Welcome to Clearing Out Our Queue, where we share TV news and recommendations to keep you filled in between episodes of our podcast. Every Friday, Adina and Kara will keep you in the loop about what’s going on in the entertainment world, and what you should be watching.
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NETWORK SOAPS: THE HEROES TV NEEDS
Kara’s thoughts on why we must let dramas be silly and fun
As someone who was a bit too young for a lot of the CW teen dramas in the early 2000s (but I did watch the final season of Gossip Girl as it aired in 2012), I’ve seen a lot of out of context clips floating around on the internet. One memorable example of this might be in the season two finale of The OC when Marissa shoots Ryan’s brother, followed by the iconic “Hide and Seek” needle drop (yes, that is what the “Mmm whatcha say” song is called). I watched the clip in context my sophomore year of college when I was watching The OC and was mesmerized. Of course it’s funny to laugh at these clips out of context, especially since they’re even more ridiculous without all the build-up, but I think that’s part of the fun of these network soaps.
Of course those who have been tuned into this newsletter know, I started watching One Tree Hill for the first time back in December. I received a text from one of my friends that simply said, “I’m sure you’ve seen the heart transplant clip”. And I had, but this particular clip only popped up on Twitter for me a few months ago. I watched it, thought it was ridiculous and didn’t process that it was from One Tree Hill. This past week, after six seasons of watching, I finally saw the scene of a dog running off with Dan Scott’s new heart in context. Unlike the scene from The OC (which I was a bit horrified by when I watched it in the context of the show), this scene was just as ridiculous in the context of the show. And now that I’ve seen the full episode, I’ve dug up an oral history from 2017 with people who worked on the show discussing how the moment came to be.
One of the things I appreciated reading about the moment was the people behind it also admitting it was very ridiculous. But at the same time, we’re still talking about it today when it aired in 2009. I love every meme I see that references Archie’s “epic highs and lows of high school football” speech from Riverdale, as he tries to raise morale while he’s in juvie. There are many moments on the show that don’t make any sense, and yet we still talk about them. And as a viewer, I enjoyed watching them as well. It also takes a lot of imagination to create these moments, which is another reason why I have often said I would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall in a writers’ room like Riverdale’s or honestly any CW teen drama.
I get excited about these moments, because it’s one of the reasons I got so into television in the first place. Do they necessarily make sense? No, but I’m enjoying myself, and I’m a firm believer that if you enjoy something, then it’s worthwhile, which is how I feel about television soaps. I’ve been so drawn in by the promos for the multiple part cruise ship saga on 911 (which just celebrated 100 episodes this week!), that I’ve decided I’m going to start the show after I finish One Tree Hill. We tune in for the characters and stay for the wild scenarios, waiting on the edge of our seats to see what the writers could possibly dream up next.
Where else but network TV could we get scenes like this?!
TV NEWS
Daredevil: Born Again has wrapped filming. This is Disney+’s follow up to the Daredevil series on Netflix, for those who are out of the loop, and it also had a bit of a bumpy journey with writers changed and a retool of the entire creative direction last year.
The X-Files creator Chris Carter spoke to Inverse about the upcoming series reboot, affirming that he isn’t “possessive” of the series concept, which is being reimagined by Ryan Coogler. However, the writer pointed out that the show’s concept will be harder to pull off now, when online, “everything’s a conspiracy.” He also recounted challenges from Fox executives over his casting of the original series over the alleged lack of “sex appeal” in his choice for Scully. Sorry, but have those executives SEEN Gillian Anderson???
Hulu has ordered a new comedy series from Mindy Kaling called Murray Hill, which reportedly focuses on “five work-obsessed twentysomethings” in the eponymous neighborhood of Manhattan. Could it become the kind of stable, young-adult-friends sitcom that’s been lacking in the market lately? Well, that depends how many episodes Hulu orders…
Ahead of Interview with the Vampire’s season 2 premiere on May 12th, TV Insider spoke with Delainey Hayles, who plays Claudia. Hayles will be taking over the role from Bailey Bass, who portrayed the young-girl-turned-vampire in season 1.
CLEARING OUT OUR QUEUE
Or, what we’re watching this week.
Kara: I actually feel like I watched a decent amount of TV this week. Besides One Tree Hill (see above), I started watching the X-Men animated series from the 90s as well as the new episode of X-Men ‘97. I also started watching a British show called Boarders that’s on Tubi. I’m really enjoying it and would recommend for anyone looking for a quick watch.
Adina: I’ve pressed on through New Girl (made it to season 3 - as much as I was dying for some of the tension between Nick and Jess to break, I’ll admit them finally getting together lessened some of the need to binge). Also picked up some recent seasons of American Dad! after not watching for years. It’s bizarrely relaxing for me, I guess because it isn’t very demanding viewing.