« Books, books, books!!! And white sand! | Main | Tiaras for Everyone! »

June 25, 2005

Smoothaise

From Lani, smooth in Syracuse...

I was in Alaska from 1999 to 2004. There was no WB in Alaska. There were rumors of a cable-only station in Wasilla, but I never saw any evidence of it. So, since moving to NY last year, I've been searching out the big WB shows on DVD and on television reruns. Buffy. Gilmore girls. Angel.

And now... Felicity.

Now, Felicity - for those of you still in Alaska - is basically the story of a young girl who goes to college in New York and cannot make up her friggin' mind. She left California to follow a guy she had a crush on to college in New York. This is Ben. While in New York, she meets a cute RA who is quite the hot studly fellow in an intelligent-sensitive sort of way. This is Noel. For those of you who haven't seen the show, let me summarize for you.

"Noel. Ben. Noel. Ben. Noel. Ben. I can't make up my friggin' mind."

There. I just saved you a whole lot of time. You can thank me later.

And yet... I am addicted. I can't stop watching. Part of it is because I'd very much like to hit Felicity with the very large IT'S NOEL YOU IDIOT NOEL NOEL NOEL stick. But mostly, I gotta say... it's the smoothaise.

What's the smoothaise, you say? Well, there's a secondary character named Sean, played by the adorable Greg Grunberg, who spends at least the first two seasons - possibly longer, I've only seen the first two seasons, but I suspect the second two will be more "Noel. Ben. Noel. Ben. Noel. Ben," crap - trying to get a condiment he invented off the ground. Said condiment is somewhat Thousand-Island-looking, and everyone who tries it spends a comical moment trying to cover up their horrified expression with a pained, "Mmmmm."

It's basically the inside joke that won't die. The guy never moves forward. Always with the smoothaise.

And yet... I still watch. Because part of me wants to see him get the big development deal, or whatever condiment people get. Part of me wants that satisfaction of seeing dogged determination succeed despite all evidence to the contrary, just because it was dogged. Because, I gotta tell you, it's not unlike writing a book. You're in the book, and you're sure it sucks, but you've cashed the check/made the commitment and you have to do this. You have to make it work. And then, suddenly, despite the fact that you're sure that this will be the career-ending book... it comes together. It's...

... smoothaise. You know, metaphorically speaking.

If you've seen all the seasons of Felicity and know that Sean doesn't succeed in the world of condiments, don't tell me. I've got just enough reruns left to last me through to my deadline, and I need the hope.

But seriously. IT'S NOEL. Someone get me a stick.

Posted by Lani at 8:06 AM | Comments (2)

Comments

Posted by: elizabeth at June 27, 2005 10:31 AM

Posted by: elizabeth at June 27, 2005 10:32 AM