more than one way to Skin a cast

when word got out last week that a buffy feature was going ahead without joss whedon at the helm, joss had a couple of words on the subject. his response was honest, and cynical, and witty - all the things you would expect of him. and, while i'm incredibly miffed that this project is happening (as is the rest of the internet, it seems), i was so impressed with his tiny takedown of the hollywood machine that i forgot to be angry for a moment.

"feeding off the carcasses of beloved stories", as he puts it, is nothing new. but it doesn't feel like things are even given enough time to decay or disappear from the pop cultural conscience anymore. case in point: Skins.

uk cast, 2007

not a beloved story exactly, but this british tv series only premiered in 2007 with two really amazing seasons, another two fairly good seasons with a second-generation cast followed, and a third generation for season 5 was just announced in august.

 

us cast, 2010

 
this show is alive and well in the uk (with a substantial american following), not long dead and buried, which used to be the prereq for a reboot. nevertheless, mtv's decided an almost shot-for-shot remake is what america needs right now.




now, i'm not a purest - some of my favorite shows have been reboots (battlestar gallactica), revamps (baz luhrman's r + j), pastiches (every campy minute of BtVS), etc. what i am, however, is someone who believes reviving something before it's dead is a big waste of time. and, in the case of Skins, the disappointment comes from knowing that the version american audiences will settle for will be a dressed up, watered down half hour of tv.

the genius of Skins was showing kids (not near 30 year-old actors) do and say the things you know they shouldn't (but really do anyway). sanitizing the on-screen drug use and sex, replacing normal looking teens with impossibly attractive cast members... this is only going to make the Skins reboot mtv's undressed, part 2. and, really, what's the point? the grit of the uk Skins didn't insult my (read: the teenager inside me) intelligence. but, you know, that's something mtv lives to do these days (i'm looking at you, jersey shore).

as long as these easy-bake remakes make advertising dollars, there's really no stopping the studios from popping them out. but i will say this, if i could get paid for turning in my co-worker's project, i guess i wouldn't be too picky about the quality of the copy either.

Buffyverse Chronology

seriously... i wasn't kidding about how much i like making charts. like most ridiculous things i do, this started as a joke. but, after a couple of Buffy/Angel marathons with friends, it actually became a handy reference for all the flashbacks/flashforwards in the series.

yes, i'm compulsively dorky, but ive spared you all the whiny Buffy. skip ahead to Fool for Love (Buffy s5e07) and thank me later.

i'm nothing if not servicey.




click to enlarge

in tv land...everyone is qualified to be a guidance counselor

for all intents and purposes, i'm in a committed relationship with my television. i see it regularly. rearrange existing dates to accommodate its schedule. spend the morning after thinking "i wonder what he meant when he said that last night." etc. etc. the same is true for the little people inside the box. after all the hours i spend with them, through the good and bad, i want the best for them. so, of course, i'm happy when they succeed, regardless of the circumstances. but i can only make certain concessions to a point. i realize going around poking holes in the logic of a fictional world is really a waste of time...but somebody must. right?

as an aspiring librarian, the question i hate the most (yet, have to answer with an alarming frequency) is "oh, you have to go to school for that?". if i, lowly custodian of rare volumes, have to spend 2 years and thousands of dollars learning how to handle the goods, shouldn't someone charged with handling the education and mental health of minors be required to sit in on a night class or two?

so, gentle readers, let us now take this moment to acknowledge the absurdity of "the tv guidance counselor".

according to some fancy pants national association, the minimum amount of training a person must endure is a Masters degree in either Psychology or Education and a 240 on the "152 TExES School Counselor Exam". out of a possible 300. maybe more depending on your state. so, the next time your favorite tv show nominates the town wacko to tell Cast Member A to "pick a safety", i want to see that the props department has done the same for our star.

K.I.T. : a look at the greats


Emma Pillsbury

she wears sweater sets. she's afraid of germs. you win some, you lose some, right? far be it for me to accuse her of being anything other than fastidious (she probably got a gold star in student teaching), but i'm just concerned. her danny tanner-like need for clean must inhibit her ability to dispense relevant advice (does anyone else see the pamphlet behind her desk? "Radon: the silent killer"). also, teenagers are dirty. i think she needs a guidance counselor to help her choose a new career path.


Jeff Rosso

hippie with a heart of gold. this is the man you went to when you wanted some straight talk with a side of reminiscing. he was just as likely to solve your problem as he was to sing you a song. or tell you about his personal conflicts with bullies. or herpes. and, sure, that crosses a line that would make most schools fear lawsuit, but rosso just wouldn't let the man (in this case, a very necessary educational bureaucracy) get him down.



Buffy Summers

Buffy Anne Summers. she saved the world. a lot. apparently that's all the recommendation the administration over at sunny dale high needed before hiring our favorite vampire slayer. now, impending apocalypse aside, i think it's wise to point out that buffy can have some serious, uh, blonde moments. and, if her taste in men is anything to go by, she's not exactly a champion good decision maker. buffy pro's: she'll keep you from dying. buffy con's: attrocious grammar, dropped out of college, may still be suffering from some latent ptsd from that time she was dead. and, oh yeah, a student did actually die on her first day on the job.


Tami Taylor

my biggest problem with friday night lights may very well be that i forget this show is fiction. of course, that may have more to do with my abiding love for one adorable QB1 than with the show's content, but my point remains. all those docu drama angles and that improvised dialogue, it just seems like they are going out of their way to fool me. that said, they blew their verisimilitude to pieces when they promoted tami taylor from mrs. coach to school administrator. i've been told they do things differently in texas, i just wasn't aware that included allowing uncertified nice ladies to coach afterschool sports, advise town bimbos on college apps and rezone school districts. i mean, if that's the case, i may start practicing law in dillon. (my first action: prove that all "saracens" are constitutionaly obligated to marry me at my discretion.)