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In Defense of Dee Day

Last week, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, aired an episode called “Dee Day”. This episode featured Mac, Frank, Charlie and Dennis all dressed up in characters that the character of Dee had created. While, oddly enough, no one was offended by Dennis dressing up in what could be considered stereotypical Irish  attire, a lot of people seem to be taking issue with Mac (Rob McElhenney) dressing up…

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It’s just not easy to keep looking for work. It’s not easy to keep begging, pleading year after year  and hoping that today will finally be the day. It’s not easy getting excited every time the phone rings or you get an email. That feeling of   your hopes rising as you get that brief moment of sheer excitement as you desperately want to believe it’s finally happening. That someone finally wants you and your moment has arrived, the door will finally open after all this time only to be let down again with a phone scam or an email about a sale at Sephora.

Every morning, you get up and look at your closet at your work clothes gathering dust as you visualize, wondering when you’ll get the chance to wear them again or if they even still fit. You imagine  that moment when finally after all this time, someone decides you’re worth taking a chance on. Of course, you need to know you’re worth taking a chance on but it always helps when someone else feels the same. When those words  you’ve longed to hear for so long are finally uttered, it can feel amazingly beautiful and lifting. I do not remember what it’s like to hear that “you’re hired” phrase. It’s been years. I don’t remember if anyone has considered me worth taking a chance on?

I’m hoping for today or tomorrow….or maybe next week…because you have to get up.

The search though can become increasingly lonely and isolating  so finding ways to fill those silent voids while you send out yet another resume for someone to keep on file in case something comes up that will be a good fit becomes crucial. I’ve become a podcast junkie in the last few months so I would like to dedicate this blog entry to the two podcasts that have simply made things a little more bearable and little less lonely.

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

I knew Dax Shepard from Parenthood. I watched Punk’d every once in awhile but it was Parenthood where I truly became a fan. I originally began watching because of Lauren Graham, Lorelei Gilmore herself, but soon was heavily involved in the lives of the Bravermans. I may have gotten into the show because of Lauren but I stayed for everyone else and I think I may have taken a similar route with discovering Dax’s Armchair Expert podcast. My discovery of another thing that Dax is a part of was thanks in part to another female whom I greatly respect and admire.

Kaitlin Olson.

When Kaitlin Olson was a guest on Armchair Expert, I had to listen…and I did…more times than I care to admit. A story about Dax getting bitten by a seal while high made me incredibly happy though I’m sure it wasn’t a great experience for him. He and Kaitlin have been friends for so long and I could imagine them, a couple of improv kids in their twenties, writing sketches, doing drugs and wondering what was next. I felt the same when Andrea Savage was on his show and for some reason I could imagine a television show. A group of twenty somethings from very different walks of life in a Groundlings like improv class all wanting to simply be that person who becomes someone….anyone. Friendship. Drugs. Alcohol. Seals. I would watch that. Anyone wanna hire me to write it?

Anyway, it was that interview with Kaitlin that made me a fan of the Armchair Expert. I dove into other interviews immediately. I loved the interviews with Kristen. The way they talked about relationships and their marriage. The way Kristen talked about how she views someone who has cut her off in traffic, instead of cussing them out, she changes her thought process. Her positivity and light has made a world of difference. I truly hate that relationship goals hashtag but the work they put into simply making it work is clear. It hasn’t always been easy but it’s been a hell of a lot of fun. It also seems like they follow my mother’s advice for a long, happy marriage closely which is that neither one of you should want a divorce on the same day.

I am still single and often feel isolated in this world as I continue to work towards that break that I still believe after all this time is around the corner, I listen to that interview and imagine I will find someone like that.

Soon.

It’s not just Kristen’s interviews that I loved. I cried when Dax interviewed his mom. She’s an an amazing woman. The strength and beauty she has shown, the perseverance is truly remarkable. I loved the Brene Brown interview as well as the one with Lauren Graham. Dax also got Keith Morrison to talk about Matthew Perry which he doesn’t often do, it seems. There was one interview when Matthew Perry was on Friends when Keith discussed him but other than that, I haven’t found anything. I loved that Dax asked about that. Kimmel talking a little bit about Kevin and Bean also thrilled me as a long time Kevin and Bean listener, though I do wish there had been a Santa Carl question. Most recently, I listened to the Jake Johnson interview and I was amazed at how little I knew about him.

Dax asks the questions that dig deep and he also asks the questions that get the guest to respond in a way that they haven’t responded a million times before. I’m thinking about the Rob McElhenney interview.

Rob McElhenney. I admire and respect that man so much for what he has managed to accomplish. I have even gone as far as to try to create my own content to see if that would finally be the thing that made the difference.

Spoiler Alert: It did not.

Though I’ve made it obvious, I want to work for Rob McElhenney.  Actually, at this point, I’d like to work for anyone but RCG Productions definitely tops that list.

Anyway, what made this Rob McElhenney interview different was that while I know the stories. I’ve listened to the stories. Fat Mac. Jacked Mac. Whatever Mac. There aren’t too many different ways to discussing gaining weight and/or getting into shape but Dax managed to get Rob to put a different spin on it which made the interview so much more interesting.

There’s a theme in all the Armchair Expert interviews I’ve listened to that make everything less lonely. Whether it’s Kristen, Kaitlin, Rob, Conan, Lauren, Andrea, Jimmy or Jake, each guest talks about their parents, their childhood and the struggles they have dealt with. Dax has a way of humanizing people we have put on a pedestal. He strips away the Instagram version of someone’s life and reveals their vulnerabilities. He shows that they had the same dreams, the same desires to simply be more and to simply be better.

Dax’s podcast is advertised as dealing with the messiness of being human and that’s what this does….and excellently so. Dax’s  podcast shows that we are all basically the same, we are all struggling to simply be accepted.

And hey, maybe one day I’ll be a guest.

As soon as someone retrieves my resume from the file where it’s apparently waiting to be a good fit.

Oh, before I move to the next one, I have to give credit to the incomparable Monica Padman. She is the producer and fact checker extraordinaire of Armchair Expert. She is fantastic though if I’m ever fortunate enough to be a guest, I will have to discuss why she was so reluctant to tell Rob McElhenney that Friends was her favorite show. Friends is the best show and no one should be embarrassed by that.

My Favorite Murder 

I am a Murderino and I have been binging Karen Kilgariff and Georgia’s My Favorite Murder podcast for the last few weeks. I used to binge those ID channel shows in secret, wondering if it was weird how fascinated I was by someone being driven to commit such brutal acts of violence. Maybe  I can attribute it to one of my Masters being in Marriage and Family Counseling but there’s just something so interesting about people who are driven to madness in that way.

Whereupon listening to Dax’s podcast leaves me feeling hopeful, My Favorite Murder makes me feel included in some weird club where someone always dies. I often long to be included in something. A place of employment. A relationship. A group of friends. I am hearing impairment and I have spent the last forty years on the outside wanting to be let in. I know exclusion far more than inclusion. I have been told that I drive people to hate me and people actively seek to avoid me. I know loneliness and being ignored. They’re familiar feelings as I continue to scream into this echo chamber of life. Yet with My Favorite Murder, there’s a connection. Albeit a very morbid connection but it’s still a feeling of being less alone. Feeling like there are other people out there. Every show delves into two murder stories or in the case of the minisodes, emails about murders from listeners. The stories are incredible and the details make every episode feel like an episode of television.

Armchair Expert and My Favorite Murder uplift me. They provide feelings of hope that I’m  not alone.

Everyone struggles.

So I guess all we can do is remain hopeful, listen to more murder stories as you hustle hey, maybe today will be the day your resume is finally retrieved from that file it’s in to see if it’s a good fit.

  Podcasts That Help Ease Unemployment Depression It’s just not easy to keep looking for work. It’s not easy to keep begging, pleading year after year  and hoping that today will finally be the day.

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“Who do you have a crush on?”

That question was being asked of me by a group of middle school girls.

“You can’t be our friend until you tell us who you have a crush on.”

They kept on pressing, pushing and I wasn’t sure I could admit my true crush. After all, he did not go to my school. No, he went a fictional high school in Beverly Hills and was truly a dream but I wasn’t sure that was the response they were looking for.

So being a twelve year old in desperate need of friendship, I pointed to some random boy walking to his locker after P.E. and who’s name I didn’t know. This started an avalanche of drama that’s best saved for another blog but maybe, just maybe, all that drama could have been avoided if I had just named the guy that had been taped to my ceiling.

That boy from West Beverly High.

Luke Perry.

I always say the thing about crushes is that they can truly crush you. That’s why they’re called, crushes. While this typically applies to those people you know personally, those guys or girls whom you long for and imagine scenarios in your head where they finally realize their deep love for you…. this can also apply to celebrities.

For me, my path of celebrity crushes went as follows:

In elementary school, it was Neil Patrick Harris.

In middle school, Luke Perry.

In high school, it was Matthew Perry.

In college, George Clooney.

My crushes on Neil, Luke, Matthew and George were based solely on physical appearance alone. I had no clue who they were as people, just that they made me happy. I was never one of those fans who screamed and cried over the possibility of meeting them. I was and still am the fan who reads every interview, watches every show, sees every movie. I geeked out from afar.

To me, Luke Perry will always be Dylan McKay. He was brooding and yes, too old to be playing a high schooler. I didn’t know that then. Being a middle schooler myself, it never occurred to me that he was older than the guy he was playing. When you’re twelve and thirteen years old, high schoolers do look older. He represented a fantasy. Dylan. Brandon. Brenda. Kelly. Steve. Donna. David. It didn’t matter what their actual age was, they represented an untouchable world to kids who had not reached high school yet. While we were dealing with our own junior high dramas and raging hormones while we languished in preteen purgatory, they represented a world beyond our grasp.

Was this high school?

Was this what we would have to look forward to when we reached high school?

Of course it wasn’t and every twelve and thirteen year old would soon come to that harsh realization as they walked their own high school halls looking for their own real life Dylan or Brenda. By then, though, it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that not a single boy in my high school class looked like Dylan. Not even that boy with the stringy brown hair, flannel and lingering pot as cologne smell could come close. It didn’t matter that we would never get our own kiss in the pool moment that happened between Kelly and Dylan although it didn’t stop us all from secretly dreaming it would. 90210 represented a world different from our own and a world we all connected to in some way.

Dylan versus Brandon.

Brenda versus Kelly.

Whose team were you on?

For the record, I was Team Dylan and Team Kelly. Brandon and Brenda were innocent and sweet at the beginning. Kelly was popular. Dylan was mysterious. They were so far removed from who I was as a person that I was mesmerized by Dylan and Kelly and what they represented.

Coolness. Popularity. Inclusion.

Luke played his role as the fantasy of someone to perfection. His sunglasses, his bad boy image yet you felt his vulnerability. They always says it takes a truly intelligent person to excel at playing dumb, maybe the same can be said for people playing the angst ridden trouble makers.

It takes a truly good and kind hearted person to make the trouble makers someone you can truly root for and Luke did exactly that.

In college, I still watched 90210. I’d long since moved past the culture shock of realizing that West Beverly High was not an accurate portrayal of high school and was now thoroughly enjoying it for what it was. This time, I had company.  This time, I watched with my college suite mate over pizza, Kahluá and wine coolers every Wednesday night. Thursday nights may have been Must See TV nights filled with more pizza, beer and comedy but Wednesday nights was earmarked for the melodramatic. Sitting on my friend’s Mickey Mouse bedspread while we engaged in the hotly debated Dylan versus Brandon debate and obsessed over every scene.

My college friend and I grew up very differently in very different parts of Los Angeles but 90210 connected us. I vividly remember sitting at my desk in my dorm, hearing her yell my name. Her voice traveled through our shared bathroom and I knew. The signal to let me know it was time. Time to forget about tests, papers and reading and focus on what we wished life could be even though that would never be possible.

Luke Perry’s passing is hard to grasp. It’s hard to imagine that face who smiled down at me while I slept is gone. That carefully cut out Tiger Beat photo that helped facilitate the fantasies of so many and to you, we simply say…..

Thank you.

Crushed: Rest In Peace Luke Perry “Who do you have a crush on?” That question was being asked of me by a group of middle school girls.

[meralee727]

The Babysitter’s Club Reboot: A potential pitch from an Internet rando

Dear Michael DeLuca, Rachel Shukert, Lucia Aniello and/or any other Hollywood executives and/or people, I read Lesley Goldberg’s article in the Hollywood Reporter that you were planning on rebooting The Babysitter’s Club. Now, I’m sure you don’t need any help from some chick on the Internet with no show running experience though I have years of show watching experience but I don’t think that…

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Female Facebook Groups: Toxic or Helpful in Facilitating Female Friendships?

“I’m considering supporting Trump. Are there any Trump supporters in here?”

The innocuous post came in a GNO (Girls Night Out) group a few years ago during the election. I read the post, my mouth dropped and my eyes widened. It wasn’t because I could not and still cannot believe anyone would support Trump, instead it was because I knew what would happen next.

I was not wrong.

I watched in horror…

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  Dear Rob,

I write again because I can’t stop thinking about your Mean Jean pilot. I know what you must be thinking:

1. Please stop writing open letters to me. I have no time to read such nonsense.

and

2. Stop telling me what to do. You don’t me!

These are quite valid points. Just this open letter is important. Well, to me…you probably don’t care. It’s just that I believe is that your Mean Jean/ Untitled McElhenney/Rosell project, a collaboration of Rob proportions, should have been done differently.  I mean, I saw it going differently but no one asked me but they should have.

I mean, I was in the San Fernando Valley the whole time. It would have been super easy. You wouldn’t have even had to buy an overpriced candle at Pottery Barn.

Alright, let’s get into this:

The pilot featured Leah Remini as Jean. Jean is a woman who has divorced her husband and is now married to Birdie played by Kaitlin Olson.

Hey, do you know Kaitlin? You two should meet. I bet you’d get along.

I know, I know. The joke sucked. Don’t judge me, Rob McElhenney. It’s my open letter and I’m judging you.

Yeah, okay, what was I saying?

The pilot?

So, in the pilot, Rob Riggle plays Richie who is the ex husband of Jean and  lives with them.

Wait.

This pilot was written by two Robs and starred a Rob. Was one of the criteria for men to be in and/or associated with the show was that their name needed to be Rob?

Interesting.

Anyway, Richie and Jean have two sons named Nick and Auggie who has a penchant for chewing on things like baseball gloves.

Oh, Rob.

See, I felt like this show could have been so much more and I hope I am not stepping on any toes but I wanted to express exactly how much more it could have been.

As any fan of yours would know, this show seemed to mirror the life you grew up with. It seemed like Mean Jean was personal and felt like it.

You grew up the oldest of three, raised by two moms and a dad and  from the stories you’ve told on various podcasts, everyone got along relatively well. At one point, your dad even lived with your moms.

Very similar to Mean Jean but a different twist that it made it not your story.

Does that make sense?

The story was never about a conservative woman married to another woman living in Middle America.

The story instead is about a kid or maybe instead, a teenager. An eighteen, nineteen year old? Maybe his name is Nick. Maybe we open on a college campus in New York? Nick is talking to the Dean and getting kicked out of college. A college he doesn’t actually attend. This is also part of your story, right? That you took classes at Fordham though you never actually attended?

Yeah, I’m a fan….sue me.

So Nick packs his stuff and leaves to go back home to Philadelphia to try and figure out his next move. Once back at home, his world gets rocked once more. Nick’s parents, Jean and Richie, are divorcing. Jean is leaving Richie for Birdie. I’m still using the names you had in your pilot except in addition to Auggie, Nick’s brother, why not also give Nick and Auggie a younger sister….Erin? Nick is nineteen, Auggie is fourteen and Erin is nine. Auggie is dealing with his own issues with sexuality. Erin deals with her mom suddenly leaving. Except the focus is not Jean as it was in the pilot. Instead, it’s on Nick. Nick is now stuck in Philadelphia trying to help his family while at the same time figuring out what he wants to do with his life. Perhaps acting? Writing?

His life is split between Philly and New York. It takes place in the late nineties instead of present time.

Nick is the type of kid who wants to appear far tougher than he is. His group of friends are also wannabe actors, some in college, some not but all of them spend their days running around New York, making short films and/or television shows, getting into fights, doing drugs, dating and having way too good of time trying to find their futures.

It’s a dark comedy.

So how does that sound?

I mean, far be it from me to tell you how to do your job. I am just a lowly special education teacher and wannabe sitcom writer who makes myself and nine out of ten strangers laugh. I just hope that you redo Mean Jean. I think there is a story but I don’t think the way it was originally done was on brand with RCG.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is your brand, like it or not. The Cool Kids fits into the that brand. Both shows have a guy who fancies himself the leader, a gay guy, a woman who debunks every stereotype and a guy who has no clue what’s going on.

How did Mean Jean fit into that brand?

Maybe the focus needed to be on Nick? A guy with not much to do and too much free time on his hands.

Just my thoughts. I wish it had been picked up and maybe it’ll be picked up in the future.

You have a great story and I do think there would be an audience for it.

So, I am ending this open letter with a hope that Mean Jean gets another shot. I also hope it gets a shot with those same actors. Kaitlin, Leah, Rob….it could work?

Or not.

Just a thought.

Sincerely,

Me

  Mean Jean was Done Wrong and Does this Title Make me Look Arrogant Dear Rob, I write again because I can’t stop thinking about your Mean Jean pilot. I know what you must be thinking:

[meralee727]

In Defense of Jack Griffin: AP Bio

It was a tweet last year. Maybe I should have had a screen shot or maybe not but I remember it so really, that’s all that matters. The tweet written by someone who tweets stuff had said that Jack Griffin, the disgraced Harvard  philosophy teacher turned AP Biology teacher, made teachers look bad. This tweeter tweeting person and I do swear did exist, had gone on to say that AP Bio made teachers…

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It’s not easy.

Trying to make the transition from  special education teacher to female comedy writer at the age of forty is not easy.

Many emails and attempted connections get ignored while your resume gets put on file in case anything comes up that feels like a good fit.

Growing up hearing impaired surrounded only by the fully hearing and never quite fitting into either group is also not easy.

Writing and working and wondering if you’re making any progress while you figure out if you have enough money for both gas and food can be quite draining.

Yet when I find myself feeling emotionally tired or ready to give up, I turn to my own inspirations. These women have inspired me. Their stories filled with their own personal traumas serve as a constant reminder to simply keep going.

These are women who are changing the way things are done and who don’t follow the norm. Women who are a little different and in the most wonderful way.

So let’s dive in or as I prefer to say….

Let’s do this. Hey

1. Mary Tyler Moore

They say never meet your heroes but standing in front of this woman at her book signing for her autobiography, After All, I could not speak. My father had to speak for me. He told her that I considered her on the same level of Lucille Ball. Mary Tyler Moore said that being compared to Lucy was great company to be in. There are just certain people you get a vibe from. A genuinely kind vibe. You can’t really fake that. I’m forever grateful for my Mary Tyler Moore encounter because she debunked the “never meet your heroes” theory. Before she passed away in 2017, she had endured so much tragedy. Her son and only child had died of an accidental gun shot wound to the head, she had struggled with alcohol as well as health issues due to Type 1 diabetes. Yet despite every obstacle, every tragedy, she broke down barriers. She is remembered for her iconic roles in two television shows: The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  By playing Mary Richards, she was paving new ground by playing single career woman which was considered unheard in the seventies yet Mary Tyler Moore played women that broke the stereotypical images of women at the time. Laura Petrie and Mary Richards were not women who stood in the background. They were strong, intelligent and equal to the men in their lives. In addition to her ground breaking roles, she also founded her own production company with her then husband, Grant Tinker. MTM Enterprises was responsible for not just The Mary Tyler Moore Show but also Rhoda, Lou Grant, Phyllis, The Bob Newhart Show, The Texas Wheelers, WKRP in Cincinnati, The White Shadow, Friends and Lovers, St. Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues. Mary Tyler Moore most certainly belongs in the same category as Lucille Ball. Together, they changed entertainment. They changed television. 

2. Lucille Ball

The original icon. When trying to get I Love Lucy on the air, executives were reluctant to have her then husband, Desi Arnaz, play  her husband because audiences would not believe they would be married. Lucy and Desi took their act on the road to convince executives and it worked. Lucy also was the first woman to ever run a major television studio, Desilu Productions and after she and Desi divorced, she bought out his shares and became the head of the studio. They were also the first to employ the idea of filming a comedy show in front of a live studio audience and using multiple cameras.  She passed away in 1989 and left a legacy. She didn’t take no for answer and did things on her own.  Lucille Ball was an continues to be an inspiration and I’m only assuming but if Mary Tyler Moore considered Lucy an inspiration, I’m going to assume that women on this list might feel the same.

3. Kaitlin Olson

Kaitlin is a Groundlings alum who has been on Punk’d, Curb Your Enthusiasm and has appeared in Coyote Ugly. Her most iconic role however is the one she’s been playing on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia for thirteen seasons. She is Sweet Dee. She made Sweet Dee by simply asking for what she wanted. She landed the role of Dee Reynolds after auditioning with a monologue that ultimately ended up being for Dennis. Rob McElhenney, the creator of the show and her eventual husband, called her to tell her they were going to work on Dee but they just weren’t sure how to write for women. She told them to just write the character and she’d make it funny. First season Dee was a completely different character then she is now and that’s all because of Kaitlin. With the exception of a few moments in that first season, she is the voice of reason. Season thirteen Dee? Oh, well she’s a complete mess. As shown through Dee and of course through her own show, The Mick where she played the title character, Mickey, you will never see Kaitlin as the voice of reason. You will never see her as the stereotypical pretty girl in a sitcom. She simply wants to be funny even if it involves ramming her head into a car door.

4. Andrea Savage

A Valley Girl Native who grew up in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles like me so therefore I will always be a fan even if she went to my rival high school. I first knew of her from Episodes where she played a television executive who ends up in relationship with Carol. She also is known for playing President Laura Montez on VEEP. Currently, she has her own show on the network that I’m pretty sure I used to watch Forensic Files on. I’m Sorry is on TruTv and is in its second season. I am absolutely addicted to this show, so much so that it has now ruined CBS sitcoms for me. Yes, Andrea Savage’s Andrea Warren is raunchy and talks about sex and buttholes but what’s most refreshing is how marriage is portrayed and how relationships are portrayed. While the show is only in the second season, I think I can confidently say that there will never be an episode where Mike forgets their wedding anniversary or as I saw in a recent episode of a CBS sitcom, there will never be an episode where Mike will be scared that Andrea will find beer or food that he keeps at work. Though there has been an episode involving Mike and a tank top but that needed to be discussed. It was a very special episode. Andrea Savage shows a real relationship. It shows the give and take, the friendship and the partnership between two people. Much like her Groundlings cohort, Kaitlin Olson,  and before them, Lucille Ball and Mary Tyler Moore,  she is paving a new way to show a marriage in a sitcom….a far more real way.

5. Jennifer Aniston

Her tabloid life was done without her consent and that’s a tragedy. She’s been portrayed as a perpetual victim. She’s been divorced twice. She has no children. Yet judging by the photos and articles about her fiftieth birthday, is that accurate? Is the victim role that’s been unwillingly thrust upon her by the media true?   She’s one sixth of the cast of one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. Friends, of course. It’s still so popular that when Netflix wanted to remove it, all hell broke loose. Also, her movie career has been pretty amazing too. The Break Up, Horrible Bosses, Leprechaun and Marley and Me which I think should be used a litmus test to determine whether or not you’re a sociopath….if you don’t end up curled in a ball weeping by the end of that movie, get help. My favorite Jennifer Aniston movies are not the romantic comedies but instead the smaller movies she’s done: Friends with Money, Good Girl, Cake. Movies where she’s really shown her talents as an actor. She’s continuing to work, not letting the narrative that the media has written for her control her. Not letting the thoughts of others destroy you is an important lesson, one that I keep relearning. She just does her job, doesn’t let the forced narrative destroy her and also she apparently has really cool birthday parties.

6. Erin Ryan

She actually began her career in finance as a registered associate at Merrill Lynch. She was a writer for Jezebel and is currently a writer for The Daily Beast, the host of the Hysteria Podcast as well as a writer in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Her episode  entitled, The Gang Solves the Bathroom Problem was incredibly clever and probably one of my favorite episodes of the thirteenth season. There was a message, just the right amount of heart for Sunny and of course, a grown man who identifies as transgender when he poops. Her Hysteria podcast which she hosts with Kiran Deol, Grace Parra, Michaela Watkins, Dana Schwartz and Alyssa Mastromonaco gives a humorous view to some very serious topics. This is the only political podcast that I listen to because of how it’s presented. I admit to not following politics until the current administration but through listening to Hysteria, I feel like I’m catching up in my political knowledge. Erin is someone who did switch careers and it worked. Her talents as a writer are evident in the Daily Beast as well as on Sunny. It gives hope that you can change careers and be successful in it.

7. Megan Ganz

She began her career interning at Mad Magazine in New York and later became an associate editor at The Onion. She later became a writer on Community and Modern Family. She is responsible for probably one of my top five episodes of Modern Family called, Connection Lost. Actually, it might be my favorite as it’s been four years since that episode aired and I remember it from start to finish. It seemed like such a risk, an entire episode basically taking place on a computer but it was truly a remarkable episode. She is now a writer and executive producer on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and her episodes have become the most memorable to me. In The Gang Tends Bar, there’s a surprisingly sweet moment, many sweet moments, in a show that’s not known for being sweet. It remains a perfect episode especially that moment between Dennis and Mac. The other episode of hers that I love is Times Up for the Gang which is about the Me Too/Times Up movement. I can’t help but wonder how cathartic that episode was for her. I’m not going to mention the person’s name because I don’t want to keep tying his name to hers. When Googling Megan’s name, his name comes up in every result and not her work so I’d rather not add to that but while writing on Community, she was exposed to a pretty toxic work environment that to paraphrase her words made her doubt her own talents. I’m inspired by her strength and the ability to keep going.  Toxic work environments are all I’ve known in my adult life and to see a story of someone persevering and rising above so much toxicity makes me happy. That Time’s Up episode almost felt like maybe it meant more than just an episode or maybe I’m reading too much into it.

8. Elizabeth Laime

I stumbled upon her Totally Laime podcast through a Charlie Day interview. In this interview, she had mentioned her sister and her sister’s comments about Elizabeth’s writing career and the words rang so true. Elizabeth is a year younger than I am and I’ve heard those same pieces of negativity, “too old” “not good enough” “the ship has sailed”. Yet in 2010, she started the Totally Laime podcast with her husband, Andy, and in 2011 won the Earwolf Challenge which was a reality podcasting competition where the winner was awarded a distribution contract with Earwolf. The show ended in 2015 only to start again in 2018 but this time independent of Earwolf. In 2018, she wrote on the second season of I’m Sorry and is also a writer on the upcoming NBC show, The Village. Her Wikipedia page is a story of someone who keeps moving forward. She’s dealt with personal tragedy through losing both of her parents at a very young age. Despite this, as well as some professional set backs, she’s proving that you’re never too old to go after what you know you should be doing. She’s proving that  you can survive the most unimaginable and not let it completely destroy you.

9. Yvette Nicole Brown

Following Yvette on Twitter is sometimes the highlight of my day. Sure, there are days when I wonder why she responds to all those saying these horrible things to her but the fact that she does is incredible. She stands her ground and I love watching it.  I became a fan of hers when she was on Community and truly admired her when she left Community to take care of her dad. She later appeared on The Odd Couple and became my favorite character on that show and is now on Mom playing the role of Nora. Nora is Christy’s AA sponsor and I will always love reading her tweets. Twitter can be a scary place at times, overwhelming and yet, Yvette has got it down to an art.

10. Carla Jimenez

She was the Ethel to Kaitlin Olson’s Lucy on The Mick. Or maybe it was the other way around. What I loved about Alba was that she was as crazy as Mickey, probably more insane.  What I especially love and this seems to be the theme with every woman on this list, she too is debunking stereotypes. On The Mick, you had two actresses on two very opposite sides of the weight spectrum and I want to tread lightly as not to hurt anyone but what I loved was that no jokes were ever made regarding the physical appearance of either actress. The fact that Alba was just as disturbed as Mickey was what made that show so fun. They didn’t rely on easy jokes or tropes. There’s also a quote she had given in an interview that I feel should maybe be tattooed somewhere. She told Refinery29 that she challenges all women to never take a job or do anything that makes you feel demeaned just because you need the money.  It’s brilliant advice and advice I have not followed as much as I should judging by my own work history. I have talked myself into many jobs I was not qualified for because I just needed it. I’ve dealt with so many toxic work environments just so I keep the lights on.

So to Mary, Lucy, Kaitlin, Andrea, Erin, Megan, Elizabeth, Yvette and Carla, I simply say……

Thank you.

Thank you for the laughs and life lessons.

Thank you for the inspiration and breaking down barriers.

Thank you for doing what you do.

And hey maybe it’ll finally happen tomorrow or next week but from the sidelines, it will happen.

Why won’t it?

  Take Notice: 10 Inspiring Women I’m Taking Life Lessons From It’s not easy. Trying to make the transition from  special education teacher to female comedy writer at the age of forty is not easy.

[meralee727]

Annie. My first pop culture obsession. In memory of Albert Finney.

Before It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia there was The Wonder Years and its reruns on Netflix.

Before The Wonder Years, it was Friends.

Before Friends, it was Mad About You.

Before Mad About You, it was The Mary Tyler Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show and I Love Lucy reruns on Nick at Nite.

Before those Nick at Nite reruns, it was The Facts of Life.

Before The Facts of Life, it was Punky Brewster.

Bef…

[meralee727]

My Pitch List for RCG Productions

Dear Rob,

Do you mind if I call you Rob?  As I’m sitting here on this lovely Los Angeles day watching old episodes of Sunny, my mind began to wander. I began to think of RCG and more to the point, your brand.

Yes, I’m aware that sentence sounds douchey but I took a marketing and advertising class once so you know, whatever….

I was thinking about what I loved about Sunny and why RCG Productions is…

[meralee727]

Dear Rob, Glenn and Charlie,

I am writing this very professional pitch in hopes of being part of the writing staff for season 14 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. No idea if you’ve thought about next season yet but seeing as I have done extensive Sunny research, I have some ideas and also feelings.

Here is my one ask for season 14. The one thing I beg of you not to do:

Please do not press the reset button

Pressing the reset button has become an expected plot device within Sunny universe. In the thirteenth season alone, Dee falls off the side of a building and Charlie gets his leg caught in a bear trap and neither one dies. Mac and Charlie severely beat up children to such a degree that there was a possibility that one died and there were no consequences. Sunny does take place in an alternate universe where we’ve come to expect that things like logic and prison time will simply have no place in the Sunny world.

And that’s fine.

But that being said…

I beg of you to please, please step away from the button.

I don’t have to explain what happened in the finale. You were there and Rob, I hope you treated yourself to a box of doughnuts when it was all over. A box of doughnuts that you did not share with your wife and sons. It was powerful, beautiful and perfect from top to bottom. The risk that it took to go against what everyone expected from a Sunny episode just to simply let the struggling  and lost know that it’s okay was extraordinary and for that reason, the reset button is not an option.

At least not for the first episode of season 14.

You ended on a peak of sorts and to leap all the way back to the bottom and kick off the fourteenth season doing an episode where the gang does something like solves the North Korea gas crisis would be doing a disservice to Mac finding his pride. That dance, that moment was so spectacular that pretending it never happened in season 14 just sounds disrespectful to Mac.

If I can, I would love to give my pitch for season 14.

Here it goes:

Instead of an episode where the gang spoofs a movie or does their take on a social/political issue, maybe the first episode of the fourteenth season can kick off with the gang finding Mac’s pride?

Go with me on this….

We can open on Frank and Mac coming back to the bar after having left the prison. Mac tells Frank  not to tell Charlie, Dee and Dennis about his dance.

Frank, being Frank, has already forgotten the dance ever happened  in the first place.

Despite this, Frank begins to take on a fatherly, almost protective role with Mac.

Almost.

Of course I mean Frank’s version of fatherly. The man’s not Danny Tanner. Maybe it should be “fatherly” not fatherly.  Frank begins to treat Mac how he treats Charlie. Maybe Frank invites Mac to play Nightcrawlers with him and Charlie or brings Mac boiled denim so he can change out of his wet jeans? This could cause Charlie to get jealous and as seen in episodes like The Gang Tends Bar, Charlie doesn’t handle jealousy well.

Maybe at this pride parade, Mac meets a guy? A nice guy. A guy who actually likes Mac which I think would especially throw Dennis for a loop. Someone who actually treats Mac with respect. Someone who will take Mac’s attention away from Dennis. Oh and what if this guy has an actual blackbelt in karate?

While Charlie is jealous of how Frank is being towards Mac, Dennis’ neediness starts to emerge as Mac starts spending time with Karate Man. Remembering what happened when Mac and Dennis broke up, Dennis starts to rely too heavily on Dee again.

Dee and Charlie ultimately team up to restore order to the gang. A gang as codependent as this one descends into chaos when the roles change. Frank and Mac coming together throws everything off balance. Charlie needs Frank relying on him just as much as Dennis needs Mac. With this gone, Dee will most likely get more of everyone’s abuse as Dennis and Charlie start losing control. So order needs to be restored so everything can be back to normal or whatever is considered normal for the gang.

Of course, Mac, being Mac, ultimately ends up destroying the relationship with Karate Man. Maybe Karate Man suggests that Mac take karate lessons? Mac’s delusions about his sexuality may be gone but his delusions about his ability to do karate are still alive and well.  I could not see Mac reacting well to someone telling him he should take a beginning karate class and actually trying to teach him some moves. Mac being taught contemporary dance is one thing….but karate?  Well, that’s another story.

These characters are all so severely broken and damaged anyway that while Dee and Charlie could work to sabotage the relationship, Mac will ultimately destroy the relationship on his own just by being Mac.

Now, maybe the ending could take place between Mac and Dennis?

Last season, there seemed to be a shift in the Dennis and Mac relationship. Dennis seemed annoyed by Mac though I’m not sure that was the intent. There was also the mystery as to what might have happened to Dennis? I liked the idea that you had briefly mentioned in The Gang Makes Paddy’s Great Again where the joke was that Dennis had given Mac the number to a mental health clinic. Given how Dennis was able to put together an entire sexual harassment seminar for the sole purpose of calling out the gang, this almost seems plausible that Dennis would have concocted this huge scheme so he could leave  town and perhaps check into a mental health facility?

I feel like there’s some sort of fight  or show down of sorts coming with regard to Mac and Dennis. Maybe when Mac comes back to the apartment after things end with Karate Man, Mac tries at first to tell Dennis what happened but instead Dennis goes off on one of his signature  rants. Maybe in this rant, where he goes off on all of the things Mac does that annoy him and how that affects him, he inadvertently reveals where he was when he left the gang. Mac watches in silence and when Dennis is done, Mac approaches him, punches him in the face and says, “you left me, asshole” before turning and walking out of the apartment.

I like the idea of Mac fighting back.  Mac found his confidence at the end of the thirteenth season. He found his strength. He found the ability to stand up for himself. So maybe the idea of simply punching someone in the face and leaving is enough?

The end of the episode could take place at the bar? Dee, Charlie, Frank and Mac are there downing shots of whiskey. Charlie and Frank are back as the gruesome twosome talking about a large sewer rat while Dee and Mac offer their own opinions when Dennis walks in. Dee asks what happened to his face, Dennis responds by insulting her instead and conversation turns back to sewer rats which leads to a scheme. Mac pours him a shot, Dennis thanks him, maybe pats Mac on the back. The episode ends with the five drinking at the bar planning their next scam.

Then episode two could be, I don’t know, The Gang Takes on Sliding Doors or The Gang Fixes the Border Crisis.

So how’s that?

See, I think setting the reset button will cause fandom whiplash. Right now, to paraphrase Dennis, season 13 ended with you guys as the proverbial kings of the mountaintop. To get down from top of the mountain, you don’t just jump and hope you land safely but instead you move yourself slowly back down to the ground. Back down to the world of schemes and where actions really have no consequences.

So that’s my pitch. I’d love to hear back from you regarding your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Meredith

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9859077an) Rob McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Charlie Day Glenn Howerton, Jill Latiano. Rob McElhenney, from left, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Charlie Day Glenn Howerton and Jill Latiano attend the LA Premiere of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Season 13 at the Regency Bruin Theatre, in Los Angeles LA Premiere of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Season 13, Los Angeles, USA – 04 Sep 2018

IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA — “Dee Made a Smut Film” — Episode 1104 (Airs Wednesday, January 27, 10:00 pm e/p) Pictured: (l-r) Rob McElhenney as Mac, Danny DeVito as Frank, Glenn Howerton as Dennis, Kaitlin Olson as Dee, Charlie Day as Charlie. CR: Patrick McElhenney/FX

  Season 14: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Pitch Dear Rob, Glenn and Charlie, I am writing this very professional pitch in hopes of being part of the writing staff for season 14 of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

[meralee727]

So I sit here and bid adieu

To the Sherman Oaks Pottery Barn which is through with you…

No more weird ornaments for you to check out…

Not single Chinese food ornament or avocado toast…

Which I admit was an ornament that puzzled me the most…

I thought it look like a leaf on a rock…

Or something you’d hit with a sock…

But moving on my friends, as there will be no more cozy mittens…

Mittens that feel like they belong on kittens…

Nor will there be any  stocking holders I arranged to be simply funny….

Nothing for you and no job for me…

So join me in this sea of memories…

And return for reading this all…

Let me offer you this overpriced candle at the mall…

Now, please don’t have a heart attack…

As I assure you that once again we have nothing in the back…

There’s nothing here for you to see…

Nothing for you to be purchasing…

Not a single thing at all…

Except maybe an overpriced candle at the mall…

Now, it’s time for sentimental things…

As I admit to knowing nothing about your drapery…

So many people to call out, you see…

So many people not shopping for pottery…

To the man who threatened my arrest…

Who put my patience to the test…

When I would not accept your return…

Of a Hanukkah plate with more latke stains than I could discern…

While I’m not sure what you thought the cops would do…

Besides teaching you how to wash a dish or two…

Now, there’s not much more I can say…

Except for wishing you a splendid day…

Maybe returning that platter won’t do justice at all…

Perhaps, I’ll offer you this overpriced candle at the mall….

  Now to lady who had lifted as she shopped…

We had been busy so you couldn’t be stopped….

But instead of being content with your crime…

You decided to waste more of my time….

By trying to return the items without a receipt…

Just be happy I didn’t call the LAPD…

But as you tend to your life of thievery…

I’ll just be taking back the over priced candle you never paid to keep….

Oh and to that lady who yelled at me…

For not personally letting you know we were leaving…

”I’ve been a customer for years,” you screamed…

As if that declaration meant anything at all to me…

”I deserve respect so bring a manager for me to see,” you said sounding so robust…

As it was clear that in me you had no trust…

”Certainly,” came my overly peppy reply…

Hopefully, you could not tell that pep was a lie…

Yet when I asked for your name to let the manager know who to see…

You said your name was of no importance to me…

Now, that is true, I must admit…

Your name is the least of it…

But I do see you’re simply not having a ball…

So why don’t I offer you this over priced candle at the mall…

To the lady dressed in yellow who was having a fit…

Your belligerent screaming letting us know you were having none of it…

Trying to return Christmas lights…

On the Pottery Barn’s very last night…

“We cannot accept returns,” we explained…

We tried to understand your pain…

Even as you filmed us and called us horrible names…

”You will be reported to the bureau…”

You berated, thinking you looked like a hero…

Ignoring other customers standing so uncomfortably…

As they desperately wanted to leave…

Losing your cool was thing see…

The awkwardness of it all…

For your trouble, how about this overpriced candle at the mall…

To those faces I recognized from movies and TV….

Tony Hale, Troy Gentile,  Eddie Steeples,  Bryan Cranston, Andrea Savage and Leah Remini…

Thanks for coming by and I hope you simply had a ball…

We’re you able to find a good overpriced candle at the mall?

  So now the doors are closed and I’d like to share…

Some ways I amused myself when I was there…

Here’s some pictures of empty chairs…

A captive audience of imaginary friends were there…

As I repeated tv theme songs in my head…

Repeating songs from Sunny until my morale was surely dead…

Some might say it’s not appropriate for work…

To sing about spiders and souls while doing a Nightman Cometh twerk…

To those people, I just have to say…

Did you buy an overpriced candle today?

Here are some final things we weren’t able to sell…

Things that couldn’t clear a shelf…

Some furry placemats to watch Game of Thrones…

A furry hat to give your hummus a fancy home….

But now unfortunately the store has darkened inside…

Much like my soul in which my pain resides…

I can no longer grin and cheer as I offer you it all…

There are simply no more overpriced candles at the mall….

                  An Overpriced Candle at the Mall: An Ode to the Closing of Pottery Barn So I sit here and bid adieu To the Sherman Oaks Pottery Barn which is through with you...

[meralee727]

Moms Demand Action

It was eleven days before Christmas.

December 14th, 2012 was supposed to go way differently.

It was supposed to be a pretty easy day working with my elementary aged clients in the office where I was employed as an Educational Therapist.

It was supposed to be a relatively painless day filled with academic lessons that of course came with a holiday theme.

I had especially been looking forward to a…

[meralee727]

I’ve only been in one writer’s room in my life. Back when I was in college, I interned at Spelling Productions in the 90210 offices. The original 90210, not the imposter that would arrive many years later.

90210: OG.

My summer was spent eating my weight in jelly beans and going on horrible dates with a guy who worked in the Seventh Heaven offices and who cussed more than any living and/or dead human being I’ve ever met in my life and when he wasn’t cussing, he alternated between smoking and telling me how he just got out of rehab for punching his father in the face.

He was just lovely, don’t you think?

Shockingly though, that relationship did not last.

Anyway, that aside, it was an exciting summer as I got to be a part of season eight of Beverly Hills, 90210.

I shook hands with Jason Priestley. Everyone talked about how they loved Tori Spelling and I was told the only way Shannen Doherty  would come back would be in a box. She wasn’t popular. Oh and Hilary Swank also came by the offices to thank the writers for the opportunity to be on the show. Say what you will about Hilary Swank, but that little gesture left an impression which made me a fan of hers….always.

What else happened that summer?

Two writers got into a physical altercation in the middle of the writer’s room about a story line. That was new. I had never actually seen two men punching each other in the face over the intricacies of the Donna/David relationship so that was fun to watch.

I didn’t have popcorn. I had jelly beans.

As soon as the summer ended, I went back to school where I never spoke to Seventh Heaven Smoking Man ever again and people were impressed that I shook hands with Jason Priestley. After college, I  got a  special education teaching credential and a Masters in Elementary Education which has all led me to where I am now.

And in words of Hamilton, I want to be in the room where it happens.

I miss the art of the story.

More specifically, the art of the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia story. What happens in their writer’s room.  I want to be there while it’s happening. I know it’s becoming nauseating how every conversation seems to turn back to that and those who are nauseated, I will simply say go down a bottle of Pepto Bismal, grab a bucket and strap yourself in ‘cause it’s gonna be a bumpy ride for you, my friend.

In addition to my borderline unhealthy longing and desperation to be an RCG employee and my internal desire for health insurance and a 401K, I’ve always been curious about the Sunny writer’s room for the simple fact that their writer’s room….terrifies me.

See, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is not formulaic, it’s not set up, then joke. Instead, it’s a carefully crafted dance of language that from the outside appears chaotic and with little sense of order. A punchline does not always immediately follow the set up as seen in the episode, Charlie Rules the World where at the beginning of the episode,  Dennis comments that if Charlie rules the world, he will blow himself.

Cut to twenty two minutes later…

Him doing that.

So the idea, the mere feeling of being in the Sunny writer’s room fills me with a similar fear that I had when I tried on my pants after  eating all those jelly beans at 90210. Fear also mixed with curiosity. Also not unlike those parties I was never invited to in high school…

What is happening?

How can I get an invite?

Would I even be accepted and/or good enough?

Is Dennis coming back?

Are Rob’s muscles for real or photoshopped?

Can I also bring snacks?

Oddly enough, those were all questions I asked about the parties I did not get invited to in high school.

The curiousity and fear led to pure excitement and even more fear when I began to read Erin Ryan’s take on being a writer for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Okay, not sure that was the best transitional sentence in the world, but whatever…it’s a sentence that despite how unnervingly weird it is, points to my excitement at finally being able to peek behind the curtain.

And peek I did where I realized that not only was this writer’s room way more fun, it was also far less dramatic than the 90210 one. At least from Erin’s post and she did not mention it but it did not seem like Rob, Charlie and Glenn were punching each other in the face while the other writers discussed more ways to torture Dee….a fire, a cult, a firey cult. There was also no mention of anyone going out on a date with a guy whom over a teriyaki chicken taco platter at Island’s told a four year old at the next table to f**k off while he described in intricate detail the sound his father’s face made when his fist made contact with it.

Hmmmm, I wonder if that guy is still single?

Or in prison.

Its gotta be one or the other.

Anyway, Erin described a warm and inviting writer’s room. Rob giving a pep talk, getting everyone excited for season 13 and the word that stuck out at me though was  “egalitarian”. Erin described a room where Rob, along with Charlie and Glenn, made sure everyone had a voice and that everyone was heard equally.

This was in stark contrast to my 90210 experience. Sure, I was a lowly unpaid intern, one of the only females and the youngest in the room, I miss that, but I remember being told to be quiet. My voice was not wanted. That it was rude for me to speak.

Basically, let the professionals do their jobs while I sit quietly with the jelly beans.

Added to the fact that it was 1997, so it wasn’t like I had Facebook to keep me occupied. My cubicle didn’t even have a computer in it. What else was I going to do except remain silent?

Egalitarian.

What a wonderful word and a wonderful way to run a room. Everyone matters.

I remember one day during my time at 90210 when I had left the office for an hour long lunch and had miscalculated the amount of time it would take me to get back. My hour long lunch took almost an hour and a half. I was apologetic, nervous. If you’re a person like me  who is always punctual especially in professional settings, being late could send you into an anxiety spiral that would require more than just jelly beans to heal..maybe cookies.

Turned out my anxiety shame spiral for being late was all for naught because when I explained what happened, I was told that no one noticed I was gone.

Judging by Erin’s posts about the Sunny room, something tells me that even an intern missing for an hour and a half would be noticeable.

Egalitarian work space, right?

Though, side note to Erin Ryan, in case you were wondering….there were no John Denver singalongs or plates of scrambled songbird eggs at 90210 either. Though, considering John Denver died two months after my internship was completed….maybe there should have been a few.

Day one as judging by Erin’s posts thus far were filled with hellos and pep talks and discussions of what people were watching and/or reading. There was none of that at 90210. I was told to try and blend into the beige couch as much as possible and don’t speak. Writers don’t like it when non writers speak. That was what I was told. Sit and say nothing.

“But I need to say something,” I tried to explain to my boss at the time, “this is for college credit and my advisor said one of the things I had to practice was pitching an idea.”

I was told to lie which made me nervous again. I couldn’t lie to a professor. I’m not even good at lying to myself, let alone someone who had my grade in their hands.

But that was the rule. If I was to intern, I was to act invisible and considering I was able to leave for an almost two hour lunch without anyone noticing, I may have succeeded a little too well.

Now, despite the differences in temperature in the two rooms and I’m speaking in metaphors, of course.

There were some similarities.

Discussions revolving around what had happened the previous season is what I would assume would normally happen in any writer’s room. I interned before season 8 of 90210 and season 7 ended with Brandon stopping Val from committing suicide just in time for their college graduation, Steve and Val hooking up and Donna losing her virginity to David.

After listening uncomfortably as the writers described to each other in detail the filming of the sex scene between Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling, they got down to the business of drafting season 8.

They vs. We

Once again that difference stands out. Erin talks about the Sunny experience in “we” terms and that was how she described the discussion of season 13.

What are we going to do about the Dennis?

What are we going to do about Charlie and the Waitress?

What will we do about Mac and does he have any adventures now that he’s out of the closet?

How do we bring in current events?

In the writer’s room, according to Erin, interns and assistants took turns writing down every idea that was pitched. I did not do that. Per my intern assignment, I was told to keep a notebook and take notes at every meeting so I could keep a log. Once in the room, I was told I could not be taking notes as it would make the writers uncomfortable and would thus ruin the whole ‘act invisible’ thing. I’m not entirely sure what was uncomfortable about a nineteen year old taking notes but I was told that I would have to take notes outside the writers meeting.

So I did.

Unlike the Sunny pitch meetings, the 90210 writers meetings lasted about an hour not six, they were not all that entertaining and it was incredibly difficult to remain silent so often.

I remember breaking the silence once but not with an idea, with a continuity plot issue. There had been an idea for Kelly but having seen every episode, I wondered out loud if the idea would work considering it was in direct conflict with something the fans already knew about Kelly.

I guess it would be like setting Mac up on a date with a woman in season 13, though obviously I did not use that example.

This “sudden outburst” made me visible which I promised would never happen again as I was told time and time again that I was not wanted there. I was nineteen and clearly knew nothing about a show in which I was the targeted audience and had seen every episode. So I watched as they wrote ideas on a dry erase board and yelled at each other about ideas and occasionally violently shoved each other across the room in a way very fitting of an episode of 90210. They would write detailed notes under each character name so they could figure each character’s arc for that season. I volunteered to write down those notes but as mentioned, that would make me visible so that was not an option. Then typically after that one hour writers meeting, I went back to my desk and stared at the walls of my cubicle until it was time to go home or if my Seventh Heaven walking cigarette of  guy came by to chat about taking me to Universal City Walk or about a puppy he kicked.

Once again, seriously, not sure what went wrong in that relationship?

Though, can’t get past it….a six hour meeting.

The idea of a six hour meeting moves me away from the 90210 comparisons to similarities to another career in a different field. Education. I’ve had IEP meetings that have lasted six hours but those are never as entertaining as perhaps discussing Mac having a sex doll that looks like Dennis. IEP meetings are usually emotionally draining events where we hammer out every possible academic issue facing a child. The brainstorming and pitching described by Erin did strangely remind me of those six hour IEP’s. The output might have been wildly different but the general idea rang true. Let’s all work together to pitch all the ideas we can for the student in question. Some ideas will make sense, some will be discarded as quickly as they’re brought up and considering Sunny is treated like a first baby to its creators, it makes sense that they continue to treat it as such. Just as a parent never wants to let their child down, hopefully….the same goes for Sunny.

A big difference I’m seeing as well in terms of going back to comparing 90210 and Sunny comes with regards to structure. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is not known for its story arcs. They often press the reset button and start over. That’s really the only conceivable way those characters can keep getting away with everything they get away with and never learn anything. Sure there were a couple things from season 12 that needed to be addressed in season 13 but for the most part, Sunny doesn’t often rely on story arcs. 90210, of course, does. 90210 is a soap and those dramatic crazy things that happen need to be drawn out over a season. On Sunny, at the end of each day, the producers apparently put groups of cards together that felt like they could relate and tell a story for one episode whereupon on 90210, the ideas were based on the actions of the characters. It was story driven where Sunny seems more idea and subject driven.

Further driving home the “they (or me) vs we” factor is how Erin described the process in the second week. She explains that once there were a few subject areas that were decided on and everyone was excited about, the writers were split into two groups. One group went with Rob and the other went with Charlie and I’m assuming though it is not mentioned that some went with Dennis the sex doll. I could be wrong. She only mentioned two groups. Then each room broke down the episode, pitched the plot and outlined it beat by beat. Each episode would take at least five hours as they dissected it in detail. Every character, every motivation, every line and when it was done, Charlie and Rob would switch rooms and each room would pitch, there would be notes and room leaders would assign an outline to one of the writers in the room and soon a detailed synopsis would appear.

While describing this, Erin put quotations around their as in each room would pitch “their” idea. Once again, further driving home that point that writing these episodes is never a solitary process. I remember something Charlie Day said during a Paley Center panel for Sunny that no one person could write a single episode by themselves and that’s proven here.

Despite my fear of writing for a show like Sunny, it feels like they give you all the tools to be successful. Everything is so planned out down to the last detail that even newbie writers can feel safe taking on an episode.

This also  rings more true to writing an IEP more than writing for 90210.  It’s terrifying to have a child’s entire academic year in your hands and going into it blindly without a team to back you up is more terrifying but after many a painstaking hour, the confidence returns. Much like working on an IEP, each episode is treated like a child and each layer of that child, each trait is analyzed. When drafting academic and behavioral goals, there is always discussion of how a child would react to some specific intervention which seems eerily similar to the writing process for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and not at all similar to the writing process for 90210.

Another thing, while I was not in the writer’s room and Erin did not mention it, I can also imagine it was noisy. IEP’s can be noisy. The writer’s room at 90210 was silent. People stayed quietly at their desks, typing away, never speaking, never interacting. When a writer wrote a script, he or she presented it to the group, there were notes, some verbal assaulting and physical violence and eventually new script pages on different colored paper which I got to make copies of which quite honestly was the most exciting thing to happen in my work day.

Now, I do have to note that in 1997,  no one left the office to write at home. I don’t know about other rooms at that time, but everyone stayed. Even the guy who liked to do yoga by himself in his office with the lights off.

That was uncomfortable when I walked in to give him script changes. I think he was doing yoga. He was sitting on the floor and when I opened the door, granted without knocking, he got up real fast. Super fast. Like Usain Bolt fast. Yoga isn’t really a fast sport and I’m not really sure what pose involves your hands in your lap doing what I think he was doing but he was doing yoga. I really hope he was doing yoga. That’s it. He was doing yoga.

Yep.

That’s it.

Yoga.

A fast, repetitive kind of yoga.

The kind of yoga that causes grown men to sit in the dark and make sudden jumping movements when the door opens.

Yep.

I want to believe.

Just as I want to believe that my chain smoking Seventh Heaven boy who often mistook a can of Raid for cologne and who believed that college was for suckas is now a happily married family man working at Merrill Lynch….

He was doing yoga and nothing else. So as I was saying, yeah…no one really left the office but seeing as Erin is writing about her experiences in 2018 and technology now having greatly improved since 1997, I can see why  many writers probably did make the choice to work at home but even then, writing an episode of Sunny doesn’t feel solitary.

It feels like a team effort more like creating an IEP. Reading Erin’s words about writing an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia felt strangely similar to a world I already knew.

The endgame is never about ego or drawing blood as it was with 90210, but instead the endgame is identical to that of an IEP.

How do we, not they, not I….create magic?

How to we take this child and help create the best version of him or her or Sunny’s self?

Simply put, perhaps in the we versus they world….

The best results come when you focus on the we…

Maybe?

            It’s Always Sunny in Beverly Hills 90210: A Writer’s Room Comparison to stuff I’ve only been in one writer’s room in my life. Back when I was in college, I interned at Spelling Productions in the 90210 offices.

[meralee727]

I want to work for Rob McElhenney.

There you go.

Now, before the calls and letters to mental hospitals in and around the San Fernando Valley begin….

I would like to plead my case.

I have only recently become creepily obsessed with the brilliance that is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Yes, I know.

Admitting that you have a creepy obsession with any show is really the best and only way to land a job.

Now, I don’t have the statistics on that but I’m sure it’s right up there with showing up at social events dressed as Jeffrey Dahmer and asking people if they’d like a bite of your sandwich.

So yes, in my unemployment depression and angst that would cause even the most angst ridden teen to declare that I should simply lighten up, I have become a fan of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Watching the show, behind the scenes interviews and reading message boards until the wee hours because unemployment insomnia is a super fun thing, has only resulted in my fandom increasing and me deciding that one day I would want to call Rob McElhenney my boss and I would of course thank him for the opportunity and the health insurance.

It was through this obsession and countless interviews I may or may not have watched, I decided to heed the advice Rob, Charlie and Glenn seemed to espouse over and over again:

Create your own opportunity.

So I did.

On a hot summer day, while I was delivering Ben and Jerry’s ice cream that someone had Postmated and laughing at Kaitlin Olson’s Instagram stories, I decided I would do just that.

And then I would get a job and Postmate my own damn ice cream.

Seemed simple enough.

The LA Pride Parade back in June seemed like the perfect place to make this happen.

I would tell Rob McElhenney, my future boss who doesn’t know it yet….

Okay, side note…seriously, so not in the mood for a restraining order and the mental hospitals are probably full…so what you’re thinking you might need to do….no need.

Anyway, Pride….

The Paddy’s float was amazing. I loved that I was there before the Sunny cast arrived. I was there early because I was supposed to be volunteering with Project Angel Food but I kept being dragged back to the Paddy’s Pub float in all its wonderful colorful glory.

Standing there, watching the float come to life, I made a decision.

I would tell them.

I mean, I had already made a decision to tell them but now I would definitely tell them me.

I would tell them how they inspired me. How I was creating my own content and how much I appreciated them.

I had played the conversation in my head:

Me: Hey, Rob….I’m doing a project. You truly are inspirational. Also have you been lifting weights?

Rob and/or Kaitlin….I don’t know, maybe they’d speak in unison…I won’t judge: Yes, oh, that is awesome. Send it to us when you are done, you brilliant genius of a person. Also, have you lost weight? And you also look like you are twenty one years of age.

What? Too far?

It’s my fantasy and in my fantasy, they say that and also, they say, we would also really love to hire you and have you fill out a 401K.

Of course, much like Instagram, the reality was far sadder. My excitement led to inane small talk about t-shirts.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t pitch my idea. Maybe I just thought it wasn’t the time, not appropriate.

Maybe he wasn’t there for himself.

Sure, Sunny was the draw but it was a vibe. He was there as support, not as the star.

So I didn’t.

But I still filmed my project.

Five chapters using Rob McElhenney’s words as guidance.

Wrote. Directed. Created. Edited.

Acted.

I want a Razzie for my acting.

Then sent it out completely unsolicited.

Which those not in the know, is never the best plan but honestly, it was between that and running down the street screaming, “hey, watch me now…..bee-yotches!”

And honestly, I think I made the right decision.

What came out of this and what came out of the speech I would give later for KPCC Unheard LA about growing up hearing impaired in a fully hearing world,  was several things….

1. Everything you do might bring you closer to your goal and if you got nothing left to lose, might as well do it.

2. The thing I’ve already said several times. Why must I repeat myself?

But before the ink dries on the inevitable restraining orders, I would like to once again plead my case as to why I want to and should work for Rob McElhenney.

Here are the reasons:

I have no experience in television development.

I have been a special education teacher for twelve years.

I have two Masters Degrees.

I’ve taken so many UCLA Writing Extension courses that I actually might be a few credits shy of a third degree.

I’ve done a little freelancing.

I’ve written two unpublished books.

I spoke in front of two hundred people about being diagnosed as hearing impaired at age six.

I created my own content.

I am delivering groceries for Postmates.

I am 40.

I also know how to sell myself really well.

All that side, which I think are all very strong selling points, I want to work for Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton because they’re smart.

They know what they’re doing.

They look to create content that hasn’t been seen on television.

They look for people who are different.

Who have different takes, different ways of looking at something that may or may not have been done many times before just to get a laugh.

Everything they do has a purpose as if they are speaking to the audience.

Rob gaining weight or getting in shape, there’s a message attached to the madness. A reason. He didn’t just inhale doughnuts because it was fun although, let’s be honest…it probably was fun.

I can go into that and all the very publicized reasons why he gained and/or lost weight but I’m going to focus on something that hasn’t been reported about.

Maybe because it hasn’t aired yet but this thirteenth season, the Sunny gang is taking on the Time’s Up/Me Too movement and the episode is being written by Megan Ganz.

Megan Ganz?

The woman who came forward with her own harrowing Me Too story about Dan Harmon while writing on Community many years ago is writing the Time’s Up episode?

There is no way that is a coincidence.

And it’s brilliant.

It’s also strangely and unbelievably kind hearted.

How cathartic that must have been for Megan to be able to take on that episode and put her own humorous spin on the movement that she herself was unfortunately too familiar with.

What an amazing gift to give, so why wouldn’t I want to work for a group of men who seem eager to give women a voice.

And if they would do that, then what would they do with a hearing impaired woman who knows all to well the pain of being told her voice is simply not good enough?

I want to work at place where I know I’ll be heard.

I want in.

I want to watch in amazement as a show that presents itself to be a low budget, thrown together comedy is anything but.

I want to work for a company that not only listens to their writers but also listens to the audience, hears them closely, taking in every comment.

Mac is never going back in the closet for this reason.

So maybe saying anything at Pride wasn’t appropriate. Maybe writing my goals in a blog that he may never see though I will tag him and Kaitlin anyway and if by some miracle, they actually do read this than might I say you both look lovely…..which I know is incredibly creepy statement….

That also might be inappropriate.

But a wise man once said he did the pilot to It’s Always Sunny because he had nothing left to lose.

Neither do I and that’s the fun part of having nothing to lose.

You never know what might happen.

Maybe you’ll somehow end being responsible for creating a sitcom that will end up becoming the longest running live action sitcom of all time beating Ozzie and Harriet.

From ‘Honey, I’m Home’ to ‘I will eat your babies bitch!’

So where do I send my resume and cover letter?

I’m ready for the interview but don’t worry, I will look far better than I do in the picture below.

I Want to Work for Rob McElhenney I want to work for Rob McElhenney. There you go. Now, before the calls and letters to mental hospitals in and around the San Fernando Valley begin....

[meralee727]

Jokes about being hearing impaired and/or being deaf on television often include the following:

Jokes about the vocal tone about a hearing impaired individual

Gesturing wildly or physically moving the person

Screaming and/or talking loudly. Which is also an unfortunate sitcom technique sometimes used to speak to people who do not have English as their first language.

THE VOICE. THE VOICE THE VOICE.

Did I mention voice?

I am moderately hearing impaired. I grew up that way, having been diagnosed at age six. I taught myself how to read lips. This is actually how I passed hearing tests when I was little. The doctor would look at me and say words to me like “football”, “baseball” and I just repeated them back by reading his lips. When I was six, one of the doctors thought that he should probably cover his mouth and the jig was up.

I also never learned to sign because I never needed it. I went to school surrounded by the fully hearing and went to a hearing impaired support group once only to find it to be the most depressing thing I’ve ever been to in my life.  They were all just complaining so much! I mean, come on, we can’t hear. It happens.

Although, I was told I talked too softly which was a fantastic compliment.

Now, I’ve always been worried about the tone of my voice. Is it too loud? Too soft? Does it sound like how hearing impaired people are often portrayed on television? I can’t always tell but I can tell when its become the butt of a joke and often, especially on a television sitcom, it is.

However, three sitcoms recently portrayed having a hearing impairment in a way which I found amusing, clever and it worked.

At least for me…..

1. Episodes

In a season two episode, Matt LeBlanc’s character Matt LeBlanc mimics what it would be like to have sex with a deaf girl much to the disgust of Sean played by Stephen Mangan.

Why it works?

By this point in the series, we already know the Matt LeBlanc character, not the actor, is a horrible person. At the end of the first season, he sleeps with Sean’s wife, Beverly. There had been enough character development by this point that instead of it being wildly offensive, it’s considered typical and oddly in character. The credit for this goes to the creators and writers, Jeffrey Klarik and David Crane, for building a strong enough character where mimicking sex with a deaf girl seems perfectly aligned with who Matt, the character, is. Instead of being outraged, my first thought was, “of course.” Additional credit, obviously, goes to the talent of Matt LeBlanc. It also helps that Sean, who is often the moral center, is begging Matt to stop. The combination results in making the Matt LeBlanc character look worse.

2. Life in Pieces

In a season three episode called “Treasure Ride Poker Hearing”, which by the way can we all just agree that Life in Pieces has the best episode titles ever, John played James Brolin gets hearing aids. He is reluctant to at first as he struggles with what it means for him to get them.

Why it Works?

John is the patriarch of the family and while it’s typical that losing your hearing is a sign of age and is often portrayed that way, the way it is shown here is relatable at any age. There were two moments in particular that I could relate to, well three if you count the hearing test.

Side note: Those hearing tests are stupid. I always fail them. They suck and they’re stupid. Oh, here’s your beep. What if I don’t wanna press the button when I hear the beep? Stupid tests. I like to pass tests, not fail them. Dumb. They’re dumb.  You press the button when you hear the beep. That game is the worst. 

Anyway, okay,  so when family matriarch, Joan, played by Dianne Wiest, informs John that he can’t hear the doorbell he informs her that he heard, just didn’t feel like answering it. Yep. That does happen.  The other moment occurs at the end of the episode when during a family gathering, John turns off his hearing aids to avoid hearing his family. It was not only perfect for the character, it was completely relatable.

Selective hearing loss affects all hearing impaired individuals and you can’t always tell when we actually can’t hear you or we just don’t want to hear you. I have often turned them off because sometimes it’s just easier and you don’t have to apologize for anything later. This final scene also felt like an inside joke from Justin Adler and the rest of the Life in Pieces team to the entire hearing impaired population. Almost as if they were exposing a rarely discussed perk to wearing hearing aids, which was appreciated.

3. The Mick

In this season two episode called, “The Dump”, after Mickey and Alba accidentally pick up an extra kid from a class trip they go to extreme lengths to return him. The situation gets worse and worse because the kid will not speak to them. The audience is not sure why at first but the reveal is that he is deaf and therefore cannot hear Mickey or Alba.

Why it works?

The Mick is produced by Dave and John Chernin who wrote on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. They clearly ripped a page out of the Sunny playbook which clearly dictates that the joke must always be on the central characters.  When Mickey, played by Kaitlin Olson, learns the child is deaf her non verbal response to Alba, played by Carla Jimenez, is one of  almost relief. This lasts a brief moment as the situation deteriorates because not only have they basically kidnapped a kid, their phone calls to authorities include what one might call racist and/or stereotypical imitations of different races making both Alba and Mickey look just awful and also in a very hilarious way.  The kid, however, is never the butt of the joke. It is always on Mickey and Alba and the lengths they go to get this kid back to the dump.

The final lessons in making hearing impairments work on television?

Set up the main character to be kind of an egomaniacal jerk anyway so it works because you can completely buy it.

Provide realistic moments that people with hearing impairments at any age can relate to.

Keep the joke firmly on the leads, setting up the hearing impairment to be more of an after thought and never the forefront of the episode.

So thank you to everyone involved in Episodes, Life in Pieces and The Mick for taking on hearing impairments in three very different ways and succeeding.

Luv,

me

An Ode to Three TV Shows that Did Hearing Impairment Right Jokes about being hearing impaired and/or being deaf on television often include the following: Jokes about the vocal tone about a hearing impaired individual…

[meralee727]

Dumb characters are a television staple. Characters who just don’t always seem to have it together, whom you wonder how they manage to live, survive and basically not die. Characters that despite their intellectual deficiencies, we root for them to maybe figure out or not.

Back in 1983, Dr. Howard Gardner discovered that there were eight levels or eight different types of intelligence. Later, existential intelligence and moral intelligence were added and will be added to this blog to determine the ultimate truth behind two of my favorite television dumb guys–the characters, not the actors who play them ’cause I don’t know the actors who play them and that would just be mean even though I’m sure they’re lovely individuals.

Now, given my Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies and my Masters in both Marriage and Family Counseling and Elementary Education, I am basically an expert in my own head.

So who is smarter?

Subjects:

Joey Tribbiani

Place of birth: Queens, New York

Age: 48

*While Friends ended in 2004, I am giving him the age he would likely be now, as It’s Always Sunny is still going and it’s just easier for me. 

Occupation:  Actor most notably for playing Dr. Drake Ramoray on Days of Our Lives

Vices: Food

Brief Background:

Joey Tribbiani is an Italian American, Caucasian male who grew up in a large family where he was the oldest and the only son. He has seven younger sisters whom he is close to and is very protective of. He has a close relationship with both his mom and dad. There has been no notable childhood trauma although when he was twenty-five years old, he discovered that his father was having an affair with a pet stuffer. His parents still remain happily married with his mom deciding the affair would simply be looked at as a hobby.

Charlie Kelly

Place of birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Age: 42

Occupation: Janitor at a bar in Philadelphia called Paddy’s Pub

Vices: Drinking, eating cat food, huffing inhalants, drinking paint, eating chalk, stalking, sniffing glue

Brief Background:

Charlie Kelly is a Caucasian male who was raised by a single mother in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Not much is known about his father though it is assumed that his biological father might be Frank Reynolds, a man whom he is currently sharing an apartment as well as a bed with. Charlie discovered at the age of thirty that he was the survivor of an abortion his mother had soon after she had a sexual relationship with Frank Reynolds. His mother often supported herself and her son through prostitution. One of Charlie’s most vivid childhood memories is of Christmas Day, opening the door to a series of men dressed as Santa who would “visit” with his mom. Despite this, there is some severe denial on Charlie’s part as to what was happening. There is also some suggestion that Charlie may have been the victim of sexual assault as a child at the hands of his Uncle Jack.

 Gardner’s Levels of Intelligence

Spatial Intelligence: Visualizing yourself in a 3D world, excels in figuring out puzzles and maps. Does well when presented with a construction project.

Joey: He does have some background in construction and did build an entertainment unit for his apartment, though he incorrectly measured the size of the unit which ended up being too big for the wall it was placed on. He is not skilled with puzzles and doesn’t quite understand maps. During a trip to London, he needed to lay his map down on the ground and step into it in order to find his way around.

Charlie: He is not clear on what 3D means, once wearing a pair of 3D glasses outside and wondering why they didn’t work. With assistance from his friend, Mac, he was able to successfully glue the pieces of a broken beer bottle back together and drink beer out of it which was required during a game of Chardee MacDennis, a game created with his friends and coworkers at Paddy’s. He is also not strong with reading maps, during a trip to the water park, he struggled to understand North, East, South and West and relied on Frank to show him where he needed to go.

Winner: While it is impressive that Charlie was able to successfully put together a broken beer bottle, Joey takes the point here. Despite being the wrong size, he did build an entire entertainment unit without assistance and was able to retile the bathroom floor in the apartment of his neighbors–Monica and Rachel. Joey’s construction background gives him the edge here.

Intrapersonal Intelligence: Understanding your needs, wants and desires. Understanding yourself.

Joey: His strengths, although not always successful, are in acting. While at times, he has been plagued with self doubt about his talents as an actor, he seems to come back to it. He seems to understand where his strengths lie and has a strong desire and motivation to make it as an actor, going so far as to beg for his job back at Days of Our Lives after he had embarrassed himself with the producers. He knows what he is good at and tends to go after those things. He did try to move into his own apartment in order to get in touch with his thoughts only to realize he didn’t have a lot of thoughts.

Charlie: He is a simple man who is happy with who he is. He has no desire to move up in life and is content to remain a janitor at a bar and continue living in squalor in Section 8 housing. He doesn’t have the drive or motivation to better himself because he understands who he is and likes who he is. That being said, there is not a lot of self reflection and there is a sense of delusion to some of his activities such as believing he is a lawyer who specializes in bird law without ever having attended law school.

Winner: Joey. Charlie’s needs and wants are more primitive and while he is content with who he is, there is a lack of self awareness and a lack of an inner thought process which often causes chaos in his life. He acts first, thinks later. Joey does seem to have a more advanced view of himself and while his inner thought process may not be deep, his desire to move forward or at least try gives him this point.

Linguistic Intelligence: The ability to understand spoken and written language as well as the ability to speak and write.

Joey: He is an actor so his ability to understand the words on a page is a strength. He has also shown an understanding of poetry, being able to decipher the meaning behind a poem a man had written about his friend, Monica. While he may not always enjoy writing or reading, he is able to do so. With encouragement from his friend, Ross, he did try to write a play although got bored doing it and instead wrote quick stories for his friends to act out. His favorite things to read are comic books, the backs of cereal boxes and pornographic magazines.

Charlie: He is unable to read or write and his friends have often stated that he has a learning disability, though he has not officially been diagnosed. During a group intervention at their bar where they staged several interventions for various reasons, they had suggested one of the interventions be about Charlie’s illiteracy. At one point, Charlie accidentally offered the bar up as a prize in a dance marathon after misreading “pride” as “prize”.  He is a song writer but instead of using lyrics, uses pictures instead. His writings are a serious of random words that are strung together in incoherent sentences. He also has difficulty pronouncing words with more than two syllables. When his friend, Dee, asked to take him to a spa, he thought she was asking him for a spaghetti day. There is also some suggestion that one of the reasons he struggled with working in a mailroom which he had done for a brief period was because he read Pennsylvania as Pepe Sylvia. He also seems to be in denial about the severity of his illiteracy problem, often blaming his friends or brushing it aside.

Winner: Joey. Joey may just be lazy when it comes to motivation in this area but Charlie’s illiteracy as well as his denial about said illiteracy gives Joey the edge here. Also, Charlie needs to be enrolled in some sort of Special Education reading program for adults but his lack of awareness regarding this problem may prevent him from doing this.

Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence: the ability to use your body to convey feelings and ideas. They have good hand eye coordination and their gross and fine motor skills are above average as well.

Joey: He once broke his arm jumping on his bed. He is average at playing flag football and does seem to possess an average level of athletic ability.

Charlie: He jumped out of the back of a moving van without injury. He also took a shot at a Phillies Hockey game and while he missed the shot, he still showed skill as an ice hockey player and taught Mac how to skate. He also jump kicked Mac out of the way of a falling piano. He is a skilled baseball player.  After drinking seventy one beers on a cross country flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, he was able to hit a baseball out of the park on the first try. Of course, he did have some trouble walking straight but his abilities to hit the ball were above average.

Winner: Charlie. While both men seem to have average athletic abilities, Charlie’s ability to knock a ball out of the park after seventy one beers gives him the edge here.

**Disclaimer: It is not advisable to drink seventy one beers in one sitting because it is stupid and you will die.

Interpersonal Intelligence: The ability to understand others and make meaningful connections with others.

Joey: He has close, dependent friendships with five people in particular: Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross and Chandler. While not often discussed, he does seem to be able to maintain friendships with others outside his core group. He often hosts a party for the people he works with on Days of Our Lives and moved to Los Angeles in 2004 by himself and fostered a new set of friendships. He is protective of his sisters and his friends. He genuinely cares about their feelings and supports them when he can.

Charlie: He is also part of a very close knit group. He is incredibly close with his co workers at Paddy’s: Dee, Dennis and Mac. He also shares a bed with Frank Reynolds and at one point, married him so he could get on Frank’s health insurance. They have since divorced. He saved Mac’s life once when he jump kicked him out of the way of a falling piano and enjoys smoking breaks with Dee. While it’s not always obvious, he does care about those friends in particular. This unfortunately has not extended to outside the group. Ignoring all restraining orders, he continues to stalk a woman known only as the Waitress. People who seem to come into contact with him and his group often end up with their lives completely destroyed.

Winner: Joey. While both men are part of two very codependent, fused groups, Charlie’s group is far more toxic. Joey seems far more capable of making meaningful connections with others both in and out of his group.

Existential Intelligence: People who are able to see the big picture and use intuition to understand that world around them. They seek meaningful learning experiences in understanding the world.

Joey: While he prefers to live in the now and doesn’t seem interested in deeper learning, it does seem that he does have the ability to think beyond himself. He does believe in ghosts and has a fear of little girl ghosts. When his agent passed away in 2004, he did believe that she was calling him from beyond–this was later revealed that his friend, Phoebe, was calling him pretending to be the agent to spare his feelings.

Charlie: He is a man with very primitive and basic needs and does not seem capable of meaningful learning. He does not concern himself with questions of life and death. He does not look at the big picture and how it relates to the world, but focuses on immediate gratification.

Winner: Joey. While neither man is that deep, Joey’s thinking is a bit more advanced than Charlie’s which gives him the edge.

Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: Skilled at deductive reasoning, detecting patterns and logical thinking. They excel at abstract and complex ideas.

Joey: Math is not a strong suit as he is often in dire financial straits, relying on his friends to bail him out. His thinking is not always based on logic and is not always linear. He struggles with basic arithmetic and confused his phone number for the amount due on his phone bill.

Charlie: He struggles as well with logical and linear thinking. He does not understand complex or abstract ideas but when presented with a scheme or a scam, without being told, he can understand the steps of the scam as when his friends were trying to run a contaminated chicken scam on a day of a surprise health inspection.

Winner: While this could end up in a draw as neither one excel in logical thinking, Charlie takes the win by a rat’s hair. When his friends doubted whether or not he had an understanding of the scam they were playing on the day of the health inspection, he got it immediately and was also able to help the gang pull off the scam while at the same time figuring out the steps needed to pass the inspection.

Musical Intelligence: The ability to understand pitch, tone and an enjoyment for making and playing music.

Joey: He does have ballroom dancing skills as he worked with his superintendent Mr. Treeger to teach him how to dance but does not show a skill for more complicated dance moves. When he got a drum set once, he seemed more interested in banging on them and throwing the sticks up in the air more than actually playing. He does not seem to posses a natural singing ability.

Charlie: He seems to be a prodigy in this area, having written a musical called The Nighman Cometh which his friends performed. He also wrote and performed  several songs for a bar industry night when important bar people stopped by Paddy’s to see if the gang had finally done enough to make them eligible for an award. He also wrote and performed a song at Frank’s Little Beauties kids beauty pageant.

Winner: Charlie. His skills to create catchy music and to be able to pick up an instrument and start playing put him far above Joey in this category.  Charlie is incredibly gifted in this area and seems to be self taught.

Naturalist Intelligence: The ability to understand the patterns of living things, understands animals and plants.

*it is important to note that this skill also comes with the ability to record and chart scientific data when it comes to plants and animals but we are just going to ignore that because I would like to.

Joey: He loves animals but doesn’t quite understand them. He believes that animals eventually go to a farm, showing a lack of understanding when it comes to the life cycle of plants and animals.

Charlie: He is a janitor who lists “rat basher” as part of his job description where he also has a special bat with nails as his rat bashing stick. He also created a line of mittens to put on kittens and through a speciality of law he invented, he seems to have an understanding of birds.

Winner: The whole scientific data part aside, it might be Charlie. He seems to feel an intense sadness when he has to kill rats, a feeling of remorse he surprisingly does not have when he interacts with other people outside of his core group.

Moral Intelligence: Ability to understand right from wrong, understanding of values

Ummmmm……

Well, this is awkward.

Joey: When he began a relationship with the ex of a best friend, he told his friend he would not pursue the relationship with her if the friend did not approve. He has a strong sense of right and wrong, cares deeply about his friends and family and expects the same honesty and loyalty from them.

Charlie: At this time, Charlie has committed the following: stalking, harassment, violation of several restraining orders brought on him by the Waitress, breaking and entering, public intoxication, illegal drug use, assault and battery, eating Santa Claus, grand theft, shop lifting, faking his own death, selling drugs, destruction of property, kidnapping and torture, fraud, false reporting, etc, etc….

Winner: Joey…..no explanation necessary

Final Score:

Joey: 6

Charlie: 4

Final result: While neither man would ace an IQ test, this very scientific and quite honestly pointless blog will put to rest the question absolutely no one asked.

Joey Tribbiani is more intelligent BUT Charlie Kelly does make some lovely music.

                            Using Gardner’s Levels of Intelligence to discover who is smarter: Charlie Kelly VS. Joey Tribbiani Dumb characters are a television staple. Characters who just don't always seem to have it together, whom you wonder how they manage to live, survive and basically not die.