You Grew Up Way to Fast

      One of the things I’ve noticed while watching reruns is that when I see a show as an adult that I had previously watched when I was much younger I wonder why I even liked it because I did not understand most of the jokes.  There’s a lot of adult themes and innuendo in sitcoms that I did not realize I was missing when I was to young for that type of thing.  One of the most recent examples of this is something I noticed while re watching Dharma and Greg in the past few weeks.  I believe when I watched it as a preteen when it originally aired I vaguely knew they were implying that Dharma’s father Larry was on drugs due to his behavior. When watching it again I realized how many specific references to the drugs they make in the dialogue its still implied but its implied with words and not just attitude.  There are references to “burning incense and eating a whole box of captain crunch”  “crème of mushroom soup” and “a stamp collection in the shed” Dharma usually referred to these things when compeering her state of mind to that of someone stoned. 

 Another example is Golden Girls I know I watched it with my grandparents when I was under the age of 8 when I saw it again in college I wondered why they let me watch something that was so about sex but I guess they knew I would not get it.  My sister and I watched the British sitcom Are You Being Served and she claims she spent a long time wondering “what was so funny about Mrs. Slocombe’s cat” (she referred to  the cat as her “pussy”).  Despite missing that joke we did sort of get the implication that Mr. Humphrey’s was gay.  Its interesting what you understand and what you don’t and what you remember when you get older. On the opposite side the Tom Baker era Doctor Who episodes I watched when I was younger were exactly the same when I watched them again in college I don’t know if this is because Doctor Who is considered a kids show or if science fiction is just easier to understand.  Even some sows that are made for kids had jokes that went over my head. I remember re-watching Tiny Toon Adventures and wondering why I liked it before when I did not get half of what they were talking about.  This was mostly cultural references to shows or movies I did not know about as a kid.  They say the grown up jokes are put in to kids shows so parents are not bored and I don’t believe in dumbing things down for kids but it was still surprising to learn that I was not getting as much out of the show as I thought.  I guess its part of the appeal of watching stuff again if a long enough time as passed then there’s new stuff that you don’t remember or did not understand the first time around.

Nick at Nite Meta

I can’t blog about reruns without giving props to Nick at Nite since they are a great source for rerun watching.  The thing that amuses me most though is when characters in a show on Nick at Nite refer to watching old shows on Nick at Nite.  The specific examples of this are both from The Nanny.  In one episode Fran is dating someone younger then her (fake) age and they are talking about the TV shows they both grew up watching the he says he saw them on Nick at Nite the reference is supposed to point out their age difference since she saw the shows when they were 1^st broadcast and he did not see them until they were reruns.  The other example is when Ms. Babcock insults Fran’s intelligence by saying she went to Nick at Nite School implying that she knows more about TV then real life.  The initial reaction to hearing shows talk about Nick at Nite on that network is to think that they are older or more time has passed but that’s only partly accurate.  When the concept 1^st started they had older shows and that’s what The Nanny episodes were referring to when that was written in the mid 90s.  Since then the criteria for getting a show on Nick at Nite does not seem to include a passage of time since the original run.  In fact I’m pretty sure they were showing Everybody Hates Chris while new episodes were still being produced and shown on the CW.  Basically the stereotype that a show has to be of a certain age or irrelevancy in order to make it on to the network no longer applies.   Even when shows are recent having them on in reruns can introduce new viewers to the material.   The reruns also provide a concentrated version of the show by having them on many days in a week and sometimes more then one episode a day you can watch all the seasons in a few months instead of over several years while they were on originally.    

Cosmos and Cheesecake

The conversation that inspired me to start this blog was about the similarities and parallels between Golden Girls and Sex and the City.  My verdict on the topic is that the Golden Girls are just older.  I think that is because the theme of both shows is something that transcends age and I don’t mean sex I mean having best friends you can count on no matter what.  The concept of close female friendship is nothing new but shows give us a condensed version.  Each set of four girls spends so much time together and their lives are so intertwined that they allow us to examine the friendships in greater detail then other relationships.  The different personalities of the characters compliment and contrast each other. On the surface you would not expect someone like Charlotte to be friends with someone like Samantha but it works. A similar example is although Sophia is not very nice to Rose she still thinks of all three girls as her daughters.  Of course the most obvious similarity between the shows is the amount of time each set of friends spends talking about men, boyfriends and sex. The Sex and the City girls can be more explicit then the Golden Girls (go HBO) but the concept of the conversation is still the same.  It’s also somewhat liberating for women to openly discuss taboo topics in a way that is more often associated with men in a locker room bragging about their conquests.  The girls talk about sex but they also talk about love, marriage their dreams for the future and the mistakes of their pasts.  Talking about sex and men is the catalyst for talking about everything else it may seem shallow but their friendships all go deeper then that. They are always there for each other in times of crisis health scares, funerals for relatives or even just a bad hair day. 

The character parallels also help both shows reach a wider audience the different types of girls mean the different women watching can all have someone to identify with. Everyone I mentioned this topic to immediately said Samantha and Blanche are the same and that is of course the most obvious. I was thinking when they said Samantha was turning 50 in the movie at what age does she become Blanche.  They do both fill the role of the stereotypical slut but they do it while still remaining likable and sympathetic characters.  Just because they sleep around does not mean they don’t have feelings they just express them in a different way from some of their other friends. 

I also think that the next character mach up is Carrie and Dorothy this is less obvious but they are both the academic of the group with Carrie being a writer and Dorothy a teacher.  They are also considered the main character at least by me. There’s probably no argument that Sex and the City is told from Carrie’s point of view but I also think Dorothy is the one who keeps the group together just by being there. Despite their flaws they are both the most grounded in reality and the first to question their friends’ choices to make sure they don’t get hurt. At the same time when it comes to their own lives they are less observant and tend to stay in relationships because they don’t think they can do any better. 

 Next I give you Miranda and Sophia I paired them up because they seem the most cynical and jaded. They are quick to make a comment or joke about a situation.  They are also more cautious and don’t want to take risks that could cause emotional pain.  They are tough and can hold a grudge and take care of themselves and their friends.  Obviously there are generation gaps which make it hard to compare Sophia to the Sex and the City girls who are all in the same age demographic but except in instances where she talks about Dorothy’s childhood she interacts with the rest of the group on an equal level. 

Since there are only two girls left everyone is probably thinking that Charlotte is not as dumb as Rose however they do both share other qualities.  They both have an innocence and naiveté that makes them vulnerable. They are also the sweetest and most forgiving of their respective groups.  They take on the nurturing maternal role trying to take care of everyone else before themselves.  They also have the highest expectations for relationships and see the good in everyone and everything around them. 

            These shows give us two groups of women in two different age groups (taking place in different decades and cities) but also show us the universal bond of talking to you girlfriends while eating or drinking working out your problems over a cheesecake and sharing good news over cosmos its all about being there for your best friends.

Welcome to the Hellmouth

Or more accurately to my blog about television reruns which I’m sure will include discussion of that and other classic Buffy episodes.  Since I always watch reruns of old or sometimes current TV shows and provide commentary about them one of my friends suggested I start writing about it for real.  I have a few topics that I already thought of so I should be adding more content soon.

Stay Tuned!