Hello Nurse: GH Hosts the 2016 Nurses' Ball

     It's hard to top an event when it's been done for the better part of 20 years, but General Hospital piqued my interest for this year's Nurses' Ball. The show has had it's share of dramatic moments over the last 50+ years and it did not disappoint. All you need to know (outside from the very obvious intricate relationships between characters that are made very clear) is that the NB is an event to raise money for GH for the cause of fighting HIV/AIDS. There are disasters, lots of musical numbers (everyone in this tiny NY/Canada border town is a showboater), and hostess Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) usually ends up with her clothes falling off (but not this year). Nobody thoguht last year's ball could be topped. We discovered Jake Doe was really Jason Morgan (see more below) and we saw this unravel Elizabeth (who knew the truth and kept Jason away from his family). Plus, Ric Lasing proposed to ex-wife Elizabeth and got turned down, humiliated and had all of his evil plans exposed.

Lucy Coe and Richard Simmons  at the Nurses' Ball of Yesteryear (GH Wiki)

Here are the 10 moments that topped 2015:

Image from General Hospital Wiki

10. MURDERER BEFRIENDS KID

     Someone let goofy (murdering) Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth) near children for art therapy? This might have worked when James Franco played the character, because James Franco is soap opera hot, but let's think about this. This guy murdered multiple people for his "art" including the beloved Emily Quartermain. Elizabeth seems to be way too relenting about this whole arrangement of her kid hanging out with Franco, the guy who murdered her best friend!

9. A BUNCH OF OLD CHARACTERS GO TO THE BALL TOGETHER?

Image from Biography.com

     Laura Spencer has had quite the 30 year career on this show, and the first real "ship" couple, Luke and Laura. With Luke (Tony Geary) finally leaving the show last summer, Laura (Genie Francis) has been kicking around trying to save her dumb, adult children from completely ruining their lives. She has mostly been failing at this. They have a small brood of unruly children, and her son Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) bailed out on his wife. Son Nikolas's life fails are outline below. Even her daughter Lulu has made some stupid choices...

    I think we haven't seen the last of Luke yet, but in the meantime, Laura showed up with no ticket, and was able to score an armed escort with psychiatrist Dr. Kevin Collins (John Lindstorm). So hello 90's, what end of the hospital has he been working in all this time?




8. EVERYONE'S STILL TALKING ABOUT CARLOS RIVERA

Image from GeneralHospitalBlog.com

    What is the big deal with this guy? At last year's Nurses' Ball, Carlos was on the run for something bad Then he murdered Duke Lavery after the ball. Now, everyone is trying to figure out who shot Carlos. (It was... oh who cares?) Now Carlos is gone. There have been a lot of murders and deaths in this town that people have made less of a deal about.
   
As far as I'm concerned, he  can get his own spinoff entitled:
 Were In The World Is Carlos Rivera... And Does Anyone Really Want to Find Him?"

7. THE OLD CARLY IS BACK! (NOT LITERALLY) 

Image from Giphy

     Carly Too-Many-Last-Names* (Laura Wright) is finally back to her evil tricks. She cat fights in the bathroom moments before her brother is supposed to get married and she wins! Carly walks out with enough dirt on her husband's baby mama Ava to keep Ava's child away from her forever.

* Her Full name with marriages is something like:
Caroline Leigh Benson Roberts Quartermain Corinthos Alcazar Jacks Corthinos




6. NED ASHTON STILL THINKS HE IS A ROCK STAR
     One of Port Charles' favorite rock stars (there are two, and the other one is played by Rick Springfield) made a rare appearance to duet on Don't Go Breaking My Heart with his dead sister-in-law's cousin's kid. All hail Eddie Main!

5. ROBIN'S BACK AGAIN!

Image from GeneralHospitalBlog.com

     Fan favorite Kimberly McCullogh played Dr. Robin Scorpio Drake from 1985-2001 as a child/teen and has been on and off since 2004. She is the hart of the nurses' ball and is a character living with HIV. Long story short, Robin was presumed dead for a while (She was kidnapped on one of the Cassadine Islands, as most of the people on this list were), but she came back. Nobody is really surprised when she pops back into town at this point.



4. THE GAY WEDDING GOT CALLED OFF DUE TO... NEEDLES?

Image from Soaps.sheknows.com

     First the mother of a groom, Bobbie Spencer (Jackie Zeman) collapses. She got injected with something backstage (and this is the least that has happened to Bobbie). When her son Dr. Lucas Jones (Ryan Carnes) arrives with her at the hospital, he was also stuck with a needle. Who's to blame, and is this a hate crime?  It looks like Dr. Liesl Obrecht is mad that nobody wants to see her perform. I'm not sure if this performance denial is her motivation for needling people, or something to do with Carlos Rivera being her grandkid's baby daddy. Can someone on this crack detective squad solve a crime correctly for once? Why hasn't Lisel tried to pick up said grandchild from the clutches of Tracey Quartermain while her daughter Sabrina is AWOL? Why did Sabrina leave her baby with the Quartermains, only to ditch her reunion with her kid to sing the last song of the ball? Please, PCPD, solve any one of these questions!

3. SAM MCCALL-MORGAN IS THIS TOWN'S DA VINCI

Image from Giphy

     Kelly Monaco's Sam came to town as a salvage boat captain after playing Dr. Collins' daughter Livie on Port Charles. She charmed Jasper Jax and ended up in the protection of Sonny and Jason. I honestly cannot pinpoint a job this woman has had since she became involved with the mob guys, but in this one ball, she danced in a salsa number and served as a best man to  a wedding that didn't happen. Plus, she is gaining back the trust of Jason.



2. JASON MORGAN'S ACCIDENT GOT HIS MEMORIES BACK

Image from General Hilarity Blog

     Jason (Morgan) Quartermain (currently played by Billy Miller)  used to be a rich prepster. He lost his memory in a car accident caused by his brother, A.J. Then Jason got amnesia and became the right hand of a "coffee importer", mob boss Sonny Corinthos.  A lot of other stuff happened! Jason's nephew Michael became sonny's stepson, and  everyone had some more kids. Plus, he lost his memory for about 6 months  and thought his name was Jake last year. A few weeks ago, Jason got in a car accident, saved one of Sonny's other sons, Dante, in the crash. Now Jason has old memories and new memories. He is now trying to reconcile with his wife, Sam, as Jason 2.0, Jason is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He has connections to his past and the ability to feel emotions again, which may make him a terrible mob enforcer, but it's all he's known for so many years.

1. NIKOLAS CASSADINE IS A BADDIE... AND POSSIBLY DEAD?

Image from HighlightHollywood.com

     I'm not sure I followed the whole Nikolas (Tyler Christopher) blackmailing and sham marriage to Hayden and stolen diamonds bit, but I know one thing for sure. Nikolas wanted Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) all to himself last year, and he let her unravel by revealing Jason's true identity and made her go all Fatal Attraction on Jason/Jake (see #2).  Also, his nutso grandmother (R.I.P Helena) was the one who kidnapped and sometime brainwashed half the town (usually when they're presumed dead). Nikolas always wanted to circumvent his wild Russian royal family and their blackmailing, murder and kidnapping. Way to parent this guy, Laura Spencer. But when Jason (who is Nik's cousin's husband) confronted him after the ball, it looks like Nik landed at the bottom of a cliff. Now, Nikolas is missing. Who is watching little Spencer? His Aunt Elizabeth is a hot mess, his Uncle Lucky split because he is a terrible father to a his brood of children from other daddies, his grandma Laura is out picking up anyone left at the hospital, and his Aunt Lulu is making dagger eyes at her stepbrother Dylan's new girlfriend and nursing her injured husband Dante back to health after the Jason accident. Yes, everyone in this town is over-related. It's really gross when you think about it, so don't. I don't even want to point out Spencer's mom Courtney used to be married to Jason, who then married Nikolas's cousin Sam, and they are suspects in Nik's disappearance.

     Which brings me to the most  important question. How do people get out to Nikolas' Wyndamere/Spoon Island so quickly? Is there a speedboat I'm unaware of? It's an island and these people are walking there minutes after announcing they are off to the island.

UPDATED JUNE 3rd

So Long, Jimmy

     Has anyone ever held on to the fantasy of their estranged grandparents getting back together? Well little Edie (played by twins Emelia and Layla Golfieri) is oping for two generations to patch things up. Edie is a toddler being raised by a curious group of family in a fairly "Full House". Her app-developer dad and resident sensetive guy Gerald E. Kingsley (Josh Peck) and entrepreneur-without-a-cause mom Vanessa (No-last-name like her icon Rhianna) played by singer Christina Milian. Gerald is also the product of two unlikely parents, hippie social worker Sarah (Paget Brewster, a.k.a. Kathy from FRIENDS), and an unknown father, until the first episode of this show. Gerald shows up at a an L.A. barely-hotspot, Jimmy's, and announces to Jimmy Martino (John Stamos) that he is his long-lost 25-year old son. Jimmy doesn't know how to fit into a family that plays an elaborate game to choose a movie night, let alone how to grandparent or parent a child. He makes an elaborate show of ditching Thanksgiving to take a model girlfriend to the beach. As soon as Jimmy meets a more recent ex of Sarah, he jumps in, trying to show Gerald he can be more of a dad than a guy that raised him for several years.   In the end, Jimmy realized he only wanted to be the his family on the holiday.       

     Over time, the family wears Jimmy down with their kindness. He makes up for lost time with Gerald and little Edie. As expected, jokes about about popular culture, trying to be cool, taking care of children, and Jimmy's obsession with his hair abound.  Yes, it's a bit hokey. It is also loaded with "back together" cameos Bob Saget (as an old pal of Jimmy that wants to keep partying), Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) as a crude potential investor for Gerald's app. The storylines are a bit cliche at times,  but Stamos' charm is never wavering. My favorite episodes included one where Gerald and his dad pretend to be a gay couple to get Edie into a fancy preschool (Edie's Two Dads). In another,  SNL alum Nasim Pedrad (Budget Spa) takes Jimmy on a wild date that makes him realize he craves too much validation from women.  Every character's life generally improves from time spent in this unlikely group. Weekly family dinners happen at Jimmy's restaurant, whether cranky Annalise (Kelly Jenrette) has gotten them a table or not. Yes, Jimmy's sous-chef Ravi and personal assistant Annalise are reluctant at first, but enjoy hanging around with the Kingsley clan. Ravi tries to hard to be liked and be a part of Jimmy's family, while outwardly Annalise could care less. Shy Gerald breaks out of his shell, winning over Vanessa, who goes after tough guys with motorcycles and tattoos. Sarah remembers how wild she was hen she knew Jimmy, and learns to forgive him for not being there for her, and forgives herself  for not telling Jimmy they had a son.

     Jimmy needs this new family, plain and simple. We learn toward the end of the season in a heartbreaking origin episode (Jimmy's 50th, Again) that his dad was never proud of him and he filled the last 20+ years with meaningless flings so he didn't have to connect with anyone. When Jimmy meets tough businesswoman and Queen of the "Thanks for last night" muffin basket, Catherine Sanders (Regina Hall), he has his first honest relationship in years. Jimmy also learns how terrible he has treated women in the past. This is also the same point when Sarah admits she has rekindled feelings for Jimmy. Is one big, happy Kingsley clan in the horizon? The answer is NO! 

     The show wrapped season 1 a few weeks ago and was unabashedly cancelled by FOX along with The Grinder. We were left with Gerald's proposal scavenger hunt  for Vanessa gone horribly wrong but accepted. Jimmy's father passed away. Sarah broke up with her boyfriend the day before they were moving in together. Jimmy told Sarah he broke up with Catherine, then went to really break up with her in a dramatic airport run. Sarah discovered this from her granddaughter, and "pulled a Jimmy", leaving Mr. Martino flying solo at a Cure concert, like he stood her up 25 years ago. While I have wrested with my definition of "pulling a Jimmy" (muffin baskets after a one-night stand,  keeping a secret vault of  moisturizer and tanner, namedropping "B' list celebrities), I think I came come to the true definition. Pulling a show off the air while it was developing an emotional heart is "pulling a Jimmy". It is so hard to find a delicate balance of funny, hokey and emotionally moving these days, and FOX pulled a show that is doing all of this. Seriously, does anyone think they are writing this week on Brooklyn 99? Bad move, FOX.

Fred Savage: Super Host

From Guest... (From OneNewsPage)

     I'm calling it here, I think Fred Savage is a great guy and the best of the Savage brothers. Fred hosted Monday and Tuesday's Live! with Kelly (Ripa) shows, and they were both solid slam dunks. Fred brings such a fun energy to the show for 9 A.M.  Fred loves travel trivia and all of the confetti launced into his water. He talked with the best of them,  charming The Bachelorette and the (Game of Thrones) Queen of Dragons in one day. Fred just might be Kelly's new co-host in light of Michael Strahan's recent and abrupt departure for a full-time gig on Good Morning America.

... to Co-host (From Perez Hilton)

One Republic Has "All The Right Friends In All the Right Places" - Ryan Tedder's Musical Genius

Ryan Tedder (noun) - one of the brightest songwriters on the Pop music scene in the new millennium.

     Ryan Tedder is the lead singer of Pop/Rock band OneRepublic. He is the musical equivalent of the Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man in the World" because his discography has its own Wikipedia page. He plays the piano. He is also pretty handsome. OneRepublic played the tonight show last week to drop their new catchy single, "Wherever I Go". The music video link is very amusing. This caused me to do some binge-listening to Tedder's other classics. The lyrics offer little to the imagination, as they are very honest, direct with feelings and pull at your heartstrings. Here are the 5 best OneRepublic singles.

5. Apologize (2007) Featuring Timbaland
Tedder's first big single is one of his showstoppers. It's slow building orchestration on the piano and Timbaland's faraway hey-ayy-heyy lead off with a haunting waltz. The slow beat is magnified by lyrics like  "I need you like a heart needs a beat.." but as the song clearly explains, it is too late to apologize. That is the  2007 equivalent of Taylor Swift saying "We are never getting back together. Like Ever." Country singer Luke Bryan does a great twangy cover of this on his Doin' My Thing album.

4. Come Home (2009) Featuring Sara Barielles

Sara Barielles (C) PipPepPop

     This is another OR ballad filed with pianos, strings and joined by the beautiful voice of Sara Barielles in perfect harmony.
" Right now there's a war between the vanities/
   But all I see is you and me/
   And the fight for you is all I've even known/
   Ever known.... so come home."
There is such a deep pain and longing in this song. Tedder and Barielles both plead with each other that all can be forgiven if the other one just gives in and comes home.  I can't help but get my teary eyed every time I hear it.

3. Secrets (2009)
     This ballad is reminiscent of Apologize because of the gorgeous sweeping orchestrations, but its even better. Secrets is different about Apologize because it is about hope. The previous song is about closing doors and ending ties, but this one is abut opening up to begin something honest and new. It is just the most beautiful song. This song was used in many advertisements, notably for the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice and ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars.  Tedder's lyrical genius includes lines "Tell me what you want to hear/ something that will light those ears, sick of all the insincere, I'm gonna give all my secrets all my secrets away."


2. Counting Stars (2013)

     First of all, this song moves at a fast clip (see more about the 'Tedder beat' in #1). What may sound like verbal vomit is actually deep thoughts from Tedder about survival. I consider it to be somewhat like  Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," but with less world events. When he says "Everything that kills me, makes me feel alive," he is #winning and wiping your face in it. Tedder has dreams that are more important than dollars, and he believes hope is a 4-letter word. My first favorite line in the song comes in the building bridge back to the chorus: "Take that money / watch it burn /  sink in the river /the lessons are learnt." Life sucks, but its how you bounce back that really matters. My second favorite part of the song is in the above image.  Tedder does a superb job of rhyming his 4 pre-chorus verses.

1. Love Runs Out (2014)
     This song echoes a typical repeating bass line (on the piano) or "Tedder driving beat," as I have dubbed his sound. It's easy to see why the song became the official anthem to the recent season 2 of ABC's How to Get Away with Murder. This music video is pretty amusing for starters, and seems to have nothing to do with the song. The lyrics are simple but decisive. The song is intense, relentless, and passionate, like the accompaniment. Here is the rhyming couplet that holds this song together: "I'll be doing this /  if you ever doubt /  'til the love runs out / 'til the love runs out."

    Check back for Ryan Tedder's best productions and collaborations with other artists. He has done over 80 well-known and released songs in the last 10 years. This will blow your mind!

Why Peggy Carter Was the Best TV Superhero

"If I'm working with him (Vernon Masters*) to take down a woman

 killing people with black space goop, the I'm in."

 -Chief Souza (Enver Gjokaj) to SSR Director Thompson 

* Vernon Masters is Kurtwood Smith, Eric's dad from That 70's Show, just to assist in this visual).

Image from Google

     Did you ever have one of those dreams with singing and dancing that was supposed to bring clarity to a decision you had to make? British-born SSR Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell)  did, after getting swift knock in the head and thrown in a van on its way to the desert. After that, she tried to escape put of the desert with loyal friend (and recent attempted murderer) Mr. Jarvis. Good thing Agent Carter wore a pantsuit before this mission. How did she come to arrive here? What will she do next? It's not such a simple story.

     Season 2 of Agent Carter was poorly sandwiched between breaks of Agents of the S.H.I.E.LD., a show that one must watch religiously if they want to understand each Marvel Avengers movie. The second round picked up shortly after the season 1 capture of Russian spy "Dottie." The SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve) is a post-WWII, CIA-type organization that evolves into the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. In closing  the Dottie case,  NY office member Daniel Souza is sent to head up a new branch in Los Angeles, fronted as a talent agency.  When a woman turns up frozen in a lake, Chief Thompson (Chad Michael Murray) sends Peggy to Hollywood,  where she settles into old pal Tony Stark's (SR., not Ironman) mansion and gets into some good old-fashioned spy work. This eventually lands Carter and Stark's butler Jarvis (James D'Arcy) in the desert, captured and plotting escape.

     Why is Peggy Carter such a badass? I've never been much for superhero stories, but I think part of the character's appeal is that she is a positive female role model. To be honest, I started watching this shoe because I missed Chad MM, but I stayed for the likable heroine. She doesn't have super powers like Supergirl or Buffy or any of the powers-driven Avengers (I'm still trying to figure out if  Scarlett Johanson's (Black Widow) super power is disapproving, pouty stares) but she is out fighting bad guys, breaking codes, and sneaking into dangerous parties to save the country. Plus, she is doing this all in the 1940's  when most women were at home having babies and riveting to help the war effort. Agent Carter is part of the actual war effort! She chooses her career over love (time and again) and she may not always be rewarded, but she fulfills her deep commitment to duty and to her home country and adopted home of the U.S.A.  Agent Carter was introduced in the first Captain America movie, which I could not watch all the way through on T.V. tonight (it got a little boring). Peggy takes a liking to Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a test subject in a  super soldier program, who becomes Captain America. But Peggy is not doting or wallowing too much when she loses Capt. into the ocean (2nd Capt. America movie). She is out fighting Nazis and Russians with the best of them while she moves on with her life. Plus, she looks like Carmen San Diego in that flowy trench coat.

     Agent Carter and Mr. Jarvis get out of their predicament and prevent total chaos in a studio back lot. In a nutshell, a delusional scientist-turned-actress Whitney Frost (played by Wynn Everett, and what a nice name for a villain) has accidentally dosed herself and Carter's possible love interest Dr. Jason Wilkes with a substance called Zero Matter*. Zero matter gives you a ghost-like quality and some weird powers. See below for some more clarification. Frost ( tries to take all the Zero Matter for herself and feeds the evil inside her, destroying anything that gets in her way. Bodies start to pile up as Zero Matter further falls into the wrong hands and the secret government committee that once OKs it gives up. Frost tries to open up a time rift and the gang gets a gamma ray to zap all of the Zero Matter into another dimension. Crazy Frost is partially deformed and locked up in a mental institution. Chief Souza thought moving to L.A. would help him get over Peggy, and he gets dumped by his fiancee because of how much her still cares for Peggy. Mr. Jarvis's wife is shot over the whole Zero Matter fiasco and in her the recovery, discovers she can never have children. Peggy is more confused than ever over choosing Jason (now corporeal again) or Chief Souza (freshly jilted).  Finally, Director Thompson steals an incriminating file on Carter from baddie Vernon Masters and gets shot as the episode closes.

     Where are we now? The show has been cancelled, so we are lost. Technically, nothing is ever over in this crazy T.V./Movie Marvel universe, but it's unlikely people will go back in time and spend much time with this lovable gang of (misfit) spies without some major retooling and selling the story off to someomone like Netflix.  But the fan support is still there. We need more shows like Agent Carter. There's  such a strong reliance on technology in modern-day adventures that it's refreshing to see characters using their resources like their knowledge to help solve a problem (pre-Google era, everybody). The themes present in Agent Carter and other stories of its time also ring true to today's society. America is fighting many foreign threats that may destroy the way we live. The enemy may change, but the bravery of a hero is s story that will live on. Also, Peggy and her friends show us that even super spies cannot always leave their feelings at the door, and a true hero uses emotion and instinct to get results.

*Zero Matter per Wikipedia: 

"It is a powerful, extra-dimensional energy that can be manipulated in slightly different ways by a handful of beings that are attuned to it. There are slight yet inconclusive hints that it may be a corruptive influence of some kind (at least to Cloak, possibly to Darkhawk as well) and perhaps even a sentient entity." 

6/2 UPDATED: Star Hayley Atwell would love to play Peggy again.

Good Wife, Great Lawyer, Terrible Friend

     Alicia Florrick's story came to an end Sunday night, but the ending was less of an ending than legendary "meta" show endings like The Sopranos.  Alicia (Juliana Margulies) has often been referred to as "Saint Alicia", the First Lady of Illinois, Peter's wife, and  Grace and Zach's mom. Yes, she is no doubt The Good Wife. When her State's Attorney husband Peter (Chris Noth, a.k.a. Carrie Bradshaw's Mr. Big) went to jail for corruption (and using government money for hookers), Alicia stood by him, sold the house, and got the kids set up in a stable home and public schools. She the got a job at the only firm that would hire her, ran by an old college pal, Will Gardner.

     Despite her occasional bad moments this season (calling in sick to work to spend the day in bed with her bad boy investigator Jason), and giving into her long-brewing affair with Will (Josh Charles) in season 4, Alicia is almost too nice. The most bold things she has done (running for State's Attorney, leaving Lockhart/Gardner to start a firm with Carey) were both things she had to be talked into. Time and circumstances have made Alicia more "bad", (relatively of course) because drinking too much wine and disrespecting her mother-in-law Jackie (Mary Beth Peil) are usually her worst crimes. Mrs. Florrick defended known mob boss Lemond Bishop (Mike Colter) and suspected wife-murderer Colin Sweeney (Dylan Baker) but never got involved in anything against the law. At the forefront of Alicia's moral code, the law is there and emotion is a close second.

     But "Saint Alicia" tossed off her halo in the series finale last week, giving into passion (not of the carnal variety), but in the "save my family" variety. With Zach running off to Paris to marry a grad student and Grace threatening to postpone college for a year, Alicia needed to get her ducks in a row. Her highness threw her partner and now ex-friend Diane Lockhart's (Christine Baranski) marriage under the bus to win a case, using associate Lucca to get the job done. Alicia insinuated Diane's ballistics expert husband could not be objective in his testing report because he had an affair with his protegee, a second ballistics expert called in on the case. Alicia won her case, which helped prevent her husband Peter from going to jail (again over a corruption charges). Alicia saved her family, walked away from Peter to chase Jason the investigator (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), lost both men, and got b****-slapped by Diane.

     This brings me to the point of this post. Alicia built herself a new life in Chicago. She left behind the cushy life of PTA meetings and dinners to jump into corporate law to save her family. Peter was mostly gone (in jail, at the Governor's mansion, sleeping with women). Alicia stayed with Peter to save her family. Alicia even went on the campaign trail for the presidential election to save her family. But when it comes to making friends, ALICIA IS TERRIBLE. The show should be called "The All-Alone Wife" because that's how she ended up. There was no Peter, no Jason, (no Will because he is long dead), no salvageable job at Diane's new female-led firm, and her kids are leaving the nest.

     Alicia doesn't have girlfriends like other female T.V. characters. She merely has co-workers, clients, and family. Sometimes these people overlap. Eventually, her mother-in-law and co-worker got married. Alicia's only true friend, former P.I. Kalinda (Archie Punjabi) left town a year ago after Lemond Bishop threatened her. It is important to make clear here, Alicia was mostly drinking buddies with Kalinda. When K.S. revealed she had also slept with Peter when she worked in his office. At this point, it's harder to find a woman that hasn't slept with Peter. Alicia began this season pretty despondent until she created a drinking buddy in Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo). The two women were working in bond court and eventually created a practice, and got hried back by Alicia's old firm. Other female friendships have not gone smoothly. ER alum Maura Tierney played potential donor Maddie Hayward several seasons ago. She invited Alicia out for a drink and Alicia deflected, saying she was married. Maddie countered, she just wanted to make a friend and she was not into Alicia in that way. Cold and calculating boss/co-worker Diane also had a tenuous relationship with Alicia. Diane grew frustrated when Alicia let her down more than once:  when Alicia left Diane's firm to anew and when Diane was promised an appointed  judgeship by Peter, only to be swapped in for a male candidate at the last minute. It seems the only constant in Alicia's life has been her daughter Grace (Mackenzie Vega), who pulled her weight this season as Alicia's legal secretary after school.

     The men in Alicia's life have also given her more heartache than friendship. Alicia/Peter's campaign manager Eli Gold (Alan Cumming) betrayed Alicia, lying for years about deleting a voicemail from Will just hours before he died. After a lot of time and wine, Alicia moved past it, but she seemed more betrayed by Eli than she ever did by Peter. As for Peter, he and Alicia became more like friends (and sometimes friends with benefits) over the last few year as their political aspirations eclipsed the family they tried so hard to save. Of course, Will let Alicia down by dying. They teased their possible relationship for so long, taking one step forward and back until it was finally too late and Will was violently killed  in open court. After Will's passing, Alicia became close with ADA Finn Polmar, who was with Will right before he died. Eventually their relationship crumbled and a close friend was gone. Of course, P.I. Jason was gone in the last scene, as he made it clear to Alicia he was truly a bad boy and couldn't stick around waiting for her to make up her mind, and he was a free bird and everything else that goes with those speeches.


     Last but not least, there's the unresolved issue of Alicia and Cary Agos (Matt Czurchy). Alicia's relationship with Cary has "carried" thorough the show since episode 1 and it was dropped like it was hot (one evidence tip in a case does not repair a friendship) in this last episode. This is literally THE FRIENDSHIP of the entire series. Both AF and CA were hired as junior associates in the first episode with promise of one being able to stay at the firm. We didn't want to like Cary from the start because he was fresh out of law school, a preppy blonde guy, and he walked in like he owned the place. He was entitled and privileged, a real villain type.  This is the guy in the 80's movie that Andrew McCarthy or James Spader would play.

     Will was always on Alicia's aside for obvious reasons, and as Diane took a shine to Alicia, she rose up the ranks at the firm and Cary got shafted. He left to go to the SA's office for a while to work off his bitterness. Later, Cary came back to Lockhart/Gardner and stayed there until he and the other associates got fed up, and he started a firm with Alicia. The guy became humbled and went on trial for a trumped-up charge of instructing clients how to bring in drugs into the country, and was almost jailed. Finally, Cary folded back into Lock/whatever the firm eventually became. Then what did Cary do a few weeks before the finale? He quit as Diane "locked in" her all-female led firm idea. He left without a fight. There was never any true resolution to the constant tension and competition between Cary and Alicia. In the end, I don't think Cary could stomach the life he built for himself. Alicia had something to fight for (however misguided her notion of family was) and Cary had nothing (especially after Kalinda left town). As for Cary's relationship with Kalinda, he loved her a lot. Maybe loved him, but she also loved several women. Often. It was just never meant to be. But Cary sincerely respected Alicia. Maybe Cary realized that he didn't want to end up like Alicia, at the top of her game and very abruptly, alone and back where she started? We see Cary in the finale, a guest lecturer at a law school, putting his valuable knowledge of both sides to good use. I can only hope we get some sort of Cary spin-off, maybe Cary could get a job on  a cruise ship or something totally out of character.

5.23.16  UPDATED See more unresolved plot points from The Good Wife finale.

Who Needs Friends When You Have Happy Endings?

In the fall of 2004, networks began looking for the next Friends.* 

Definition from  IMDB.com: "Three young men and three young women - of the BFF kind - live in the same apartment complex and face life and love in New York. They're not above sticking their noses into one another's businesses and swapping romantic partners, which always leads to the kind of hilarity average people will never experience - especially during breakups."

    I spent some time at lunch today defending Friends to a co-worker. She didn't see the big craze with it. I lamented over the heartbreaks, good times, and the inevitable "We were on a break." After Friends left, the viewing public got a lot of options thrown our way from 2004-2010. Some of these shows were terrible, and some included lasting favorites like: How I Met your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. But it took until the Spring of 2011 for something new. This show embodied the comedic situations, ride-or-die bonds, theme nights, and catchphrases of Friends better than any other show out there. This time, with a post-911, totally millennial lens.This show was called Happy Endings and it ran three seasons on ABC. First there were 13 beloved episodes and the 2nd and 3rd seasons ran 21 and 23 episodes, respectively. I just found out this Chicago-based group of college buddies have made the jump to Hulu and all seasons are streaming since January 2016!

     Situations that were taboo in early 90's sitcoms (Ross's wife leaving him for a woman and the threesome struggling to raise Ben together, Phoebe birthing her nieces and nephews for her brother and his wife) look like child's play compared to HE. The new normal of our diverse society has removed the stigma from situations and replaced horror with humor, like Adam Pally's Max bringing multiple female friends as a beard to dinner with his parents instead of admitting he is gay, or Elisha Cuthbert's Alex leaving her longtime fiance at the altar for a guy on roller blades (so 90's). Another common theme of the show is location. Both shows played off the major city they were set in, except the HE crew spent all of their free time drinking at Rosalita's Bar while the friends sipped coffee at Central Perk. Another uniting factor is that both shows led the actors to future roles and successes, some more than others (I'm looking at your decade vacation from acting, David Schwimmer). Although only off the air for three years and  nowhere close to syndication, the stars of HE bounced back well with projects since the cancellation of the show.    

Image courtesy of TV.com

       
     Alex's betrayal of Dave (Zach Knighton) is a cornerstone conflict of the series and it brought a lot of heartache to the group, but also a lot of laughs. Alex makes the perfect Rachel in this story, always misreading the conversation (guys thought she was a guy dressed like Marilyn Monroe for Halloween due to a deep-voiced cold), but coming through with her heart of gold. She also runs a fashion business like Rachel, sort of. Her boutique's only successful item was a baby onezie that teens wore as a belly shirt. Alex's hyper-organized sister Jane (Eliza Coupe) perfectly represents Monica. She is a neat-freak, teaches English to foreigners, whips up a mean brunch, will probably survive a zombie apocalypse, and always is competing. To complete the package, Jane volunteers advice when it is not needed. SNL alum Casey Wilson's Penny is in spirit, totally Phoebe, but with the put-together mindset and career. Her season 2 catchphrase  "Year of Penny!" is often used ironically as one setback after another befalls her personal and professional lives. Penny gets a condo, a promotion, an assistant (Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez), and a few promising love interests, but disaster follows this girl everywhere.  If hipsters had been identified back in the 1990's, Phoebe might have dated one. Penny tried so hard to impress the hipsters that she ended up hating herself. She found she has too much passion and excitement to go through life ironically. 

     For the men, Dave is a free-spirited mix of Ross and Chandler. On the one hand, Dave is boring. Nobody is interested in his stories and his nice guy status is mostly present as relationship with Alex ebbs and flows through the series. On the other hand, Dave's job at the beginning of the series is basically a transponder like Chandler, but he quits to open up a meats of the world restaurant and settles for a steak sandwich food truck. Max is somewhat by default and somewhat totally perfect as the Joey of this group. Like Joey, Max cannot hold a steady job, and he finally buys a limo and drives people around Chicago. Much like Joey, Max enjoys meat, and can pick up anyone, man or woman. Penny dated him in college, and Alex crushes after him in one episode. Jane's husband Brad (Damon Wayans, Jr.) wears suits like Chandler, but he is much cooler. Brad always has the last word, plays basketball, befriends a secret group of black friends that get him, and yes, Brad does think that long polo Alex sold him is a shirt, not a dress. FUN FACT: In between seasons 1 and 2, Wayans appeared in a pilot for Fox's New Girl (another show that has made its own Friends-style group of misfit roommates), and after the first episode, was replaced with Winston Bisop after HE was renewed for a somewhat surprising 2nd season. Wayans later returned to New Girl for several seasons after HE completed.

My 5 Favorite Episodes for Newbie Viewers: 

5. Blax, Snakes, Home: The season 2 opener found Penny moving into a condo and throwing a Great Gatsby-themed housewarming. Too had the last inhabitant of the house was a crazy old cat lady who may be haunting Penny. Max spies in Brad to discover his group of cool, black friends and learns why Brad dubbed him "White Darryl."  Alex and Dave celebrate one year since their almost wedding and are spurred on by Jane to talk about the things the other did in their relationship that annoyed them. 

4. Like Father, Like Gun: This season 1 episode got Penny and Alex to double date a hot pair of Italians. Penny is only able to communicate to them in fluent Italian when she is plastered. Dave and Max use nerf guns to work out roomate issues. Jane encourages Brad to open up to his dad after a heart attack scare. His dad is played by his real-life dad, Damon Wayans.

3. Cocktails and Dreams: Dave's food truck becomes a speakeasy. Actor Colin Hanks befriends Dave and the gang stop going to the food truck because the drinks dive them weird dreams about Dave. 

2. More Like Stanksgiving: The group views a previously unseen episode of The Real World that followed them in their college days. Dave, who is 1/8 Navajo, insists on  holding a proper and traditional Thanksgiving.   

1. The Shershow Redemption: The gorup heads to hot mess buddy Shershow's wedding toward the end of season 1. This guy was wilder than Penny and Max combined and he suddenly has his life together. Penny brings a gay date to the wedding as her fiance while Alex gets blacklisted as a wedding jinx. Jane and Brad plan for a romantic weekend and end up renewing their vows. 

HONORABLE MENTION:

Any episode with Megan Mullally as Penny's mom, Dana. 

5.24.16 UPDATED: Here is more on the Happy Endings reunion panel and possible plans for an on screen reunion. 

A Little Twangy Song About A Pub, or Country Music Outside of America

     First of all, there was another country awards show this past week. My brother asked me to specifically describe the ACCA Awards and explain how they are different from the early April ACM awards and the November CMA (Country Music Association) awards. I didn't dare mention the CMT (Country Music Television) awards. Let's break it down here. The ACCA stands for The American Country Countdown. It's a weekly radio show created by the late great Casey Kasem and presided over by 1/2 of Brooks and Dunn, Mr. Kix Brooks. This is different from the Luke Bryan & Dierks Bentley hosted The Academy of Country Music Awards, which is awards given from the country music industry. The ACCM winners are a strict, most spins, highest-charting each week, fan-voted type of award show. It's basically the country radio equivalent of the long-lost TRL Awards, which were different than the MTV Movie Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).

Photo Courtesy of Taste of Country

     One can unarguably say that Taylor Swift has changed the face of country music. She took it to the country, and around the world like the first great worldwide country star, Garth Brooks. But let's be real, even artists like ACCA Artist of the Year Luke Bryan do not have a large international following because country music has not take over markets in Europe. People don't drive out into the woods and dance on truck beds like they do here in 'Merica. During last month's promotion for the ACM awards, the English-born Late Late Show host James Corden jammed with Bryan and Bentley (dressed up as a King, a Queen's guard, and Sherlock Holmes). The trio sang a song about going to the corner pub in "Jolly Good Pub," or as country crooners call it, a honky-tonk. It's one small step toward country music taking over other continents, and possibly, a future ECCM award show.

The Blindspot

     Time Square is full of lights and people. An empty bag is found.  It's a big, black bag, and if you see something,  you should say something. The area is cleared and the bomb squad goes in to  investigate. When they poke a bag, a woman covered in tattoos emerges, stark naked. No, this is not Tilda Swinton's latest art project, it's NBC's The Blindspot.

     The woman, Jane Doe (played by Jaimie Alexander), has no memories at all. Her full body tattoo art includes intricate patterns of numbers, addresses and symbols. Her back reads: Kurt Weller, FBI. Agent Weller (Aussie Sullivan Stapleton)  is a top cop at the New York FBI bureau. He and his team take Jane in under their watch to see if she can jog her memory. Jane appears to be drugged in away to wipe her personality and memories out, but her basic motor skills are still there, and she can kick ass. Weller and his crew take Jane on missions, using her tattoos to prevent terrorism, end bank holdups, and generally save New York from imminent destruction. Do they ever request backup? That would be a no, and an issue I take to heart. Seriously, who died and make Weller, Zepeta, Reid, Jane and Patterson think they can single-handedly save New York City every time? But I digress...

     Jane assists Weller's unit in their daily activities, and it gets real. . Weller's computer genius, Agent Patterson (Ashley Johnson from Growing Pains) analyzes Jane's tattoos for fun, looking for more clues. The art represents hidden puzzles and clues to upcoming crimes and exposure of governmental wrongdoings. At first the team doesn't  have a clue what's going on. They know a group called Sandstorm is behind things, but they're not sure why.  Patterson's boyfriend gets murdered trying to help her out with the puzzles, and she gets in major trouble with Director Mayfair (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who reminds me of  Viola Davis in HTGAM) because her boyfriend really shouldn't be looking at classified FBI files in the first place. Then Director Mayfair gets framed for murder, and she gets murdered. The body count gets a bit ridiculous, although most of the bad guys are brought in for justice. This becomes  part of the overall theme in the show: where are we drawing the line? Should the FBI go out looking for trouble? Should the CIA kidnap and torture Jane to get their own answers? Should Weller make allowances for Jane and let her run with the team?

     Weller discovers Jane was brought to him because her DNA test shows she is Taylor Shaw. Shaw was a little girl who lived on his street that was supposedly murdered when he was 10 years old. Weller is so relived to see Taylor because his father was put in jail for allegedly murdering  the 5-year old neighbor girl. It was pretty weird to think that Weller cared so much about this little kid, but I'm willing to buy into it because it seems like she was really his younger sister Sarah's (Jordana Spiro) friend. As the season progresses, Jane's memories begin coming back, and she is clearly not Taylor Shaw. Her tooth shows isotopes native to Africa and her memories about about assassin-like training. She is an ex-Marine and she came to Weller for a different reason. Is she part of Sandstorm? Of course she is! One thing is clear, Jane is bad news.