To know someone, it helps to know who they were as a child and the experiences of their early years.
Young Sheldon (2017-Present) is the prequel to The Big Bang Theory. The show stars Ian Armitage as the young Sheldon Cooper (played by Jim Parsons as an adult). Though he is educationally smarter than other kids his age, he lacks the social skills that would allow him to easily spend time with his peers.
I’ve sat through at least one episode of this program. After thirty minutes, I knew that I would never watch it again. After five years, there is obviously enough of an audience to keep it on the air. But I am not among them. I find Sheldon to be obnoxious and a turnoff.
Of the hundreds of television pilots that are filmed every year, only a few are given a season to develop. Even fewer last well beyond the first thirteen episodes they are granted by the network.
The Big Bang Theory aired from 2007-2019. The narrative of the show followed the relationships between pretty girl Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and her nerdy neighbors, Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons).
I’ve seen enough of this show to know that I didn’t get it. There was obviously enough people watching for it to last as long as it did. But it was not one of those television shows that I would say that I watched with any amount of regularity.
Hollywood is full of dreamers. It is also full of racists, homophones, misogynists and bullshitters.
The new Netflix series, Hollywood, is set, in well, Hollywood. Then, as is now, seeing one’s name in lights is the dream of many. But that does not always mean that those dreams will become reality.
Jack Costello (David Corenswet) is tall glass of water from the Midwest with optimism and no acting experience. Needing to support his pregnant wife, Jack takes a job working for Ernie (Dylan McDermott). Ernie runs a gas station that “services” their client’s needs. Jack’s first client is Avis Amberg (Patti LuPone), a former actress and the wife of a studio head who is looking for “company”.
Raymond Ainsley (Darren Criss) and Camille Washington (Laura Harrier) are both looking for their big breaks. Raymond is a director and Camille is a contract player. Though their relationship is perfect from inside, both are aware of the racial pressures the moment they walk out the door.
Archie Coleman (Jeremy Pope) has two strikes against him: he is black and gay. He is also a screenwriter with a completed biopic of Peg Entwistle. Hired by Ernie on Jack’s recommendation, one of his customers is Roy Fitzgerald (Jake Picking) aka the future Rock Hudson. Their relationship quickly expands beyond the professional realm.
Roy, newly christened Rock has been taken under the wing of powerful agent Henry Willson (an unrecognizable Jim Parsons). Before Henry can introduce his client to the power players, he requires a down payment via his own version of the casting couch.
Claire Wood (Samara Weaving) is another young actress who under contract. Though she has extremely close connections to those who can make her career, she wants to do it on her own terms.
I loved this series. I loved that it showed what could be in terms of representation without hitting the audience over the head. I also loved it it righted the wrongs of the past. Anna May Wong (Michelle Krusiec) and Hattie McDaniel (Queen Latifah) are finally given their due, if only on film.
Created and produced by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, this series is what fans expect from this particular film making duo. But while it stays with the frame of their particular style of film making, it stands out because of the subtle and not so subtle message of equality and loving yourself.
I absolutely recommend it.
P.S. If anyone deserves any nominations or awards from this cast, it is Jim Parsons. He is creepy and disgusting in the most fantastic way possible.
Writergurlny 