Category: TV

Reality & Me

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Picture this. I’m in my kitchen preparing a meal for our family today, and I get to thinking about how pleased I am that I am using mostly leftovers to create a new dish. It makes happy to not be wasting food, and even though cooking is not my favorite thing to do, I like that I am able cook a warm meal when there is snow covering everything. (Seriously, we were prepared to eat sandwiches for like a week if the power went out in the storm.) As I was cooking, I got to thinking that this is not the kind of meal that you would see on a reality TV cooking or baking show. However, it was the kind of meal that you would see in a lot of people’s homes. That got me to thinking, if I was responsible for coming up with reality shows, what would the content cover? Immediately, I thought of three that would be for me!

Cooking Show – This show would go beyond just what happens in the kitchen. I would want to teach families how to meal plan based on a grocery budget, how to make the most of the weekly ads for their favorite grocery store (mine is Kroger, and I checkout the new ad every Wednesday!), and how to prepare quick, healthy meals that only utilize common ingredients. None of that you have to buy a giant thing of an herb that you will only use one sprig of nonsense! I would then take a family shopping for the week, help them prep their meals, and discuss ways to reuse any leftovers. For example, if they had pork tenderloin as the main dish one night, then they could use the leftovers for sandwiches the next day. I have come to believe that a lot of people want to make better meals at home, but they could use some real guidance as opposed to cooking shows that are either to gourmet or seem more focused on chaos than learning.

Travel Show – I would want to showcase something that most people would not think to visit. Perhaps I would do a world tour of museums or visit a variety of National Parks. My goal would be to feature places that appeal to an array of interests while also being open to those not wanting to take out a loan just to go on vacation. There would also be specific episodes geared towards families, married couples, and single adults.

Art Show – Can we all agree that performing arts shows have basically been done to death at this point? I think it would be cool to see a visual arts competition. I’m thinking something like Bob Ross level of calm where people just paint some Happy Trees and see who comes out with the best painting after a given time. I have great memories of watching The Joy of Painting on Sunday mornings, and I feel like the world needs more art like that. I realize you can just watch most of it on YouTube, but the competitive aspect would be a lot of fun!

If you were in charge of reality TV, what would your content cover?

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

And Just Like That I Loved AJLT

Spoiler Alert!!! This blog contains spoilers of And Just Like That Season 2!!!

Normally, I don’t write about things like TV shows, but since finishing the Season 2 finale of And Just Like That, I’ve read a lot of articles slamming it. I loved it so much that I feel like I need to stand up for the show. Before I begin, let me give you a little of my backstory with the SATC universe. My first exposure to it was when the first film came out in 2008. I saw it in the theater, and I fell in love! As a 20 something, I found their lives fascinating. I immediately dove into the series and loved the evolution of each character’s story. It was so interesting to see how they got from their characterizations in Season 1 to where they were in the film. When the second movie came out, I was equally excited and thoroughly enjoyed it as well. So of course when AJLT was announced, I couldn’t wait!

When I first started watching Season 1, I struggled with AJLT a lot specifically with Miranda and Che. For example it bothered me that because she was unhappy, Miranda cheated on Steve instead of separating before beginning a new relationship. This seemed extremely out of character given how upset Miranda was when Steve cheated. Additionally, it really bothered me when Miranda and Che hooked up while Carrie peed herself in the other room. Not because they were together, but because it seemed out of character for Miranda to neglect her bestie. Finally, my biggest problem with Season 1 was Che Diaz because their characterization was just too much. However, a recent quote from Sara Ramirez made me reflect differently on the character. The gist was that Che is being written by a bunch of writers who cannot relate to being non-binary and what life is like for someone with that gender identity which has led to some over the top and inaccurate characterization. I thought they made a great point, and it really made me rethink my opinion of Che.

Speaking of Che, I really liked their character development in the later half of Season 2. I thought that their story lines did a great job of showing how they are struggling to find their place in the world professionally and in both platonic and romantic relationships. During the later half of the season, I also felt like we got to see a warm and generous side (Miranda bashing stand up aside) to Che that hadn’t been explored before. Seriously, how cute was Che cuddling all those kitties? (Side note when I’m 47, I want skin as lovely as Sara Ramirez’s.) I was thankful for this because I almost gave up on Che when they were so mad at Miranda for leaving LA to be with her suicidal son.

Miranda leaving LA to take care of Brady is a prime example of why I think Season 2 was so great. For many of the characters this season showed how they had grown to be the strong family oriented, successful career and/or philanthropic women that they have become. I feel like this growth exemplifies a lot of the natural change that comes with maturing as a person in real life. I also thought that the family centered storylines did a great job of making the characters relatable to a variety of people. For example, LTW’s guilt over her miscarriage is extremely relatable for anyone who has ever gone through pregnancy loss. There are so many associated emotions with such a loss, and the show did a great job of showing both the woman’s guilt and man’s mourning the loss and guilt. Additionally, I thought Charlotte’s story about going back to working in a gallery because she felt as though she had lost her identity as herself was highly relatable. As a mom, it is so easy to get absorbed in your family commitments that it can be easy to lose your own personality! Kudos to them for showing that is a real thing!

I could go on and on about how great Season 2 was, but I know it will still have critics. I think those who are criticizing it for not being more like SATC forget that the original first aired 25 years ago. By expecting the characters to be the same as they were in 1998 is like expecting that people never change. In my opinion, I think how people change over the years is what makes them interesting. If the characters were all acting exactly the same as they had 25 years ago, that would be sad as it would mean they hadn’t experienced personal growth. They would also be highly unrelatable to most of us if they were still just chasing after men, drinking, and parading around in fancy clothes that cost as much as my mortgage.

So …and just like that I fell in love with my gal pals all over again!

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby