The Laws of TV

Suits

A few weeks ago my family went on vacation to visit my grandparents in Palm Springs, California.  Spending July in the middle of the desert left a lot of time for watching TV in the afternoon.  It was during one of our first binge watching TV sessions, when my grandmother started talking about this great law show with me and my sister.  She explained that it was on the USA network and was already in its fourth season.  My sister and I had no idea what she was talking about since we admittedly devote our loyalty to Bravo.  

When we looked a little reluctant to try it out, my grandma shook her head at us and said she was going to turn on Suits.  She then said, “Trust me.  You’ll like it.”  I had an instant flashback to 20 years earlier when she convinced me to try sardines on my pizza.  Needless to say, I’ve been a little skeptical of her judgement ever since, but my sister and I humored her.  Besides, she had full control of the remote.  

By 3 o’clock that day, we had watched five episodes of the show.  We were hooked.  As vacation continued, my two-year-old would often ask if he could watch Suits too, with my response being, “It’s time for bed,” quickly following. But it turned out that my grandma was right. Suits was great.  It is so great that I am now an Amazon Prime member so I can watch the past three episodes since I’ve come home from vacation.  

LA Law

Right now you might be thinking, “But Casey, this is supposed to be a post about pop culture that is making a comeback, not your obsession with fast-talking lawyer dramas!”  Trust me, I’m going somewhere with this line of thinking, “your honor.”  During an episode of Suits there was an LA Law reference that I vaguely understood.  You see, when I was a child, my parents would watch their very own lawyer series once a week.  Obviously this was before the days of streaming video and binge watching, but my mother assured me that the shows were very similar.  There was a smooth talking lawyer who always got the attention of the ladies, and a secretary who knew way more than she should have known.  It’s clear that ideas are recycled all of the time in the world of television, but I never would have believed that I would be so enthralled with essentially that same show that caused my parents to tell a four-year-old me that it was time for bed.  

If you haven’t checked out Suits yet, or if you’ve been looking for a good law drama since LA Law went off the air in 1994 take my word for it, you won’t “object.”

I'm not the only one who's noticed the similarities.

Take a look at the Suits spoof on LA Law's intro. 

You spin me right round, baby, right round...

About a month ago after my first blog post I was describing it to a few of my classmates.  I explained that the purpose of the blog was to highlight different fads from the past that were coming back in style.  

Surprisingly, a number of people seemed to show an interest in my topic.  They started sharing a number of ideas for me to explore.  One of them being that vinyl records are becoming popular again.  

I put off this topic for a couple of weeks because, honestly, I didn’t have much to say, and I had a hard time believing it was true.  But the other day, I was walking through the mall and a display on the wall of Urban Outfitters caught my eye.  There were hundreds of records hanging on the wall with rows of records down below.  Off to the side, record players were neatly stacked, waiting to be bought.  

I stopped and stared, leaving my husband who was walking with me, to get a few steps ahead.  When he realized I wasn’t at his side, he retraced his steps and found me inside the store, standing at the rows of records.  

He asked what I was doing.  I turned to him wide-eyed and explained, “I think that we need to start collecting records.”  He rolled his eyes and shook his head “no.”  This was when the thirteen-year-old girl in me started to shine through.  I believe I stomped my foot, slightly, and simply complained, “Why not?”

I later regretted asking the question , for his rebuttal was fair.  “You can’t even listen to them in the car.”  I accepted his thinking and we kept walking.  I did look back a few times at the display, and I couldn’t help but think, “They just look so cool.”

If you're trying to rationalize why records are back, and why you should start collecting them.  I would recommend watching the YouTube video of Turnaround - A Vinyl Record Documentary. I plan to use many of the points in the video to defend my case for building a vinyl library.

Take a look at Urban Outfitters to see what vinyl records, new and old, are out there for your listening pleasure.  

If it ain't broke...Don't fix it!

Picture from Google Images

Picture from Google Images

TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) is coming back... a little.

Do you remember Cory and Tapanga from Boy Meets World?  If you've ever spent a Friday night at home watching TV from 1993-2000 you are probably familiar with them in some capacity.  If you were a fan or if you're thinking you missed out on the phenomenon, don't worry. On June 27th you'll get another chance to see the two again when their new show Girl Meets World premiers on The Disney Channel.

Yep, everything about the old favorite, Boy Meets World, will stay the same. The original Corey and Tapanga will be back, but this time they have kids and are the ones taking on the roles of the adults they once challenged.

Disney has tapped into a formula that will have thirty-somethings through up-and-coming tweeners plugged in to watch the sequel. It seems so simple, right?  If it worked in past it will probably work again.  So why haven't other popular shows come back?  I would pretty much give my right arm to get Kelly and Zach back.  I could just see the two running the halls of Bayside High again.  And what about Full House?  Or even Family Matters.  How great would it be to have Steve return with a small army of mini Urkels and Urkelettes and a new slew of "Did I do that?" moments?


Some of the best memories of my early TV life were ordering a pizza from Giuseppe's on a Friday night after an endless week of elementary school and watching TGIF.  As I admittedly await Girl Meets World, I'm curious what others thoughts are on some of their favorite shows coming back.  I mean if it wasn't broken then maybe there's a chance it could come back.

Then...

Now...

Overalls are BACK! Are you ready?

Picture from Google Images

It's true that everything comes back around.  It seems just like yesterday that my friends and I were walking down the hallways of Junior High avoiding, as well as dishing out, our fair share of overall wedgies. It has been several years since I retired my GAP bibs.  I have moved on to bigger and, questionably, better denim that requires a button and a zipper.

Freshman Year 1998

So imagine my surprise when heading out to the buses on the last day of school, I see a team of girls huddled together wearing stonewashed shortalls with one strap undone.  And if that wasn't enough, they were rocking some serious Dr. Martin combat boots, (90's footwear, a topic for later exploration).

I couldn't let the girls leave without an update!

(Me) Mrs. Todd: HEY! Girls!  Come here a second.

Girls:  What's up Mrs. Todd?

(Me) Mrs. Todd: Have I just been transported back in time? Are the 90's back?

Girls:  What do you mean?

(Me) Mrs. Todd: You're wearing the same clothes I used to wear when I was in Junior High.

Girls:  We didn't know you dressed cool.

(Me) Mrs. Todd:  Girls, you have no idea how cool I was.  (If you're questioning my coolness, please note picture above.) Have a great summer break.  Good luck in high school.

It wasn't a prank.  It wasn't a statement of individuality.  It's true, THEY'RE BACK!  Something many wore for comfort (babies), practicality (farmers), and trend (anyone who watched 90210 the first time around), has been dug up and resuscitated.

As the yellow buses pulled away, the students left me wondering, as they typically do.  Will I get sucked back into the overall scene?  I'd like to think I would have enough willpower to "just say no", however I swore I would never wear a pair of skinny jeans too.

Watch out guys.  You're next!
Picture from Google Images

Picture from Google Images