Summer Watch List

So, as you may have noticed, it is summer.  And aside from a time where some of us like to engage in this little-known activity called reading, it is also a time when the cable networks put out some of their best shows.  So what have I been watching?  Not Breaking Bad.  But lots of other things!

Episodes

I'll admit that I've already finished Season 2 of Episodes.  Much like Downton Abbey, it airs in the UK months before it comes to the States, and so it's easy to find links online.  And so even though I only started watching the season last weekend, I'm already done.  The reason for this is that it's SO EFFING GOOD.  Literally everything about this show is fantastic, but especially the actors.  Matt LeBlanc continues to be great at playing a parody of himself, and Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan are always brilliant as the transplanted British writers/producers, but this season gave more of the spotlight to the supporting actors, and Kathleen Rose Perkins shines like a goddamn star.  Her portrayal of Carol is at once pathetic and empowering; infuriating and endearing; hilarious and sad.  She's taken the character from the one-note Rigid Studio Executive and turned Carol into someone we root for and whose motives we come to understand.  And she's just SO fucking funny.  John Pankow as the studio head Merc Lapidus is a comedic gem, and Genevieve O'Reilly as his blind wife Jamie plays her role with a quiet subtlety that'll make you laugh out loud (as two characters are fighting and chaos erupts amongst the cast, she just keeps yelling, "What's going on???!!!").  Daisy Haggard as the erstwhile, clueless exec with the weird moaning voice steals every single scene she's in and Joseph May as Andy Button is the type of character who would eat a popsicle made of shit if you told him it was fudge - while smiling.  I honestly can't pick a favorite character because I love them all, and I didn't mean to brush past Greig and Mangan because they carry the show, and both actors' abilities to transform from glib to gutwrenching in the blink of an eye is astounding.  They grab you by the heartballs, and just won't let go.

Anyway, not to give anything away, but the season finale is one of my favorite moments of comedy of the entire year.  There're only nine episodes, so get watching and seriously, don't miss out on this show.

Girl Glows Green is now The Hedgepig

So, you might have noticed, while checking this page to see if I had FINALLY updated (I haven't, though I hope to in the next few days), that Girl Glows Green no longer exists.  I've been wanting to change the name for a while, as I begin to make steps towards my own actual website, but it took me a very long time and a lot of really bad ideas before The Hedgepig arrived in my brain.

Why The Hedgepig?  The reasons are myriad.  To begin with, hedgehogs are MY animal, if you will.   Small, round, sometimes prickly, sometimes cuddly, intelligent, and wily creatures, I've always had a fondness for them.  And I feel like their opposing dichotomies are pretty representative of the tone of this blog - sometimes sharp, sometimes soft, always discerning.  Hedgehogs have shown up in important things and at important times in my life, and I've always been interested in and strangely drawn to them.  There are more stories here, but I won't bore you with childhood dreams and obscure details.  And as for why it's The Hedgepig and not The Hedgehog, well, there's this E. Nesbit story in her collection The Magic World called "The Princess and The Hedgepig" that you should all read because it's really wonderful...but that was just the impetus.  In truth, hedgepig is simply more mellifluous and uniquely recognizable.  I like it.  It's a fun word for my favorite animal, and really, that's that.

The Hedgepig will continue to be what Girl Glows Green always strove to be - a funny, nuanced, and critical look at television and pop culture - and my plan is to make it even better.  I hope you'll come back to check out what's to come.

Image via Shutterstock