get a kick out of spying on the inhabitants of Dream Land once in awhile.

Lost without LOST

Well, my favorite show has come to an end. At least the first journey of watching it, that is. There is no doubt that I'll watch LOST many more times. Even after watching the show's finale, I feel the need to watch it again to make sure I caught everything. Then I'll probably watch the show again from the beginning with the perspective of knowing (but not necessarily fully understanding) how it ends. I'm also sure that someday I'll be re-watching LOST with my own children and reveling in their enjoyment of putting together the puzzle, asking and answering questions, forming their own ideas, laughing at the dialogue, getting swept up in the suspense, and loving it as much as I do. Of course, there's always the chance that they won't even like the show, but then, would they really be my kids? (I jest.)

There are those who got frustrated with LOST and left it behind. I can understand why. Some people want entertainment without having to put a lot of commitment into it. LOST requires time and thought in order to really benefit from it. Other people don't like ambiguity and want every tiny question and confusion wrapped up in a nice little package. Well, my friends, then LOST really isn't the show for you. Still others thought the quality of the show declined after the first season or so. I ask you, were we really watching the same show?

At any rate, what I loved about LOST (besides the characters that you bond with through the glass of the TV screen until it seems you've known them your whole life, the script that was witty and deftly crafted, the incredible acting talent of such a diverse cast, the dry sense of humor throughout the show, the gorgeous camera work and scenery, and the ever memorable musical accompaniments) was what it made me think about. I didn't usually expend mental energy on the details perhaps randomly or purposefully thrown in, because there were so many more powerful messages expressed. It's rare that a show communicates such a huge quantity of meaningful messages while avoiding the urge to be corny or too overtly didactic. This could only be my interpretation on the show, but after watching the finale, I couldn't help notice themes of love, forgiveness, overcoming personal fears and fear of death, focusing on the things that really matter in one's existence, self-sacrifice, a sense of "oneness" with others, and so much more that I ended up scrawling about 6 pages of notes on the wealth of messages communicated by the show, in addition to all the possible endings I could think of.

While LOST is my favorite show, that doesn't mean I can overlook what to me are obvious flaws. The production efforts of the cave in the final episode, for example. A bit cheap, I would say. Examining one of the possible endings, if what happened on the island was actually real, then Desmond really got the shaft because he was unconscious, missed the plane off the island, and didn't even wake up so as to clearly express his desires of what he wanted. Like it or lump it, he got stuck on the island until Hurley and Ben figure out a way to get him back to Penny and his son.

A third grievance: if forgiveness really is one of the strong messages of LOST, why was the Smokemonster/MiB always cast as a "bad" entity? I can understand from a plot perspective--you need to generate conflict, and everyone holding hands and singing "Cumbaya" would not fly. However, it seems to clash with what appears to be one of the principle ideas of the show.

Finally, the ever present, ever stale and unoriginal use of "black and white" symbolism was a bit disappointing. Most people creating entertainment for mainstream society nowadays can't seem to think of alternative ways of viewing that particular dichotomy. Oh well, maybe we'll save that for the next groundbreaking show.

Maybe at some point I'll devote another post to expounding the many themes I have seen emerge in LOST and the different endings I've contemplated. For now, suffice it to say that the best show in the history of television is now over, but like many things, its cultural reverberations, personal impact, and the pleasure it produces will continue to be felt for a long time to come.

Retraction

Well, it looks as though a retraction is in order. After reaching the 8th episode of "Munecas de la Mafia," things began to take a turn for the worst. Between all of the characters getting on my nerves, the unrealistic situations and script, and the awful subliminal messages, we decided to call it quits. After some further thought, my husband realized that of the three or more Colombian novelas he's seen, all of them started to nosedive at the halfway point in the series (in this case, way sooner). Undoubtedly the creators saw there was money to be made, generated 60 or more episodes, and ultimately ruined the series. It looks like the only quality novelas are from Brazil, if that. Oh how quickly things can change...

Not All Soap Operas Are Created Equal

When I hear the words "soap opera," the closest synonym that comes to mind is "crap." Just thinking about "As the World Turns," "Days of Our Lives," "All My Children," "General Hospital" and the rest of them is enough to make me cringe. My distaste for soap operas stems from many places, such as the painful performances, brain dead script, plot lines that make no sense and continue on for 50 years...dare I go on?

It used to be when I heard the word "novela" (short for "telenovela"), I got the same kind of jitters. After all, the translation for novela in English is "soap opera." However, even though American soap operas all share an equally bad playing field, Latin American novelas do not. First of all, the story lines don't continue on into eternity and beyond--novelas reach a distinct conclusion. Second, novelas are not just for housewives, as is the stereotype with American soap operas--novelas are made for everyone, young and old, male and female. Third, I have yet to see a humorous soap opera. A good novela always has humor worked into each episode, even if there is plenty of intrigue, suspense, romance and action to balance it out. That being said, it must be reiterated that not all novelas are created equal.

In Ecuador, opinions about different novelas vary, as one would expect since people will always have different tastes in entertainment. For example, there were a few Ecuadorian novelas that I saw clips of that I thought reeked, but some of my husband's relatives were glued to the screens when those particular shows aired, so who am I to judge? The consensus among most young people I talked to in Quito was that the Ecuadorian novelas were not the greatest of all time. On the flip side, they also weren't the worst. Now, I've never done a poll of the population in Mexico, but at least in South America, Mexican novelas have the worst reputation. The Ecuadorian public also doesn't concern itself with Argentine novelas, and those particular shows don't even seem to be broadcast in Ecuador or in its neighboring countries. The consensus was always that the best novelas come out of Brazil and Colombia. Apparently the novela/filming industry is strong in those countries, and there's enough money plus quality actors and writers to make novelas a successful enterprise. For those not in the know, "Ugly Betty" was a originally a very successful Colombian novela, "Betty La Fea."

I have to admit, even though it took awhile for my husband to break down my fairly rock solid aversion to soap operas, I finally took a chance on a Brazilian novela from back in the day called "La Esclava Isaura" and actually enjoyed what I saw of it. Only a few days ago I was talked into taking a chance on a fairly recent Colombian novela, "Las Munecas de la Mafia." Despite the utterly trashy-sounding title, it has not been the tortuous experience I once would have expected. On the contrary, I find myself coming back for more. It's not necessarily addictive the way LOST is, but it doesn't have to be. I'm still watching, ain't I?