Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.
It’s a nice day for a white wedding!
Episodes 2.12 and 2.13 “White Wedding”
(Dir by Bruce McDonald, originally aired on January 6th, 2003)
Snake and Spike get married!
Of course, there’s some drama on the way. How much drama? Let’s count.
Spike discovers that she’s pregnant and doesn’t tell Snake because she’s not sure if she wants to keep the baby.
Emma is upset when she finds out that Spike is thinking about getting an abortion. She’s even more upset when her perm goes terrible wrong and she ends up looking like Harpo Marx.
Lucy and Caitlin show up to help Spike get ready for the wedding.
Joey throws a bachelor party for Snake. Craig suggests that Joey should hire a stripper, despite Snake not wanting a stripper. Joey agrees because he thinks it will be funny.
Why did Craig suggest that Joey hire a stripper? Because JT and Toby begged him to. However, when JT and Toby dress up like they’re on Miami Vice and show up for the bachelor party, Joey tells them to go home.
Mr. Raditch shows up for the bachelor party. “Oh, cheese balls!” he says when he looks at the food that’s been laid out.
Emma tells Snake that Spike is pregnant. Snake gets mad that Spike didn’t tell him.
Spike tells Emma that it’s her right to get an abortion if she chooses and then says that she’s not going to make the same mistake twice. Uhmmm …. wow, Spike. That’s a really stupid thing to say to your daughter.
Emma eventually forgives Spike. I would not.
Eventually, with everyone at the church waiting, Spike and Snake talk and decide to keep the baby. Then, they get married!
Manny invites Sean to the wedding. Emma freaks out and Manny has to retract the invitation. But then Emma eventually invites Sean herself. At the end of the episode, at the reception, Emma and Sean have their first kiss. Apparently, it was Miriam McDonald’s first kiss as well. Awwww!
This episode is classic Degrassi. It’s also one of the best-known episodes because Nickelodeon used to repeat it constantly. Yay for Snake and Spike! And yay for Emma! Who wouldn’t want their single mother to marry one of their teachers?
Okay, I don’t think anyone would want that. Still, it worked out well for the show.
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.
Whatever it takes, I know I can make it through….
Episode 2.10 “Take My Breath Away”
(Dir by Stefan Scaini, originally aired on December 9th, 2002)
How you respond to this episode depends on how much you know about what’s eventually going to happen to the students at Toronto’s Degrassi Learning Center.
When watched for the first time, it seems like a sweet episode about how crushes can hurt and how they can also pay off. Ellie has a crush on Marco and, after discovering that he likes Edward Gorey just as much as she does, Ellie starts to send him anonymous rhyming emails. However, Hazel also likes Marco and Marco thinks that Hazel is the one sending him the emails. Marco thinks this despite Hazel having never shown any poetic ability and also despite the fact that he just sat down at lunch and discussed Edward Gorey with Ellie!
When Marco receives an anonymous email telling him to meet his crush at the Zen Garden, Marco is shocked to discover Ellie waiting for him. Ellie assumes Marco is disappointed and runs away. Marco later tracks Ellie down and reveals that he wasn’t disappointed at all. Marco and Ellie are now a couple!
Meanwhile, Craig and Manny go on their first date. Craig wants to see a movie. Manny gets excited when she sees a rather childish carnival. Manny later tells Emma and Liberty that the date was wonderful and that she and Craig are totally in love. Craig tells Spinner and Jimmy that the date was awkward and that Manny is still too immature for him. Craig says that Manny reminds him of his five year-old half-sister, Angela. (Angela was played by Alexa Steele, Cassie Steele’s real-life sister.)
The episode ends with Manny telling Craig that he shouldn’t talk to Ashley and asking him what they’re doing on Friday night. Craig replies that they’re not doing anything because he doesn’t like Manny. AGCK!
Again, it’s a good episode. The contrast between Craig’s recollection of the date and Manny’s version is genuinely amusing. Meanwhile, Ellie finally gets a boyfriend….
Of course, veteran Degrassi watchers know that Marco is both gay and deeply closeted and that he’s destined to hurt Ellie before becoming her best friend. (Ellie was always way too forgiving.) Meanwhile, Craig and Manny are going to end up together, with Craig first getting Manny pregnant and then, several seasons later, introducing her to cocaine. Craig is also going to nearly kill Joey while having a manic episode before breaking Ashley’s heart and nearly driving Ellie to suicide in Los Angeles. Yikes!
This is a cute episode that, for veteran Degrassi watchers, is decorated with red flags.
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.
This week, several important characters make their first appearances!
Episode 2.4 “Karma Chameleon”
(Dir by Stefan Sciani, originally aired on October 21st, 2002)
This week, Ellie makes her first appearance!
Though she doesn’t do much in this episode, Ellie Nash (Stacey Farber) would go on to become one of the most important characters on Degrassi: The Next Generation. (And Farber herself would go on to have one of the more-successful post-Degrassi careers of the show’s regulars.) When I first watched Degrassi, I related to Ellie, largely because we both had red hair, we both tended to wear black, and we both had a weakness for Craig Manning. (There was another reason why I related to Ellie but I won’t go into that until we reach season 3.) Now that I’ve gotten older, I can see that, in high school, I actually had more in common with the overly dramatic Ashley Kerwin than I did with Ellie but still, Ellie is one of Degrassi’s best characters.
In her first appearance, Ellie refuses to move to another computer, despite Paige ordering her to so that Paige can sit next to Hazel. Later, she provides some sarcastic comfort to Ashley after Ashley’s latest poorly conceived plan blows up in her face. “That went well,” Ellie says and yes, it’s a little bit snarky but that’s what made Ellie so cool. As I said, Ellie doesn’t do much in this episode. (Stacey Farber wouldn’t become a regular until the third season.) But she definitely makes an impression.
As for Ashley, she spends this episode trying to get back into everyone’s good graces. Following Terri’s suggestion, Ashley swallows her pride and apologizes to Paige, Jimmy, and Sean. Everyone seems to be willing to forgive Ashley, except for Paige. Paige continually warns everyone that Ashley is just being manipulative. Jimmy, however, wants to restart his romantic relationship with Ashley. But when Sean calls Ashley and asks her on a date, Ashley happily accepts. Terri says that Ashley is going to hurt Jimmy if she goes out with Sean because Jimmy thinks that he and Ashley are about to get back together.
Ashley rolls her eyes, explains that she’s single, and then tells Terri that “Ter, one day when a guy likes you, you’ll understand how this works.”
AGCK!
I mean, actually, Ashley’s right. She didn’t tell Jimmy that she wanted to get back together again. (She did say that she missed having Jimmy around and I would say that Ashley should have been able to guess how Jimmy would interpret that, given their past relationship.) And there’s no reason why she shouldn’t date Sean Cameron if she wants to. And, for that matter, no one likes Terri.
(At least not yet. Eventually, Terri’s first boyfriend will end putting her in a coma and then shooting up the school but that’s a while off….)
But Ashley definitely could have put things a bit more diplomatically. One reason why I cringe so much watching this is because I can remember saying similar stuff when I was a teenage and not understanding why people got offended until many years later. Ellie never would have said something like that.
Meanwhile, Toby has a girlfriend! Kendra Mason (Katie Lai) loves anime even more than Toby! The only problem is that …. KENDRA IS SPINNER’S ADOPTED SISTER! At first, Toby is terrified to talk to Kendra because of Spinner. But Toby finally finds the courage to stand up to Spinner and tell him that he’s going to talk to Kendra whether Spinner likes it or not. Spinner says that he will disembowel Toby is Toby hurts his sister. Toby says he’s prepared for that. (Toby, never prepare for something like that.) It’s nice that Toby has a girlfriend and can presumably stop whining about Emma liking Seasn. It’s just too bad that Kendra’s going to vanish after this season and never be mentioned again, not even by her protective older brother.
Also, all the boys in school are in love with the new science teacher, Ms. Hatzilakos (Melissa DiMarco). This was Hatzilakos’s first appearance. It’s only one scene of Spinner and Jimmy drooling at their desks. Of course, Ms. Hatzilakos is destined to eventually become principal of Degrassi and her son Peter will eventually enroll as a student, break a lot of hearts and law, and write the deathless song House Arrest.
Anyway, Jimmy gets mad at Ashley. Sean gets mad at Ashley and calls off their date. Paige tells Terri that she has to make a choice between four years of being popular or four years of being an outcast and Terri decides to be popular. Ashley breaks down crying as her school picture is taken. So ends another happy episode of Degrassi!
Oh, this episode. It’s actually pretty good for an Ashley episode. And the freeze frame of Ashley getting her school picture taken as a tear sloppily rolls down her face? That’s image pretty much sums up Degrassi perfectly.
Next week, Spinner is a part of a science experiment and …. well, this would never happen on American television.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Shane Kippel!
Shane Kippel, as I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, played Spinner Mason on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He started out as the school bully but, by the time the third season began, he was pretty much the heart of the ensemble. How cool was Shane Kippel? He was so cool that Spinner ended up getting held back three times just so there would be an excuse to keep Kippel on the show!
(“What type of idiot fails his own language!?” Spinner once said when confronted with his grade in English. Oh, Spinner!)
Today’s song of the day features Shane Kippel on drums. From Degrassi, here is Downtown Sasquatch with Dust!
(The other members of the band are Jake Epstein on vocals, Aubrey Graham on guitar, and Adamo Ruggiero on bass.)
Last night, I watched the latest Lifetime film, The Danger Next Door!
Why Was I Watching It?
Because it was on Lifetime, of course! It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a chance to watch a Lifetime film on the night that it aired. Seriously, my DVR is full of Lifetime films right now and waiting for me to dig into them come November.
What Was It About?
After getting mugged, pregnant Robin (Hannah Emily Anderson) and her husband, Ben (Jake Epstein) move to a small town. At first, the town seems perfect but it’s hard not to notice that their next door neighbors, Guy (David Ferry) and Sharon (Kyra Harper), are a little bit too friendly. Anyone who has watched a Lifetime film knows that no one that nice can be trusted and that’s certainly the case here.
What Worked?
I always love a good “small towns are evil” Lifetime film so, in that regard, The Danger Next Door delivered exactly what I wanted. The town was pretty, the houses were big, and the melodrama was embraced. Yay!
The film also featured Jake Epstein, playing a sympathetic character for once! Epstein previously played Craig Manning on Degrassi. I’ve seen him in a lot of other movies and shows since then but he’ll always be Craig to me! Craig was one of the best characters on Degrassi, a bipolar musician with drug problems and a habit of breaking everyone’s heart. I always hoped that Craig and Ellie would get together, though I do think Ashley was Craig’s soul mate. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Jake Epstein was in this movie and it was good to see him!
What Did Not Work?
Towards the end of the movie, there were a few plot twists that demanded a lot of suspension of disbelief, even for a Lifetime film.
“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments
I have never been mugged but, when I was 16 years old, the house that I was living in was burglarized. My mom, my sisters, and I woke up one morning to discover that the garage door was open, the microwave was missing, and someone had emptied out my mom’s purse. Even more than that, though, they stole our feeling of being secure in our home. I had nightmares for weeks afterwards and I even took to sleeping with a baseball bat next to my bed. However, the bat was a bit heavy so, after a few days, I switched it out for a golf club.
One night, I thought I heard someone creeping outside my bedroom door at 3 in the morning. I got up, grabbed my golf club, and creeped over to the door. I took a deep breath, raised the club over my head, threw the door open, and swung at the first dark shadow that I saw.
“What the Hell, Lisa Marie!?” Erin exclaimed, as she (rather easily) avoided the club.
Looking back at it, I’m glad that I didn’t hit my sister in the face with a golf club. I would have felt bad about that. But there’s no worse feeling than having some stranger invade your personal safe place. All these years later, I’m still a fanatic when it comes to locking all the doors, checking all the windows, and making sure I’ve got a golf club near the bed.
The movie did a good job of capturing that trauma. I could definitely relate to Robin’s fears.
Lessons Learned
Never move to a small town. No matter how bad and scary the city gets, it’s still safer than living in a small town.
When last we checked in with Toronto’s Degrassi Community School, the school was recovering from a recent school shooting by putting on a production of Dracula. While a fake vampire drained blood onstage, his real-life equivalent tempted girls into his van at the ravine with the promise of cheap bracelets and an escape from all the trauma of the past month.
In the second part of Secret, the play is finally ready to open but, much as how Dracula has infecting the stage with vampirism, Jay (Mike Lobel) has infected the school with gonorrhea. Can Emma (Miriam McDonald) get through the play without having a complete breakdown?
There’s a B-plot here, of course. Jimmy (Drake …. yes, the Drake) has been in the hospital ever since getting shot in the back by Rick Murray. With the help of Craig (Jake Epstein) and Marco (Adamo Ruggiero), Jimmy escapes from the hospital so that he can attend a Kid Eldrick show. (Kid Eldrick is Degrassi‘s version of Kid Rock.) It’s actually kind of a nice little story. My favorite line is Marco’s one about wanting to look like a ninja.
That said, this is the episode will forever be known for making national news when it aired in the United States. Though it may seem strange now, this was considered to quite a controversial show back in 2005. (Canadians, of course, got to see the episode first, when it aired on December 7th, 2004.)
One thing I like about this episode — and the reason why I am specifically sharing it now — is the way that the school staged their production of Dracula. It looks like they did a good job. I especially liked the way that they faked the blood in the staking scene.
Tonight’s televised horror comes to use from the year 2004 and the nation of Canada! Love you, Canada!
In this episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation, the students at Toronto’s Degrassi Community School are still struggling to come to terms with a recent school shooting that left one student dead and another paralyzed. What better way to help the school deal with their trauma than a play? And what better play to select than an adaptation of …. Dracula?
J.T. (Ryan Cooley) and Libertry (Sarah Barrable-Tishauer) are directing their own script. Starring in the play is Emma Nelson (Miriam McDonald). Before the shooting, Emma was known for being rather strident about her political and environmental activism. After the shooting, Emma has been spiraling out of control. And, as we all know, spiraling out of control on Degrassi inevitably leads to a visit to the ravine where all-around trouble-maker Jay (Mike Lobel) has a van and a collection cheap bracelets.
Meanwhile, in another part of the school, Ashley (Melissa McIntyre) tries to get Craig (Jake Epstein) to join a support group that will help him deal with his recent bipolar diagnosis. Craig is upset to discover that Ellie (Stacey Farber) is in the same group. This episode was the start of the very long and very angsty Craig/Ellie relationship arc. When I first watched Degrassi, I always related to Ellie and I still do to a certain extent but, in retrospect, I think I was probably a lot more like Ashley when I was in high school.
This episode of Degrassi aired, in Canada, on November 30th, 2004. This episode was considered to be so controversial that it actually made national news when it later aired in the United States. (I can actually remember watching some outraged wannabe censor talking about how Degrassi was a corrupting influence.) Part Two of Secret, which we’ll get to tomorrow, was even more controversial.
As for how this fits in with October …. it’s Dracula! And really, when you think about it, Jay’s a bit of a real-life Dracula. That’ll especially become clear in the next episode.
Anyway, here is tonight’s episode. Remember — whatever it takes, you can make it through!
We’re not even halfway through 2018 yet and I’m already prepared to declare that today’s music video of the day is the best of the year! Now, you’ll notice that I didn’t say that it’s the best song of the year but really, the song’s not that important. What’s important is that, with this video, Drake and director Karena Evans gives us the Degrassi reunion that we’ve all been waiting for!
(Okay, maybe not everyone. Apparently, some people aren’t as obsessed with Degrassi as the rest of us are. But you know what? I love Degrassi. I’ve got almost the entire series on DVD and I’ve watched and rewatched every episode so many times that I can quote most of them from memory.)
Before he found superstardom as Drake, Aubrey Graham was best known (by people like me) for playing Jimmy Brooks. When Degrassi first started, Jimmy was something of a random jock. He got into fights. He played basketball. He dated Ashley Kerwin and dumped her after she took ecstasy and ended up making out with Sean. He dated Hazel until she graduated. He dated Ashley again until she betrayed him to get a recording contract. And, of course, he ended up in a wheelchair after a mean-spirited prank led to Rick Murray shooting him in the back. Jimmy eventually left Toronto for Amsterdam and possibly law school but, as we see in this video, he’s back and so are all of our old favorites.
Admittedly, before this video, there was a previous Degrassi reunion. Back in 2016, the 500th episode of Degrassi featured a class reunion and several old characters did return. Unfortunately, everyone’s favorites — like Paige, Spinner, Marco, and Emma — didn’t get much screen time. Instead, Mo — who really shouldn’t have even been at the reunion since it had only been a year since he graduated — got most of the screen time and seriously, who ever cared about Mo? Meanwhile, beloved graduates like Ellie, Craig, and Manny didn’t even show up. In short, the official Degrassi reunion was a huge disappointment!
Fortunately, this video does a better job of bringing back almost all of our favorites. I guess that’s the power of Drake. True, it’s hard not to be disappointed that Sean Cameron, Joy Hogart, Alex, J.T. Yorke, Johnny DiMarco, and Bruce the Moose didn’t show up. (If you ever had any doubt that Degrassi was a Canadian show, just consider the fact that a major supporting character was named Bruce The Moose.) But check out who did return!
First off, here’s Spinner (Shane Kippel)!
Seriously, it’s not a Degrassi reunion if Spinner isn’t there. Despite the fact that Degrassi was a four-year school, Spinner was enrolled for seven seasons. Okay, so Spinner wasn’t that good of a student but so what? He was the heart and soul of Degrassi! Not only was he the drummer for Toronto’s greatest band, Downtown Sasquatch, but he was also Jimmy’s best friend, except for that time when Jimmy was angry over Spinner’s part in the prank that led to Jimmy getting shot in the back. (Fortunately, they made up.) I’ve seen some people online wondering why Spinner spends so much of this video throwing up. My theory is that it’s an homage to the seventh season episode, Pass the Dutchie. That’s the episode where Spinner, while undergoing chemotherapy, throws up on his English teacher.
(That episode also features one of the greatest lines in Degrassi history, when a stoned Spinner realizes that he’s about to fail English for the third time and exclaims, “What kind of idiot fails his own language three times!?”)
Four of my favorites all showed up together. Getting out of the stylish white car: Paige (Lauren Collins), Ellie (Stacey Farber), Marco (Adamo Ruggiero), and Craig (Jake Epstein). I always related to Ellie, largely because we both had red hair and always wore black to school. I also always felt bad that Craig and Ellie could never quite seem to make things works romantically, though Ellie and Sean were actually a better couple. But I’m just kind of rambling now…
Hey, it’s Terri (Christina Schmidt) and Hazel (Andrea Lewis)! Terri was on the first three seasons of Degrassi, until she was put into a coma by her abusive boyfriend, Rick Murray. (This was the same Rick who would later shoot Jimmy in the back.) Hazel was Jimmy’s girlfriend, until she eventually realized that Jimmy was actually in love with Ellie. It’s probably not a coincidence that Drake is rapping about his ex at the same time that Hazel shows up.
Then the teachers show up! Ms. Kwan (Linlyn Lue) was the tyrannical English teacher who was driven to tears when Jimmy and Spinner egged her car. As for Archie “Snake” Simpson (Stefan Brogren), he’s been the one constant over the course of all the different versions of Degrassi. He started out as a student on Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High. In School’s Out, he was the first character to say “fuck” on Canadian television. Finally, Mr. Simpson taught the school’s media immersion class and eventually became principal of the school.
About halfway through the video, we learn that Mr. Simpson buys his drugs from Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith).
A longtime fan of the Degrassi franchise, Kevin Smith appeared as himself during season 4 and 5 and also in the second Degrassi movie, Degrassi Goes Hollywood. Smith came to Degrassi to shoot his latest movie, Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh? Of course, he brought Mewes with him. While Kevin Smith did end up contributing to the break-up of Caitlin and Joey, he also helped to track down Craig, who was having a manic episode and living on the streets at the time. Later, Smith would return to Degrassi to encourage Paige to take a chance with Alex and to also help launch the acting career of Manny Santos (Cassie Steele).
Speaking of Manny, she returns for Drake’s reunion and, appropriately enough, she’s seen hanging out with Emma (Miriam McDonald). Interestingly, in Degrassi Takes Manhattan, Emma ended up marrying Spinner in a plot twist that caused thousands of Degrassi fans (like me) to roll their eyes in unison. (Seriously, Emma and Spinner barely spoke to each other for 9 seasons and then they suddenly got married.) In this video, Spinner and Emma don’t even seem to acknowledge each other. Maybe they got divorced.
Among the other former Degrassi cast members to make an appearance: Melissa McIntyre (a.k.a. the one and only Ashley Kerwin), Nina Dobrev (who played teen mom-turned-super model Mia), A.J. Saudin (a.k.a. Simpson’s autistic godson, Connor), Sarah Barrable-Tishauer (a.k.a., class President Liberty Van Zandt), Jake Goldsbie (a.k.a. adorable nerd Toby Isaacs), Marc Donato and Dalmar Abuzeid (a.k.a. dorky friends Derek and Danny), and Paula Brancati (who played Jane, the girl who Spinner probably should have married.)
And then there’s Rick Murray (Ephraim Ellis). Despite the fact that Rick was reported to have died shortly after shooting Jimmy, he still showed up for the reunion. Of course, not everyone was happy to see him:
So, for those of you keeping track: Jimmy regained his ability walk, Emma and Spinner are divorced, Rick Murray apparently didn’t die after all, and J.T. Yorke is still dead. Poor J.T.
(Then again, if Rick’s still alive then you have to wonder how his ghost was able to possess Holy J in The Curse of Degrassi. Maybe I’m overthinking this. Anyway…)
Hi there! Lisa here, recovering from my birthday and bringing you today’s music video of the day!
Today’s music video of the day comes from a Canadian show that is very close to my heart … no, not Saved By The Bell: The New Class. That show wasn’t Canadian. I’m talking about Degrassi!
Starting with the second season, Jake Epstein was a regular on Degrassi. Epstein played Craig Manning, the bipolar photographer-turned-musician who, over the course of his time on the show, did everything from impregnating Manny to beating up Joey Jeremiah to eventually breaking the hearts of both Ellie Nash and Ashley Kerwin. He even befriended Kevin Smith!
In the middle of the fifth season, Epstein left the show and Craig left Toronto. However, even though he was no longer a regular character, Craig would occasionally return to Degrassi. For instance, during season 6, he came back to play a show and, as a result of snorting too much cocaine before taking the stage, ended up having a massive nose bleed in the middle of his performance. Agck!
Fortunately, Craig went to rehab and was able to return during the season 7 episode, Bust a Move. Playing a surprise show at a Canadian college and reconnecting with two of his exes, Craig also found time to perform My Window, a song that, in real life, was written by Jake Epstein.
The video above was released around the same time that Bust a Move premiered in the States. It’s an official video, even if it is mostly made up of clips taken from previous episodes of Degrassi. Unfortunately, most of those scenes were lifted from his season 6 return. I would have liked to have seen more scenes between Craig and Ellie. (I used to think that Ellie was totally me but, while recently rewatching the show, I realized that I actually had more in common with Ashley.)
Anyway, I can hear the eyes rolling already but cut me some slack. I love Degrassi! Add to that, this is actually a pretty good song. I love Jake Epstein’s voice. Along with appearing on Degrassi and countless Lifetime films, Epstein is also a respected musical theater actor. Among his credits: American Idiot, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.
Around 2 a.m. this morning, I watched the latest Lifetime Movie Network premiere, FANatic!
Why Was I Watching It?
Okay, so technically, I didn’t watch this last night. It premiered last night and I recorded it because I was watching the latest episode of The Walking Dead. However, I don’t think What Lisa Recorded Last Night has quite the same ring to it.
As for why I watched it at 2 in the morning — well, I fell asleep last night around 11:00. And then I woke up at one. Seeing as how I had already gotten my usual two hours of sleep, I decided that I might as well watch a movie!
What Was It About?
Nikki Myers (Katy Breier) has finally landed her dream job. She’s working as an assistant to Tess Daniels (Betsy Brandt), a highly acclaimed actress who happens to be the star of Nikki’s favorite show! It’s an enjoyably silly sci-fi show, one on which Tess co-stars with her husband, Hunter Clay (Benjamin Arthur). When the show started, Tess and Hunter were equals and Tess considered her role to be empowering. But, over the past few seasons, things have changed. Tess now finds her role to be demeaning and limiting. While Hunter gets to play the hero, Tess’s role becomes more and more about providing fan service for the show’s male viewers. Tess wants to leave the show…
But if Tess leaves the show, where does that leave Nikki!? Nikki’s spent the last few weeks bragging to her two friends about her job! If the show ends, how will Nikki be able to continue to steal props from the set? And how will she be able to continue to lie to her friends about the imaginary affair she’s having with Hunter!?
Seriously, when you look at things from her point of view, can you blame Nikki for becoming a little bit homicidal?
What Worked?
Yay! If nothing else, FANatic showed that the Lifetime-Degrassi conduit still exists! Perhaps because so many Lifetime films are produced in Canada, it’s not unusual to see former Degrassi actors pop up in supporting (and, sometimes, lead) roles. On Degrassi, Jake Epstein played the lovable, bipolar, drug addicted musician/photographer Craig Manning. In FANatic, he plays a slightly less likable character, a misogynistic television producer. Still, it’s always good to see Jake.
Anyway, FANatic was a lot of fun to watch, mostly because of the loving detail that was put into creating Tess and Hunter’s irresistibly silly sci-fi show. What’s interesting is that, if that show actually was on the air, it probably would be, at the very least, a cult hit. I knew more than a few people who would probably watch every episode.
Katy Breier did a good job playing the fanatic of the title. A film like FANatic is only as good as its villain and Breier brought a lot of life to the role.
What Did Not Work?
Seriously, why are redheads always crazy in Lifetime movies? Of course, that’s really not something that didn’t work. That’s just something that I, as a member of the 2% of the world’s population who has red hair, always notice.
But back to the question — hey, it all worked!
“Oh my God!” Just like me moments!
It’s hard for me to imagine myself ever becoming obsessed with any show to the extent that Nikki does. Then again, if that show starred James Franco…
Through the Shattered Lens 