assorted television thoughts

April 6, 2006

For the last week or so, I’ve had George’s answering machine message stuck in my head. If you’ve seen the Seinfeld episode it’s from, you’ll recognize the lyrics immediately:

Believe it or not, George isn’t at home
So leave a message at the beep
I must be out, or I’d pick up the phone
Where could I be? Believe it or not, I’m not home!

So now that I trust that I’ve gotten it stuck in your head too, let me explain to you how I plan to go about getting it out of my head. I intend to get my hands on an mp3 of the song from which it borrows its tune: Believe It or Not, the theme song from “Greatest American Hero.” The chorus to that song, which is extremely artful and not at all cheesy, goes like this:

Believe it or not,
I’m walking on air.
I never thought I could feel so free.
Flying away on a wing and a prayer.
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it’s just me.

Once I track down the mp3, I’m going to listen to it on repeat until the idea of hearing it one more time makes me physically ill.

Last time I ran into this kind of problem, I was looking for the John Basedow theme song. And although the file’s not available anymore, my dear friend oonor managed to track it down for me. So now I’m appealing to my internet friends again—help me, please, internet friends.

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Quick non-specific thoughts on last night’s Lost (and, to a lesser degree, the last few episodes of Lost): the writers have seemingly given up on actually coming up with original ideas and are now winkingly echoing the complaints/theories of crazed fans on the internet. Hey, I bet it would blow everyone’s mind if we had the characters asking the same questions the psychotic message board fans are asking (i.e. “where are they getting all that food? how do we know any of this is real? aren’t the number coincidences utterly ridiculous?”). But of course they won’t actually answer any of those questions or resolve anything in a satisfying way. That would require a modicum of respect for their viewers, rather than a craven interest in maintaining a sinister hold on them without endowing them with anything approaching coherent plot resolution. This is how a modern television show dies; not with a bang but an ironic meta-whisper.

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Finally, Tina Fey is filming a pilot for a new NBC sitcom, but who cares? The important info in the NY Times article is about Studio 60, the new hour-long drama written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry! ...and Amanda Peet, but we can always kill her off. It looks like the show, which is a behind-the-scenes look at a SNL-type variety show, is essentially a lock for NBC’s Autumn schedule, and I for one am extremely excited. I don’t even mind that it is going to rip off a bunch of Sports Night plotlines. I’m just excited for the possibility of a Casey McCall/Dan Rydell cameo.

Posted in Music, Television