The Mom Crowd

In preparation for Mother’s Day, Entertainment Weekly posted another of their infamous lists this week: “17 Beloved TV Moms“.   I was glad to see Elyse Keaton (“Family Ties”), Lorelai Gilmore (“Gilmore Girls”), and Tami Taylor (“Friday Night Lights”) all made the list, as I highlighted them in my own “Favorite T.V. Moms” article last year.  As expected, the editors at EW cleverly chose several wacky moms, too, to spark conversation.  

Here’s their list:

• Carol Brady (“The Brady Bunch”)
• Lucille Bluth (“Arrested Development”)
• Nora Walker (“Brothers & Sisters”)
• Lorelai Gilmore
• Sophia Petrillo (“Golden Girls”)
• Lynette Scavo (“Desperate  Housewives”)
• Rosanne Conner (“Roseanne”)
• Clair Huxtable (“The Cosby Show”)
• Marge Simpson (“The Simpsons”)
• Tami Taylor
• Elyse Keaton
• Kirsten Cohen (“The OC”)
• Ruth Fisher (“Six Feet Under”)
• Peggy Bundy (“Married With Children”)
• Joyce Summers (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”)
• Marion Cunningham (“Happy Days”)
• “the missing mom” (various shows with no mother present)

A lot of beloved t.v. moms were excluded from the list.  I also feel there were some maternal figures merely included for their show’s “cult classic” factor.  I think their “missing mom” choice at the end was a cop out, as though the writers ran out of time.  Who should have filled that slot?  Should Mrs. Partridge be listed instead of Carol Brady?  What about classic moms Donna Reed and June Cleaver?  Weigh in with your opinion!

I’ll leave you with a Lorelai Gilmore classic:  “Okay, I’m just gonna let everyone deal with all this because I need to relax and get a cup of coffee and maybe hammer a nail into my head.”  Happy Mother’s Day!

Photo Courtesy of 4peterse

For several weeks, Burger King has been airing its ad for a kids’ meal deal.   I don’t normally watch commercials if I can help it, but this one is hard to avoid.  While I thought the whole thing was pretty dumb, I was quietly amazed to discover that it was marketing a kids’ meal.

Naturally, the ad has caused plenty of controversy, which was probably Burger King’s goal to begin with – more talk = more sales.  You’ve got people on both sides crying out their points of view: “Get over it!  Your kid has seen worse!”  or “I am never going to Burger King again.”

My question is, what do you do when your kid sees this?  Do you discuss it with them?  Turn it off as quickly as possible?  Explain to them in pre-school vernacular about the objectification of female bodies and using sex to sell hamburgers?

As a rule, we generally don’t watch t.v. when our kids are awake.  It only comes on after they go to bed.  But when they get older, this will inevitably change.   I don’t look forward to seeing that line be pushed even further in a mere couple of years.   Sure, we won’t allow them to have their own televisions, and yes, we’ll be monitoring what they watch as much as we reasonably can.   We’ll be big supporters of reading books for entertainment and cultivating hobbies that exercise creativity.  Bottom line, though, it’s pretty exhausting, trying to let our kids be kids in a culture that wants to make them grow up so fast.

Thoughts?

Recap

This weekend CMT premiered its newest show “World’s Strictest Parents” (WSP). The show documents the experience of two troubled teens adapting to new rules and consequences with a “strict” set of parents for the week. The hope is that the teens will learn respect and come out better people by the end of the week. In the first episode the Vinton family hosts teenagers, Brittani and Ivan.

17-year-old Brittani drinks, parties, has face piercings, smokes, and talks back to her mom. She lives with her brother and her mom in California. Brittani’s mom, Dawn, says that “words are more hurtful than physical abuse” and wonders where the happy, joking daughter she used to know went. She hopes this week will bring some good changes in her daughter’s life.

Next we meet 15-year-old Ivan from Jamica Queens, NY. His single mother, Maria, has a hard time getting him to do his school work and worries about his friends. Ivan also smokes, lies, and hangs out with guys who fight. He claims that “they are not going to change me.”

“They” are Lisa and Scott Vinton who have a blended family and have three kids, Holly – 21, Travis – 19, and Jeff – 18. When Brittani and Ivan first arrive they laid down the ground rules – no lying, no drinking, no smoking, no face piercings, no slamming of doors, no TV or phone after bedtime which is around 9:00 pm, and they have to do chores. As expected the teens don’t like the rules. Brittani gives up some of her cigarettes and Ivan lies about them. Both are eventually caught lying and have to face the consequences. Brittani gets her phone taken away and they remove the door from Ivan’s room. They also ask Ivan for his lighter.

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Last night, ABC premiered its newest sitcom, “In the Motherhood“, starring Cheryl Hines, Megan Mullally, and Jessica St. Clair.  More than a year ago, I heard about this show when it was a web series starring Chelsea Handler and Leah Remini, which apparently had a decent fanbase.  I have also heard about how they take real-life stories from real-life moms and use them in their plotlines.   I was interested in seeing how this would all play out!

Hines plays Jane, a single working mom, whose daughter Sophie is a sweet little baby.  Her primary plotline was how she wondered if her third date with a co-worker was going to constitute sex.  There were a few workplace scenes with little jabs about mommies who “bring their private life into the office” – in Jane’s office, it’s a no-no.   There was a subplot about a sexual harrassment seminar that seemed incongruous with the rest of the story. 

Jane’s sister Emily (played by St. Clair, pictured), is the “perfect mom” in an interracial marriage.  Her children are named Bill and Esther, which I thought was kinda funny – just ’cause it’s funny to hear a teacher say, “You need to come get Bill now.”  Little kids with grown-up names crack me up.  That’s really all that I found funny, though.  Emily’s arc revolved around how the charade of Santa Claus is actually a lie.  Since Emily vows never to lie to her kids, she pulled them aside and said, “Santa is a made up story.”  The kids’ faces crestfallen, Mullally’s character (the quirky Rosemary) takes their picture with a camera phone, declaring, “I’m gonna go post this on the blog.”  (Okay, that’s actually a little funny.)  Emily & hubby deal with the aftermath of this decision – cue chaos in the classroom when Bill crushes every child’s innocence (debunking myths about Santa, the tooth fairy, princesses, etc.)  Ultimately, Emily decided it wasn’t worth it, and concocted a scheme to reinstate the Santa myth into her kids’ lives.  Jane said, “Look at my little sister, lying to her kids!”  Rosemary replied, “I know.  Now she’s just a normal mom.”  (Does this seem like familiar territory?  See The Mom Crowd’s discussion about Santa from last December!)

Meanwhile, childless Rosemary gets the convoluted idea to fake a pregnancy to get the perks – which, in this show, include cutting in public lines, buying cute maternity shirts, going to outdoor yoga, getting free stuff from people, and making 20 new pregnant friends who throw you a shower, all in one week!  (I guess Rosemary is a really well-off person who doesn’t work, kinda like another character Mullally used to play…)  Rosemary defended herself with the argument that “a pregnant woman in our society has been elevated to the status of a goddess!”  Of course, the ruse didn’t last long, and no one’s feelings were really hurt, since all of her new friends were just nameless background characters.   I just wonder: what person actually does this in reality?  (Apparently someone, since the stories are from real people.)

Overall, the show struck me as trying too hard to be cute.  The three lead roles came off like caricatures - Emily is sickeningly perfect – Jane is all Sex-and-the-City with a baby as an accessory – Rosemary is just background noise.  I like the idea of incorporating real moms’ anecdotes into the writing, but the result is a series of loosely connected sketches rather than a cohesive plot.  There is no laugh track, either, so there was nothing to cover up the fact that most of the punchlines fell flat.  Bummer, ’cause mom stories are genuinely funny, and should be made funnier in a sitcom.   (Interesting new tidbit:  reports just in that the Writers’ Guild of America requires the story-submitting moms online be paid for their ideas, which means real-mom ideas will probably no longer be used.  At least, that’s how I understand it.)

The most surprising part of watching “In the Motherhood” was seeing SNL vet Horatio Sanz play Jane’s “manny”.  Dude lost 100 pounds – I didn’t even recognize him.  I had to imdb him to make sure I was seeing the credits correctly.  He looks amazing, and his comic timing was spot-on.  He was the best part, in my opinion.

Did you see the premiere?  What did you think?  Do real-life mom stories translate well to t.v. land?  Does this show stand a chance at being a success? 

I have several friends who are about to give birth, and they’re starting to prepare a playlist or mix cd for their laboring time.  When I had my first child, I took about four mix cd’s with me, because I wasn’t sure what mood I’d be in throughout the process.  I don’t remember any of them except for a worship music mix and a favorite Counting Crows mix.  Turns out I only listened to one of them once, ’cause the t.v. was on most of the time (or I had a stream of visitors).   Plus, my laboring experience was somewhat different; when I was in the operating room, I vaguely remember hearing peaceful music playing quietly. 

It’s funny; as I’m writing this post, I’m listening to my latest mp3 download, The Hives’ “Tick Tick Boom“, which is all kinds of cool.  I heard it playing during the action-movies montage during the Academy Awards, and my viewing buddies and I were all about finding out what song that was.  My friend busted out his iPhone and used that “retrieve the song” application.  Fun times!  Anyway, here are some lyrics:

You know I’ve done it before and I can do it some more/I got my eye on the score

I’m gonna cut to the core/I’m gonna cut to the core

It’s too late/it’s too soon

Or is it?/Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, BOOM!!

I guess it could be a good laboring tune, if you’re the type who plans to dress your baby in mini-Vans and rock-band onesies.  You know who you are. 

Here’s an article about relaxing music during labor, which contains further links to finding just the right music for your experience.  I’m pretty sure none of them mention The Hives.

What music aided you through your laboring experience(s)?  Do you go classical, movie-soundtrack, make-you-happy music, or comfort bands?  The more specific, the better! (p.s.  For the unitiated, that’s a picture of a “mix tape“, above.  )