rosa_acicularis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rosa_acicularis) wrote2007-09-21 10:35 pm
rosa_acicularis) wrote2007-09-21 10:35 pm
Entry tags:
as moths are drawn to other, slightly larger moths.
In a conversation with Shirtless Irish Houseguest (or Niall, as he prefers to be known) this afternoon, I began to subtly introduce the fact of my insanity. (My policy: start hinting at the crazy as soon as possible. It prevents later messiness.) We were discussing that whole, "What the hell am I going to do after I graduate?" quandary, and I mentioned my rather unhealthy investment in all things film and television, and my not-so-secret ambition to grow up to be Aaron Sorkin, sans shrooms and various other asshattery. (Oh, Sorkin. How the mighty have fallen in mine eyes...)
Where was I? Right. Yes. Well, Niall doesn't really watch much television (though he did know who Aaron Sorkin was, which I admit was something of a turn on), but as we talked about the shows I admire, he pointed out that they varied pretty widely in terms of genre and style. Which...well, maybe. A lot of my favorites are sci fi, but not consistently so. Unsurprisingly, I tend to focus on writers and show runners: Joss Whedon (well, duh), Writer God/Uber Douchebag Sorkin, Rob Thomas, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Brian Fuller, RTD, etc. Looking at that list, one thing becomes clear - I like people who talk fast.
Thinking about these writers and these shows led me to an entirely useless but entertaining meditation on another consistent trend in the shows I love. In each show, there is a character whom I love so dearly, who seems so complete and flawed and staggeringly wonderful that I honestly refuse to admit that they are fictional. There are actors I love and relationships that I love, but this list (ah, there it is - the point of this post) is limited to those characters who utterly enthrall me every moment they're on screen.
Where was I? Right. Yes. Well, Niall doesn't really watch much television (though he did know who Aaron Sorkin was, which I admit was something of a turn on), but as we talked about the shows I admire, he pointed out that they varied pretty widely in terms of genre and style. Which...well, maybe. A lot of my favorites are sci fi, but not consistently so. Unsurprisingly, I tend to focus on writers and show runners: Joss Whedon (well, duh), Writer God/Uber Douchebag Sorkin, Rob Thomas, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Brian Fuller, RTD, etc. Looking at that list, one thing becomes clear - I like people who talk fast.
Thinking about these writers and these shows led me to an entirely useless but entertaining meditation on another consistent trend in the shows I love. In each show, there is a character whom I love so dearly, who seems so complete and flawed and staggeringly wonderful that I honestly refuse to admit that they are fictional. There are actors I love and relationships that I love, but this list (ah, there it is - the point of this post) is limited to those characters who utterly enthrall me every moment they're on screen.
In no particular order:
Toby Ziegler l The West Wing
Honestly, there isn't a character from the Sorkin years of West Wing with whom I'm not entirely in love. But Toby...oh, Tobus. I'm crazy about the roundness of your head. You are practically perfect in every way. Cynical idealist, or idealistic cynic? I know not. I only know that he broke my heart every time he opened his mouth, and that his anger and his wrenching disappointment and his love of his friends, his President, and the written word fascinate me endlessly.
"We're a group. We're a team. From the President and Leo on through, we're a team. We win together, we lose together. We celebrate and we mourn together. And defeats are softened and victories are sweeter because we did them together. You're my guys and I'm yours, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."
Toby Ziegler, War Crimes
Sam Seaborn: You wrote a concession?
Toby Ziegler: Of course I wrote a concession. You want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing?
Sam Seaborn: No.
Toby Ziegler: Then go outside, turn around three times and spit. What the hell's the matter with you?
Dwight K. Schrute l The Office (US)
I firmly believe that Dwight K. Schrute is one of the most complex, beautifully written characters on television today. His innocence, his hunger for approval, his maniacal love of power...beet-tastic. Completely clueless, sweet, fiercely loyal, indescribably obnoxious idiot with delusions of grandeur and the craziest crazy eyes you will ever see. Oh, Dwigt. I love you so.
"In the wild, there is no health care. In the wild, health care is, 'Ow, I hurt my leg. I can't run. A lion eats me and I'm dead.' Well, I'm not dead. I'm the lion. You're dead. "
Dwight Schrute, Health Care
Dwight Schrute: Through concentration, I can raise and lower my cholesterol at will.
Pam Beesley: Why would you wanna raise your cholesterol?
Dwight Schrute: So I can lower it.
The Doctor l Doctor Who
I will never pick a favorite regeneration. I have tried, and it is physically impossible. No matter what his fashion catastrophe of the moment, the Doctor is the Doctor: condescending curmudgeon, snarky scarecrow, dashing hero, grinning madman, coolly ironic cricketer, bombastic teddy bear, darkly cunning clown, name-dropping fop, broken soldier, skinny maniac with a smile like the end of world - and, oh, watch how he runs.
"Oh, marvelous. You're going to kill me. What a finely-tuned response to the situation."
The Fifth Doctor
The Third Doctor: About what I do, yes. Not necessarily the way I do it.
The Ninth Doctor
Rupert Giles l Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Just as Buffy was my first real television love, Giles was the first character on the small screen that truly riveted me. His mild-mannered, stodgy Britishness concealed, yet never contradicted, the rebellious anger of the young man he'd been and the brutal pragmatism of the mentor he became. He really did love tweed and the solid feel of an old book in his hands, but he was so much darker, and so much more than the grown up with all the answers the Scoobies wanted him to be. Furious and dry and so, so pretty.
Giles: It may be that you can wrest some information from that dread machine. (a beat) That was a bit, um, British, wasn't it?
Buffy: Welcome to theNew World .
Keith Mars l Veronica Mars
Best. TV dad. EVER.
End of story.
Keith: Who's your Daddy?
Veronica: Ugh, I hate it when you say that.
Keith: You know what, this is important. You remember this: I used to be cool.
Veronica: When?
Keith: '77. Trans Am, Blue Oyster Cult in the eight-track, a foxy, stacked blonde riding shotgun, racing for pink slips. Ah, wait a minute, I'm thinking of a Springsteen song. Scratch everything, I was never cool.
Veronica: I don't know which bothers me more, "foxy" or "stacked".
Keith: I nailed our bail jumper 100 yards from México. Twenty-five hundred bucks. No sack dinners tonight. Tonight, we eat like the lower-middle class to which we aspire! Fire up the hibachi!
Veronica: It sounded like a falling body. It really freaked me out.
Keith: A falling body?
Veronica: Yes, a falling body.
Keith: Would you describe the sound as "Hitchcockian"?
Veronica: I'm glad you're able to entertain yourself.
Keith: Oh, sweetie. Don't sell yourself short. I find you completely entertaining.
"The next time I shoot you, it won't be digitally. Unless I hit you in the finger, and then we'll have a big laugh about it."
Daniel Rydell l Sports Night
First of all, it must be said: to me, Sports Night is about as close to perfection as a TV show can get. Of course, part of this may be because it was canceled after only two seasons, and therefore ABC and Sorkin never really got the chance to ruin it. Like West Wing, I find myself devoted to every one of these characters (Jeremy! Issac!) but Dan will always be my man. Poor, brilliant, damaged, terrified Dan. I would have loved you even if you had grown a goatee.
Dan: I'm on my feet. Bobbin' and weavin'. Breakin' tackles. Nothin' but open field.
Natalie: How you doin'?
Dan: Well, I've had a little wine. Somebody wants to make a book on whether or not I'll be having a little more, I would not bet against me.
"You could be having sex with Yoko Ono right now."
"Actions are immoral. Opinions are not, and I will not apologize for mine. Discussion is good, and for those of us fortunate enough to be the subject of magazine articles, it may be our responsibility from time to time to raise the level of debate."
"Honesty for Pixley!"
Cosmo Brown l Singin' in the Rain
Okay, not a television character. Still, he insisted on being included in this list, and I've never been able to say no to the man. My favorite character from one of my favorite movies of all time? Yeah, he's on the list.
"Short people have long faces, and long people have short faces. Big people have little humor, and little people have no humor at all."
Cosmo Brown: The price of fame. You've got the glory, you gotta take the little heartaches that go with it. Now look at me: I've got no fame, I've got no glory, I've got no big mansions, I've got no money! But I've got - what have I got?
Don Lockwood: I don't know, what have you got?
Cosmo Brown: I gotta get out of here.
Cosmo Brown: Talking pictures? That means I'm out of a job. At last, I can start suffering and write that symphony.
R.F. Simpson: You're not out of job. We're putting you in as head of our new music department.
Cosmo Brown: Oh, thanks, R.F.! At last, I can stop suffering and write that symphony.
Don Lockwood: Cosmo, call me a cab.
Cosmo Brown: Okay. You're a cab.
Joel Fleischman l Northern Exposure
I can still remember the look of horror on my mother's face when, at the ripe old age of eleven, I turned to her and announced that Dr. Fleischman was my ideal man. Though he be petty, neurotic, and really very irritating, no one will ever replace him in my affections. Also, I think we should all take a moment to reflect on the fact that Northern Exposure was quite possibly the best television show in the history of the universe. Hmm. Yes.
"I have zero desire to go native."
"I mean, don't get me wrong! I don't believe in blind obedience to the law! In my time, I've ignored stop signs, I've jaywalked, I've had open fires on Jones Beach. But this... this is the U.S. Mail. And since I was old enough to lick a stamp, I was taught that it's a sin to so much as to hold someone's letter up to the light. I was inculcated with the sanctity, the inviolability of the mail."
"Life here is so elemental. So real. Without the interference of civilization you can really experience things like... silence. Silence and darkness in its purity. Right now, right outside my window all I can see is a black void. Endless darkness. It's totally exhilarating, and I feel very lucky to be here. Very, very lucky."
Malcolm Reynolds l Firefly
I feel that this is fairly self-explanatory. Gorgeous? Check. Hilarious? Check. Deeply fucked up? Check.
What more could you possibly ask for?
Zoë: Funny, sir, how you always seem to find yourself in an Alliance-friendly bar come U-Day, lookin' for a quiet drink.
Mal: See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart.
Mal: And I never back down from a fight.
Inara: Yes, you do! You do all the time!
Mal: Well.... yeah, but I'm not backing down from this one!
Mal: I'm not leaving Serenity.
Inara: Mal, you don't have to die alone.
Mal: Everybody dies alone.
"So no more running. I aim to misbehave."
Fabulous. I now feel a nearly irresistible compulsion to rewatch all of these shows.
How tragic.
Toby Ziegler l The West Wing
Honestly, there isn't a character from the Sorkin years of West Wing with whom I'm not entirely in love. But Toby...oh, Tobus. I'm crazy about the roundness of your head. You are practically perfect in every way. Cynical idealist, or idealistic cynic? I know not. I only know that he broke my heart every time he opened his mouth, and that his anger and his wrenching disappointment and his love of his friends, his President, and the written word fascinate me endlessly.
"We're a group. We're a team. From the President and Leo on through, we're a team. We win together, we lose together. We celebrate and we mourn together. And defeats are softened and victories are sweeter because we did them together. You're my guys and I'm yours, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."
Toby Ziegler, War Crimes
Sam Seaborn: You wrote a concession?
Toby Ziegler: Of course I wrote a concession. You want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing?
Sam Seaborn: No.
Toby Ziegler: Then go outside, turn around three times and spit. What the hell's the matter with you?
Dwight K. Schrute l The Office (US)
I firmly believe that Dwight K. Schrute is one of the most complex, beautifully written characters on television today. His innocence, his hunger for approval, his maniacal love of power...beet-tastic. Completely clueless, sweet, fiercely loyal, indescribably obnoxious idiot with delusions of grandeur and the craziest crazy eyes you will ever see. Oh, Dwigt. I love you so.
"In the wild, there is no health care. In the wild, health care is, 'Ow, I hurt my leg. I can't run. A lion eats me and I'm dead.' Well, I'm not dead. I'm the lion. You're dead. "
Dwight Schrute, Health Care
Dwight Schrute: Through concentration, I can raise and lower my cholesterol at will.
Pam Beesley: Why would you wanna raise your cholesterol?
Dwight Schrute: So I can lower it.
The Doctor l Doctor Who
I will never pick a favorite regeneration. I have tried, and it is physically impossible. No matter what his fashion catastrophe of the moment, the Doctor is the Doctor: condescending curmudgeon, snarky scarecrow, dashing hero, grinning madman, coolly ironic cricketer, bombastic teddy bear, darkly cunning clown, name-dropping fop, broken soldier, skinny maniac with a smile like the end of world - and, oh, watch how he runs.
"Oh, marvelous. You're going to kill me. What a finely-tuned response to the situation."
The Fifth Doctor
The Third Doctor: About what I do, yes. Not necessarily the way I do it.
The Sixth Doctor
"I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor, and if there's one thing I can do, it's talk. I've got five billion languages and you haven't got one way of stopping me, so if anybody's going to shut up, it's you!"
The Ninth Doctor
Rupert Giles l Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Just as Buffy was my first real television love, Giles was the first character on the small screen that truly riveted me. His mild-mannered, stodgy Britishness concealed, yet never contradicted, the rebellious anger of the young man he'd been and the brutal pragmatism of the mentor he became. He really did love tweed and the solid feel of an old book in his hands, but he was so much darker, and so much more than the grown up with all the answers the Scoobies wanted him to be. Furious and dry and so, so pretty.
Giles: It may be that you can wrest some information from that dread machine. (a beat) That was a bit, um, British, wasn't it?
Buffy: Welcome to the
"Be quiet. I won't remind you that the fate of the world often lies with the Slayer. What would be the point? Nor shall I remind you that you've jeopardized the lives of all that you hold dear by harboring a known murderer. But sadly, I must remind you that Angel tortured me. For hours. For pleasure. You should have told me he was alive. You didn't. You have no respect for me, or the job I perform."
"Could it possibly get uglier? I used to be a highly respected Watcher, and now I'm a wounded dwarf with the mystical strength of a doily."
Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan l Angel: The Series
Also known as Lorne, or simply the Host. (That poor demon. Those Lorne Greene jokes get old so fast...) It simply doesn't get better than Lorne, green-skinned, Seabreeze-swilling diva and reluctant hero. A far better friend and ally than Angel often deserved, Lorne sang and snarked and shared my deep loathing of Andrew Lloyd Webber. In the end, he never really cared about good or evil or the bloody, unending battle between the two - he simply gave what his friends needed of him. Also, they kept destroying his nightclub, so he didn't really have anything better to do.
"Well, you're just a regular Hans Christian Tarantino, aren't you?"
"Go to sleep, lullaby / You've been fed and you're sleepy / You'll be with Uncle Lorne / Who in no way resents not being asked to go to the ballet / And is certainly not thinking / Of selling you to the first vampire cult that makes him a decent offer..."
"Here's the thing, Eve: You're gonna sing for me and I'm gonna read you right now. And here's one more thing: Winifred Burkle once told me, after a sinful amount of Chinese food and in lieu of absolutely nothing, ‘I think a lot of people would choose to be green. Your shade, if they had the choice.’ If I hear one note — one quarter-note — that tells me you had any involvement, these two won't even have time to kill you. Oh, and anything by Diane Warren will also result in your death. Well, except ‘Rhythm of the Night’."
Keith Mars l Veronica Mars
Best. TV dad. EVER.
End of story.
Keith: Who's your Daddy?
Veronica: Ugh, I hate it when you say that.
Keith: You know what, this is important. You remember this: I used to be cool.
Veronica: When?
Keith: '77. Trans Am, Blue Oyster Cult in the eight-track, a foxy, stacked blonde riding shotgun, racing for pink slips. Ah, wait a minute, I'm thinking of a Springsteen song. Scratch everything, I was never cool.
Veronica: I don't know which bothers me more, "foxy" or "stacked".
Keith: I nailed our bail jumper 100 yards from México. Twenty-five hundred bucks. No sack dinners tonight. Tonight, we eat like the lower-middle class to which we aspire! Fire up the hibachi!
Veronica: It sounded like a falling body. It really freaked me out.
Keith: A falling body?
Veronica: Yes, a falling body.
Keith: Would you describe the sound as "Hitchcockian"?
Veronica: I'm glad you're able to entertain yourself.
Keith: Oh, sweetie. Don't sell yourself short. I find you completely entertaining.
"The next time I shoot you, it won't be digitally. Unless I hit you in the finger, and then we'll have a big laugh about it."
Daniel Rydell l Sports Night
First of all, it must be said: to me, Sports Night is about as close to perfection as a TV show can get. Of course, part of this may be because it was canceled after only two seasons, and therefore ABC and Sorkin never really got the chance to ruin it. Like West Wing, I find myself devoted to every one of these characters (Jeremy! Issac!) but Dan will always be my man. Poor, brilliant, damaged, terrified Dan. I would have loved you even if you had grown a goatee.
Dan: I'm on my feet. Bobbin' and weavin'. Breakin' tackles. Nothin' but open field.
Natalie: How you doin'?
Dan: Well, I've had a little wine. Somebody wants to make a book on whether or not I'll be having a little more, I would not bet against me.
"You could be having sex with Yoko Ono right now."
"Actions are immoral. Opinions are not, and I will not apologize for mine. Discussion is good, and for those of us fortunate enough to be the subject of magazine articles, it may be our responsibility from time to time to raise the level of debate."
"Honesty for Pixley!"
Cosmo Brown l Singin' in the Rain
Okay, not a television character. Still, he insisted on being included in this list, and I've never been able to say no to the man. My favorite character from one of my favorite movies of all time? Yeah, he's on the list.
"Short people have long faces, and long people have short faces. Big people have little humor, and little people have no humor at all."
Cosmo Brown: The price of fame. You've got the glory, you gotta take the little heartaches that go with it. Now look at me: I've got no fame, I've got no glory, I've got no big mansions, I've got no money! But I've got - what have I got?
Don Lockwood: I don't know, what have you got?
Cosmo Brown: I gotta get out of here.
Cosmo Brown: Talking pictures? That means I'm out of a job. At last, I can start suffering and write that symphony.
R.F. Simpson: You're not out of job. We're putting you in as head of our new music department.
Cosmo Brown: Oh, thanks, R.F.! At last, I can stop suffering and write that symphony.
Don Lockwood: Cosmo, call me a cab.
Cosmo Brown: Okay. You're a cab.
Joel Fleischman l Northern Exposure
I can still remember the look of horror on my mother's face when, at the ripe old age of eleven, I turned to her and announced that Dr. Fleischman was my ideal man. Though he be petty, neurotic, and really very irritating, no one will ever replace him in my affections. Also, I think we should all take a moment to reflect on the fact that Northern Exposure was quite possibly the best television show in the history of the universe. Hmm. Yes.
"I have zero desire to go native."
"I mean, don't get me wrong! I don't believe in blind obedience to the law! In my time, I've ignored stop signs, I've jaywalked, I've had open fires on Jones Beach. But this... this is the U.S. Mail. And since I was old enough to lick a stamp, I was taught that it's a sin to so much as to hold someone's letter up to the light. I was inculcated with the sanctity, the inviolability of the mail."
"Life here is so elemental. So real. Without the interference of civilization you can really experience things like... silence. Silence and darkness in its purity. Right now, right outside my window all I can see is a black void. Endless darkness. It's totally exhilarating, and I feel very lucky to be here. Very, very lucky."
Malcolm Reynolds l Firefly
I feel that this is fairly self-explanatory. Gorgeous? Check. Hilarious? Check. Deeply fucked up? Check.
What more could you possibly ask for?
Zoë: Funny, sir, how you always seem to find yourself in an Alliance-friendly bar come U-Day, lookin' for a quiet drink.
Mal: See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart.
Mal: And I never back down from a fight.
Inara: Yes, you do! You do all the time!
Mal: Well.... yeah, but I'm not backing down from this one!
Mal: I'm not leaving Serenity.
Inara: Mal, you don't have to die alone.
Mal: Everybody dies alone.
"So no more running. I aim to misbehave."
Fabulous. I now feel a nearly irresistible compulsion to rewatch all of these shows.
How tragic.