Bridgerton
When season one of Bridgerton dropped on Christmas I was in the middle of specially curated holiday viewing, mainly classic episodes of The Vicar of Dibley and Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. And with how viewing has become very much about the binge because I wasn't in on that initial weekend I felt like I'd missed the Bridgerton boat. This of course gave me time to read the books, which had been my plan all along, though not necessarily six months after the show had first aired. This also means that I was slightly more pedantic about the adaptation than I might otherwise have been. Because this isn't how we've seen Regency England before. This is Austenland meets the technicolor fantasia of Mary Poppins on crack. Bridgerton is very colorful and fantastic and leans heavily into the fairy tale aspect of it all, you will literally be wondering if there was a single fake flower left in all of England once production commenced. Yet there are still very real issues being dealt with, and thankfully in a natural, not ham-fisted way. I can't help by still cringe how the 2017 adaptation of Howards End tried to shoehorn in diversity. Here it is natural. People of every race and color exist because that was how it was! And yes, Queen Charlotte, while slaying every scene she is in, is historically believed to be biracial. So yes, they got so many things right, and so much of the casting is spot on, that when it's off, well, it stands out all the more, hello thirty-one year old Eloise. Yeah, I'm not buying you're seventeen and neither is anyone else. Especially with a voice that sounds like you smoke three packs of cigarettes a day. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy Eloise, I will only buy her character if we actually do the eleven year time jump. Most of my other problems are very nitpicky. I don't like how they plotted the ending of the story of Daphne and Simon. Here's the thing. It worked in the book. It really really worked. Authors spend so much time figuring it out it has to be annoying when an adaption comes along and they're like, oh, we have a better idea. Because it is so rarely better. Here the lack of communication between the newlyweds strained credulity. So I'm pretending it happened like it did in the book. And as for how they handled Whistledown... firstly, I don't think she would be so easily tricked into a trap, but more importantly, I don't think Julie Andrews worked. Yes, hiring Mary Poppins herself was a coup, but Whistledown is Regency Gossip Girl, and you need to have more punch and authority. Oh, and don't get me started on the music, which often drowned out the narration! Stupid "modern" music.
First Impression: Was actually in Deadwood. I have a tendency to forget it's her, but her fate on those two episodes, um, that's not hard to forget. It was fun recently re-watching all of Deadwood and seeing her again now that I'm such a fan.
Lasting Impression: Um, Veronica Mars people! I am a Marshmallow! I kickstarted the movie! I was seriously hooked after just seeing part of one episode, it didn't hurt that in that episode they were watching Colin Firth's version of Pride and Prejudice. But in all seriousness, if I could I would totally be Veronica Mars when I grow up.
Can't believe it's them: She's in Pootie Tang!?! Seriously? She was actually in this? I can't stop laughing! Pootie Tang!
Bio: Bell was born in Michigan where she got the acting bug freshman year in high school, going on to star in her school's production of The Wizard of Oz. Right after graduation she went to New York to study at the prestigious Tish School of the Arts majoring in musical theatre, but failed to graduate because she was offered the role of Becky Thatcher in the Broadway musical version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. After staring in many plays and musicals on Broadway she finally headed to LA where in under two years she was headlining her own show for UPN, aka, the fabulous Veronica Mars. Since then she's been constantly working in both big budget movies, she's freakin' Anna from Frozen! And small movies, Veronica Mars is back! With her husband Dax Shepard they made commercials for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S that are hugely popular and also showcase their expanding family. She also does tons of work for charities, from the ASPCA to Invisible Children. Basically she is all round awesome! 
