Television critics, unite! As the new fall season is about to take off, let's put on our savvy-singles spectacles and zoom in on the good, the bad, and the boring.
I thought some of the television from last season was actually quite good, but the season finales were so tedious and dispiriting. One after another ended with the utterly predictable and unimaginative wedding episode. Some even featured several simultaneous matrimaniacal story lines.
With the new season comes new hope. That has gotten me thinking about some portrayals of single life that grabbed me in a good way. What they have in common is that they show singles as people with passions and interests and lives that are not defined solely by the quest to become unsingle. There was an episode early on in Grey's Anatomy, when Izzie's beau from her days as a fashion model was flying into Seattle to visit her. She was late in meeting him, because she had just participated in an amazing surgery. She told him, great excitement, how awe-inspiring it was to hold a brain in her hands. She was beaming. He just grunted. That was the end of that relationship.
Grey's, despite its overabundance of matrimaniacal plot lines, can be very strong when it comes its acknowledgment and appreciation for the many kinds of commitments in the characters' lives. There is, of course, their commitment to medicine. I loved the episodes when they gathered in the living room after a grueling day at work, and watched old videos of Meredith's mom's surgeries, mesmerized. Those plotlines were about their love of their work, but also their love of one another. Beer, pizza, and bodies clad in sweats and sacked out on the couches and on the floor, watching videos on TV - that's friendship.
Even when the interns delved deeply into a romantic relationship, their friendships didn't get buried. McDreamy, despite all his devotion to Meredith, knows he can never replace Christina. The Meredith-Christina bond is its own thing, a precious thing.
Some of the crime shows have the same unabashed love of work and appreciation of friendship at their core. Abby on NCIS is a computer whiz who is stunningly brilliant at what she does - and doesn't try to hide it. She is also overt about her affection for the rest of the team. The others sometimes cover over their attachments with teasing or feigned indifference, but no one is ever fooled about the strength of the ties that bind them.
Previously, I've critiqued some of the strengths as well as the singlism in other shows such as Sex and the City and Private Practice. Now I'd like to hear from you. Post any comments now, and as the television season progresses, stop back now and then to share your critiques.
David, a Chicago-based Singled Out and Living Single fan, is the reader who first suggested that I write about how singles are portrayed on TV - including examples of both the good and the bad. It is a great topic, so thanks, David! I mostly watch dramas and some crime shows, so I hope those of you who have your eyes on other genres will weigh in with your observations.
[Single with Attitude: Not Your Typical Take on Health and Happiness, Love and Money, Marriage and Friendship can be ordered in paperback here or from Amazon; a Kindle version is available, too. To read other Living Single posts, click here.]
