I am reading a collection of essays about Gilmore Girls, a show enjoyed by yours truly until it jumped the shark after around five good years. The essays are not quite as critical as I might like [a few are though], though the one on sex makes some cutting points (and informed me Lane got pregnant), but so far it's pretty good.* After all, I'm all for discussion of pop culture, plus the messages it sends. See my various comments on abortion -- btw, add Teachers to the limited number of films that dealt with abortion. Overblown film, but good scene with Laura Dern post-abortion in the car.
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. Starring those 7 rollicking rescuers The Ant Hill Mob, their courageous car Chugaboom... and that villain of villains, The Hooded Claw. Penelope Pitstop, heiress to a vast fortune, is in perpetual peril from her fortune-seeking guardian Sylvester Sneakley, who, unknown to her, is really the Hooded Claw.
So, this is a good time to have a television entry. One of my favorite cartoons is the rather twisted The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, which basically involves creative attempts to kill the female driver from Wacky Races, of which this is a spin-off. This includes repeated times when one of the Ant Hill Mob, Yak Yak, laughing about how Penelope is basically a goner. Of course, we know she is always going to get away -- villains who are overly talky or creative in their deeds tend to fail -- but still. The wacky insanity of it all makes it a fun show.
She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing Queens,
´Til her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes.
What was she to do? Where was she to go? She was out on her
fanny...
So over the bridge from Flushing to the Sheffield´s door.
She was there to sell make-up, but father saw more.
She had style! She had flair! She was there! That´s how she became
the Nanny!
Who would have guessed that the girl we´ve described, was just
exactly what the doctor prescribed?
Now the father finds her beguiling (watch out C.C.!)
And the kids are actually smiling (such joie de vivre!)
She is the lady in red when everybody else is wearing tan...
The flashy girl from Flushing,
The Nanny named Fran!
The Nanny also is fun, and loads of episodes can be found on Nick At Night (for some reason, Dish Network provides both East and West feeds of various channels, resulting in much more chances to see shows like this). The show clearly is partially inspired by I Love Lucy, particularly in its heroine getting into fine messes, having her employer (and finally husband) being upset at her wacky ways, and often involving celebrity guest stars. I also admit finding Fran Drescher cute in various of her outfits. Its sitcom plots are a mixed bag, but overall it is superior fare of its genre.
The value here, as is often the case, is superior support. Renée Taylor is great as her mother, the Niles/CC back and forth is fun (CC is wickedly fun), her dim but loyal friend Val is a good recurring character, and the family she works for is overall well played too. The children have independent personalities, though the girls (the youngest more so early) are given more complexity throughout. The children, particularly Brighton, grow up to be teen idol bait worthy sorts by the end of series. Overall, the show provides wit and fun with the safety of sitcom standards tossed in.
Let me add, as I did in the past, The Wizards of Waverly Place is also fun (Selena Gomez often shows a nice comic touch, while the character is also given enough of a softer side to make her well rounded too) -- love Harper! -- though these summer special events on Nick and Disney tend not to work. The only one, from those seen, that held up throughout (imho) is the extended episode of True Jackson.
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* The essays, over 80% by women, appear to be written around the start (or shortly before) the seventh season, so cannot provide a totally complete account. Looking at a summary of the episodes of that last season, most seem downer (Luke/Lorelai break up, she hooks up -- for a time -- with Christopher [blah], her father [again] has a health issue, Logan is around [blah], Lane has an unplanned pregnancy, etc. OTOH, the last episode sounds decent).