Thursday, May 1, 2008

eight simple rules

thursday afternoon has become decompress and watch tv time. having caught up on my tivoed episodes of american idol and top chef, i came across the 8 simple rules episodes just after john ritter's death. they are beautifully done: sweet, funny, sad, a tribute to him without being overly cheesy. i don't even watch the show, but these two episodes made me cry good tears. it's a fascinating endeavor for television, which is so often soulless and reckless with the lives of its characters to be forced to humble itself and deal with the real lives of the people they have created.
fascinatingly, this is not the first real life tragedy katey segal has had to deal with on prime time television. when she got pregnant during the filming of married with children, they wrote her pregnancy into the script. she miscarried. i wonder if it might have been therapeutic for her to deal with her personal loss through what became her character's loss.

8 simple rules deals delicately and artfully with so much of what is difficult about mourning. so much more than i would expect for a sitcom. guests make awkward and somewhat inappropriate comments at the funeral and the mourners have to play gracious hosts; kate struggles with her relationship to god; everyone replays and regrets their last interaction with the deceased; through loss, the living reflect on the blessings they have in their lives.

i didn't expect to be so touched in such unexpected circumstances.

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