Embracing New Genres in 2024, Part Three: Austin Butler's Year

I took my time with this one, so thank you for your patience. (I may probably still be revising this a bit and adding more details even now with it being live but) Enjoy! :D

Um, prepare for some fangirling in this one. lol

So...I don't know if you have noticed, but I am a huge fan of the actor Austin Butler these days. I wasn't sure if his 2024 projects should be its own blog post. I attempted to include all of my 2024 movies in one post, but I just wrote a lot for certain sections, so I felt that perhaps to condense I should make his filmography its own piece. I actually like this. I was interested in writing a blog post essay spotlighting his career anyway, so this is a good place to start. 

You're welcome.

Embracing New Genres in 2024, Part Two: Movies

I certainly watched more movies than read books in 2024, to the point where my local AMC Theatres had become my second home and I forged a first name basis friendship with the woman behind the snack counter. Hi, Cathy! 😃 (Her name being Cathy is even more significant once you keep reading. lol)

Goodbye, Arthur

I had to take some time to process this. I have a lot to say and I don't think this one blog post will cover it all.

I'm surprised that I didn't plan on writing a blog post about this until later. I guess I didn't want to acknowledge it as true, you know? ☹

After 25 incredible seasons, the PBS Kids "Arthur" series has finally concluded. The final episodes aired for the first time on February 21, 2022. The show premiered on October 7, 1996. This is a huge deal and not treated like the ending of other shows.

All Good Things Must Come to an End on "The Masked Singer"

Well, Team #RabbitMask, we fought the good fight, but our friend The Rabbit was unmasked tonight on "The Masked Singer."

I'm so upset, man! I thought he had what it took to win the whole thing! I thought he and the Lion were going to be the final two, and SHE was unmasked tonight too!

Meh. Oh well. I mean, I was looking forward to finally seeing who he is. lol

AND THE RABBIT'S TRUE IDENTITY IS....!!! DRUMROLL, PLEASE!!!!!!

Why the Rabbit is the Best Part of FOX's "The Masked Singer"

OMG, you guys! We HAVE to talk about FOX's "The Masked Singer"!!! LOL!

I think this is the stupidest show I have ever liked. And considering the stupid stuff I've liked in the past, particularly delivered by FOX, that's saying something. LOL

I was looking forward to the show when I saw commercials for it, finding it intriguing enough to want to check out, but I didn't think I was going to like it as much as I do. lol

I then realized that I like it because it combines two of my favorite entertainment elements: performance and mystery.

Based on South Korea's "The King of the Masked Singer," the premise is that celebrities dress up in these amazing outlandish costumes designed by Marina Toybina and perform musical numbers for a celebrity panel consisting of Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, and Nicole Scherzinger, and host Nick Cannon. Everyone then has to guess who the celebrity is behind the mask.

Is Nostalgia the Only Effective Marketing Scheme Nowadays?

What do "Spongebob Squarepants" (1999-present), Mean Girls (2004), The Band's Visit (2007), and Frozen (2013) all have in common?

Why, yes! They are all movies and a TV show that came out at least within the last 20 years that have gained quite the followings.

They're also all up for the Tony Award for Best Musical this year! I'm not kidding!

Let's talk about the Tony Awards! Particularly this observation (and my observations of people's reactions to these musicals).

When I first saw these nominations, my first thought was, "That's it? Surely you jest. Is there really no other new musical right now?"

But no. These are the ONLY nominees for Best Musical. Basically, there's nothing new here. They are just staged musical versions of movies. I thought at least The Band's Visit was an original idea, but nope! I was notified that this too is a pre-existed piece.

This is somewhat equivalent to the consistent popularity of books becoming movies. Now movies are becoming staged musicals.

Most specifically, in this case, nostalgic movies.

This isn't an entirely new thing, but looking back, I think this might be the first time EVERY nominee for the Best Musical Award is based on a film, hence why and how I took notice of it. Plus, these are films that I am very familiar with, so therefore at least nostalgic for me and my generation.

Nostalgic connections have been running rampant as of late. On June 15 we are getting the long awaited sequel to The Incredibles and in August we're getting a live action Disney film called Christopher Robin, with Jim Cummings voicing Pooh! And not to mention all of the TV and film remakes, revivals, and the live action adaptations of Disney franchises we are getting in the next few years!!

It seems as though Broadway is now using this same formula...

Okay, so let's check out some of the possible debates regarding this:

1) Broadway has officially run out of ideas.

We see this argument everywhere. Anytime Hollywood produces something seemingly dumb, overdone, or most commonly, unnecessary, or remakes something that was once prevalent, it's "Hollywood has officially run out of ideas." Audiences then voice their opinions about wanting to see new stories and leaving the past in the past.

Is Broadway suffering from the same ailment? It sure as heck seems like it, at least this year.

Remember, these aren't in the Best Musical Revival category. These are brand new shows.

2) Why?

I actually have been seeing this argument more than anything. Why do these movies need a staged musical adaptation to begin with? Just leave well enough alone and stop ruining our childhoods, darnit! :P

Though these shows have grown on audiences now, this wasn't always the case from my perspective. The interesting thing is, if banking on nostalgia to sell tickets is what they are going for, it initially wasn't working.

When the conception of these musicals were first announced, people reacted more like "No!" instead of "Yay!" I don't know about you, but I saw more complaints about all three even happening than anything, involving comments asking why these particular films were even chosen. "What's next?? Blah Blah Blah The Musical??"

The funny thing is that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two, which is up for Best Play and is of course associated with the nostalgic Harry Potter series, didn't get the same dread or flack from fans. This play excited them and still does. Maybe it's because it's not a musical but rather a successor, so therefore not necessarily "ruining" anything. Maybe it's simply because it is Harry Potter.

Or maybe people just have something against musicals... Are Broadway musical versions just too corny for our precious nostalgic films?

I clearly don't know a great deal about The Band's Visit, so unfortunately I can't speak on that one as much, but let's talk about the other three.

Well, I guess I understand the issue with Frozen. The most recent of the movies, people were constantly getting tired of this film's hype. It's a musical already, but because it's a Disney movie, it already gets points against it for just following the Disney Broadway musical trend. There were objections urging to "let it go" for awhile so we can miss it and give the spot to another deserving, perhaps less prevailing, Disney film, but nope. The Frozen mania is still alive and well.

People's problems with the Spongebob Squarepants musical are similar, not only against the musical itself, but the television show as well. It is currently one of the longest running animated series of all time, so therefore viewers are starting to consider it stale and lacking the flavor it once had. Like with Frozen, for Spongebob Squarepants it's more like, "Why are they doing THIS now??" and "They're really milking this franchise for all it's worth..."

Sometimes these musicals are somewhat at a disadvantage because they aren't creations being first introduced to us but are instead rather reminiscent (and therefore nostalgic) of their source material. Thus, comparisons are inevitable. This feedback was especially frequent with the Spongebob Squarepants musical. I had some of my own same criticisms as others about that one's portrayals without even seeing it, such as the whole "But they don't look like animals! Spongebob doesn't even look like a SPONGE!" protest. But then my friend Abby, who saw it for her birthday, convinced me otherwise while we were chowing down on Applebee's after suffering through a screening of Downsizing (2017).

Spongebob Squarepants still has the same humor, sound effects, and overall tone of the TV show, with the performers impersonating the characters so well that it raises audiences' suspension of disbelief. This, according to Abby, matters much more. It's just a different take on the show.

If you think about it, this is actually surprisingly an ADVANTAGE to the Spongebob Squarepants musical as well. No one would believe that Ethan Slater is playing a sponge unless we already knew the sponge the character was based on. Otherwise, if Slater was developing this character from scratch without any original source material to fall back on, he's just a giggling guy in a yellow t-shirt and we'd ask, "Why are we supposed to believe that he is an underwater sponge?"

The Mean Girls musical receives the least amount of beef I'd say, because Mean Girls is considered a classic, especially for people my age. It resonates so much with my generation but is still so relevant in today's American society as well (There are always catty women in every generation.) with just enough changes to perhaps make it more current. Also, people just love Tina Fey.

Mean Girls can be considered the most "grown up" of the three too, and we have seen this type of show accomplished before, so why not, I guess? The style resembles Broadway's Legally Blonde the Musical, Bring It On the Musical, and especially even the Off-Broadway Heathers the Musical, all of which were pretty successful and nostalgic in their own right. Taylor Louderman (Regina George) and Barrett Wilbert Weed (Janis Sarkisian) both have experience with these other musicals (Louderman with Legally Blonde and Bring It On as lead character Campbell Davis and Weed with Heathers as lead Veronica Sawyer), so audiences probably trust them more to do a good job with this one. Also, unlike the others, we haven't really been seeing Mean Girls everywhere throughout the years to the point where now seeing a musical version of it would bother us. This is the only one of the four that never had musical numbers before, so this is a new path for the story altogether.

Producing these shows in innovative ways gives them new structure instead of just copying the original movies. Theater is always going to be a different medium from film anyway. The musicals have the same tones to draw us in but they also offer something fresh.

The only musical that doesn't do this for me much is Frozen. Aside from a few new songs and some diverse casting, it doesn't really seem that much different from the movie. But there is also the criticism that the actresses playing Elsa and Anna, Caissie Levy and Patti Murin, don't look age appropriate for their characters. (Then again, I've seen this complaint for Mean Girls as well...) Otherwise, the approach looks pretty exact, down to the color schemes and costume design.

BUT, why SHOULD everything change just because it's onstage instead of onscreen? There are probably audiences that would prefer not many alterations anyway too so that they can connect the musicals to the films that much easier. I don't mind it. However, I will say that I love Janis's hairstyle in the Mean Girls musical much more than in the film.

Like I said, constant comparisons. But that's not really a bad thing.

However, this all being said, with these shows now moving onto performances and music distributions, more people seem to be jumping on board the nostalgic Broadway musical train. The shows are gauging plenty of approval now, and hey, they're now all up for Tony Awards. Maybe nostalgia does have something to do with it in a positive way.

The only thing is that none of them are really groundbreaking like the past couple of Best Musical Award winners Hamilton (2016) and Dear Evan Hanson (2017), which is seemingly a requirement to obtain this particular achievement. Instead, these are all just feel good, fun musicals that reinvent well known characters and stories. But maybe that's okay. My friends are pleased with them, stating that as long as they are good musicals, they deserve this acknowledgment.

Regardless of this blog post, I'm not complaining myself here. I would love to see all of them. This is just a trend that I felt was worth discussing. I'm excited to even write this because I feel so qualified enough to do so, partially because I am indeed very knowledgeable about the initial films.

By the way, isn't it cool how they are all kinda color coded? Mean Girls, Frozen, Spongebob Squarepants, The Band's Visit.

As for my Tony Award predictions, I think Spongebob Squarepants is actually going to be the one to take the trophy home considering how uniquely they reimagine the cartoon and it has been a family favorite of many for years. Mean Girls is my close second choice, Frozen is "meh" to me in regards to winning everything, and unfortunately, The Band's Visit doesn't stand a chance simply because I never really hear about that one as much, which is interesting because I am now seeing that it is up for 11 nominations as opposed to Frozen's three.

What do you think?

The New York Times Reviews:

'Spongebob Squarepants'

'Mean Girls'

'Frozen'

'The Band's Visit'

The 2018 Tony Awards airs on Sunday, June 10 at 8/7c EDT on CBS.

I'm Extremely Heartbroken and Angry Over "Digimon Adventure Tri." and Now I'm Here to Complain About It.

(I have since calmed down a bit about the following, but I am still disappointed and not pleased. Here are my thoughts about this that I have been working on throughout the month of April.)

I would normally say beware of spoilers if you haven't watched or heard about what happened in this, but frankly I am so annoyed about it that I don't even care.

But seriously though, I guess beware of spoilers here.

There's a lot to not like about this series, but this is the part that hit me the most. I felt the need to write this because I feel alone in my misery.

I can't believe I want to cry over an anime. That is so not me. But hey, it's "Digimon".

Before "So You Think You Can Dance" took over as my television obsession when I was 16, there was "Digimon".

"Digimon Adventure" was an anime that eventually came out as an English dub in America in 1999, so this was my thing during my late childhood, early preteen years. I was about 10 years old, let's say. I talked about this a bit when detailing my childhood friendships.

This show has gone through many incarnations, but my favorite will always be the absolute first season (aka the only season that really matters) with the original eight DigiDestined, Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, T.K., and Kari. Given that I was their age when the show came out, it's like I grew up with them. As I age, they age, so that's pretty cool. This is unique to "Digimon" because it's very rare to watch animated characters age through time. I had a lot of "Digimon" merchandise regarding these characters growing up and the show influenced a lot of my creativity that I still have today. For example, I too tend to create large ensembles of characters with my own writing. :P

I'm actually surprised that I haven't blogged about this show more. I plan on sharing some more "Digimon" material on here in the future. :)

"In The Vault" Season One Finale Recap Thoughts

A week ago today was the Season One finale of go90's "In the Vault". I had a lot of fun watching this series every Wednesday and am looking forward to more from Ben Epstein, the show's creator and writer.

Now you don't have to wait weekly like I did to watch each new episode. Here is the link to the series in its entirety. Happy binge-watching! :D

Okay so now that the season is over, I am going to go back and give my opinions about each character, considering that each of them had his or her own episode.

I'm including spoilers in this, so be careful when reading! 

I'M SERIOUS!!! DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED!

Okay! Let's go! :)

When is it Appropriate to Cheer During a Live Performance?

A few years ago I went with my friend Lauren and her family to see 'Jersey Boys' on Broadway. I blogged about this before.

One of the plot points was that Frankie Valli had written a song about his wife, but no one liked it to the point where it almost never existed. Finally the guy playing Valli began singing said song, and it turned out to be "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You". As soon as he breathed the initial line, the audience started cheering.

Lauren turned to me and whispered, "Why are they all cheering? They are supposed to be quiet." She was insinuating that because it was theater, us audience members were supposed to be quiet and respect the performance.

I usually agree. I'm against talking a great deal during a performance, of course, but I wanted to explain that people were reacting to one of the Four Seasons' greatest hits, thus it was appropriate.

I remembered that above story after something that came to my attention more recently.

This past summer SYTYCD produced its 14th season. In one of the episodes, four of the dancers (Kiki Nyemchek, Koine Iwasaki, Mark Villaver, and Taylor Sieve) performed a contemporary piece about diversity and standing up against hate, choreographed by Sean Cheesman.

It's a beautiful piece and obviously one that is much needed nowadays. They performed it to Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise," as recited by Alexis Henry. So therefore, they performed a dance not to music, but a poem. I was spellbound watching it, and I tried to envision how I would react to such a piece live. I felt that I would be so entranced by it, as if I was consumed by it as an experience, temporarily forgetting that it was a performance I was witnessing.

However, there is one problem I have with it.

People would NOT stop cheering.

I wanted to listen to the poem as it complemented their movements, but all of the audible reactions just reminded me that it was a routine executed by competing dancers with the audience applauding the impressive motions and positions that told the story. I found the cheers distracting and felt that they took away from the experience and the piece itself.

In fact, I felt so strongly about this that I made a comment on YouTube about it:

The screaming ruined this one. This piece is beautiful and is one of those art forms that just needs to be witnessed without interrupting cheering in the background.

And then I even took it upon myself to tweet my feelings:

The audience cheering is not necessary. This deserved to be just experienced for the art that it is. #SYTYCD https://t.co/pm7LGj39sg

— Stef Sears (@MissStefSears) September 17, 2017

However, this is where it gets interesting. A Twitter friend of mine and fellow SYTYCD fan Michelle Waxman, who was actually in the live studio audience for this performance, responded to my tweet with a different opinion. Our conversation is as follows:

Michelle:
I disagree. Especially being there in person. They tell you to cheer if you like something. See something so beautiful like this had the crowd go absolutely nuts. It was life changing.

Me:
I can see your point. :) For me I just find the cheering distracting from the piece. Cheering is appropriate depending on the dance. You do bring up a good point about being so moved and reacting as such. For me, watching it made me speechless, so a different reaction. This one feels like you need to quietly be immersed in it as an experience to get the full effect. I really like your counter though. :)

Lol you're kinda making me reconsider my argument now. Lol

Michelle:
Lol well just being there makes it so different than watching through a tv screen

Me:

See I would think being there would make you feel more entranced, hence not likely to cheer.

Michelle:

It's hard to explain!

I had a difficult time explaining my point as well. Even though I still stand by my own argument, I began to see Michelle's side. I personally believe that there is a time and place for such constant cheering, like a lively hip hop performance. However, people have the right to react to an art form that moves them in any way they like, just like that 'Jersey Boys' audience that one 2011 afternoon. And who knows? Maybe there will be moments when I may respond certain ways to certain things that move me as well. Plus, time and time again I often hear how audience reactions encourages the performing dancers. 

So what side do you take in this argument? Does appropriate cheering depend on what type of live performance it is, or does it not matter?

In fact, you know what? If any of you reading this plan on attending the tour this year and this routine is a part of the lineup, which I see it is based on a tour video I saw, tell me how you reacted to it live and why. :)

You Have to Check Out go90's "In the Vault"! :D

Let's talk about go90's new 8 episode series "In the Vault", starring "So You Think You Can Dance" (SYTYCD) star Paul Karmiryan.

A bit about Paul. Paul is a Top 10 finalist from Season 10 of SYTYCD. I met him at the Season 10 Live Tour at the Pine Belt Arena in Tom's River, New Jersey. He's a down to earth guy and I still follow his career. Although he is still heavily involved with SYTYCD as an All-Star, he is also embarking on an acting career. He has been featured in (and written) various skits on YouTube and was recently seen in the Hallmark film The Stalker Club (2017). "In the Vault" is his latest project that premiered on go90 on September 13, 2017.

So, if you liked Ryan Murphy's "Scream Queens" on FOX and you miss it, you're going to love "In the Vault" to fill that void.

Like "Scream Queens", the first season is a murder mystery that takes place during the main character's first semester her freshman year of college on a fictional college campus. We meet Liv Steele, played by Claudia Lee, who also provides the voiceover narration, a storytelling technique reminiscent of "Scream Queens". A previous bad girl, she wants to use college as an opportunity to reinvent herself and leave her past behind her. A "Reformed Queen Bee" (according to IMDb), if you will. I really appreciate how good-natured her character is. She lives on the same floor of her residence hall called "The Vault" (hence the title) at Woodlawn College as the rest of the students who make up our colorful cast of characters. She meets her straight edge Russian roommate Jane Sidorova (Audrey Whitby), the overachieving Denise Parlsey (Sadie Schwolsky) whose whole thing is that she eats, breathes, and sleeps studying, the jock Evin Watson (Caleb Castille), the accented but unpleasant womanizer Omid Ayman (Karmiryan), the former movie star and apparent heartthrob Taylor Price (Timothy Granaderos) with whom Liv of course starts a sexual, social media relationship, Taylor's strange and creepy roommate Karlis Kehoe (Taylor Gray) who so far just films everybody all the time, and Evin's roommate Chris Rummel (Jac Bernhard), the...ahem...Christian.

For some reason people assume that because we are Christians, we don't drink. One of my favorite lines and biggest laughs from the first episode is when all of the characters go to a party and Omid literally duct tapes liquor bottles to Chris's hands to get him to drink and Chris says something like "I don't/can't drink. I'm a Christian." to which Omid responds, "And I'm Muslim. What's you point?"

It's hilarious to me knowing how kind Paul is in real life and seeing him play such jerks. lol

It's also nice to see a religious Christian/Muslim joke actually work in this day and age.

Then we are introduced to the final member of the cast, Denise's social justice warrior roommate Valentina Velez (Julia Kelly) who definitely keeps this story current and relevant. She has some sort of an unrevealed past with Liv, therefore causing friction between the two.

So the way this show works is that each episode is dedicated to one of the characters, the first being Liv. At the end of Liv's episode, someone dies. Now everyone is a suspect because each of them seems to have a motive to kill said victim and we get to see the story from every one of their points of view until we determine the true culprit.

Here is the official description:
One month into college, a freshman dies – suicide or murder? Everyone on the dorm hall suspects one another of foul play. Each week spotlights a different character, so a hero one week is a villain the next.

For some reason, suicide is a suggested result even though right now I don't see why that is.

As you can see, it is way similar to the first season of "Scream Queens" in terms of plot, setting, eccentric characters, humor, and quotable lines, as well as to how it is shot with accompanying sinister background music. However, it is not as juvenile as "Scream Queens". "In the Vault" uses more adult language (f bombs), and although both have their share of dirty jokes and intriguing word usage, the students in "In the Vault" come across more normal as opposed to the over the top, flamboyant Chanels of "Scream Queens". Also, I think for "In the Vault" we only investigate the one death, whereas "Scream Queens" was a parody about slasher films.

One thing that is kind of lost on me is Liv suggesting that Jane has a crush on Taylor. I personally don't really see any truth to that, unless the facial expression Jane gives when Liv steals Taylor away from their invigorating game of hackysack for an intense night of sexiling is any indication. Perhaps we'll get more insight in the next episode, which is dedicated to Jane, premiering September 20. :)

The beauty about go90 is that it is a free web live streaming service with no intrusive ads or subscription needed! It's awesome! :D

Here is the trailer.

And here is the first episode. 

"In the Vault" uploads a new episode every Wednesday. It's a typical murder mystery, so if you're into that, I highly recommend you check it out! :D

Are Pirates the New Hot Bad Boys of Fictional Romance?

This blog post is a long time coming because this really needs to be discussed.

Let's talk about Captain Hook. You know, the bad guy from Peter Pan. He has gotten quite a few makeovers throughout the years and I am here writing about them because it is a phenomenon that never seems to get the acknowledgment it deserves.

First I will provide examples, and then follow up with my argument.

J.M. Barrie created Captain Hook as an adversary to his titular character Peter Pan. Most children, myself included, were first introduced to him through the 1953 animated Disney film, Peter Pan.

Here he is wearing the iconic red swashbuckler outfit and of course, the famed hook. This look will be the basis of the character's overall style and is the one most associated with him.

"Scream Queens" Cancellation: My Thoughts and a Brief Review of the Two-Season Series Overall

"Scream Queens" has literally been cancelled for a month now (announced May 15) and I'm just finding out now. lol Last night I tweeted another girl about the show when she tweeted about binge-watching it only to wake up this morning to her response tweet telling me that it has been cancelled. I looked it up and lo and behold found articles about it.

I've been looking it up on and off to see if it had been been renewed, so I'm surprised that I missed this news. This entire time since the Season 2 finale I had been indifferent to whether or not it would be renewed and had planned to be fine with either outcome. The following is why.

I figure that I'd blog about my feelings about this considering how I've dedicated blog posts to it before. This is the first time that a TV show I followed has been straight up cancelled as opposed to simply ending after a lengthy run, like creator Ryan Murphy's other creation, "Glee."

Okay so here are my thoughts.

Murphy says that they told their story, and I agree with him. It ended in a way that was complete, so I wasn't really foreseeing any continuation. There was nothing about the Season 2 finale that told me that any more needed to be said. It's also telling when the main cast starts to move onto other projects that the end is near. The lead female characters all have successful careers and Lea Michele's character, Hester Ulrich (I literally forgot her name. I had to look it up.), the main antagonist of the series, actually ends up scot-free in a relationship with Dr. Brock Holt (John Stamos).

The only thing that threw me was the cliffhanger ending when Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) encountered a Kappa Kappa Tau logo and the Season 1 Red Devil once again in her car, which opened up an opportunity for a third season. It ended much like the Season 1 finale, after all.

But, there isn't a true reason for one. Most of the main characters have died, including fan favorite Chad Radwell (Glen Powell). Some fans, including myself, speculated that maybe Grace Gardner (Skyler Samuels) would return for Season 3 for revenge, considering that she is also still alive and living in an insane asylum, but I guess that isn't coming to pass.

The fact that I had to look up most of these characters and actors' names and forgot that Denise Hemphill (Niecy Nash) survived the series tells me that maybe this show wasn't as memorable as I remembered.

The true stars were clearly the Chanels (which I'm now kinda realizing and understanding how it was a parody of "Heathers"! lol!), particularly Roberts, and Chanel #3 (Billie Lourd) and Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin).

You know, Season 2 wasn't nearly as interesting as Season 1, and unfortunately plenty of fans felt this way, which probably led to its demise. It lacked the ratings. This is probably because Season 1 was a fresh, new concept and the audience didn't know what to expect, whereas for Season 2, you kinda had an idea. I tuned in, but not as much. What really aggravated me about Season 2 was how early on they revealed the faces behind the Green Meanie, thus making the finale anticlimactic. Once they disclosed to the audience who the three Green Meanies were and all that was left was for the characters to find out, I lost interest. Even Chanel's relationship with Dr. Brock was cringeworthy. I mean, I know Chanel is supposed to be an adult, but it was still so weird for me. She's a girl in her twenties competing with a middle aged woman, Dean Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis - I remembered her full name at least!), for a middle aged man's affections (even though, now that I recall, Brock was either younger or older than he appeared, which made him a suspect, or not...See how much I've forgotten about this show??!). I know this was the comedy, and it was unique to say the least, but still...weird, even for "Scream Queens" standards I guess. I also wish they gave Chanel #5 a romantic happy ending. I was getting sick of her being a constant punching bag so I'm actually very pleased with her outcome of finding her purpose working at the hospital with Zayday Williams (Keke Palmer - remembered her too!) and finally away from the two bitches she called friends.

In fact, the only good thing to come out of Season 2 is Billie Lourd and Taylor Lautner's (who played Dr. Cassidy Cascade - I remembered!) real life relationship, which is still going strong!

So, a Season 3 would have been fun and a good number of seasons to flesh out the rest of the series, but definitely not necessary. You don't want to drag something out to a point where the entire series as a whole becomes despicable and you run out of ideas, somewhat like how "Glee" got stale towards the end. But yet that show was regarded very successful and had a very heartwarming series finale. "Scream Queens" has ended on a not high, not bad, but mediocre note.

It normally upsets viewers when a beloved TV show is cancelled after a season ends on a cliffhanger, but for "Scream Queens," it is actually pretty appropriate given the show's theme, and I'm satisfied with the run.

So long, "Screams Queens"! It has been a crazy ride! :)

I Got Quoted for a Buzzfeed Article!!! :D

One of my goals achieved! lol!

They originally asked the Buzzfeed Community "Which Show From Your Childhood Do You Wish Was Never Cancelled?"

I contributed "The Puzzle Place" in the comments and they chose mine!! ​I wasn't sure if they were going to choose my contribution or not, but I really wanted them to and purposely commented to be included. I never really submit comments to Buzzfeed for this intention, but this time I tried it out. It was too perfect of an opportunity. I even carefully crafted my comment to be presentable and especially well written if chosen. Haha! I was thinking maybe they would use mine because it's unique and I provided an explanation.

I make it a habit to deactivate my Facebook account but purposely stayed active until the article was published so that my comment would remain live and I wanted to use my main account for the submission! lol I was determined. I didn't want to take any chances. However, I ended up deactivating my Facebook a bit more again recently because I felt like it (I am way more productive and peaceful when I am not on social media) and was thinking that if they were going to use it, they probably had seen it already anyway or maybe didn't see or maybe decided not use it. lol I was like, "No big deal if they don't."

But tonight when I got home I visited Buzzfeed, as I do, I saw that they had finally posted the article. So I clicked on it and scrolled, wondering if I was going to see my contribution.

I came across "The Puzzle Place" addition, wondered if it was mine (Could it be??), AND IT WAS!

This is so cool! I'm so excited!!!

I may be going a little bit too enthusiastic about this, but it's pretty interesting to see myself and my opinions in a Buzzfeed Community article on a site I consistently visit. I appreciate their nostalgic posts. :) Some of the comments even say that they are glad that someone (me) remembered "The Puzzle Place". :)

You can check out the full article here. It's a list of "25 Shows From Your Childhood That Should’ve Had At LEAST One More Season".

It's a nice list with plenty of great old kids shows acknowledged on there. Number 8 is my personal favorite though. ;)

8 is actually one of my favorites numbers, so I love that about this experience too. lol

If I'm this excited being quoted in a Buzzfeed article, imagine how psyched I am going to be when I'm published in even greater forums. Looking forward to that. ;)

If "Glee" Dedicated an Episode to "Hamilton"

Lately, earlier this month, I have been watching a lot of "Glee" clips that have recently surfaced on YouTube and it got me thinking. The final episode of "Glee" aired on March 20, 2015 and "Hamilton: An American Musical" began previews on July 13, 2015 and debuted on Broadway on August 6, 2015. I am 100% confident that if "Glee" lasted just a little bit longer, they would have definitely covered songs from "Hamilton" given how popular that musical is and how "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy's new show "Scream Queens" keeps referencing it in its current second season. Plus, they've covered songs from other musicals before.

Thinking about this, they could probably dedicate a whole season or even the whole series to the music from "Hamilton" because the songs could cover a lot of what happens in the storylines. The only thing that is throwing me is context. Usually "Glee" incorporated songs into episodes that were relevant to the theme of the episode's plot and "Hamilton" discusses a lot of politics and history, which isn't usually involved in the TV show. However, I am going to try to cast as much of the songs from "Hamilton" as I see fit, such as which songs would work well in which "Glee" situation. Also, what's not to say that the "Glee" writers wouldn't have changed up some of the lyrics to make sense in context? We also have to keep in mind that "Glee" tended to shorten songs for timing purposes. I am also going to include the Finn Hudson character.

So here is what would happen if "Glee" had a "Hamilton" music themed episode. We could also say that this is the weekly assignment Will gives them. Let's say that maybe he asks them to look back at their time in glee club and instructs them to chose a song from "Hamilton" that represents their feelings during that period.

Oddly specific, but yeah.

What's funny about this too is that a "Hamilton" episode would require Will to rap a lot, which was a running gag on the show.

So here is a brief rundown of the episode "Glee-milton".

My Top 20 Favorite "Arthur" Episodes to Celebrate 20 Years!

Credit: BBC

OMG, YOU GUYS!!! Did you hear??? "Arthur" is celebrating 20 years on the air and had its 20th season premiere on October 10, which makes this a perfect opportunity for my October 2016 blog post!!! Oh, what a wonderful kind of day! :D

My favorite TV show is a cartoon kids' show. I am 25 years old. LOL! I still drop everything and fangirl every time it comes on.

"Arthur" is a very innovative cartoon that premiered in 1996 based on children's books by Marc Brown about an anthropomorphic aardvark third grader named Arthur Read and his family and friends. The show is the second longest running animated show on TV, the first being "The Simpsons", (Added 11/13/16 At 3:30 AM.) the second longest running show on PBS Kids, the first being "Sesame Street" (End addition.), and the longest running children's animated show in the United States.

Take THAT, Spongebob! :P

I've always wanted to write a blog post about "Arthur" episodes, so I decided to go back down memory lane and talk about some of my favorites to celebrate the milestone. Now, this isn't going to be a countdown and a list of EVERY single one of my favorites in a particular order because there are WAY too many to sift through, but I will include my favorite episode of all time at the end. :) This will be a list of some of the show's most memorable moments for me that have influenced my development as a person or represent a certain aspect of myself.

I had to do some research and also search depths of my mind for some episodes that have stuck with me through life. This was totally difficult to narrow down, because the more I think about it the more I remember episodes that I feel deserve a spot on my list. As I was reaching back into my memories and looking up episodes, I remembered many episodes that I have enjoyed, some I have even forgotten until now, although too many for a blog post. These are the ones that have made the cut, at least for this discussion piece. This was actually one of my most fun times I've ever had researching for and writing a blog post. So much nostalgia! Enjoy, friends and fellow "Arthur" fans! :D

Also, spoilers ahead!

The Top 5 Most Iconic "Arthur" Episodes of All Time! + Two Specials

In honor of its 20th season premiere, I am currently writing a blog post about my favorite "Arthur" episodes of all time. As I am doing my research for that one, I also remembered plenty of episodes early on in the series that were especially unique and iconic for the series. When you think of "Arthur", you automatically think of these installments. I can't write a blog post honoring my favorite "Arthur" episodes without mentioning these guys, so here are some honorable mentions:

Some spoilers ahead!

My Theory for the Third Red Devil's Identity is...

My blog posts have really been "Scream Queens" themed lately, haven't they? lol

Okay so we already know that the two other Red Devils are Gigi and Boone, may he rest in peace. I've been muffling around in my head who the possible third Red Devil is the entire season, and I think I finally figured it out.

Let me let you in on my other possibility before I reveal my one true suspect. The Red Devil could very well be Chanel #3 for the mere fact that we're yet to see her get attacked by a Red Devil. It would also make sense for Sam to suspect her considering that heart to heart that they had. We also don't know her real name like we do with the other Chanels, so perhaps it would give her away. A lot of people seem to think that the third Red Devil is her. I still somewhat suspect Grace too because I think it would be a great twist that the one girl we've been following investigating these murders draw attention away from herself and turn out to be the perpetrator all along.

However, I believe that I finally figured it out. I finally figured out who the Red Devil is.

The Red Devil is none other than...

Character Equivalents: A Look at Ryan Murphy's "Scream Queens" and "Glee"

I love "Scream Queens". :D

How fitting that my October blog post is about "Scream Queens", which is a new anthology series whose first season is about the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority of Wallace University being terrorized by the school's Red Devil mascot that keeps murdering a character or two every week.

It's so stupid and corny, but at the same time I love the show for that reason. It's the point of the show, parodying '80s and '90s slasher films. I also love mysteries and twists, and this show provides them. Every episode provides new clues to help us viewers figure out the Red Devil's identity. It's my new favorite show. I look forward to it every Tuesday night on FOX. I was looking forward to it since I first heard about it.

The more I watch it, the more I realize that it is EXACTLY like "Glee", which makes sense because it has the same creators: Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan. It's literally the same humor with the same plot with the same characters. It's the same exact show! The only difference is that they replaced musical numbers with bloody murders. It seems to me that Murphy might be having some "Glee" withdrawals.

It's funny because "Glee" used to be the only primetime dramedy show I watched. The TV I normally usually watch is dance competition shows. I guess I just really like Ryan Murphy's stuff. I don't appreciate gore at all but for some reason the gore in this show isn't as severe or it just doesn't bother me much. I think the humor balances it out.

Do you ever notice that certain TV shows or movies tend to have the same character lineup, as if each show needs the same character structure? I do, so therefore "Character Equivalents" is now a new "Taking it One 'Stef' at a Time" series. :)

Comparing and contrasting "Scream Queens" and "Glee" is our first installment. I'm going to prove to you that this is the same exact show. Given that the shows have the same creators, the similarities are a bit understandable.

Yep. This is going to be one of my long analytical essays. I know you've missed them. ;)

10 Years and 20 Seasons Later - How I Learned to Finally Appreciate "Dancing with the Stars"

The 20th season of "Dancing with Stars" came to end on May 19, 2015 (Teddy's birthday!) with #TeamValenRue, Rumer Willis and Valentin Chmerkovskiy, as the Mirror Ball Trophy victors. #TeamRallison, Riker Lynch and Allison Holker, came in second place and #TeamShway, Noah Galloway and Sharna Burgess, came in third.

ABC

This was the first time I watched a whole season of DWTS from beginning to end, dedicated to it and making a point to tune in each week, so now I want to write about it. :) These are my reflections. I have a lot to say, so hang in there.

Real Influential Women Role Models (Real and Fictitious) - Fictional Woman of the Week: The Women from "Reba" (2001-2007)

The final installment of my series this year is the Texas sitcom "Reba", starring country singer Reba McEntire as title character Reba Hart. Like I said, this show is a little too good to be true, and I'll explain why.

The show's main focus is the foundation of family and getting through life's obstacles as a unit. However, the real concept is questioning the true definition of family. The series opens up with Reba and her family at a court-ordered family counseling session. She is separated from her dentist ex-husband Brock (Christopher Rich) and they are trying to solve their marital problems and custody battles. It is revealed in this opening scene that Brock has to marry his dental hygienist Barbra Jean (Melissa Peterman) because she is pregnant, and that their high school senior drill team daughter, Cheyenne (JoAnna Garcia), is pregnant as well with her star football player boyfriend Van Montgomery's (Steve Howey) child. These are the plot points that set off the fireworks for the rest of the series. Reba and Brock also have two other children: the cynical Kyra (Scarlett Pomers) and the innocent, youngest Jake (Mitch Holleman).

Reba Hart (nee McKinney) (McEntire) is literally the mom of the group. When Van's parents disown him due to the pregnancy, Reba takes him in. Reba eventually has a full house minus Brock, which includes baby Elizabeth when she is born during the Season 1 finale. Right away you know that she is a good mother and genuinely cares about others. Though being a stay at home mom seems to be her main role, she is also seen working as a secretary for Brock's dentist rival and eventually goes into the real estate business with Van.

But of course, this full house also means that the other woman, Barbra Jean, feels entitled to show up unannounced at any time. She calls Reba her best friend, leaving Reba nauseous at the very thought. The conflict between these two is the true heart (Haha, Hart/heart) of the show, but it usually is more lighthearted and comical as opposed to serious, angry female rivalries. They are a typical duo with Reba as the short deadpan snarker and Barbra Jean as the tall goofy one.

But see, that's the thing. Though Reba clearly shows her dislike for Barbra Jean, she sucks it up and tolerates her, but while often insulting her to her face and wanting absolutely nothing to do with her. Very rarely would a jilted wife in real life put up with the other woman's antics let alone even deal with her in a civilized manner. There are even times when she is the mediator between Barbra Jean and Brock when they go through a rough patch. What ex-wife would do this? This is probably why Barbra Jean misreads Reba's good nature.

However, Reba isn't perfect herself. A lot of times she has a lot of pride and thinks she knows what's best for everyone but she ends up having to eat her words. It especially pains her when she has to apologize to Barbra Jean or get her approval on things, particularly in my favorite episode "Date of Mirth" when Barbra Jean has a crush on her marriage counselor and Cheyenne and Van convince Reba to get permission from Barbra Jean to date him, and in the episode "Parenting with Puppets" when Reba is convinced that Barbra Jean's parenting tactics are incorrect, leading her to mistakenly blame Barbra Jean and Brock's son Henry for breaking a lamp.

But then again, Barbra Jean "BJ" Hart (nee Booker) (Peterman) using puppets as a parenting technique is pretty juvenile. But that is her nature. The reason why Reba can't stand her, other than the fact that she stole her husband, of course, is her immaturity and over the top personality. She often has these cutesy or crazy ideas with which Reba originally wants no involvement. However, Reba is eventually roped into Barbra Jean's schemes, such as when she takes Reba to see her marriage counselor to explain her crush issue in "Date of Mirth". Other examples are the time they diet together with Cheyenne in "Have Your Cake" and when she and Reba go out man hunting during Barbara Jean's separation from Brock, an activity that Reba surprisingly finds herself enjoying, in "The Two Girl Theory", two of my other favorite episodes.

Barbra Jean may be a pest, but she is also caring and a sweetheart. She is often the one to bring up the Lord or pray in the middle of a scene, though often dramatically. When I watch "Reba" episodes, I see people criticize Barbra Jean in the comments for this reason, saying that she is a phony praying and calling herself a Christian, yet getting pregnant by someone else's husband. Now is my chance to defend her.

Even though Barbra Jean may not realize that some of her words and actions done in innocence may aggravate Reba, she does recognize that she is a sinner. She feels a lot of guilt for what she did to her. She states this every so often, particularly in "The Ghost and Mrs. Hart" where she thinks that ghosts are haunting her because of the wrong she did to her "best friend." Perhaps Barbra Jean tries to forge a friendship with Reba to amend her wrongdoings. Does nobody think that maybe Barbra Jean is turning to Christianity because of the wrong she has done and is trying to make peace with God? For some reason, people seem to have this misconception that we Christians think we are perfect and preach it but don't act it. That couldn't be farther from the truth. As Christians we acknowledge that we are flawed and Barbra Jean is a fictional character that also does this.

Another person who acknowledges the error of her ways is Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery (Garcia), the pregnant teenager of this series. Like with Nikki Parker and Maya Wilkes, we see Cheyenne live with the aftermath of her actions, such as watching her juggle student life and motherhood, but unlike them, we watch her go through the actual pregnancy as well. During the first season, Cheyenne endures a lot of ostracizing and ridicule for her position, along with the fears of having to grow up too fast and put any of her aspirations on hold. Towards the end of Season 4 and into Season 5, she develops an alcohol problem to cope.

Notice too that all three teenage mothers in my series this year keep their babies and raise them. I find this interesting because no other option seems to be considered.

Though she is vain and ditzy, Cheyenne actually has a heart of gold. In "The King and I" it is suggested that she was kind to the nerdy kids in high school, she volunteers, and she's a very good mother to Elizabeth. Her partner-in-crime husband Van pretty much fits this description as well.

But the thing about Van is that his willingness to commit himself to Cheyenne is very unrealistic, just as unrealistic as Reba's strange relationship with Barbra Jean. I had this issue with the show when I first watched it too. In many cases, never is there the guy who impregnates a woman going to be the type of man Van is. Perhaps the show wanted to create a character like this to encourage deadbeat dads to stand up to the plate, but it also gives false pretenses to young women that guys are going to be like Van, when the sad reality is that they are more likely not. In the first episode of the series, he is willing to marry Cheyenne and the marriage lasts throughout the series even though oftentimes the two bicker about things and face bumps in the road. Regardless, they never separate like Brock and Reba and eventually Brock and Barbra Jean. Unlike the previous generation, Cheyenne and Van have a very successful partnership. Interestingly, Cheyenne is portrayed to anticipate and enjoy sex more than Van, so that is different.

Finally there is Kyra Hart (Pomers), who can basically be considered a sub-character, often involved in the sub-plots earlier in the series but receiving a bigger role as the story goes on. She is the smart sarcastic kid who is your typical middle child - often forgotten. Well, at least she feels this way. Towards the end of Season 2 and into Season 3, Kyra moves in with her father and Barbra Jean, feeling like there is no place for her in the filled Reba household. She is the rebellious one who often masks her feelings and makes fun of the stupidity of others, specifically that of Van, Cheyenne, and Barbra Jean.

Although she may come across as an antagonist, often stirring up conflicts to her advantage, there are moments when she softens her heart (Haha. Hart/heart again :P). A shining moment for her is in the episode "Mother's Intuition". In this episode, Kyra keeps canceling dinner plans with Reba and it is revealed at the end that the reason for this is that she needs to stay home to keep Barbra Jean, who is depressed because Brock has moved out, active in life. In the final scene Barbra Jean lacks motivation to go to the park with Kyra and Henry, but Kyra persuades her to get off the couch and join them, much to Barbra Jean's appreciation. What's nice about this is just that. We actually see a nice side to Kyra, and that is rare. She has a strong mean streak to her, especially towards Barbra Jean. It shows that she genuinely cares about her stepmother and has warmed up to her. It also shows that it is not impossible for Kyra to be kind. Kyra is also the one who usually reluctantly, yet willingly, takes part in Barbra Jean's shenanigans.

At the end of the series, Kyra begins to focus on music and has a band.

"Reba" was cancelled a bit suddenly as well, but at least this series has a decent finale that wraps everything up. During the final scene, everything is hunky dory. Cheyenne and Van are getting on their feet, Barbra Jean decides to not leave Texas for work so she could work out things with Brock, and Reba actually ends up finally calling Barbra Jean her best friend. Then Reba delivers the following monologue:

"I'm just so happy that all of our lives worked out...Six years ago I thought I was cursed. Turns out that I'm blessed. Blessed to be in the middle of the craziest, most dysfunctional, WONDERFUL life I could imagine. And I love all of you."

This gets Van all choked up and he suggests that they take a group photo to capture the moment (but really, the only reason why this is done is to mirror this same event that takes place in the closing scene of very first episode). Then Reba delivers the following line as an homage to the show's theme song "I'm a Survivor", sung by McEntire herself:

"We got through it all. Because we're survivors."

This ends the series with the picture being taken, accompanied by the song playing and audience applause in the background, and a final montage of scenes from the show.

I'm not sure if I like this series finale much either, so therefore I don't like any of the series finales on this list. lol :P

To me, everything ends too perfectly. I know that they were probably going for a happy ending, but this final scene insinuates that because the show is over, their lives are essentially over and they will never have any more problems because they "got through it all." It's as if because it was the series finale, it had to be entirely conclusive with everything tied in a precious bow.

But then again, the whole show is like that, so you have to take it for what it is. It has its serious moments, sure, but ultimately it's a sweet show about family and crazy family members and experiences. Perhaps instead of emulating everyday life, "Reba" is there to give us hope of what life could be and that it's possible that we all can have a positive outcome.

Well, that is all for this year's "Fictional Woman of the Week"! I hope you enjoyed this spin on it! Happy Women's History Month, everyone! We'll see what I'll cook up next year! :D