mea culpa

I can hardly believe that I haven't posted since Monday! Unfortunately this week before finals has been terribly busy and hectic, but I apologize for my lapse in writing. On the plus side of schoolwork, I did get to screen my final video project on Thursday night! Though I am well aware of the faults in my piece, it was very exciting to see my very first short film on a big screen in front of an audience after at least 48 solid hours of shooting, re-shooting, recording sound, re-recording sound, and oh! the editing. Before this semester I had never held a camera or looked at Final Cut Pro, so it feels very nice to know that I actually made something! Also, I've come to the conclusion that I ought to take an intermediate level video production class next semester, despite the fact that it meets on a Friday afternoon (!). I'm hoping to change my schedule to drop L.A. Stories, add Media Sketchbook (the intermediate video class), drop Women and Comedy (wish it didn't conflict with this next class!), and add James Joyce. We'll see how much the registrar wants to help me out or not...

Yesterday morning I watched this week's two-hour episode of "Grey's Anatomy" online, and got my first glimpse of what may well become the Addison spinoff, "Private Practice." First things first - I really would have hoped that the team behind the catchy name of the original TV show, making a new show about an OBGYN named Dr. Montgomery, would have had the chutzpah to name it "Montgomery's Ward." But oh well...

Thursday's Seattle-based segments of "Grey's" packed quite a few standout moments. The slow decline of Cristina into an obsequious wife is dreadful to watch, because - ever since the end of season 2 - I've been waiting for her to sacrifice her whole self for Burke, only for him to decide that he doesn't want her anyway. Even more dreadful was the elevator kiss between George and Izzie. The adultery subplot would be painful enough to watch if it weren't for the complete lack of foreshadowing to there ever being an attraction between these two. But the scene in which Meredith gives the bad news to her father...I can't have been the only one who burst out in tears. That was one of the most powerful moments of the entire series, and I thought it was spectacularly framed and even better acted. I'm sad to see Mare Winningham off the show, but it was certainly a shot in the arm (hurr hurr) for the Seattle drama while the Santa Monica doctors were getting introduced.

In regards to the "possible" back-door pilot, I think it is understandable why many or most Grey's devotees would be unlikely to give it as much attention or praise as the original. Of course the cast is older, and their problems are finely tuned to an older audience, as well. Divorces are one thing in the background of Seattle Grace, but fertility issues, single parenting, and middle age will be differently ensconced in the L.A. atmosphere. That said, the mood of the new show is certainly more lighthearted, which I think will appeal to the Sex and the City demographic. It will be interesting to see, if Grey's fans and focus groups shy away from the spinoff, how the show's creators will react.

I read an interview in Entertainment Weekly a few weeks ago with an ABC executive who explained that a new pilot has a much harder time gaining viewers than a spinoff does. If this is the case, then I would imagine ABC will want the spinoff to go ahead no matter what Grey's fans say. Grey's viewers aren't going to abandon the established show if PP is a bomb, and it has a better chance of getting new viewers than a show with less buzz surrounding it.

For my part, I am a big fan of Kate Walsh, and if she gets her own show, I will certainly tune in for the first few weeks to see if I like it. But this latest episode did not have the pacing and character depth that sucked me right in for Grey's Anatomy. Also, was it just me, or did they portray Los Angeles in a very early-'90s sort of way? Hot blondes in sundresses, shaggy-haired surfer dudes, rollerbladers? I mean, I suppose it was meant to contrast with Seattle as much as possible, but I had a hard time watching such an unrealistic environment. I mean, trust me - I looooove L.A., but there was so much emphasis on the outside surroundings and I couldn't really figure out why.

Anyway, I'll be posting more, I promise!