I usually share this story with my students to ask why it is we sometimes decide to stick with something that is difficult and other times we quit so quickly. I remember my first time snowboarding up at Blackcomb. The conditions were quite icy that day and the first hour was enjoyable trying to put together consecutive turns. Then as the day progressed, and my butt cheeks were repeatedly hammered like Eric Lindros' head hit by Scott Stevens, I realized that this snowboarding thing was no longer enjoyable. Getting down the hill was slow going, because my body refused to make any turns as it knew that pain was surely to follow.
Those of you who have snowboarded understand that the most difficult thing to do for beginners is to traverse over flat terrain. Downhill slopes, you let gravity do the work. Flat terrain means the boarder has to hold continual edges. This balancing act is difficult and if you bail, you have now lost all speed which means you have to start walking. Blackcomb is not a place for beginners, if the snow conditions aren't good at lower elevations, because up high, the "beginner green" runs are all-the-aforementioned-flat traverses. Now, why not take the quickest way down the mountain, the "blue" or "black diamond" runs? The problem is most of those runs are super steep and full of moguls* (why don't they just call them "bumps"?). At the end of the day, I found myself way too high up on Blackcomb, needing to meet family and friends at the bottom, and doing the math in my head that extrapolated my current rate of descent versus the distance I was at, which led me to the answer of 2 hours. This amount of time was also not factoring in the decrease in courage over time with the inversely proportional amount of bruising on my buttocks. As I sat there wondering how if I could ride my snowboard like a toboggan (I tried--it is difficult with moguls and you tend to start cruising out of control towards the edges of the hill or into the trees), a snow patrol guy came chugging along in his snowmobile.
*Wikipedia tells me that "The term mogul is probably of German dialect; akin to German dialect (Viennese) mugl, small hill." Again, I would have gone just with "bumps". But what do I know, I was formerly an ESL student. For one week. Even though I was born in Canada.
It was at this moment, I realized that I may have a future in acting. Of course, I am still awaiting my big break. I mustered up the saddest, most pitiful face ever that clearly shouted out to him, "Please sir, help me out" without losing any shred of machismo I had left at that moment. My WTF (Why the Face... for those of you who enjoy "Modern Family") must have appealed to his intrinsic nature of goodness, irregardless of the fact that his daily job was helping people out in distress. He slowed down and asked me if I was hurt. I told him no, but I needed to meet people down at the bottom at the mountain and I feared that at the rate at which I was going, that reunion would unlikely happen within that day. The kind man said I can give you a lift and we will strap your board in. My face lit up like my Korean friends on one glass of wine and was so appreciative of this rescue (ignore the fact that I was not injured). Quite honestly, as we zipped down the mountain on the snowmobile (can I say skidoo?) that was the funniest part of my snowboarding day. And the message to all you hitchhikers... work on your facial expressions.
Now what is the long preamble getting to? You would think after that terrible day of snowboarding--the negative experience of falling on ice in cold weather, the feeling of frustration in not being able to get your body in sync with the board, and the humbling experience of having a snow patrol bail out a grown adult--you would think this particular day would have effectively snuffed out my snowboarding career. Yet, there I was, weeks later, out on Cypress Mountain, to do something that I should have hated so much. This desire to be back on the hill meant that I felt some sort of need to try again. I can't explain it, but there was something about snowboarding I liked despite my first experience. Somehow I knew, that persevering through these initial forays (my second time was still all about falls and spills on the hills) would payoff for that one time down the road where I would be whooshing down a steep incline, floating on top of a soft-cushion of powder, filled with an exhilaration of freedom, all the while grinning from ear to ear due to the overwhelming feeling of excitement. Somehow I was willing to stick with snowboarding, because of that momentary feeling when I would link two turns together as a beginner and that told me that "Hey, this is something that I will like."
Isn't that the way it is with all aspects of life? Why do certain things that are tough cause us to quit initially, while other more difficult things cause us to power through? What motivates or appeals to each of our personalities? What is it about a certain television show that allows us to be more forgiving in the beginning and more willing to give one show a chance over another?
Case in point for the 2009 season. I couldn't stomach more than two episodes of "V". I am sure that it may turn around, but I wasn't willing to wait through all of it and see. Yet, I gave Flashforward about five episodes to win me over (it didn't... that is a show that I call a try-hard.) People are rarely willing to give "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" a shot, because of its preposterous name and the possible lingering negative effects of the movie that came out before it (starring Luke Perry of the original 90210 for those younguns out there reading). Somehow, I decided to give the series a shot recently on DVD and had a difficult time handling the cheesiness of special effects and the uneven tone they were trying to establish in the first half of season 1. And I hate saying this now, but if someone were to stick with the show through all the seasons (seven seasons worth) I think most people would be surprised at the depth and maturity of the issues that are tackled along with the breadth and scope of the characters that get the viewer involved and all of this from a show called "Buffy". My wife, certainly not a sci-fi/fantasy fan, mentioned the other day, that she thinks it is the best show she has ever seen, which I was shocked at. She almost gave up on it during season 1 and only at my insistence was she willing to give the show a try. And she was rewarded with a show with clever writing, great humour, and some romantic sappiness thrown in every now and then. I even remember my wife saying that the show was like Twilight, except I had to remind her that Buffy came before Twilight.
I find that comedy shows are the type of shows that you really need to give a chance. Often networks pull the plug on these types of shows, which is unfair as the writers and those involved are trying to carefully nail their vision of what they want to pull off weekly. To beat a dead horse further, my snowboarding story perfectly sums up what I go through with some comedies. A show like "Parks & Recreation" was not so great in its first season. It was actually all over the place and I wasn't sure it was creating likable characters. I also felt like it was forcing situations in the hopes that these over-the-top moments of absurdity would be viewed as hilarious. I almost gave up on the series, but there was something about it that I could not explain, something that made me willing to watch. As this 2009 fall season has passed, I found that "Parks & Recreation" as one of the comedies that I actually wanted to see the most on Thursdays, a night of packed comedies. I am glad that I stuck with the show, because there have been some glorious highlights thus far (Louis CK, Greg Pikitis-vandalizing teen, Chris, Ron). I am glad that I stuck with the uneven "Community" for brilliant episodes like "Debate 109" I could do without Ken Jeong at times (a try-hard), but the rest of the cast have really come into there own (plus I have a small crush on Alison Brie). A character like Abed, who I thought was just too kooky, is now in the perfect wheelhouse of funny supporting character. I never would have thought that "Community" and "Parks & Rec" would sometimes bring more laughs than "The Office" or "30 Rock". Funnily enough, the first seasons of Office and 30 Rock were not very strong either.
This all brings me to my main point (I like that I took 10,000 words to get to the crux of my thesis. My English teacher would have had a heart attack at my thesis inversion.)
Are we in the midst of a Golden Age of TV Comedy? I really believe we are for sitcoms. The laugh track comedy has gone by the wayside, the traditional format has been replaced by varying degrees of a mockumentary feel, and the settings have become zany. In essence, a lot of the filmed comedy approaches the ridiculous scenarios of an early Simpsons episode, yet the characters can still connect in serious ways. I could write forever about all the comedies out there I enjoy, but I don't have the time nor the energy to do so. However, I will write out a list of comedies that are currently running and I challenge those of you out there to think of a time that produced a slew of well-crafted shows like we have today. Of course, there are many of you out there, who haven't given any of these shows a chance. You really should try to watch some of these with the recognition that you have to be patient and allow for repeated viewings in order for the payoff later down the road. Sure, the hill may be a bit bumpy at first, but later on when you are smiling and laughing your way through the subsequent episodes you will be glad you got on(snow)board.
BTW these are my opinions and I could not have possible watched all the comedies that exist out there. I will list shows that are currently running (thus missing out on the brilliance of "Arrested Development").
ABC:
Modern Family: Ed O'Neal (Married with Children fame) has never been so effective. Manny, the chubby Colombian kid, makes me laugh every time.
CBS:
The Big Bang Theory: I didn't think I could like something that the guy from "Two and Half Men" created. But this show, really hit its stride last season and now Sheldon and Penny have some of the best chemistry out there.
How I Met Your Mother: This just in. This show is... wait for it... awesome.
NBC:
30 Rock: Uneven this season, but still has great moments like this "What everyone looks like on High Def" bit (sorry about the poor video clip, but it was the best I could dig up... the Baldwin part at the end is awesome.)
The Office: They managed to marry off two characters, yet still maintain a level of comedy week in and week out.
Community
Parks and Recreation
I guess "Chuck" may be deemed as a comedy.
HBO:
Curb Your Enthusiasm: This season's Seinfeld reunion was fantastic. More Jerry and more Funkhouser please.
Weeds: Haven't seen it. Want to see it.
Entourage: This show can no longer be considered funny. I don't know why I included it. Maybe because I wrote HBO.
FOX:
I don't watch these shows anymore, but the entire Sunday night of animation is devoted to comedy. Simpsons, Family Guy, etc etc
CW:
90210: Oh wait, it's a drama? My bad.
And then of course, people may mention Scrubs, SNL, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and a whole host of others.
Next up?
If I ever decide to write again, I will try for:
My Decade of Favourites for:
Movies
Music
TV
Video Games
Technology
However, I am making you think I will write something soon, which I will not.
