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Which TV wedding should you emulate for this season?

It’s bridal Christmas, and wedding planning is in full swing. (I’m the maid of honor for an August wedding, so even I get it.)

TV showcases many weddings, including some disastrous moments. But if you need inspiration, you’ve got some options from the small screen.

The Surprise from ‘Modern Family’

Early on in the ABC comedy (aka when the show was progressive, not mundane), the families went to Hawaii.

They, of course, all get sick of each other, but it ends in a sweet moment between Phil and Claire Dunphy.

The couple, who balance each other out in every sense, didn’t have a true wedding but a rushed one. So Phil arranged for everyone to get together one evening for a proper ceremony, including father Jay walking Claire down the aisle. And the view for the event was picturesque, just like you hope a destination wedding would be.

The Processional from “Glee”

Leave it to a musical dramedy to make an entrance.

When Kurt’s dad and Finn’s mom married, the glee club had to help out.

Their sweet as sugar performance of “Marry You” can put a smile on anyone’s face. Plus who wouldn’t want that much energy during the wedding processional?

The Vows from ‘Friends’

I’m not talking about Monica and Chandler, but Phoebe and Mike.

We can agree season 10 isn’t “Friends” best, but Phoebe’s wedding was a highlight.

After trying to have a perfect, traditional wedding, the snow falls and they adjust to having their ceremony outside Central Perk. It’s fitting for the quirky couple.

But their vows about family and love fit not only the characters but a love that was stronger than their insecurities.

The first dance of “Gilmore Girls”

As much as I hate that Richard and Emily Gilmore’s wedding broke up Luke and Lorelai, their wedding was gorgeous. How could it not when everything in their house was so perfect (plus all the immaculately planned parties!).

But my favorite part of the episode (the show’s 100th) is their first dance. Specifically Richard’s speech about why he chose that song for their first dance as a couple (again). So sincere and personal, it was a true moment of love for the normally stoic grandfather.

Every first dance should be as full of meaning, laughter and love between a couple as theirs was.

The meaningful cake from “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”

I can’t fully recommend getting an over-the-top theme cake, but when it fits the couple, why not?

With Amy’s attempt to recreate Nakatomi Plaza from “Die Hard” as a wedding cake, you have to give credit for sacrificing a beautiful cake for a personal cake that would make her future husband smile.

Now…you can emulate the Red Wedding if you want…but I think no murders seems like an easy wedding day goal.

How TV comedies handle death

Resting in peace isn’t the easiest topic to cover.

While TV dramas seem to handle death on a regular basis, TV comedies handle it without consistency.

But how should a show that mostly about making people laugh handle one of the saddest life events?

Two popular sitcoms, “Friends” and “How I Met Your Mother,” went from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Two of the deaths on “Friends” were played for laughs. In TOW Nana Dies Twice, Ross and Monica’s grandmother is thought to be dead, but she has one last breath at the hospital, freaking out the siblings. At the burial, Ross falls into a gravesite. Yikes.

When Phoebe’s grandmother dies, 3-D glasses are passed out at the funeral. And later, her ashes are still in her taxi cab when Joey drives to Vegas. What?

The laughs went a little too far into an unrealistic, overly silly concept in both episodes.

On the other side, there’s “How I Met Your Mother,” which I think has one of the saddest deaths on a TV comedy.

When Marshall’s dad dies, it’s revealed at the end of the episode. Just when Marshall finds out they don’t have anything to worry about with infertility, Lily breaks the news about his father.

On IMDb, it’s said that actor Jason Segel didn’t know that’s what Alyson Hannigan would say, so his shocked reaction is real. And it’s so raw.

In the following episode, Last Words, Marshall urges his friends to remember the last words they said to their fathers. It really makes you think while showing a major life event and how it can affect friends.

While sitcoms are typically at a heightened reality, on-screen deaths and funerals can benefit from showing multiple emotions. In real life, death can bring laughter and tears.

On “Scrubs,” death is built into the hospital setting. Sometimes it was sad to watch beloved patients pass, and the writers did a great job with J.D.’s narrations commenting on how short life is and how everyone passes. On the hand, sometimes they made a point to make you at least chuckle. There is fantasy sequence where Turk and Carla raise a pumpkin and fret when he/she/it breaks.

It’s a nice balance on a show that’s filled with laughs and medical jargon.

“Modern Family” also had its script legs in both sides.

In Goodnight Gracie, the whole crew goes to Florida when Phil’s mother passed. Alex is confused and upset when her grandma, whom she bonded with deeply, leaves only a lighter for her, but by the episode’s conclusion, she discovers that the lighter had a memory and a hidden meaning from her grandmother.

Phil and Claire, on the other hand, awkwardly try (they first claim to be traveling vacuum salespeople) to meet a woman whom Phil’s mom thinks would make a great new partner for her surviving husband.

In season 3, the Dunphys’ neighbor passes, and all Luke wants is his TV. At first, Claire doesn’t think he’s accepted the death (even though she herself couldn’t stop smiling when telling people the neighbor had died), but it turns out it was a memory for him, and Claire calms down.

While these moments may be less memorable, they feel more in tune with the emotions we feel when someone dies.

But hey, that’s not really what sitcoms are for, are they?

 

5 great Christmas-themed TV episodes

This blog was originally published on elkharttruth.com on Dec. 17, 2014.

December is a time for snow, fires, family and holidays.

And on TV, it’s the same, only with more comical endings. Check out some of my favorite Christmas-themed TV episodes.

5. The Best Christmas Ever: “That ’70s Show,” season 1

If you were 17 and your parents gave you Christmas tree money, what size tree would you get?

For Eric Foreman (Topher Grace) and his buddies, it’s not the size that matters, but where you get the tree.

Since the gang gets to throw a Christmas party in the infamous basement, they cut down a tree from the forest and use the money from Red (Kurtwood Smith) for beer, which of course doesn’t end well.

4. The One with the Holiday Armadillo: “Friends,” season 7

Ross (David Schwimmer) tries very hard to be a good father, so when he wants his son, Ben, to learn about Hanukkah, he goes to great lengths to make the holiday seem appealing to a kid who has a big heart for Santa … including dressing up as an armadillo.

But when Chandler (Matthew Perry) comes dressed as Santa, the former college roommates have to come up with a new plan … and one random story.

3. How Lily Stole Christmas: “How I Met Your Mother,” season 2

Lily (Alyson Hannigan) and Marshall (Jason Segel) belong together. But for a time in season 2, they weren’t.

This causes a problem at Christmas time when Lily listens to an old voicemail of Ted (Josh Radnor) calling her a “Grinch (aka as a very bad word).”

Ted ends up at his religious cousin’s house and teaches the children bad words, so there’s the awful-family-holiday moment.

In the end, Lily and Ted make up over beer after Lily realizes Ted knows her so well that he helped Marshall find his on-again fiance the perfect Christmas present: an easy-bake oven.

2. A Very Glee Christmas: “Glee,” season 2

Back when “Glee” was a trailblazing show, the Fox show was given the opportunity to mix in the plot of the Grinch, played by none other than slimy Cheerios coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch).

It made for great TV, and the soundtrack for the episode is top-notch (it is a musical show, after all).

The episode seamlessly mixed in Christmas cheer and quality music.

1. The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis: “The Big Bang Theory,” season 2

Who doesn’t love Penny and Sheldon?

Sheldon (Jim Parsons) hates gift giving, because getting a present for someone with equal value and meaning stresses him out. So when Penny (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting) tells Sheldon she got him a gift, he tries to find a proper gift for her.

When her gift turns out to be a Leonard Nimoy-autographed napkin, he is so elated that he gives her every bath item gift basket he bought, plus a hug. Yep, he was that overjoyed.

What’s your favorite holiday-themed TV episode?

‘The Big Bang Theory’ will survive 3 more seasons if it keeps momentum

This blog was originally published on elkharttruth.com on May 14, 2014.

It’s hard to keep coming up with fresh ideas year after year.

TV shows have this problem annually. Many second seasons aren’t as good as the first, so much so that shows often are talked about in terms of “sophomore slump.”

“The Big Bang Theory,” a consistent ratings darling, avoided a sophomore slump and has managed to keep the ideas flowing for seven seasons … for the most part.

The show was renewed for three more seasons in March (although some of the actors still remain without contracts), but the question is: Can the show continue to be fresh for three more years?

I’m a fan of the CBS show. It’s nerdy without being too smart and it’s funny without being too stupid.

But as a fan, I did not find the most recent season as exciting as previous ones.

The show didn’t hit a good stride until two-thirds of the way through the season, when Sheldon and Amy kissed on a train on Valentine’s Day.

That’s too long to wait in a 24-episode season.

I also kept wondering if Raj (Kunal Nayyar), who finally was able to talk to a woman without drinking alcohol at the end of season 6, would get a girlfriend.

It happened in season 7, but not until the end.

If a TV show has the potential for character growth, that growth should be played out as soon as possible.

“The Big Bang Theory” needs to take a hint from ABC’s “Scandal” and pick up the pace.

At Comic-Con, producers said viewers would have to wait a while to see Leonard and Penny, who got engaged in the penultimate episode of season 7, get married.

Why wait? The show will lose steam if they don’t get married by the end of season 8.

But at the same time, I don’t think anyone wants to see them break up again. Let’s move forward, not backward.

Can the show last another three seasons? I hope so, but only if the episodes are more like the last eight of season 7.

Top 10 best episodes of ‘Friends’

This blog was originally published on elkharttruth.com on May 14, 2014.

After picking the best “How I Met Your Mother” episodes, it seems logical to pick the top 10 episodes of “Friends.”

But narrowing down the show’s 238 episodes into one top-10 list proved tougher than I thought.

I’m sure these could be debated, but here are my picks:

10. The One with Monica and Chandler’s Wedding (first aired May 17, 2001)

Three seasons after they got together (see No. 6 on the list), Monica and Chandler tie the knot.

Of course, Chandler freaks out over marriage. And Joey ends up performing the ceremony in his movie costume, which is stained with fake blood.

And, like most “Friends” seasons, it ends with a cliffhanger: Rachel, not Monica, is pregnant.

9. The One in Vegas: Part 2 (first aired May 20, 1999)

Poor Joey. The actor can’t catch a break.

Chandler and Monica leave their relationship fate to the casino, and then they steal — I mean, borrow — a blue sweatshirt for their Vegas wedding.

To top it all off, after permanent marker pranks and drunken stupor, Rachel and Ross go too far … and get married

8. The One Where Joey Dates Rachel (first aired Jan. 10, 2002)

I love this episode purely for the five or so minutes when Joey and (a pregnant) Rachel are on a date and they teach each other their moves.

They are the two flirtatious ones of the group, so it’s fun to watch them woo each other.

7. The One at the Beach (first aired May 15, 1997)

This episode shows a (brief) moment of reconciliation for Rachel and Ross after going on a break (or was it a break?) and breaking up earlier in the season.

Plus, Phoebe acts as she always does — a little nutty with a lot of heart. After breaking into what she thinks is her mother’s friend’s house, she discovers it’s actually her mother she’s staring at.

And the strip “Happy Days” game was ridiculous … and just kooky enough for the show.

6. The One with Ross’s Wedding (first aired May 7, 1998)

Um. Oops. You might want to say the right name in your wedding vows, Ross.

This episode is also the start of Monica and Chandler.

5. The One with Barry and Mindy’s Wedding (first aired May 16, 1996)

Best songs ever in the show (minus Phoebe’s songs, of course): “Copacabana” and “Someone to Watch Over Me” can be heard in this episode. Not that they compare with Phoebe’s songs, such as “Smelly Cat,” but they are two songs that I love.

The songs are incorporated into the emotion of the episode.

Rachel’s too-pink dress and wardrobe snafu at the wedding of her ex-fiance were hilarious moments, but she keeps the humor going with her rendition of “Copacabana.”

But mixed in all that, we have the emotional component of the reality and ending of Monica and Richard’s relationship, played out over the jazz tune, “Someone to Watch Over Me.”

4. The Last One (aired May 6, 2004)

This episode is arguably one of the best series finales ever.

“I got off the plane.”

It’s poignant and exciting, and it gave closure to a show that ran for 10 seasons.

3. The One with the Embryos (first aired Jan. 15, 1998)

Lisa Kudrow was actually pregnant in real life, so her character Phoebe is artificially inseminated in this episode.

In true Phoebe fashion, she agrees to be a surrogate for her brother, Frank (Giovanni Ribisi), and his wife, Alice (Debra Jo Rupp).

Phoebe was nervous, but the pregnancy was a success. But no one knew it would be triplets.

This is also the episode where Rachel and Monica lose their apartment in a quiz game to Joey and Chandler. All because they couldn’t remember what Chandler did for a living.

But the quiz did give some funny factoids into the characters’ lives. Who knew Rachel’s favorite movie is ”Weekend at Bernie’s”?

2. The One Where Everybody Finds Out (first aired Feb. 11, 1999)

Oh the games that ensue because of Monica and Chandler’s secrecy. And because Ugly Naked Guy moves out, allowing Ross to check out and move into the apartment.

It goes so, so far, but it’s hilarious.

1. The One with the Prom Video (first aired Feb. 1, 1996)

This is the episode that unites Ross and Rachel as a couple … finally. They are each other’s lobsters, as Phoebe called them.

And the appearance of Fat Monica and Rachel’s old nose are priceless.

 

There are many other good episodes I have left off here. What are your favorites?