Nerdy Girls

Have you seen the movie Wreck-It Ralph? Well, if you haven't you have to. I've seen it about a bazillion times thanks to the boy. I don't know what Disney's deal is but every nerdy girl is a blond, blue-eyed, glasses-clad girl. Me.

I've had glasses since I was two. I couldn't see the fingers on my hand unless they were inches from my face. My parents tell me that I was legally blind. Since the tender age of 14 I have been wearing contact lenses.

Here are some comparison shots:

(Who doesn't love that late 80s hair?)

Do you recognize this little thing? She makes an appearance on Disney's A Goofy Movie when they arrive at a possum theme park. My sarcastic uncle lovingly compared me to her when I was in kindergarten after he saw the film. Nice.

Here's the girl from Wreck-It Ralph. As soon as I saw her, I thought, "Disney?! What the heck?!"

It isn't just me right?


~Lady Jane

And the Best Buds Award Goes To....

All throughout the history of television there have been the best friends that helped catapult a show into syndication. So here I go, trying to remember the memorable best buds of television and yes I'm gonna get some flack from people that I didn't remember their favorite duo, but it's my blog and the pairs that I mostly remembered by myself, mostly.



#20- Franklin & Bash

One of my new favorite shows, they make lawyer shows fun. Isn't that enough? I don't need the nitty-gritty, that's for pseudo television watchers. It's the real couch potatoes like myself that want escapism. Reality TV? No thank you, although I do like my SYTYCD show. 

#19-  Joey & Chandler

Apartment 19, J&C, Chick and the Duck, Joey and Chans. This lovable duo made us laugh at innuendo of them being a married couple (those were my favorite) and the many hugs shared by two best buds. 

#18- Leonard and Sheldon

Anyone who could live with Sheldon is a Saint in my book! The crap (excuse my french) that Sheldon puts Leonard through is not only cruel, but hysterical (gotta love TV huh?). Sheldon doesn't know how lucky he is to have a friend like Leonard or Howard or Raj for that matter. 

#17- Shawn and Gus

Shawn and Ovaltine Jenkins, Shawn and Methuselah Honeysuckle, Shawn and Gurton Buster, these two solve crimes like Laurel and Hardy hit punchlines. I love how Gus has stood by Shawn and his albeit lie, but best friends don't tell. Personally, I think Gus wishes he were solving crimes full-time instead of being a pharmaceutical rep.

#16- Alfalfa and Spanky

        

I think these two made my list because the recent adaptation came on cable not too long ago. Alfalfa and Spanky learned it's better to be supportive even among differences of opinion. 

#15- Buddy and Sally

What can I say about Buddy and Sally! If you haven't seen "The Dick Van Dyke Show" catch it on Netflix! These two will bust your stitches. When I first saw this show I was younger and thought Buddy and Sally were a married couple, but they were better: a comedy writing duo!

#14- Pat and Vanna

Since letters appearing on a board was popular television we've had Pat Sajak and Vanna White. I also thought these two were a married couple, but that just proves my point that I'm a hopeless romantic and the producers picked a good pair to help us solve the puzzle every weekday night.

#13- Regis and Kathie Lee

I knew these two weren't married, but they did make a great pair. I remember my mom watching them when I stayed home from school due to illness. That was the only time I got to watch them, but when I did, I thought they had great chemistry and was a bit upset that Kathie Lee was leaving the show because I thought no one could complement Regis like she did.

#12- Batman and Robin 

Holy dynamic duo, Batman! What else is there to say really? It's Batman and Robin. I might as well post on the wonder that is peanut butter and jelly or eggs and bacon.

#11- The Doctor and Donna

I love these two companions! Later I found out that Catherine Tate (Donna) was a very popular British comedienne. I appreciate her humor so much more in the seasons she was with David Tennant (The Doctor). If you're not willing to watch Dr. Who (SHAME!) check out this skit. You won't be disappointed, although it could use some subtitles.

#10- Donny and Marie

She's a little bit country, he's a little bit Rock 'n' Roll and together they make great music...for a brother and sister. My mom bought videos of some of their best moments of the Donny and Marie show back in the 70s. They are very talented and let's just say I wish I was an Osmond.

#9- The Skipper and Gilligan

For all the shenanigans Gilligan put Skipper through, they still stayed best buds. There were times I wanted to strangle Gilligan myself, but Skipper taught me not to do that.

#8- Cliff and Norm

The duo that made drinking funny and completely normal. Sometimes I wonder what my parents were thinking when they watched this show, it's no different than the Friends sitting around drinking caffeine (both equally addicting).

#7- Laverne and Shirley

I used to watch Laverne and Shirley reruns before going to afternoon kindergarten. Yes, I had no idea what the episodes were about but I loved the show so much that when monograms on your clothes were the "in" thing (about ten years ago) I wanted an L. My name begins with a C actually. But when the Nanny paid tribute to the show I understood the reference. How many 29 year olds can say that? (Although, is that something to be proud of?)

#6- The Fonz and Richie

I just know that The Fonz was fly and that Richie Cunningham was the kind of boy you wanted your parents to meet and they hung out together. I never really knew why?

#5- Sheriff Taylor and Deputy Fife

Sheriff and his Deputy, it's built right in.

#4- Laurel and Hardy

The best buds of slapstick comedy there ever was. I am particularly fond of slapstick comedy and that's why Laurel and Hardy come in at number 4.



#3- Bert & Ernie

Were they brothers? Or just roommates? But either way, Bert and Ernie have been buds since 1969. They constitute a great pair because one is the dreamer the other practical, there's bound to be confusion and frustration. Mix in a little comedy and you've got a pair that's timeless.


#2- Oscar & Felix

The slob meets the OCD (before it was OCD) man. My guess, hijinks ensued. (This contribution was brought to us by my sister Stacy, she's about a decade and a little older than me, she made me put them in.)

AND THE BEST BUDS AWARD GOES TO......

#1 Lucy and Ethel 

What can we say about the pair that started it all, the pickles they got themselves into, the squabbles and reconciling. Lucy and Ethel are the quintessential best buds of all time! I think most of their shenanigans started with phrases like, "If we could just..."

Well, there you have it folks, a list of my (well, most of them) favorite television duos.

And honorable mention goes to Warner & Eli from the new TV series starting this fall, Dads. If you haven't seen a commercial for it yet, do yourself a favor and watch one. Hilarious!!! They are gonna be the next Joey and Chandler, I just know it. 

Until next time,

Lady Jane

Looking for Love Stories Part Deux

As I was conversing with a friend about my recent love stories post, I unknowingly forgot to mention other famous couples from television. So here I go, trying to remember...

TELEVISION HUSBANDS AND WIVES 

The Buchmans

I loved watching Mad About You. I especially loved watching reruns on TV. This is one series I would love to have in my DVD collection. When I was younger and watching it every week, I wanted to marry a guy just like Paul. Turns out, I did (kinda). He's a great guy, supports our little family and is a little eccentric in his INTJ-ness. 

The Huxtables

The Huxtables' marriage is one I aspire to. They made time for each other in their very busy lives as doctor and lawyer, they taught their children morals and raised them with their feet on the ground. Even though they made a decent living, they balked at extravagant toy prices and when their kids assumed they were rich. 

The Bunkers

All I know about the Bunkers, is the stories my older family members have mentioned. Edith would do anything Archie said and he was kind of a grouch. I couldn't make a post on television couples again without including the Bunkers, it'd just be wrong! They were Frank and Marie Barone of the 70s, except Marie spoke her mind and often.

The Ricardos

As much as I dislike how Ricky talked down to her, they had their good times. But I suppose this was just a comedic version of the way life was back in the 50s. The man worked, the wife shopped for the house with her allowance. 

The Petries

I think they are my other favorite TV couple. What can I say about the Petries? I think Laura had an incredible amount of humor to live with a comedy writer, that sometimes used their lives for inspiration. My favorite episodes are when either of them freak out. "Oh Rob!"

FRIENDS THAT BECAME HUSBAND AND WIFE

Cory and Topanga

I think we all saw this coming when Topanga became a fixture on the show "Boy Meets World". This was the couple that all the teenagers I knew in high school (I believe) wanted to have. They complemented each other perfectly. Near the end of the series though, Cory became more eccentric. But I'm so happy that they gave kids a healthy (if somewhat exaggerated) ideal of a good relationship. They worked out their problems!!

Zack and Kelly

If you kept up with the whole franchise like I did, after the "Saved by the Bell: College Years" you were satisfied that Zack and Kelly made it to the altar. I love this picture! It's like a foreshadowing of what's to come. At that point in time, we all hoped this would someday be the case. 

Monica and Chandler

I think I like their love story more as I watch the series. (I have it all 10 seasons on DVD) They fall in love over the course of a couple of seasons. They finally get married and a trial tests this couple. They can't conceive. It's a problem many couples face and I'm glad Monica and Chandler grew closer together instead of placing blame on the other for the problems they were facing.

Mal and Inara

We only had 1 season! Just one! So who's to say that they didn't get married eventually? I say they did!

 Marshall and Lily

I'm not a die-hard HIMYM fan, but Marshall and Lily are the only married couple that we actually see on the show (of the friends) that they made my list. I like that they met in college, became friends and eventually got married. They make married life look funny and real. 

Amy and Rory

The Ponds! I love them! I think we can all agree that Amy wears the pants in that relationship, but regardless, Rory has never showed love like any other character I know! He waited 2000 years for Amy, he got upset that she grew old without him, that he followed her into the TARDIS to share incredible adventures with her and The Doctor. 

I realize this post would make so much more sense around Valentine's Day, but mine and the husband's  anniversary (10 years!) is coming up so that's why. 

~Lady Jane

ENFJ

For those of you nerds out there, this four letter code holds a lot of meaning to us. It's the easiest way to figure out personality compatibility.

I've learned a few things about myself in the last few days. I'm a hopeless extrovert. On Saturday night, the hubby went to a friend's house to help paint and play games afterward. I was looking forward to complete control of the television and watch whatever I wanted to. Girls, you know what I'm talking about right?

I had the house to myself (besides the sleeping boy) around 7:30pm. That is early, like old folks' buffet dinner time for a Saturday night. So I immediately began browsing my Netflix queue, Hulu plus and my TiVo'd programs. I finally settled on What to Expect When You're Expecting not the best film to watch after having a miscarriage. But I did laugh at the completely overacted push scenes and the misery suffered by one of the characters during pregnancy along with her FIL's young wife who went through it like a champ. It was hilarious!

Before I finally settled on being alone with a sleeping boy. I was scrambling to find someone to come over and hang out with me. I used to love having the house to myself when I was a teenager and I wasn't even the oldest child, the youngest actually.

I need people and I hope they need me.

I recently attended the open house of my friend Katie's book release! That's right, I am personally friends with an author who is my age, by the way. (And I'm so excited to read it!) At this party I met a girl, who could have been my double, but with brown hair. I couldn't believe how much we had in common. Even her mom decorated wedding cakes! That's just creepy because my mom did too!

~ Happy reading!

Lady Jane

The End of the World As I Know It

I'm sitting here with my laptop (several open tabs) and my smartphone nestled beside. I close a few tabs and it lands on Facebook. I then receive a notification on my phone that someone liked my photo on Instagram and am immediately distracted by that little red circle on my Facebook app (they're in close proximity). I go to check it and realize that I have stooped to the lowest level of degradation for a technology addict. I never thought it would come to this.

I am ashamed.

~ Lady Jane

Scripts

Why can't people just follow a script! Life would be so much easier for me to deal with if they would just react the way I want them to.

I am a product of the 90s. I still think that it was only a decade ago. And because I am a child of the 90s, I glean how to relate with people watching sitcoms and dramas. So it's no wonder that I become discombobulated when people don't follow a script. What do sitcoms reflect if not real life? However exaggerated. How else are they able to portray real emotions unless its coming from a real place? Say what you will about my research, but I think I'm a little ahead of the curve.

I remember having a terrible conversation with an English teacher in community college about art. We were talking about "The Necklace" a short story by Guy de Maupassant where the main character is faced with a moral dilemma: whether or not she should tell her friend about the necklace. My professor proceeded to ask the class if we see examples like this in daily life. I brought up television (big surprise) and how so many sitcoms have used this dilemma. Then she railed on me for using pop culture as a means to prove my point. "Pop culture is down here. It's for the masses." I can still hear her say it, pardon me whilst I cringe. I proudly reminded her that in her first lecture she told us about how art is artificial and good art feels real. Let's just say for arguments sake that pop culture falls under the umbrella of pop art. With that being said, the sitcoms that use these types of moral dilemmas bombard the television screens of the world and almost every 90s family sitcom cued the sappy music to make a point about what was moral and ethical. So what if it is for the masses? It's the masses that are relating to these kinds of ideas. Mass this, professor!


Lady Jane

The Pop Culture Allusion

My husband and I love to watch The Big Bang Theory and also pause to read the vanity cards at the end of the show. This is where I learn so much about Chuck Lorre and the television business in general. In the most recent episode of TBBT in the vanity card is where I learned that the writers of TBBT watch Downton Abbey! I love reading allusions in literature, but it's just cooler for a pop culture fiend like myself to see allusions to another great program that is leaps and bounds in a completely different category being referenced. I think I missed my calling: writing for a popular television show. My whole life is television, just ask my siblings.

Literary

One of my favorite movies is Stranger Than Fiction. It is perhaps the most unique film to grace the silver screen in decades.

I love that: Will Ferrell is an understated funny, Dustin Hoffman exudes literature professor and eludes to his Rain Man days with his bombarding questions about numbers and figures, Emma Thompson is so obsessed with how to kill Harold Crick that she flirts with suicidal psychopathy.

There are too many scenes to name that are memorable. However, I'll do my best to highlight a few.

"Well Harold, I'm sad to admit that there is nothing literary about you." Prof. Jules Hilbert (Hoffman)

I cry a little inside every time I hear that. My whole life is about writing and making connections about life through the films I watch. Shakespeare even believed that "all the world's a stage..." so when I stop to ponder about my life I wonder "Am I the star of my own show?"

Another favorite film (for different reasons) broaches this very topic in a dialogue between two characters, The Holiday.

It is this scene that Kate Winslet's character receives sage advice from a retired Hollywood film writer that she is not acting like the heroine of her own life. "Iris, in the movies, we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are the leading lady, but for some reason you're behaving like the best friend." She realizes that she is merely acting upon outward stimulus, not choosing what to do before a situation presents itself.

I have found too often that I let others determine my role in this life. When I don't show up wearing the same clothes as everyone else, that's not weakness on my part, that's courage to be myself, to go against the norm, to swim upstream, etc. etc.

Now that I have pummeled that tangent to death, here's another great quote from Stranger than Fiction:
"Did you just say 'little did he know?'`I've written books on little did he know. I've taught courses on little did he know. I once taught a seminar all about little did he know. Little did he know. That means there's something he doesn't know, which means there's something you don't know, did you know that?"  - Prof. Jules Hilbert

Even though Professor Hilbert is fiction, I'm jealous of his knowledge of third person omniscient. I've been to my share of English Teacher conferences and have thoroughly enjoyed myself, call me a nerd. Too late, I already did. I wish I could go every year. There are so many interesting, unique, thoughtful, inventive ideas on how to teach English to the digital teenager.

So my goal is to try to be more literary. Find moments in my life as a SAHM to explore the literary side. I guess that means, back to the book.

Until next time!



~Lady Jane