The Healing Powers of TV

Oh boy. It's been a wild week here at the Jenkins household, to say the least. As you may have read at the tail end of my last post, I suddenly succumbed to the horrible sickness that hit my family this past weekend. After a restless night Sunday night, I found myself hitting the porcelin at 5 in the morning. Don't worry, I'll spare you the details. I just don't feel like reliving it all, and I'm pretty sure no one wants to hear about it. As you can see, things have slowed down here at The Ward-O-Matic, as well as at hula seventy. Andrea is still feeling icky, and hates that she hasn't had the drive to write anything new.

Things are looking up, though. Ava's back in school and I'm back at work. Although Wednesday was a pretty hectic day for me. Since I missed a day on Monday, the past two days were all a whirlwind because of a penciltest that we had to get posted for the clients yesterday. It was maddening! But we got it out and I have to say I was happy with it. I'm working on a spot for a major cereal brand, so that's guaranteed national exposure. It's been a great job so far, and I've been having so much fun with it. I cannot wait to be able talk about it here soon, but I'm not allowed to until the spot officially airs. Rules are rules!

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Anyway, with all the sickies going on around here, Andrea and I were so looking forward to a great night of TV last night. Yes, people, we've fallen into the LOST trap and there's no way out for us. We're hooked, and we normally don't get into shows like this, to be honest with you. The LOST phenomenon has finally caught up with us and I have to say that I'm not all that ashamed about it. It is a really well written show with some great characters and excellent acting. The premise is a killer, and there just seems to be new, original layers to the story to be uncovered with each new episode. The show's writers have been able to stretch the premise throughout two seasons without the show feeling hackneyed or thin. That's quite an accomplishment, in my book.

So with a much-needed clip show at 8pm and a brand spankin' new LOST at 9pm, we were happy little post-sick people.

BUT WAIT -- the night wasn't over just yet! To top the night off, our other favorite show was having a new episode air immediately afterwards at 10pm: Project Runway! Now, THIS show, Andrea and I have been so into it from the beginning. It has been such a fascinating show for us to watch mainly because of the creative aspect of it all. To see how the creative process is dealt with and to see all the hipster and not-so hipster designers duke it out with each other from week to week has been an exhilarating experience. I'm completely enthralled by the show; I can't get enough of it.

LOST and Project Runway: hands down the two best shows out there currently. And that's my humble opinion, of course.

You know, if you really want to get more out of each of these shows, they both offer podcasts. I subscribe to just a few, but I highly recommend the podcasts to both LOST and Project Runway because they both offer something new to each show as well as enhance the overall experience for the viewer and/or fan. It's nice to find out little tidbits of info that give you more insight to the shows, and when you're working on dull jobs, like inbetweening, you couldn't ask for more. I especially love Project Runway's podcast, with the affable Tim Gunn flying solo for each 10 to 15 minute-long show. He pulls no punches with his critiques and uncovers podcast gold when he tells us things like Santino's blow-up at the judges when he was defending his lingerie collection from two episodes ago lasted 90 MINUTES! Unbelievable, Santino. (To get the podcast for Project Runway, go to the "Tim's Take" section on the show's site.)

Since the show has aired, I have a new-found appreciation for the design and fashion industry. Little did I know how important draping was, among many other things. But there is one caveat to digging this show: hearing Andrea spout 24/7 in mock-Heidi Klum mode, "Eezzah yoo een oh yoo OWTTT!"

By 11pm, Andrea and I were very satisfied with a great big helping of TV goodness. Who says the boob tube can't serve some sort of purpose in this crazy mixed-up world?

(Andrea made me write that last sentence. She's back, baby! She's back!)