100th Post - And Some Thoughts...

Can't believe I have done a hundred of these posts. Time flies. Funny, too, that it coincides with something I have been thinking about for awhile, but was unsure how to put into words.

Recently I read a review that went into all the things that have been "wrong" with different aspects of the various Star Trek shows. One of them stuck with me and still annoys me.

The writer said that one of the problems with Star Trek: The Next Generation was that the main characters all "got along" and that was just too unrealistic for him. I thought that sounded so depressingly pessimistic! Why can't a bunch of highly intelligent and well disciplined people (as a Starship crew would be) all work at getting along and being friends? Is it that far-fetched of an idea?

Are shows where the main characters all antagonizing each other, or flat-out disliking each other, so ingrained in us now that we expect that to be the norm? Do we even WANT that to be the norm? Why can't a show that is supposed to be based in the future, with an advanced and progressive human race, be a nice place where people are capable of getting along?

This then got me thinking about the way we live now, or at least the way we seem to expect things to be. Is it wrong to want to live in a positive world, where optimism and good will are the rule rather than the exception?

It reminds me of this scene, from Knots Landing (jump to 9m 44s), after Gary dismisses Karen as a "Pollyanna":

Karen: "I wanna be a Pollyanna. I don't want to look at the world through rose colored glasses, I want the world to be rose colored. I want people to be nice. People should be nice. Nice should be the norm. I hate it that I can't trust anyone! I hate it that I can't put my daughter on the front lawn by herself! I hate it that I have to lock my car, and that I have to worry about an alarm system in my house, and I can't send cash in the mail! That's not the way it's supposed to be, Gary! I liked being a Pollyanna, I want to be a Pollyanna!"

I have to agree with a lot of what is said by Karen here: Why is it passé or naive to want the world to be a rose-colored place? Why is her positive outlook the one sneered at as silly?

Will Ferrell is a hit-or-miss comedian, but the character he played in Elf is a great one. Buddy is without sarcasm or pessimism, totally happy with the world and wanting it to be a good place filled with good people. Yeah, he grew up in the North Pole with happy little elves, but it is when he interacts with people in the "real world" that you see how out of place he is. And all he is doing is being positive, happy and upbeat. Why is he the one so out of touch?

Another example would be Phoebe on Friends. She is usually just taken as the daffy, flighty, air-head, but if you watch the character develop, she is wonderfully interesting. How many sitcom characters have a past that involves a dead-beat dad, a mom who killed herself, and a life living on the streets? Yet Phoebe is hardly ever morose and dark. She is upbeat, loving the world and her time in it. And yet again, she isn't the norm, but rather the "odd one".

I know - I am being naive. The world is too complex, filled with too many different people and cultures wanting, needing and doing different things. And it isn't bound to change any time soon.

Just sometimes makes me sad.

I guess the only way to help change things for the better is to just be one of the positive, upbeat, optimistic people, no matter how "cool" it is to be dark and pessimistic.

Maybe, someday, rose-colored will be the norm.

Top Ten TV Characters

Top Ten Favorite TV Characters

Over at Michael May's Adventureblog was this great meme. I loved it, and some of his choices, so I decided to give it a go myself.

Two things: 1) I did my list in chronological order, from when the characters first appeared on TV. I just had too hard a time ranking them from 10 down to 1. So, it is enough that they are in the top 10 for me.

2) This could change next month, or next week, or even tomorrow. That is one of the fun things about lists like these!

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Samantha Stephens (Bewitched)



Wow. What can I say? Sam was so not like any housewives or mothers my little boy brain knew back in the 70s. Magic aside, she was something else, almost otherworldly. And the fact that she was head-over-heels in love with a nerd like Darrin gave hope to a generation.

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Col. Steve Austin (The Six Million Dollar Man)



He was my idol as a kid. Totally screwed up in a major accident, he has some amazing surgeries and comes back even better. Dealing with leg issues myself since birth, I had a sort of affinity towards Steve. He gave me hope. And he was always cool, yet still a good guy.

And he was in love with ...

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Jaime Sommers (The Bionic Woman)



I debated whether or not to add Jaime, as I already had one bionic person on this list. But Jaime meant a lot to me, as well, and in different ways. She was kind, caring and beautiful, yet she was also dealing with her bionic replacement parts. She wasn't always comfortable being "different" and that resonated with me in a big way.

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Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote)



Time and again, people look at me like I am crazy when I mention my fondness for this show. But I don't care, I love it.

Jessica was always fair, always open-minded and always caring. And smart. You couldn't pull the wool over her eyes for very long, and if you did something wrong, from a lie to premeditated murder, she would call you on it. No matter what, she was hopeful. Hopeful that not only would her latest trip go without a hitch (yeah, right!), but hopeful in the goodness of people. Even if she was sometimes sadly mistaken.

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Ryan Dallion (Friday the 13th: The Series)



I could really include any of the three leads from this show. Micki (played by Louise Robey) and Jack (played by Chris Wiggins) were great characters, and as an ensemble, the trio clicked better than most I have seen. But Ryan was the one I liked best, the one I associated with the most.

He was just a few years older than I was, and the character was so similar to myself. He was a comic book geek, a bit arty, total father issues and a family that had collapsed around him. But he was optimistic, always looking for the bright side, the good in people. He was responsible and brave, even if he sometimes surprised himself. When the character was written out of the show, I felt the loss keenly. Might be totally nerdy to say so, but there it is.

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Fox Mulder (The X-Files)



Many fans of "Friday the 13th: The Series" see lots of similarities in that show and "The X-Files". I see them too, and not the least of which is in the resemblance of Ryan Dallion to Agent Fox Mulder. Mulder is like a grown-up Ryan, in a "real" job.

Mulder, however, is his own character altogether. The nerd who believes in the "out there" stuff, he was always outside of the "cool" group. You don't get a nickname like Spooky for nothing. But Mulder was always ready to believe the unbelievable, ready to let his mind go where common sense would tell him otherwise. I think the character was more complete with Agent Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson), as the two completed and contrasted each other in such perfect ways. Mulder wasn't perfect, but he knew it. And he was okay with it.

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Phoebe Buffay (Friends)



Phoebe was the most obscure, most original of the "Friends" cast. She was the one who shouldn't have belonged to the group, but did. She had a huge heart, but she was also not one to pull punches where truth was concerned. She called things like she saw them.

But she was always there for her friends, even when all they could talk about were themselves. And she remained true to herself, no matter what. Whether it was her musical "talent" or her views on just how the world worked, she was always herself.

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Adrian Monk (Monk)



This one I wavered on, more than once. And I can see myself changing my mind soon, replacing Monk with Charlie Crews from "Life" or Patrick Jane from "The Mentalist". But, as of right now, I am sticking with this choice.

Monk is like the Sherlock Holmes of modern TV, the detective who can spot the clues all the other detectives overlook. Played with a level of pure sadness by Tony Shaloub, Monk knows he has more flaws than he can deal with, but he still gets up and out there each day, partly in tribute to his murdered wife, Trudy, and partly to (he hopes) catch who it was that killed her. I think one thing that makes me less a die hard fan is the fact that Monk doesn't ever seem to grow or improve. I know it is done to keep the character the way viewers enjoy him, but it can be a bit frustrating after all this time.

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Dexter Morgan (Dexter)



Played with such conviction by Michael C. Hall, Dexter is the villain you forget is a villain, a serial killer. Taught by his step-father to hide his true self, Dexter lives a life of normalcy that seems real to all around him. But Dex reminds us, time and again, that it is all an act to keep the true man inside him hidden and safe.

Sort of like an anti-hero Batman, who is more at peace being the Batman and using his true identity as Bruce Wayne as a cover to keep Batman safe, Dexter the killer is the real deal. And it can be scary to find yourself seeing logic in some of the immoral choices Dexter makes.

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Olive Snook (Pushing Daisies)



All of the characters on this show were great, quirky and fun. It is a show that should have had a good long run. But, that won't be the case.

Olive was the most fun, for me. She was vivacious, charming, sweet, caring ... just a blast. She was the "outsider" among the group, kept out of all their secrets, yet called upon time and again to help them out. And she did so, even though it hurt her a bit to be included only so far into their circle. Truly a great character, they should spin Olive off into a show of her own. And if that can't be, then someone else should get the wonderful Kristen Chenoweth into a show of her own. She is too awesome to just fade away.

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So, what are your Top Ten TV Characters?