You Know You Love Me, xoxo

It’s going to be hard for me to make this blog post short, because I have an infinite amount of love for Gossip Girl.

            I started watching this show when it came out in 2007. I was in 8^th grade at the time. Looking back, I may have been a little young to watch that show, but it became an obsession and something that always looked forward to watching in my teen years (all throughout high school basically).  I watched every single episode when it aired, and when it came on Netflix (a long time ago), I was overjoyed.

            Since I watched this show as soon as it came on the air, I became more attached to these characters than any other show I’ve watched.  I’ll rewatch the episodes over and over again when I’m bored because I know this show will make me happy.

            Incase if you don’t know what Gossip Girl is about, or have never heard sbout it before, it’s based on a young adult book series of the same name. However, the television show strays completely away from the books. The show follows six Upper East Side high schoolers: Serena Van der Woodsen, Blair Waldorf, Nate Archibald, Chuck Bass, Dan Humphrey, and Jenny Humphrey.  They all attend all girls’ and all boys’ prep schools and are mostly friendly with each other.  There is an anonymous website/blog that reports of all the “gossip”, “scandals”, “drama”, and “dirt” on “Manhattan’s elite”, aka the tips that the Gossip Girl blog reports are mainly about the six characters. There was a lot of controversy about this show when it first came out, because a lot of the show’s plot lines involve several elements of sex, drugs, and underage drinking and partying. Gossip Girl shows the fabulous lives of these teenagers that (let’s face it, doesn’t exist in today’s society.) As much as I admire this show and the glamorous lifestyle that go along with it,  I always have to remember that it isn’t real. Watching this show makes me want to be rich, famous, and live in NYC forever and ever. However, I’m genuinely surprised that my parents let me watch this show at thirteen years old. Although I may not have understood all the elements of the show at that age, I still enjoyed it. Now being older, I realize some of the negative effects that that show can display to people in my generation and generations below me. This is still a great television show to watch (and binge watch) on Netflix, because there are so many characters that you’ll fall in love with and the scandals that they are involved in will make your jaw drop and want to watch more. If you like juicy drama – watch Gossip Girl. I promise you won’t regret it.

A Dream of the '90s is Alive in Portlandia

If you like Saturday Night Live, or any satirical comedy filled with ridiculous sketches and hilarious characters, then you are going to love Portlandia. I was skeptical about Portlandia at first, because it seemed like a show I wouldn’t like. However, my cousin convinced me to watch it. Since he and I are very similar people and our humor is the same, I decided to watch it last semester on one of the snow days we had in mid-February. While watching one measly episode turned into watching the whole first season in a night, Portlandia made me laugh with its insane jokes and weird-as-anything sketches and characters. The show stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, and the show trades on and off from different sketches and the two actors portraying different types of characters. They play two feminists that run a bookstore, a ghetto couple, Peter and Nance (which honestly, I don’t know how to describe them, but they’re hilarious), and even more. Every episode is different, and you don’t have to watch them in sequential order. The beauty of this show is the insanity of it and the fact that it’ll lift your mood up at any time. Their jokes and sketches will have you quoting them quite often. It's the type of show that it's great to re-watch over and over again and you won't get tired of it. 

            Even if you’re skeptical, give this show a try. I can guarantee that if you enjoy Saturday Night Live you’ll enjoy Portlandia.

It's BOJACK Time

I may be a young adult, but I enjoy watching cartoons every now and then. Maybe I’ll put on a lighthearted animated show such as Spongebob, or something way more inappropriate such as Family Guy or South Park. My parents weren’t too strict on me when it came to watching TV when I was younger. However, in 2014, Netflix developed a different type of show (but let’s be honest, all of the Netflix Originals are different in their own way).

            Bojack Horseman is an animated adult comedy that focuses on a washed up actor (which happens to be the combination of a horse and a man). The world of Bojack Horseman consists of normal-looking humans with the combination of animal humans (half-human/half-animal). It’s a different type of world, and when you watch the show for the first time, you may be very confused --- but that’s completely normal. The show itself takes a little bit to get used to. However, the jokes within the first ten minutes of the Pilot episode will have you laughing at loud because of the show’s ridiculous characters, situations, etc.

            Bojack’s character is a classic, and the famous Will Arnett voices him. Bojack was in a famous television sitcom “Horsin’ Around” which both made and broke his acting career. The show focuses on years after the show “Horsin’ Around” ended years later and Bojack is not only trying to get his acting career back on track, but he is trying to write an autobiography, and season 1 focuses on when he hires a ghost writer named Diane, whom Bojack kinda-sorta falls for. Bojack’s cohort and unwelcoming roommate, Todd (voiced by Aaron Paul from the amazing, Emmy winning show, Breaking Bad) is just as funny if not funnier than Bojack himself. There are many classic moments and parodies in the show that make fun of current events and certain celebrities.

            If you enjoy shows similar to Family Guy, American Dad, Futurama, South Park, or any other adult animated comedy, I highly recommend you give Bojack Horseman a try. The type of show is very different and abnormal, but it’s definitely worth watching.

That's SO 70's.

Since I was feeling sick this weekend I decided to rewatch one of my favorite shows (which is an oldie, but a goodie, and NOT a Netflix Original this time). I love re-watching episodes of That 70’s Show. Incase you haven’t heard of this period sitcom, it was aired in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s that takes place in the mid to late 1970’s. The sitcom follows the lives of six teenagers from Wisconsin and provides everything that was going on in the 70’s.

            I view “That 70’s Show” as one of those sitcom shows that you can flip threw the television channels and just watch any episode, because you will laugh at ANYTHING that occurs during the show.

            One of my favorite parts of this show is some of the actors, who star in it are some of Hollywood’s top names today, like Ashton Kutcher (Michael Kelso), Mila Kunis (Jackie Burkhart), and Laura Prepon (Donna Pinciotti). Over 8 seasons of this show, the characters grow with each other through the misery of being a teenager and in high school. However, the main character, Eric Forman (played by Topher Grace) also has his embrassing yet fun-loving parents as a huge part of the show, Kitty and Red Forman.

            Watching this show millions of times has made me want to have grown up in the 1970s (which is the decade that my parents were coincidentally teenagers during that time period). The show was originally debuted on FOX, but currently has reruns today on ABC Family, and it’s been streaming online for years. It’s was a popular show during it’s run, but I think it’s important that my generation takes the chance to watch a classic show such as “That 70’s Show” because we’re so focused on watching shows that are currently on the air and now branching out to watch different types of shows. Every show is different, like I keep mentioning in my other posts, but I believe it’s important to take risks (like you do in real life) and watch shows that you normally don’t. The only bad thing is that you don’t like it and you can shut it off at anytime!

            

However, this show is one of my favorite sitcoms, EVER. One of my best friends from home introduced me to this show almost 4 years ago, and I can’t thank her enough for it! Whenever I’m bored or just need Netflix as a background noise when I’m doing something else, I’ll pop this one on J

Adjusting to "House of Cards"

When I first bought a Netflix subscription, I didn’t think I would be watching many of the Netflix Originals shows that were showcased on the streaming site at the time. However, hearing through word of mouth from some of my close friends that House of Cards was a show definitely worth-watching, my boyfriend and I decided to watch the pilot episode one February night almost two years ago.

            After the first episode, we were hooked with the show entirely. Considering the college work course load, we couldn’t binge watch the show like we wanted to. However, we did finish the first season in approximately a week’s time and immediately started the second season. I wanted to savor each and every episode considering as soon as I would’ve finished the second season, I (and millions of other HOC fans) would have to wait a year until the next season is released. In that case, Season 3 was just released this past February on Netflix.

            I never imagined that I could thoroughly enjoy a political drama, ever. I don’t really enjoy watching anything related to politics, whether it is on the news or on a television show. House of Cards has some incredibly tense moments, and even some light-hearted moments (those light-hearted moments barely happen, it’s a rare occasion).

            Along with the series’ consistent dramatic plotline and suspense, the characters of Frank Underwood, Claire Underwood, Zoe Barnes, and many others keep the show interesting, unique, and amazing the way it is.

            Another great aspect of this Netflix original is that even if the one thing that’s in your way of watching this show (biased political opinions, or opinions leaning more towards a certain political party) --- not to worry! This television show isn’t politically biased. Even though Frank Underwood, the main character is considered a Democrat in the television show, the issues that occur during it aren’t biased towards a certain party.

            I think that expanding your normal range of television shows is a good thing, and something that everyone needs to try. In general, people don’t want to reach out and try new things, no matter what it might be. Even if you don’t like political dramas, you should watch this show anyway. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are just a few components that make this show perfect.

            Because I took a chance and I decided to watch a show that was popular, but I didn’t think I would like, I proved myself wrong by taking the chance and watching it, actually paying attention, and being engaged.

Take a chance this week and watch a Netflix show that you think is out of your element.