Because I love Andy Samberg

This week I’ve decided to review a show I’ve never seen. My love of Andy Samberg is what first brought me to Brooklyn Nine-Nine. A great recommendation from multiple friends was another.

The opening scene of the pilot episode shows Samberg’s character Jacob Peralta speaking dramatically to the camera. He is describing an intense crime scene and it almost lead me to believe maybe this show isn’t going to be as funny as I’d heard. Then his partner Amy, making fun of him, interrupts him and the show is off to a good start.

I find Jake and Amy to be a good pairing. One’s all about the jokes and goofing off while the other is very serious about the job and wants to build her career. The actors have a good on-screen chemistry, something that stood out to me the entire episode.

Overall they had really great banter throughout the episode, which is a testament to the writers for writing something people would actually say. Jake is a character after my heart with his constant sarcastic ramblings. I loved it! The sarcasm worked well to give me a good sense of what to expect from him.

Then there’s the storyline of Charles who’s trying to get a date with Rosa who’s way out of his league. I’ve seen this storyline before and was worried I would get tired of it by the end of the episode, but when Rosa reveals she likes being around Charles I couldn’t help but let the hopeless romantic in me cheer for them to work out, even if they are slightly cliché.

However, I think that cliché works in this show though because of the nature of the comedy. It seems very satirical of all of the other cop shows on TV. They’re not trying to be serious, which is why the humour of the show works.

The heart to heart in the cab was a nice way to tie up the episode and I liked the throw to them being a team at the end. The storyline tied up well and the episode did what any good pilot should do – it gave me an idea of where the show might go and introduced me to the characters. Now I have even more fictional characters to keep up with!

For a pilot, I give the show an A, maybe I'm an easy marker. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading!

-Emily

My night at Global Winnipeg

Hey readers!

This week I've written a play by play of my experience at Global Winnipeg on election night.

I get up to the offices at Global Winnipeg and the first thing I am tasked with is to head out to Subway to pick up the food. We pick up five platters of subs and two bags of cookies, and on the way back to the newsroom Brent Williamson comments that everyone will love us when we show up with food.

Just before 7 p.m. we head out of the newsroom on our way to Judy Wasylycia-Leis’s campaign headquarters at the Fort Garry Hotel. There is a lot of fun banter between Tamara Forlanski, the reporter I’ve been assigned to, Randall Paull, and Bob Chapman. I can tell they like working together because the jokes come easy.

We arrive at Wasylycia-Leis’s campaign headquarters around 7:10 p.m. Everything is already set up so there’s not much to do. As it gets closer to 8 p.m., more people start to trickle into the ballroom from the bar area in the back. The hotel staff set out the five course dinner while all of the reporters take their place in front of their respective cameras, getting ready for their first live hit of the night.

I’m tasked with keeping up to date with the numbers on the phone I’ve been given. The two screens at the front of the room light up with CTV’s coverage of the campaign and it feels like the night is finally beginning.

It takes a little longer than expected for Forlanski’s first live hit. I watch as she gets the signal from her earpiece around 8:15 p.m. and starts to talk. Riley McDermid works the camera for this live hit, and the others throughout the night, while Chris Stanton works with Chapman at the control table.

Since Global Winnipeg is working together with CJOB, Keith McCullough does the second live hit of the night shortly after 8:30 p.m.

I continue to check the numbers both on the phone and by watching the screens at the front of the room. The last time I checked, Brian Bowman had taken a slight lead. This time I check, he’s jumped and sits 10% higher than Wasylycia-Leis. There is an audible groan throughout the room as the actual number of votes appears on the screen.

It’s not too long before Bowman is called for mayor Everyone in the room waits in anticipation for Wasylycia-Leis’s arrival. I’m called over to Paull’s camera station and he asks me to watch his camera cords as he unmounts the camera from the tripod getting ready for her arrival. While we’re waiting, I coax one of the cords out of a toddler’s mouth.

I get a front row view as Wasylycia-Leis enters the room surrounded by her family and campaign team. There are cameras all around me, and I fulfill my job of preventing someone from tripping on the camera’s cords. The woman is grateful.

Wasylycia-Leis’s speech is classy and heartfelt. A few members of the audience wipe tears from their eyes. Forlanski, Paull, and I then move into position for the scrum. Forlanski tells me to stay close as I may be sent with Paull to get reaction interviews from the crowd. During the scrum Wasylycia-Leis announces she will not be doing one-on-one press interviews, so after the scrum I follow Forlanski as she does the reaction interviews herself.

She only interviews four people as a lot of the crowd has already gone home. Forlanski interviews Wasylycia-Leis’s campaign manager, Peter Dalla-Vicenza, for the last live hit of the night. There’s an overall feeling of sadness in the room as we make our way over to the crew to begin to pack up our stuff and head back to the newsroom.

Even though I didn’t really do too much, I’m glad to have had the experience of working with a news team on election night. Getting to watch Forlanski work helped put into perspective for me what journalism is all about, which really is about going up to people and getting them to talk to you. I also learned that on a night like this, it’s very important to keep on top of what’s going on around you and what’s going on back in the newsroom. I’ve never done anything like this before so I really had no idea what to expect and therefore there was nothing I wish I would have known beforehand. Overall, it was a very positive experience.

The only negative aspect of the night for me was that the race for mayor didn’t turn out as closely as I hoped it would. I really wanted it to be a neck and neck fight to the finish.

Most of all, this experience put broadcast journalism higher up on my career radar than it was before. I’m still not entirely sure if this is the right career choice for me though. Forlanksi advised that if I choose to go the journalism route, I should love it because it makes all of the hard work a lot easier to do.

Thanks for reading!
-Emily

"XOXO Gossip Girl"

Hello readers!

As I sit here with my belly full of turkey I can’t help but think about the TV series that has made some classic Thanksgiving episodes. For those of you who haven’t seen Gossip Girl I apologize for any spoilers!

In the first season of Gossip Girl, the Thanksgiving episode gives us a glance at life on the Upper East Side before Serena’s departure. It shows Blair and Serena’s friendship, as well as Nate and Blair’s relationship before the events of the Shepard wedding, which tore both of these relationships apart for a while. Meanwhile, in present Upper East Side Manhattan, we also get to see how much things have changed in just a year. New kid on the block Dan Humphrey is now dating Serena. She comes to Thanksgiving dinner with her mom (Lily) and brother and that’s when we find out about Serena’s mom and Dan’s dad’s (Rufus) past. This revelation coincides with Dan’s mom’s return to Brooklyn, who has always been jealous of her husband’s past relationship.

Season two continues the theme of advancing the plot line with a Thanksgiving episode. Blair is upset that her father can’t make it home for the holiday, and learns that her mother’s boyfriend is planning to propose while at the same time changing everything about Thanksgiving that Blair loves. Lily’s son discovers that Lily’s new husband Bart has collected files on Lily and her two kids causing Lily to question whether she can really trust her family around her new husband. And if this wasn’t enough to deal with, Nate’s estranged criminal father is back in town to try to convince Nate and his mother to run away with him so he can hold them for ransom.

Season three has one of the best Thanksgiving episodes because almost all of the characters gather under the same roof for dinner. There is a scene in the episode where the camera moves from conversation to conversation, each conversation playing out some sort of conflict for the episode. It’s a great way to get all of the storylines out there on the table (literally in this case). I won’t include any details as there are a lot of non-regulars in attendance and I don’t want to confuse you too much!

A drug overdose involving Serena is what brings everyone together in season four for Thanksgiving. There’s a lot going on at this point in the season so it’s hard to go too in depth here about what has led up to the overdose. Basically there’s a villain who’s out to get Serena, but manages to flee the scene before getting caught. There is one character that knows the truth, which sends Blair on her favourite mission: revenge.

I don’t know for sure as it’s been a while since I’ve watched season five, but I don’t think there was an actual Thanksgiving episode this season. That’s maybe for the best. A lot of stuff goes down in season five with a lot of characters who aren’t regulars. If I’m remembering correctly, I think this season is a bit hard to follow if you can’t watch it right through from start to finish. I would definitely recommend that you watch the entire series this way if you’re interested!

Finally, season six’s Thanksgiving episode is appropriately titled “It’s Really Complicated”. I’m not going to get into this episode at all because there are a lot of spoilers for those of you who may want to watch the series. Basically, it’s the peak of season six as everything and everyone in the show kick into high gear as the show nears the series finale. Even though it gets a bit complicated, I think it’s probably my favourite Thanksgiving episode.

I’m sorry if this post is a little hard to follow. I can go on about Gossip Girl for hours. For those of you who haven’t seen it, I definitely recommend it, if not for the great story line or the good-looking cast then for the amazing fashion! It’s great, I promise!

Thanks for reading!

-Emily

"Life is waiting to carry you home"

Hello readers!

I know it’s not quite #ThrowbackThursday, but for this week’s post I would like to take you back to one of the first shows I ever started to watch faithfully.

I’m a ‘90’s girl so you can probably guess which show I’m talking about.

Full House was my go-to right from the first day we upgraded our TV from three channels to three hundred. Looking back now, it’s a pretty cheesy show, but I loved it.

My favourite character was Uncle Jesse. Favourite episode? That one’s a little harder.

I think the best part of the show was that it was family friendly. There were enough characters to give parents and kids alike something to laugh at, and the show dealt with life issues both parents and kids deal with as well.

From the great one-liners like Michelle’s catch phrase, “You got it, dude” to Uncle Jesse’s, “Have mercy” the show quickly wove its way into my daily after school routine.

Let me know your favourite character or episode - chances are I’ll remember it!

Thanks for reading!

-Emily