The Goldbergs

8 Basketball Players…

March Madness is upon us, and my Elite 8 is already screwed up because of Iowa State’s loss to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In honor of the NCAA Tournament, I compiled a list of my favorite TV basketball players. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be, and I am attempting to write this while simultaneously watching the games, so bear with me 🙂

1. Nathan Scott – One Tree Hill, played by James Lafferty
After playing for the Tree Hill Ravens in high school and the University of Maryland, Nathan was about to be drafted into the NBA when an accident paralyzed him from the waist down. He works his way back to walking and then playing basketball again and gets drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats. He eventually becomes a talent scout.



2. Mark Cooper – Hangin With Mr. Cooper, played by Mark Curry
Mark was a former NBA player for the Golden State Warriors that became a teacher and high school basketball coach at Oakbridge High.



3. Wallace Fennel – Veronica Mars, played by Percy Daggs III
Wallace was the star player for the Neptune High Pirates and went on to play for Hearst College. He then became a teacher and basketball coach at his high school alma mater.

4. Julie Connor – Hang Time, played by Daniella Deutscher
I honestly do not remember a whole lot about this show, except that she was the only girl on the boys Varsity team at Deering High School in Indiana.

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Quotes of the Week: Feb. 15-21

These are my favorite quotes from the past week, not just from shows currently on the air, but also just random things I happen to be watching.

Shameless
Doctor: “Are you retarded, Frank?”
Frank: “No.”
Doctor: “Then get your shit together.”

The Originals
Jackson: “You brought me a bag of werewolf heads.”
Klaus: “I kind of thought you’d see it as an early wedding present.”

Jackson: “I pledge to honor and defend you and yours, above all others.”
Hayley: “To share in blessings and burdens. To be your advocate. Your champion.”
Jackson: “To be your comfort. Your sanctuary. And for as long as we both shall live.”
Hayley: “To be your family.”
Jackson: “To be your family.”

Gotham
Leslie: “There are plenty of things in this world that can’t be explained by rational science.”
Jim: “Yeah, people who enjoy folk dancing, for instance. Doesn’t mean ghosts exist.”

Jane the Virgin
Jane: “Hey, Rogelio.”
Rogelio: “Dad. You’re locked into Dad now.”
Jane: “Dad. Got it.”

The Flash
Iris: “Do you actually know anything about Physics?”
Mason: “Not a thing. It might as well be in Dothraki.”

Professor Stein: “I’m still inside Ronald.”
Cisco: “There has to be a better way to phrase that.”

Cisco: “You guys are like ten seasons of Ross and Rachel but, just like, smushed into one year.”

About a Boy
Fiona: “Oh, cabbage. You are not what men want.”

Fiona: “Right. Now you’re gonna get a lecture: 1. you’re a rubbish chaperone; 2. you are a *very* poor judge of character; 3. you’re far too tall, Sasquatch; 4. you’re an idiot; 5. snip, snip, snip on your eyebrows, okay? 6. your hair’s too big and it’s not the humidity!”

Agent Carter
Peggy: “Have you ever been hanged, Mr. Jarvis?”
Jarvis: “I can’t say that I have, no.”
Peggy: “It is quite unpleasant!”

Dooley: “I’m supposed to believe that you pulled off your own investigation without any of us noticing.”
Sousa: “Why would you go through all that trouble instead of coming to one of us?”
Peggy: “I conducted my own investigation because no one listens to me. I got away with it because no one looks at me. Because, unless I have your reports, your coffee or your lunch, I am invisible!”

Peggy: “I’ve just thought of something.”
Jarvis: “We’re still attached to a table.”
Peggy: ” We are *still* attached to a table.”

New Girl
Winston: “I will say one thing about that man that I’ve only said about Ryan Gosling: hot damn!”

Nick: “You know what the problem with Jordan Catalano is?”
Jess: “Yeah, an undiagnosed learning disability!”

Nick: “I touched both your mother’s breasts in a communal womb earlier today. I didn’t do it on purpose, but there it is.”

Justified
Constable Bob: “Hell yeah I got a badge. And I got balls like Death Stars. Let’s do this.”

The Goldbergs
Barry: “Erica wins! She called me the TV character I like!”

Pops: “See, the problem here is, you horribly interpreted my advice.”

The 100
Lincoln: “Just let him kill me, then take him out. Please! Your people need you.”
Clarke: “You are my people.”

Hindsight
Lolly: “You look like a scared toon about to be dipped by Christopher Lloyd.”

Suits
Harvey: “I can’t believe it, you have no idea what to say! What’s today’s date? I wanna write this down.”
Donna: “You know what? It’s the 7th of kiss my ass and tomorrow’s the 8th of set your own goddamn meetings.”
Harvey: “Is that the Mayan calendar?”
Donna: “Nope. That’s the Donna calendar.”

Harvey: “Who is *she*?”
Mike: “That’s that lawyer.”
Harvey: “Why didn’t you tell me she was hot?”
Mike: “Because it’s not relevant?”
Harvey: “It is to me.”
Mike: “Why?”
Harvey: “Because she’s hot.”

The Vampire Diaries
Damon: “Today isn’t the worst day of your life. Today and tomorrow, that’s a cake walk. There’ll be people around you day in and day out, like they’re afraid to leave you alone. The worst day? That’s next week. When there’s nothing but quiet.”

Jo: “You can’t throw a pity proposal at a pregnant, ex-witch!”

Hart of Dixie
Wade: “Life was so much simpler before you and I became friends.”

Gilmore Girls
Reverend: “You know, Rory, being a young lady comes with many gifts. Your virtue, for example, is a gift. A precious gift. Possibly the most precious gift you possess.”
Rory: “Uh-huh?”
Reverend: “You wanna give this gift very carefully. It is a gift you can only give to one man. Once you give it, it’s gone. You can’t re-gift it. If you give it away too soon, to the wrong man, then when the right one does come along, you have no gift to give. You’ll have to buy him a sweater. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Rory: “No.”
Reverend: “Think long and hard about when and to whom you want to give the ultimate gift you have to give away.”
Rory: “Oh.”
Reverend: “Yes.”
Rory: “Oh, dear.”
Reverend: “Oh, dear, indeed.”
Rory: “Uhm, well, listen, Reverend, I really appreciate you taking the time out of, what I assume is, a busy day, to come here and talk to me about all of this, but I’m afraid the ultimate gift ship has sailed.”
Reverend: “What?”
Rory: “A while ago. It’s probably in Fiji by now.”

12 Monkeys
Striking Woman: “You’re walking through a red forest and the grass is tall.”

Cole: “Everybody’s got two wolves inside ’em and both of ’em are starving. One wolf is anger, envy, pride. The other is truth, kindness. Everyday they tear each other apart, but it’s not the better wolf that wins, it’s the one you feed.”

8 Romantic Couples…

Valentine’s Day is on Saturday and, even though no one will be sending me flowers this weekend, I can still appreciate a good romance. It would have been impossible to create a list of my favorite couples of *all time* so, instead, I just chose couples from shows that are currently on TV.

1. Beverly and Murray – The Goldbergs
I love these two so much. They do not often express their love for each other with words, but you know that the love is always there.



2. Patrick and Kevin – Looking
Even though they seem to be split up for the moment, I am guessing that things are not over for good. I just think that they are really adorable together and Kevin needs to get his shit together, break-up with his boyfriend and just be with Patrick.



3. Octavia and Lincoln – The 100
Okay, so Lincoln may currently be addicted to some drug that the Mount Weather folks gave him but, they continue to fight for each other through everything and I believe that their love is strong.



4. Mickey and Ian – Shameless
I have loved this couple from the very beginning of the series. You can tell that they really care for each other. They are currently going through a bit of a rough patch, but they always seem to find their way back.

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8 Great Jewish Characters…

Last night at sundown was the start of Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year. I am not Jewish, but many of my friends are and celebrate the holiday, so this is a list of my favorite Jewish characters on television.

L’Shanah Tovah!

1. Jerry Seinfeld – Seinfeld played by Jerry Seinfeld. Jerry was a stand-up comedian on a show about nothing. One of my favorite episodes was about Jerry getting upset because his dentist converted to Judaism and he thinks it was for the jokes.



2. Beverly Goldberg – The Goldbergs played by Wendi McLendon-Covey. Beverly actually reminds me of some of my friends’ mothers, which is why I think I love her so much.



3. Bobby “Elvis” Munson – Sons of Anarchy played by Mark Boone Junior. Aside from the fact that he’s part of a motorcycle club that runs guns and owns a porn studio, I would enjoy having someone like Bobby in my life. He often bakes banana bread for the club and is an Elvis impersonator! What’s not to love?



4. Ross Gellar – Friends played by David Schwimmer. I could have included his sister Monica as well, but Ross dressed up as an armadillo to teach his son about Hannukah, so he is the one that made the list.

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8 Returning Fall Shows…

I cannot believe that it is almost September. I feel like this year is flying by and I am a little sad that summer is almost over. The only good thing about the start of Fall is that it also means my TV shows are back! Here is the list of returning shows that I am most excited about watching.

1. Sons of Anarchy final season premieres September 9th on FX, stars Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Kim Coates, Theo Rossi, Tommy Flanagan, Mark Boone Junior, Dayton Callie, David Labrava, Michael Ornstein and Drea de Matteo. I am equally excited and sad about this season because I cannot wait to see what happens next but I do not ever want it to end! I trust that Kurt will take us on a crazy, fun ride that may or may not end in a horrible fiery crash.



2. The Good Wife season five premieres September 21 on CBS, stars Julianna Margulies, Matt Czuchry, Archie Panjabi, Christine Baranski, Alan Cumming and Chris Noth. I started to doubt this show halfway through season three, but I pushed through and was rewarded with an absolutely fantastic season four. Every performer is at the top of their game and the writing is impeccable. Now that Alicia is a little further removed from the loss of Will, it will be interesting to see how she moves on with her life and her career.



3. Sleepy Hollow season two premieres September 22 on Fox, stars Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones, Katia Winter, Lyndie Greenwood and John Noble. I was hoping that the first season of this show would be good and was happily surprised when it exceeded my expectations. At the end of last season, every single character was in a very precarious position so I cannot wait to see how they save themselves and each other.



4. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2 premieres September 23 on ABC, stars Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge. It took a little while for this show to really find its footing in the first season but, when they finally did, they took us on a great ride. I am excited to see where we are headed, as the events of the season will surely lead us into the Avengers movie next summer.

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8 References to the Birthplace of Freedom…

Tomorrow is Independence Day and, since the Declaration of Independence was signed in my home city of Philadelphia, this week I have decided to give you a list of my favorite Philly references.

1. 30 Rock Tina Fey grew up in Upper Darby, which is a suburb of Philadelphia, so there are several scenes I could have chosen. Aside from the below clip, there is also an episode featuring the Phillie Phanatic and an episode where, after being asked to do Jack a favor Liz says, “If I’m doing this for you, guess what buddy? I get your Yankees tickets on ARod bobblehead day! And I’m gonna throw that thing in front of a train. Go Phillies!” which just makes me laugh every time!

2. Bones David Boreanaz is also from Philadelphia and he represents his Philly pride well with Seeley Booth. There are lots of Flyers references throughout the show, but my favorite episode is the one where Booth finds seats on the side of the road from the old Veterans Stadium. He tries to take them home, only to have the power go out and he and Brennan get stuck in an elevator.

3. American Dreams This show was set in Philadelphia on the set of American Bandstand in the mid-sixties when it was at the height of its popularity. The Pryor family are big Eagles and Phillies fans, JJ Pryor attends Lehigh University and their Uncle Pete works for the Philadelphia Police Department. The show even deals with riots that took place in Philly during the summer of 1964 and the Northeast blackout in 1965.

4. Boy Meets World Creator Michael Jacobs is actually from New Jersey, but we will let that slide since the Matthews family lives in Philly and are big Phillies fans. Cory even dressed as his favorite player one Halloween.

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