Monsters of Television

“They’re, like, two really hot unicorns.”

“Girls, you seriously don’t want to live vicariously through me.”

Understanding every reference that flies out of the mouths of the characters on Bunheads isn’t necessary to enjoy the show, which is a relief since it would require a heady amount of homework to catch every single one. But I think it’s funny to imagine Michelle with a bowl of popcorn watching the first season of The Wire or, even better, Madame Fannie getting in deep with Breaking Bad. There’s something hilarious and awesome about needing to watch television and movies about gritty urban existence and drug-dealing empires to get all the jokes on a show about dancers and dancing on a cable channel called “family.”

The other continuous reference is one I hope that I don’t feel compelled to point out every episode, especially because it seems to upset people (something I learned when writing up the winter premiere episode of Bunheads on TV.com). But you can’t have your lead character, who is already drawing comparisons to Lorelai, aim to take a business class and expect fans of both shows not to draw a comparison or two. I mean, what happens to Michelle when she does sign up for a business class is exactly what makes the difference between go-getter Lorelai and put-upon Michelle.

At least her and Fannie’s idea for what to do with their land wasn’t to create an inn.

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“I am all knowing. I am Michelle.”

These are four mad girls in tights.

Lingering from the January 2013 issue of Glamour and Zooey Deschanel’s cover issue interview is a quote about how being “feminine” and being a “feminist” aren’t mutually exclusive. Her words: “I want to be a f–king feminist and wear a f–king Peter Pan collar. So f–king what?” Speaking as a person with no personal vagina, I tend to agree. A woman should not be questioned on her dedication to the empowerment of females because she identifies with things that could subjectively be categorized under the heading, “Things that Subjugate Women.” Not that I think anything with a Peter Pan collar has the capacity for any kind of violence, physical or cultural.

The quote has been scrutinized a few times for its denouncement of anyone that would assume she is hurting the cause by making herself her own vision of pretty. To me, the only thing that really stuck out was the “Peter Pan collar.” Fine, whatever, she’s standing up for her right to not have her whims examined by the Fundamentalist-Feminist Thought Police but — a Peter Pan collar? I had to look that up because it just sounds so — it sounds like something that Zooey Deschanel should wear, if in name only. And, after looking at what that is, I was so right.

Her persona (so lastingly coined by FOX as “adorkable”) is comprised of these kinds of dalliances and affectations, something that’s both put on display and lampooned by her show. I never like to assume anything about celebrities since there’s generally, even behind the most honest and down-to-earth-seeming ones, a grand machine dedicated solely to producing a public image, but she projects everything that is twee and hipster and quirky. Big glasses. Exclusively in dresses from another era. Most likely a very active knitting circle. Wait, is my nanna a hipster?

What I’m saying is that she’s a beacon of quirkiness, both a lightning rod and a broadcaster (from HelloGiggles). Even though the movement would hate her since she’s the mainstream of something that’s supposed to be alternative, there is no questioning her authority and reign.

But Bunheads tried to take it from her this week.

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“You’re here to rock the boat.”

Nick and I had a conversation about Bunheads when it premiered. Now we’re having a conversation following its first season finale. (We like symmetry.) We talk about the finale, character psyches, messiness, dance-and-talks, and, of course, Constantinople.  -Noel

That one girl in the pink isn’t going to get up for anyone.

Nick:  That was like a half-season compressed into a single episode.

Noel: Which kind of makes sense given how AS-P doled out the narrative.

Nick:  Yeah. They didn’t even spread out the mention of Chekhov’s Pretty Mace and it going off into different acts.

Noel:  Hahaha. As soon as she said the word mace, I shouted at the TV, “Chekhov’s Mace!”

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“As long as my face doesn’t look like Chris Hansen, your guests will be fine.”

So as you may or may not be aware, Nick and I are huge fans of Gilmore Girls. We find nothing embarrassing about this because Gilmore Girls is a damn fine show. Stop judging us. YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND OUR LOVE.

Anyway.

We were both understandably intrigued by Bunheads when it started circulating given our Amy Sherman-Palladino love (and it didn’t look like Jezebel James, which was a plus). So we both watched it and then discussed it in a small chat session, hence the more conversational tone.  –Noel Read more »