TV Moment - December 19

My moment for today exposes me for the romantic that I am. There are thousands of moments on the The X-Files that I adore and I'll probably end up listing several of them but in the spirit of the holiday season, I'll give the kiss that they share on New Year's in "Millenium" as my favourite holiday Mulder/Scully moment. I really wanted those two to get together and even though it was a purely platonic kiss it was still lovely. The show's been over for 3 years (and I still don't really understand what happened) but I still hope that Mulder and Scully found some measure of happiness and peace together. And the kiss in "Millenium" was the perfect foreshadowing of what that peace and happiness could have looked like.

TV Moment - December 18

This one isn't really a moment as much as traditions. And I'm going to talk about two different shows.

The first is Days of Our Lives which was the first soap I ever watched with any sort of regularity. I pretty much quit watching after the whole Marlena gets possessed debacle (a storyline that will go down in infamy) but I think they still do this. For their Christmas episode every year they would show people decorating the Horton Christmas tree and all the Hortons had their own ornament. I'm not sure why, but I always love that and I still occasionally tune in on that last episode before Christmas just so I can see it.

The second is from General Hospital. I no longer watch soap operas as I'm never at home during the day, but on the odd weekday that I find myself at home I still turn on GH to see what the denizens of Port Charles are up to. Usually I don't know who half the characters are but that's okay because there are enough familiar faces to keep me in the loop. Every year on their last episode before Christmas all the upright citizens would gather at the hospital and listen to Steve Hardy read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas". Since the actor has passed on the reader is now Alan Quartermaine, I believe, but the tradition remains the same. And I like that this has happened every Christmas for 40 years. There's something comforting in knowing that no matter what other wild and crazy stories might be going on something this simple and sweet will live on year after year.

TV Moment - December 16

I know it's technically the 17th right now, but it's only 4 minutes past and I'm going to take a break from my Christmas moment run to pay tribute to a wonderful actor. John Spencer, best known as Leo McGarry on The West Wing, passed away this morning at the age of 58. He brought humour, compassion, intensity and grace to his role and to the show. I believe he was the backbone and the soul of the series.

I can't possibly come up with only one moment to honour him with, so here are a few of my favourite Leo McGarry scenes.

***
From "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part 2"
[the President neglected a formality transferring executive power before going into surgery]
Margaret: Can I just say something for the future? *I* can sign the president's name. I've got his signature down pretty good.
Leo McGarry: You can sign the president's name?
Margaret: Yeah.
Leo McGarry: On a document removing him from power and giving it to someone else?
Margaret: Yeah. Or do you think the White House Counsel would say that's a bad idea?
Leo McGarry: I think the White House Counsel would say that's a Coup D'Etat.
Margaret: I'd probably end up doing some time for that.
Leo McGarry: I would think. And what the hell are you doing practicing the president's signature?
Margaret: It's just for fun.
Leo McGarry: We've got separation of powers, checks and balances, and Margaret, vetoing things and sending them back to the hill.

***
"There are two things in the world you never want people to see how you make them - laws and sausages."

***
[after the President is injured in a bike accident]
Mrs. Landingham: Oh, Mr. McGarry, have they done an x-ray?
Leo McGarry: Yep.
Mrs. Landingham: And is anything broken?
Leo McGarry: A four-thousand-dollar "Lynex Titanium" touring bike that I swore I'd never lend anyone.

***
C.J. Cregg: Is there anything I can say other than the President rode his bicycle into a tree?
Leo McGarry: He hopes never to do it again.
C.J. Cregg: Seriously, they're laughing pretty hard.
Leo McGarry: What do you want me to - the President, while riding his bicycle, came to a sudden arboreal stop.

***
[on the phone with the New York Times] "17 across. Yes, 17 across is wrong... You're spelling his name wrong... What's my name? My name doesn't matter. I am just an ordinary citizen who relies on the Times crossword for stimulation. And I'm telling you that I met the man twice. And I recommended a pre-emptive missile strike against his air force, so I think I know how..."

***
Leo McGarry: You saw Sam's friend?
Sam Seaborn: How did you know?
Leo McGarry: I had you tailed.
Josh Lyman: You had us tailed?
Leo McGarry: Yes.
Sam Seaborn: Why?
Leo McGarry: On the off chance that you're as stupid as you look.

***
[the President wants a disproportionate response to an American plane being shot down]
Leo McGarry: Do you think that increasing the body count is going to act as a deterrent?
President Josiah Bartlet: You're damn right I do.
Leo McGarry: Well then, you're just as stupid as these people who think that capital punishment will act as a deterrent to drug kingpins. As if drug kingpins didn't live their day to day lives under the possibility of execution, and their executions are a lot less dainty than ours, and tend to take place without the bother and expense of due process. So, my friend, if you want to start using American military strength as the arm of the Lord, you can do that. We're the only superpower left. You can conquer the world, like Charlemagne. But you better be prepared to kill everyone. And you had better start with me because I will raise up an army against you and I will beat you.

***
[after Josh's therapy session with Stanley Keworth, Josh inquires why Leo is trying to help him]
Leo McGarry: This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, "Hey, you, can you help me out?" The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up, "Father, I'm down in this hole. Can you help me out?" The priest writes a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey, Joe, it's me. Can you help me Out" And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, "Are you nuts? Now we're both down here." The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before - and I know the way out."

***

You did good, Mr. Spencer. You will be missed.

TV Moment: Dec. 15

In honour of the season, from now until Christmas will be my favourite holiday TV moments.

Up first is the Christmas episode from My So-Called Life titled "So-Called Angels". I love the entire episode and the reasons could fill a book, but this is "moment" - singular - so I'll pick my favourite from this incredible hour of television. It's funny because most of my favourite moments from this episode centre around Patty, the mother, who was actually my least favourite character in the whole series. There are great scenes with her and Graham and with Angela, and even a nice one with Ricky.

But my favourite scene is when she's outside of the church searching for Angela and she comes across the homeless girl to whom Angela has given her brand new boots. Bess Meyer is incredible in the scene as she portrays a mother who first refuses to believe that her daughter could ever end up like the homeless girl and then grows desperate when she realises that it could very easily happen. And then she looks at the girl (played very well by Juliana Hatfield) and asks, "How did you die?" The first time I saw it, I was completely in shock. I hadn't expected that at all. But in retrospect it made perfect sense. After hearing the girl's story Patty looks to the heavens in a moment of despair and pleads to God. It's a beautiful moment in a beautiful story. The quiet church courtyard and the understated music make it something I will want to see every Christmas for years to come.

TV Moment - December 13

I need something to spur me on to actually post on a regular basis. So I figured I would post a TV moment that I've loved every day. Or at least every other day. They might be entire scenes, or they might be just one line, but they've stuck with me for one reason or another.

Moment #1: In "The Stackhouse Filibuster" episode of The West Wing Josh wanders into bullpen, and yells, "Where's my wallet?" As Donna walks up to him, his wallet is tossed to him from off-screen and he catches and continues his conversation without missing a beat. It was absolutely unnecessary and incredibly random but it was moments like that made me fall in love with The West Wing in the first place.