If I were bitter, I'd call it Overwood. But I'm not.
I had trouble enjoying last week's episode of Everwood. Not because the episode was bad; on the contrary, it was wonderful and heartfelt and well-written, classic Everwood. No, I couldn't properly enjoy it because I was all too aware that it was one of the last episodes I'd ever get to enjoy.It's like the last day of a visit with a friend or to a place you know you won't see again. You want to soak in every minute, every nuance, but so many of the things you say and do already feel like goodbyes that you can't properly enjoy it. One thing it made me aware of: Everwood is certainly going before its time. There's much more for these characters to express and experience, and I'll miss them dearly.
However, I'm a perennial optimist, so I'm already wondering what some of the wonderful actors from this show will be doing next. Here are my completely off-the-wall fantasy suggestions for a few of our beloved Everwood denizens:
Sarah Drew (Hannah): I know Deadwood is nearly over, but I'd love to see Sarah do something completely different, like a period drama. Can't you just see her as a bonneted prostitute, swearing her way through town? Just me, then.
Chris Pratt (Bright): Let's all say hello to the new intern/male nurse on Scrubs! Silly humor is right up his alley. Plus, maybe we'd get to see if he can dance like Turk.
Treat Williams (Andy): I'd like to see our favorite confident surgeon take on the Cylons over on Battlestar Galactica. His commanding presence would fit in well with the whole military atmosphere of the show, and he could vie with Edward James Olmos for Mary McDonnell's affections. Solid.Gregory Smith (Ephram): Sensitive, smart, knows how to deal with difficult women...I'm thinking he could take a jaunt over to Stars Hollow to romance Rory on Gilmore Girls. His bantering muscle would get some much-needed exercise.
Tom Amandes (Harold): It's a stretch, but I think Tom can do anything, and I'd like to see him more hardened and driven. I'm thinking he should be the agent hunting down the escaped Michael Scofield over on Prison Break. Dr. Abbott with a gun and an agenda? Badass.
Emily Van Camp (Amy): Sweet, neat Amy needs to get down and dirty. Let's put her on Lost! We can grubby her up, give her a really tawdry backstory, and let her run wild, possibly with a spear of some sort.
Stephanie Niznik (Nina): Even though I really loved Keith with Alicia, I think I could handle Veronica's dad dating someone this sweet and down-to-earth. We already know he likes blondes and she can handle her honey's challenging children. It's a win-win! To Veronica Mars she goes!Of course, my ideal fantasy would be for the entire cast and crew to replace those smarmy youngsters on One Tree Hill. They could keep the essential relationships of the show (half brothers, friends, couples, and so on), but the writing and acting would improve about 300%, thereby rendering it watchable.
Show runner Rina Mimoun has moved on. I'll try my best to enjoy tonight's finale, then do the same.
posted by Veltman @ 12:11 PM
2 Comments:
I just finished watching the finale of Everwood. It was good - even though I rarely watched the show during its run. But watching it reminded me of something...
I am a romantic. I always have been. But shows like this irk me a little bit. Shows like Everwood, One Tree Hill, and even Dawson's Creek make ending up with your high school sweetheart look like the best idea possible. This is very much not true!
And I realize that these are "teeny-bopper" shows, but this makes it that much worse to me. I feel like these shows say, "Look no further. The love of your life is sitting in front of you in homeroom. Never stray." I find this insane. Rarely do high school sweetheart marriages work...believe me.
So why romanticize it?
Really interesting. I had a similar thought while watching this. It's hard to say why shows do it, though.
I think a lot of it happens because many shows are set during high school with a lot of important relationships happening then. The writers make the characters out to be very precocious, often much more mature than the typical high schooler. They run them through the gamut of things that a typical nerdy 18 year old has zero experience with--just think of everything Logan and Veronica have been through! Maybe the writers figure that to give the relationship the weight that will satisfy the audience and keep people interested, they have to treat romantic pairings like soul mates some of the time. People wouldn't be as interested if the characters weren't taking the relationships seriously or were getting really invested.
Let's face it: seeing people dating around with the wrong people all the time wouldn't be quite as interesting to watch, even if it does make for a more interesting and realistic life to live.
At any rate, I'm cool with this because they ended things with one high school relationship totally settled and one settling for best friends. That's a ratio I can live with. :)
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