Ok, my obsession count is nearing overload.
Everyone knows about Harry Potter and Chicken Fajitas and Bob's Big Boy's Hot Fudge Cakes and Burnt Fudge and pictures.
And recently Firefly *sigh* (Sorry, I always need a moment after mentioning it), not so commonly known, but a forever love I think.
Monk and Closer are in there ... Certainly not quite at the same level, though I'm intent on making sure TiVo doesn't accidentally not record episodes.
But I've just discovered House and most recently Psych. TV shows if you're not up on your original USA programming.
This sounds like I am a couch potato, but I hardly distinguish the worlds of my books and those on television/movies. I mean, it's all stories, characters, loves, plots, etc. And that is what I crave. I honestly think TV has gotten better, not worse, (at least the TV I'm watching) compared to what I watched as a kid. Anyway, just thought I'd put that in here - that it's not about TV for me. This is what I am like whether it be food, family, TV, books or movies... what I love, I love whole-heartedly and possessively.
House I think will fit nicely with Monk and Closer as something I love to watch (and I don't use the word love loosely here). It is especially smart, I love the wit and Hugh Laurie IS British, what chance did I have?
And Psych was fun at first. The main guy James Roday is funny - one of those actors that is totally comfortable in front of the camera. But the element that changes something from love to obsession... the Mulder/Scully factor if you will... I have recently found in Psych.
Shipping is the common internet term for preferring a 'relationship pairing' in a TV show, book or movie. But I would like to distance myself from the term because from my time in the Harry Potter world it often feels that people 'ship' just for the sake of pairing people up. For example - In the HP world I am a Harry/Ginny shipper... but more than that - that is really the only romantic relationship I am particularly invested in in that series. Hermione/Ron of course is great - but I never felt particularly vehement about them getting together - just that that is where JKR was taking the series.
For example, in Closer, if Brenda and Fritz don't work out, I'll be disappointed because I like them fine, but I won't stop watching - it won't loose any of it's interest to me. And Monk - I'm not attached one way or another if he ever 'finds' someone.
Well, I would have put Psych up there in that same category until this weekend when I saw a crucial episode. See in the pilot they had paired the two real detectives romantically (even though the guy was married or separated). Apparently the female detective didn't test well (I didn't like her at all) so when they went from pilot to series they replaced her. But I actually assumed they replaced the actor - not the character. Therefore I was more than a little put off/confused when I kept spotting those little subtle set ups that writers/directors put in to introduce the idea that someday the lady detective (Juliet) and the main guy (Shawn) might have a thing.
BUT I finally saw the first episode of the SERIES and they introduced her as a totally new character. NOT only that but they introduced her to Shawn in a way that he did not originally know she was with the police and there was chemistry.
I love chemistry. It's one thing for it to come out in a book. The author has ultimate control. Maybe that's why I love and trust and depend on books so much. I know that the author has control - none of their characters are going to strike for a pay raise or get hired away by the promise of their own show/movie.
And it isn't just the risk that an actor can leave/die/get messed up on drugs that makes TV or movie chemistry special. I personally think it's pretty easy to tell if two actors connect at all. Even great actors - I think you can tell the difference between them acting really well and not being able to tell there ISN'T chemistry vs. when there is really something there. So when there IS, it's just really sensational - at least if I like the characters as well as the story. (*disclaimer I do not want all actors and actresses who are in love in a story to love each other romantically - I mean just that they like each other and then the acting takes it somewhere else)
Anyway, it's pretty dangerous to get my heart set on anything here as it's only the first half/season. But, oh, how much would I love for them not to mess it up?
I especially like it actually because as much as I adored Mulder/Scully in my X-Files years - theirs was often a strained relationship. Which was great for that story and that time of my life and you have to keep the audience hooked and all that. But I often point to the night of my first date with Steve as the downfall of my X-files obsession.
I had had a date with another guy about a year previous to Steve and my first date and I thought it was pretty magical at the time. But I remember specifically coming home from that date with Eric and X-Files had taped and I was so much more invested in Scully and Mulder's relationship than I was in whether or not I saw Eric again. AH, but fast forward to the next year with Steve and I actually couldn't focus on the X-files episode I missed that night... I was simply too preoccupied with thoughts of Steve.
Now, does that mean things have cooled between Steve and I because I love these imaginary relationships so much again? Well, sure, in a way. But in a good way. I mean, I could hardly function that first summer. Things have to cool a LITTLE bit. Anyway, that wasn't my point in bringing this up anyway.
My point was that a relationship less strained, more loyal, more lighthearted is what attracts and excites me now. Most likely because that is my relationship with Steve and those are the feelings I want to revisit. Not a whole lot of angst and drama and hopelessness.
Well, there is always a certain amount of hopelessness in these sorts of pairings because a TV show has to keep people interested and as soon as there is resolution people tune out (people, WHY? I just want one of these to work out! Geez, it happens in real life sometimes you know!). But I can't help it. I'm in it now. I am hopeful and smitten and rewatching scenes over and over.
And I love it so much. It makes me happy.
Which is also what eating brownies does for me. But with this outlet I gain less weight.
Hmm. when did Abby get strong enough to open the fridge and what do you suppose she is getting in there?
Jennifer Crusie - a romance author would be my favorite writer currently writing and it makes me realize a little more about this whole thing for me. If I love a book - well that is just great. But I read a book in a night. And even my favorite old- time mystery writers didn't capture me the same way for EVERY book. I think that's what these specifically TV romances do for me. Despite just having it be the visualization of what I imagine in a book - it is also a forced timeline. I have it for months... years maybe.
Which is also why it can be so horribly sad when something goes 'wrong'... I've invested just as much hope in it as I have a book and yet there never is resolution... or worse, there is a half - assed resolution /bitter resolution because the show has fallen out of favor with the network or the actor with the show producers.
It doesn't happen often. Not in books, not in movies, not in TV that I can really sink my mushy hearted teeth (eww not a good image) into the character AND the plot AND a romance. So I guess I should not worry about the future and enjoy the day.
I guess living with Steve has taught me a few things!
