Grinder (noun)

"What does it mean, 'to grind' asks Dean Sanderson's (Rob Lowe) new therapist, played by guest star Maya Ruldoph.

Dean responds, "Doing whatever it takes to find justice, no matter how hard the grind... and the grind is the everyday struggle."

     FOX took a chance this season with a sitcom called The Grinder (not the Grindr) about adult brothers who start (reluctantly) working together in a law practice. Have we seen this type of plot before? Of course…. (Hyperion Bay with Mark Paul Gosselaar >comes to mind). The difference in this show is all in the casting. The brothers are two of my beloved 80’s and 90’s actors. I could not be more excited for Fred Savage’s (Stewart)  return to acting and the return of Lowe to comedy. This is Savage's first foray away from the director's chair since the sitcom, Working (1997-1999).
     

     Let it be known that while I favored his real life brother Ben Savage (Cory from Boy/Girl Meets World for many years, I am back on Team Fred when it comes to choosing which Savage I love. Savage's Stewart runs Sanderson and Yao, a law firm in Boise, Idaho, a firm started by his dad, Dean Sanderson, Sr. (William Devane). Dean Sr. is ticked to have his son home after Dean Jr.'s many successful seasons as TV lawyer, Mitch Grinder.

    Mitch Grinder is his own unique character.  Rob Lowe does what he does best here: he plays an actor playing a lawyer,  and both characters are a bit self-indulgent. It’s basically the best of teen Rob Lowe’s boyish charm (St. Elmo’s Fire, The Outsiders) and adult Rob Lowe’s commitment to #truthandjustice mixed together (The West Wing,The Lyon's Den, Brothers and Sisters). The scenes from the show with a show are pretty dramatic with emotional outbursts, clawing out of a coffin in the ground, romantic trysts on the confrence table, and the last-minute proclamation that "grinds" (pun intended) the case to a swift halt.  In every episode of the show, the Sanderson men, along with Stewart's wife Debbie (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, the waitress from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and teen kids, watch episodes of "The Grinder" and Dean shares his motivation for the episode, with ridiculous things like getting a teenage son in one episode to show his character's emotional depth.


In the episode first mentioned above, Dean's therapist suggests that in order for Dean to move forward in life (or at least move out of his brother's house), he has to let "The Grinder" die. This should be simple because in the new reboot of the show, Grinder: New Orleans, Dean guest stars to give his new TV brother Rake (played by Timothy Olyphant) some advice, and decides his character must die to complete his character arc. This plan took some convincing and entailed a very confusing courtroom scene where Stu showed up as their third long-lost brother and also offered to die on the show, via poison. As for Olyphant, he has done some great work playing a Hollywood version of himself, making Dean look  a little more human and sparking a romantic triangle (at least in Dean's eyes) with Sanderson and Yao's associate, Claire. Other guest stars have included Christina Applegate as a closeted fan pretending she had never seen Dean's show, Jim Rash as a potential client, Jason Alexander as "The Grinder" director.

“We watch The Grinder, we talk about it while we’re watching it, and after we’re watching it, and it feels to me like we should operate more in reality.”  - Stu

“Were you at the bar this whole time, just waiting to interject at the perfect moment?”

      -     Client (Jim Rash) to Dean

Welcome Back! It's a Fuller House with Jason Marsden

It's been a while since I blogged, and for my first post back, I'm talking about the best 90's family comedy in history- Full House. In case you've been living under a rock, it's coming back! In more current news, my beloved Uncle Jesse (John Stamos), just got pulled over for a possible DUI this weekend, which greatly worried me about the fate of this winter's FH  reboot.

The episode I'm watching on Nick at Nite right now is an episode about DJ's tough choice (aptly named DJ's Choice from Season 8) between musician Viper (guitarist of Hot Daddy and the Monkey Puppets) and junior billionaire Nelson. Viper writes a song for DJ, and Nelson hires Frankie Valli to come to the park re-dedication to serenade DJ.

"(Nelson) He's a nice guy, and he pays in cash."- Frankie Valli

It's utterly over the top, which is why the episode plays so well. Much like episodes with famous guest stars (several with the Beach Boys come to mind), FH makes the guest star fit in well to the story. In the end, Donna Jo wisely chooses none of them (because I suspect she's still in love with Steve, who ended up escorting her to the senior prom).  This remains to be seen, but I believe Steve was the love of her life. Only Netflix will tell.

Back to the reason I am fascinated with this episode, dear young billionaire Nelson.
Here  actor Jason Marsden (left) plays Nelson in Full House, circa 1995:

Here he is the same year, playing Eric's best friend, Jason on Boy Meets World. Maybe he can score a drop in on the new Girl Meets World Show. 

He also appeared at the same time (1995-1997) on Step by Step as JT's best friend and Dana's boyfriend, Rich. How did this guy find time to guest star in three sitcoms at the same time? 

That's owed all to talent and a good agent. 

All photos are from IMDB.com

Girl Meets 21st Century

     In 1993, I began watching a sitcom that would become one of the most treasured shows of all time for kids growing up in the 90's. Rarely have I met someone who does not acknowledge that Boy Meets World changed the cultural landscape. Unlike the oddball last-ditch season of Saved By the Bell: The College Years, this show followed kids really growing up from middle school through the first year of college, (and some milestones like Shawn's losing a parent, getting married, and Cory's parents midlife crisis baby) ending with them going out to the world. Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his wife Topanga (Danielle Fishel) now live in New York City with their two kids, pre-teen dreamer Riley and too-cute kindergartner Auggie.
   
     The new focus of the sequel show Girl Meets World is daughter Riley (Rowan Blanchard) and her journey into adulthood with with pals Maya, Lucas and Farkle. Maya Hart serves as Riley's own Shawn Hunter, a misguided attention-seeking kid of a single parent that gets kindness and guidance from the Matthews family. I hope to see Shawn unveiled as Maya's long-absent father, or on a more reasonable plot, see him mentor the kid. Maya definitely has some issues to overcome and I know she will eventually open up. We see Farkle Minkus is the son of Topanga's old rival Stewart Minkus (future guest star Lee Norris), a know-it-all. The girls befriend new kid from Texas, Lucas Friar, and Riley is in love with him from first glance. As Coy and Topanga struggle to let go with their oldest, Cory takes on the role of Mr. Feeny, teaching all of the kids at John Quincy Adams Middle school (sounds like John Adams High in Philadelphia?) more than just history, but lessons for life.

     The show is on Disney, so I'm not sure what to expect. I grabbed a bunch of friends and some beers to watch last night's first episode, followed promptly by a screening of the first episode of Boy Meets World. The clothes seem a little unrealistic for your average kid, and all of the girls (and mom Topanga) have extension-laden hair. Cory's son Auggie reminds me of Cory's little sister Morgan, and we know the cute Morgan got re-cast from about age 5 to age ten in one season hiatus, so we'll see how that goes. The plot lines for the upcoming season seem more millennial-comedic than real-life based, but there could be some hidden emotional depth to the show.

FINAL: Favorite Moment 
There was a great cameo at the end of the episode by Mr. Feeny, who appears as a subway poster urging kids to stay in school.

A Note About Celebrating Halloween Part 1: 90's Family Sitcoms

In honor of Halloween, I'm doing my most (and probably only) Halloween-themed event this weekend. Here are my five top sitcom Halloween episodes of 90's sitcoms. Check back for the five best Halloween drama episodes.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch
(Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - but not 7)

A show about a teenage with has tons of Halloween-themed episodes, which makes the selection tough. (While the WB-year episodes in the later season weren't always filled with the best of storylines, and Season 7 was again basically lost season, there is some great material). Season 2's "A River of Candy Corn Runs Through It" is the best, where Sabrina's first mortal Halloween party turns into a disaster, complete with possessed furniture and a river of candy corn. "Good Will Haunting" from season 3 is also a great episode, where another haunting happens at Sabrina's house, during a Halloween double-date (by a creepy possessed doll).

Boy Meets World
(1,2, 5, 7-only in theme)

Point of contention here because Season 5's "And Then There Was Shawn" is not actually a Halloween episode, it was done in February of season 5 on top of the the Halloween-themed "Witches of Pennbrook." but has always been discussed among my friends as the best Halloween sitcom episode. This is my choice, with its "Scream" "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "South Park References." During detention (and during the legendary Cory/Topanga breakup), Shaw, Cory, Topanga, Angela, and a guy named Kenny get sentenced to a horror of detention. Must see line: "We'll always remember he (Kenny) was that tall," where a pencil drilled a hole through Kenny's skull and into the wall and "It's against the Geneva Detention Convention." Jennifer Love Hewitt guest stars as Jennifer Love Fefferman (aka Feffy, who falls in love with Eric before death by library books. "Witches" gets an honorable mention for Jack dating a creepy witch girl (played by Candace Cameron (Bure) of Full House, and a guest appearance from Sabrina.

Home Improvement
(Halloween themed episodes in seasons 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8)

The Taylor clan was long known for elaborate holiday themed episodes including Tim's annual Christmas roof decorating and Halloween scare-offs. Season 3's "Crazy for You" is my favorite, where Jill takes a (successful) try at out-pranking her husband, the self-titled "King of Pranks." Tim believes he is being stalked at his Halloween party by an obsessed fan, Rose, who is actually Al dressed up like a woman. Jill recruits Al, Heidi, Wilson and others to pull off the elaborate prank. The Taylor boys also dress up as the Three Stooges, all as Moe. Great Jill quotes include "Death was a popular costume this year. Black is very slimming," and "The only costume that was left was this or Bob Vila." Honorable mention goes to season 7's "Night to Dismember," where Mark and a friend make a creepy film for school and worry his parents, playing the youngest of three sons on a killing spree.

Step By Step
(Halloween episodes season 4 and 7).

Season 4's "Something Wild" is one part Halloween and one part geek trying to be cool. Mark meets a punk girl (JJ Jenkins- the hottest girl in the 8th grade) that tries to turn him bad. He ends up leaving his family's party to throw eggs at a house (with a Mohawk). Cody also grows the world's largest pumpkin. Great Al line, "Great. Mr. Wizard is in heat." There's also a great scene where carol comments on her daughters' Halloween costumes, Karen the mermaid, and Dana the lady in a suit (she was dressed as Hillary Clinton). "Dream Lover" in season 7 (the lost season after it moved to CBS) was pretty lame. No honorable mention, just an acknowledgement.

Family Matters
(Halloween episodes seasons 2, 4, 6, 8, 9)

Now the season 8 "Steevil" episode gets a honorable mention for showing Laura cut up in the kitchen cabinets, but I'm picking the season 6 episode "Dark and Stormy Night" where Steve tells Little Ritchie a scary 1800's story about the Von Winslow Family. Check out Nana Winslow as Raggedy Anne and Eddie and Waldo as Siamese twins. Plus, Steve says "Didst I do that?"