Season 34 - Pollyanna (2004-2005)
Pollyanna isn't really used as a noun anymore. In fact when my dad recently used it I had totally forgotten that it used to be an insult against the eternally and blindly optimistic. Language fascinates me how words are always falling in and out of favor or use. When I hear a word used a certain way that I haven't in a while it can actually transport me in time and place to when I last heard it. Ironically I knew the definition of the word before I ever learned where it came from. The first time I actually took interest in the book was when NBC made a highly touted adaptation, Polly, starring two of the actors from The Cosby Show, Keshia Knight Pulliam and Phylicia Rashad, directed by Debbie Allen. I would have been eleven when it aired and never missed The Cosby Show and they targeted the hell out of that audience to turn into the musical, yes, it was apparently a musical, extravaganza. See, the fact that I didn't remember it was a musical shows how much I have blocked of this adaptation. All I actually remember is her falling out of the tree and losing the use of her legs. I wish I could forget watching this adaptation just as easily. Only time will tell. This transplants the story from New England to England and is just as winsome as you'd expect. In other words I wanted to see Pollyanna drown in the pond near the house. I'm a cynic, I can't take optimism like this. But then again it's better than what is to come... But that's jumping ahead of my tale. I watched this series for one reason and one reason only, Tom Ellis. I was severely missing my Luci and this was early enough in his career that I hadn't seen it and wanted to watch him in something pre-Miranda. It was also nice that Kate Ashfield was in it. The fact that the two of them hookup was just an added bonus. If this show had been about them I would have liked it far more. Even if I will reluctantly agree that Pollyanna is a pretty good matchmaker. Anyway, so Pollyanna, the character and the story, is basically all about finding the silver lining. Your life isn't as bad as it could be so suck it up. Hence the eternal and blind optimism. She's a darling and a ray of sunshine, until she's not. She's hit by a car and paralyzed. Which, yes, bit of a setback, but she was able to justify and accept the deaths of her parents and all other manner of horrible things, she'll once again look on the bright side of life. But oh no she doesn't. This takes a dark turn wherein she turns into the whiniest little bitch I have ever seen. She's just horrible. She treats everyone like shit. People who she brought out of the darkest deepest despair she's now telling them that what she is going through is so much worse than anything they have ever experienced that they will never be able to relate and they should just let her wallow. And really, they should have. She's a hypocrite. Pollyanna and her double standards shouldn't have just been hit by a car but backed over. I just couldn't with this kid. And honestly, I don't think her family could either. They ship her off for some radical therapy that does get her mobile but they carry on with their lives and are shocked when she shows up for her Aunt's wedding. I mean, if you really wanted her there you'd have invited her right? She was unwanted to start with and after her downward spiral, I definitely don't want her anywhere near me. Perky freakin' hypocrite.
There's nothing nicer than a pleasant surprise and that's exactly what Stargirl turned out to be. Ever since the end of Smallville I haven't been a fan of the direction all the DC series have taken on the CW. I swear I tried to like them, but after I think only three episodes of Arrow I was done. That was it with me and DC. I declared myself a Marvel girl and moved on. That is until this most recent "Crisis on Infinite Earths." Yes, they lured me back in with bringing back Tom Welling! Damn you CW! But add to that Brandon Routh returning as Superman, Wil Wheaton as a doomsday protestor, Russell Tovey, Kevin Conroy as the bleakest Batman you could imagine, Ezra Miller, and Lucifer Morningstar himself, Tom Ellis, and I couldn't NOT watch! While the cameos were fantastic, the episodes were lackluster, reinforcing my opinion of the DC universe on the CW. Yet the Crisis Aftermath show hosted by Kevin Smith dissecting the episodes and seriously geeking out were wonderful. It was during this that I first heard of Stargirl. Geoff Johns, the creator of Stargirl, was on discussing his work on everything DC from Smallville to Doom Patrol. I was interested because he talked about how he turned a personal tragedy, the death of his sister Courtney on TWA Flight 800, into creating a new brand of superhero with Courtney Whitmore, AKA Stargirl. Now this could be something I could get into I said to myself. He might have also mentioned Luke Wilson... I'm hazy on that part. Mmm, Luke Wilson. Anyway when the show came around my DVR was ready and yet it took me a few weeks to finally bite the bullet. What if the CW let me down, again? Then oddly my rewatching of Upstairs, Downstairs forced my hand, how could I resist the chauffeur becoming the villain? I was delightfully surprised. This show reminds me of Smallville at it's best. It's earnest without being cloying. It's dark without being bleak. It's a light in the darkness that we're all facing right now. Even if I'm a little shaken that I'm now the age of the parents on this type of show, Stargirl is a show I'm very glad will be coming back to the small screen with a second season and MORE Joel McHale! Joel's the original Starman, FYI. 
Oh, Lucifer, you devil. Or should I say, oh, Tom Ellis, you devil. Because the number one reason I first turned into Lucifer three seasons ago was because of Tom Ellis. As Gary on Miranda Hart's TV Series Miranda, he was the loveable yet romantically inept cook who won Miranda's heart and hand. Yes I enjoyed him on Merlin as well, but as for The Secret of Crickley Hall, a miniseries with so many of my favorite actors that I thought I would love it, well, it's best avoided, as I realized once again late one night recently catching part of an episode on PBS. But surely, you're thinking, that I MUST have really turned into the show because it's based on Neil Gaiman's interpretation of Lucifer Morningstar in his Sandman comics? Honestly? No. And to now shock you further, while I love Neil Gaiman, and I adored his voicing of God in the season three bonus episode set in an alternate timeline, "Once Upon a Time," I can't stand the Sandman comics. I've tried people, I've really tried. But I just couldn't take anymore after the sixth collection and now it's been six years since I read those six volumes and I'd have to re-read them before finishing the final four volumes, and I'm sorry, there are just too many other books I want to read. Some of them even by Neil! Back to the show. Lucifer is a wonderfully almost wacky reinterpretation of what a procedural show can be, what with Lucifer's brother trying to get him to go back to hell, Lucifer's therapist who after thinking for a very long time that Lucifer was delusional, now gets that this is all too real. There are demons and love interests, and an ex who really loves his pudding. I mean, seriously, Dan loves his pudding. When Netlfix saved the Satan, I don't think my heart could have been happier.
