Robert McCallister the Independent, Reverend President (not to be confused with Robert McCallister the Republican Congressman, aka Rob Lowe)

That's right... I marathoned Jack and Bobby this week. What is it with shows about Presidents that pulls me in? Could it be the power, the significance of even the smallest decisions, or the strategy games being played? Or is it that I just have a thing for white houses with oval rooms?... whatever the reason, it is definitely true that I watch (and fall in love with) way too many shows about the Presidency.

Jack and Bobby, for those of you that have yet to watch this masterpiece, was on the WB for one season in 2004-2005. The show has an interesting format - It is a biography about former president McCallister, who served from 2041-2049. Interspersed with the biography (talking heads of important people in the president's life and political figures) is a narrative from the president's childhood.

Stop reading if you don't want spoilers!!!

I remember watching the pilot with my mom in 2004 and sobbing. The set up is just emotional. I think it was originally marketed so that you would assume that it was going to be a show about the Kennedys. But, it isn't Jack and his brother Bobby were given their names after their Father (Juan Roberto) and not after the political figures, which is funny since their mother is a History professor at the local college. The pilot does such a great job of making the audience think that Jack became president. However, by the end of the episode you know the truth, Bobby (the geeky little brother with asthma) became the President of the United States!

What a whirlwind of emotions, and that was just the pilot!

Later you learn that Courtney, Jack's love interest when they were kids, ends up as the Former First Lady, meaning Bobby's wife (ew). Bobby was known for his sex scandals... and he became both a Republican and a Reverend!

Some not so believable things happen in the 2030s-2040s - Jack becomes a Democrat Congressman (after being a war hero and a public defender) and then has the most ironic death possible (being the victim of a crime analogous to the one his father is serving a life sentence for in another state). After Jack's death, since he wasn't married, the Democrats decide to give his seat to his Republican little brother, the Reverend Robert McCallister. As if that weren't enough, after being a Congressman, Robert decides to run for president and when the Republican party does not support his nomination, he runs and wins as an Independent! (Oh, and his VP is a woman... his mistress.)

Things I had forgotten about the show that I wish I had remembered, because they were awesome:

1. Christine Lahti is a phenomenal actress. (She plays the mom, Grace McCallister. She is crazy!)

2. There was a great episode about the fallout after Jack's former best friend commits suicide because he does have anywhere to turn when he realizes he is gay. The episode even ends with one of those Trevor Project messages. This was in 2004... good job, WB! (My only qualm is that this was a stand alone episode and the only other gay character in the entire series was the deadbeat uncle. Though it was apparent that most of the main characters had no problem with accepting gay people and the gay characters were not stereotypes, which are good messages to be sending.)

3. An entire story line related to one of the main characters, Jack's former girl friend, Missy, getting an abortion. This was also important because Missy's father was a Minister. Hearing his speech at the funeral later (Missy dies a few episodes later of unrelated causes) was just so moving (he says g-d punished her for her misdeeds!). There are a lot of feminist messages in this series that are great, as well as counter arguments that need to be made.

4. Neil Patrick Harris' (Doogie Howser and How I Met Your Mother) and Justin Kirk's (Weeds) single-episode appearances (both complete with horrid hair styles)! NPH played a Professor who when he was still in school, wrote a paper about Grace McCallister when assigned to write about a President's mother. He uncovered facts about her lies regarding who the president's father was, which was a big scandal during the campaign. Justin Kirk played Henry McCallister, the second of four boys of President McCallister. The oldest son was killed while McCallister was still president, by driving drunk.

Perhaps the thing I wish I had remembered most was that there was a character named Robert McCallister who is a Republican with a not so secure marriage to a woman named Courtney and with a son named Jack, because that is the character Rob Lowe played on Brothers and Sisters only a year or two after the end of Jack and Bobby.

- The Inner Mind of Dramawiz

In Reality This Never Happened... But in the Inner Mind of Dramawiz...

Yesterday I went to a concert during the day. It was sort of a Broadway (and a few other) performers showcase. It was a day concert at a place like the Hollywood Bowl.

I was sitting off to the side about halfway back with nobody right around me. My parents were somewhere else in the audience.

Katy Perry had performed earlier in the show and taken a seat in the audience by the time the encore began. They were singing one of her hit songs (Baby Baby Baby Oh). The performers tried to get Katy to sing with them by seeking her out in the audience but she kept hiding.

She eventually sat down beside me. Needless to say, they found us and gave her a mic. She turned to me and said, "You are going to help me through this." (I couldn't get myself to tell her that I didn't know her song...)

As the next verse began, which was when she was going to join in, she told me to 'harmonize with her.' We started to sing and realized neither of us new the lyrics. We abruptly stopped and started laughing. The song continued without anyone singing until we got it together by the chorus and started singing "baby baby baby oh"s back and forth. She eventually got up and walked around the audience as the she finished the song.

The concert ended and everyone began filing out. I knew that I wanted a picture with Katy after that whole experience so I made my way to the front of the stage. When I got there my parents were the first to find me and my dad said it was time to leave. Reluctantly I agreed and we turned to head out of the Bowl.

But as we started to walk out I heard Katy shout, "Hey, hold up!"

After getting the nod from my parents that I could go back, I went to Katy and we started walking in the other direction together away from the crowd. We ended up walking out of the Bowl the other direction and the beach was on one side.

She invited me to see a 'modernized performance of Avenue Q with her and Russell' that evening. She suggested that we 'grab dinner first though.' I told her that maybe my dad would be willing since it was his favorite show.

She turned sad for a second and said that she wasn't sure she could get an extra three tickets instead of just the one for me. I understood and told her that I should just head back with my parents then.

We talked about random things as we walked. At one point I apologized for not knowing her song. I tried to lessen the blow by saying that I knew some of her other songs, but she could easily see through that lie.

As we started walking back to the Bowl Russell caught up to us. Katy had to get going, likely to change from her performance clothes, so Russell escorted me back.

My dad found us on the way and I asked Russell if I could get a picture with him. He agreed and so we let my dad act as our paparazzo for the rest of the walk.

The End.

(The Inner Mind of Dramawiz creates some awesome dreams!)

Skip Wuznum... realtor... is old.

Just had to put this out there. I was watching Modern Family just now and right as Jay got up to give his speech at the engagement party I paused the program. I literally thought that if I just stopped it, the embarrassment wouldn't happen. I quickly realized that if I wanted to watch the rest of the episode, which I did, then I had to unpause the program and watch the embarrassing scene.

Why is it that we get so invested in TV characters that we feel for their embarrassment at such a striking level? Jay is nowhere near my favorite character on Modern Family, but the thought of what he was about to do (make a speech at a party for people he thought worked for him but really didn't) was so bad and I had no way to physically stop him (besides pausing the video of course), that I just needed a breather... a second away from my virtual life with these characters.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

The Inner Mind of Dramawiz

For a while I thought you were a robot.

Another week, another episode of Glee.

This week the theme was duets (or as Brittany so eloquently defined them, blankets). In my honest opinion most of the duets were quite bad. Though Rachel and Finn's Grease 2 performance dressed as religious persons and singing about being born again was a highlight even if it was meant to offend. And, while I still do not think Mercedes' and Santana's voices blend all that well, their number together this week was a great improvement over their song with Puck from last season. My favorite performance of the night easily goes to the mashup at the end with Rachel and Kurt. There was something about how their voices meshed in this number that just made me smile along with them.

And now to the dreaded Glee plot...

Luckily there wasn't much going on. Not that there ever is. Puck disappeared (for an undertermined amount of time) after driving his mom's volvo into a bank and driving away with the ATM. Really?!? If I cared at all, then I would have been googling the actor and finding out if he was still on the show or not... But, I don't and so I didn't. I'm sure someone else did and I'll find out by tomorrow as it is. With Puck out of the picture, Schuester seems to have convinced Sam, the new blond boy, to join glee club.

Basically there was a duet competition that pitted everyone against everyone else for the coveted prize of dinner for two at Breadsticks (was this the place that Finn took Santana and Brittany last season?). Rachel decided that the only way to win Nationals was to make sure Sam stayed in glee club. To achieve this, she made the sacrifice of letting him win the duet competition. (This is where the great Grease, Grease 2 conversation came in! And she is wrong, some of the songs from Grease 2 are classics!) The first step in operation make Sam a star was to stop him from singing with Kurt.

Ok, let's take an aside --> Glee season 2 seems to be suffering from the problem that I can best describe as the Glee phenomenon. Last year, people became obsessed with this little show that could. This year, the writers of said show believe they can do no wrong. They are mistaken. They seem to be taking what some loved most about this show and overemphasizing these aspects, creating an unbalanced mess. True, in the first half of last season everyone was pleading for more of the ensemble characters. And, it is great that Kurt and his dad seem to be the main plot of the season (though I'm starting to think it is going to get old no matter how much my heart aches every time there is a scene between these two). But, there was no need to force us to watch Mike Chang attempt to sing. Or even push a relationship between Tina and Mike just to give them something to do (because that is what it is starting to feel like). It is awesome that more people are getting a chance to shine on this show, but at least make sure the quality of the product doesn't diminish in the process. I'd gladly add 5 Lea Michele numbers to my iTunes playlist every week, than the current songs the show is producing.

And the rant is behind us... moving on:

Kurt, after talking with his Dad, graciously bows out of singing with Sam. And, instead Kurt sings with himself (a form of vocal masturbation according to Santana, with whom I agree). The number wasn't bad, but the tassel on Kurt's right side kept annoying me. (I'm picky... That is something I already know about myself.) Santana and Brittany appeared to be having a fling in Puck's absence, but Santana chose to sing with Mercedes in order to win the competition. (Did she forget how awesome Brittany is post-Britney Spears hallucinations?) Without her first choice of partner, Brittany spotted Artie. Even if she once believed he was a robot, she had no qualms duetting and bedding him. (Why were we not treated to at least a rehearsal scene of their duet?!? We did establish how awesome Brittany is two weeks ago, and we already know that Artie nails his vocal numbers!) Instead, we were allowed to witness the singing premiere of Mike Chang. Tina convinced Mike to duet with her so that they could go out on a normal date (one that does not include his mother or dim sum). Sam ended up singing with Quinn and it was bland, but good enough to will the competition. Sam claims to be straight and uses lemon to bleach his hair in order to be cool post-his time at an all-male boarding school. Oh, and he and Quinn are apparently dating now.

Yup... that's what happened this week on Glee!

Oh and the saddest moment of the episode was the cut to Brittany trying to do the Lady and the Tramp scene without a partner.

The Inner Mind of Dramawiz

That's what Inception was about?

Betty White made a surprise appearance at the end of Community this week. But even so, the highlight of this well-crafted episode goes to a group of extras [UPDATE: Abed and extras]. During the oil wrestling match between Britta and Annie, the camera turns to Shirley. Behind Shirley there is movement in a car in the parking lot. It is a birthing scene. Taking place right there in the community college's parking lot. The camera turns away before you can really believe what you think you just saw. But, at the end of the episode, the new mom and dad are cradling the newborn in their arms behind Jeff, Troy and Pierce.


How amazing!


UPDATE: Turns out there were earlier parts of this storyline that I missed. Check it out for yourself. Pay attention to what's going on in the background. It'll blow your mind!





The Inner Mind of Dramawiz

Musical Glee Recaps

Check out Jim Cantiello's musical glee recaps. He is awesome!

This is his one for last night's episode:

'Glee' Gets Serious And Heavy In The 'Grilled Cheesus' Episode: "Watch Jim Cantiello's musical recap of this week's 'Glee.'"

Holy Cheesus that was emotional!

Well we finally got some plot on Glee.

This week the theme was belief. Finn made a grilled cheesus and after it granted his wish of a win in the first game of the year, he dedicated his music to it for the rest of the week. In glee club, Finn announced that everyone should sing songs on that theme, which led to Sue stepping in with a separation of church and state speech that I totally agreed with. She kindly remarked that if the students wanted to sing about religion, then they could, but not at a public school.

The real action surrounded Kurt. His father had a heart attack and was in the hospital, his condition unknown. When all the glee clubbers wanted to pray for him and his father, Kurt announced that he does not believe in G-d, and how could he since what g-d would make him live through a life of torment for being born gay. Sue reiterated that same argument when she told Emma that it was wrong for the students to be trying to convince Kurt that there is a g-d, since it is one that would never accept him and would instead condemn him for his lifestyle.

Each song, with the exception of Puck's song at the beginning of the episode, was emotional. I'm going to have to get a copy of them and rewatch those scenes. For instance, Rachel sang Papa Can You Hear Me? While no one can compare to Barbra Streisand, I did enjoy this cover. I still think Lea tries to hard to emulate the original singer of all her songs, but with this one it felt more like an homage to a great. I also liked that she started the song outside, though I wish it had not moved into the hospital. Why were the glee clubbers at Kurt's dad's bedside? This made little sense to me, and the throwaway line about how they were each a different denomination and so together they had a better chance of being right was just odd. I had already made peace with the odd fact that Will and Emma took Kurt to the hospital, instead of calling a relative or Finn's mom to take him. But, this vigil was just too much.

Kurt's rendition of I Want To Hold Your Hand was the most touching moment of Glee to date. I'd put it up there for best scene along with Kurt's dad shouting out Finn last season. (And no, it doesn't surprise me that all my favorite Glee seasons center around Kurt.) And the flashbacks! That kid got some of Chris Colfer's facial expressions dead on. And the smirk he gave during the tea party was adorable... This was easily my favorite song of the night. And the lower notes in the song were just icing on the cake.



But, the scenes that had me tearing up were Sue and her sister and then Kurt with his dad at the end. Both of these actors deserve Emmys, just in general. They are holding this show up week after week.

Maybe I read too many spoilers and let the hype build up a bit too much, but the church scene was a let down to me. It was great in theory, but it seems to have fallen short. I liked the Bridge Over Troubled Water, but it was less moving than the Clay Aiken version from a few years back. And, I just didn't buy it. Kurt, with his current beliefs, would not have gone to church with Mercedes and once there his attitude would not have shifted after less than five minutes. And, perhaps most outrageously, who addresses the church as 'church'... that was just odd.

Best joke of the night, and there were far fewer laugh out loud moments than normal: Brittany giving Kurt the paper she wrote on heart attack's so the doctor can read up on them.

So, these were my initial thoughts. Anyone have something to add? Feel free to leave a comment below.

The Inner Mind of Dramawiz