Embarassing Admissions #3
Look, I’m about to make another embarrassing admission, but I refuse to defend myself. I am totally comfortable with the following and remember enough Tae Kwon Do that I will kick the ass of anyone out there who shall challenge my manhood after I admit the following.
I love the ABC series “What About Brian.”
I realize that most of you out there are saying, “What is ‘What About Brian?’” No, it’s not a show that’s lighting up the ratings charts and pretty much no one other than myself and my friend Dawn watch the show, but why should any of that matter? I like it.
Yeah, it’s junk television. Yeah, it’s about a bunch of 30-something, mostly highly successful, beautiful individuals living in Los Angeles, consistently making stupid decisions about their personal lives who invite more drama into their lives than necessary just because they won’t be honest with themselves or anyone else around them. Yeah, it’s pretty much a soap opera with a tad more protein than the day time soaps. Yeah, most every show is incredibly predictable. Yeah, it’s not intellectually challenging. It’s a lot of things I rail against, but I fucking love this show.
They’re all so pretty. They’re all so stupid. And I fucking love it!
It’s a show about a close-knit group of friends where everyone has mostly paired off, except for Brian, who at 32 is sort of the last bachelor standing. And while it seems like the focus of the show was originally intended to be entirely on Brian, that’s changed a bit as they’ve added a number of new cast members in season two, which has helped round things out.
Barry Watson as Brian Davis is a very appealing character. I’m actually sad to see things didn’t work out with him and Bridget (Oh, so god damned hot!), but oh well, such is the story of Brian’s ever changing bed mates. Matthew Davis as Adam Hillman can be annoying when, well, he’s being annoying, but he’s a great best bud for Brian, although I will miss his stripper wife, but don’t miss Marjorie. Rick Gomez as Dave Greco can act unbelievably stupid and self-centered at times, but he’s the very appealing nerd of the group. Pretty much ditto for Deena Greco. Rosanna Arquette as Nic is an odd mix of unbelievably capable woman who is suddenly filled with incredible amounts of self-doubt. I wish they’d just let her be the capable woman she actually is. Jason George as Jimmy was quite obviously the “black add” of season two at first, but he’s really settled into the show and he and wife Ivy, played by Amanda Foreman, bring a lot of humor to “What About Brian.” It’s nice they finally gave them a back story. The latest addition is Tiffani Thiessen as Natasha Drew, Brian and Dave’s new boss and Adam’s new love interest. I was really concerned when I saw her on the show, but she’s turned out great and damn if she’s still not a completely Hotty McHottersteinberg.
One thing Dawn and I love about watching the show is trying to figure out where they film each scene. Outside of the shots in their various homes, it appears they use mostly natural sets around Los Angeles for filming. In the last five episodes or so, Ivy’s bar is actually NoBar, a former hangout of mine in North Hollywood. They’re down on Larchmont, hang out in Venice, have been to Runyon Canyon, pretty much shot all over Los Angeles, the Valley and the Westside.
The only reason why I started watching the show in the first place was because I saw a commercial touting the fact that it’s executive produced by J.J. Abrahms, the guy behind “Alias” and “Lost.” I tried it, only to discover it’s nothing like those other shows in any way, but as I do with most every new show I gave it two episodes and, while I found myself at odds with the truth of what this show was, the characters sucked me in. I was powerless to their prettiness.
The second season came to a satisfying end tonight with a third season hanging in the balance. Apparently sometime before the May upfronts we’re supposed to learn the fate of the show. I hope it gets renewed. I need my junk TV.
Watching “What About Brian” doesn’t make me a woman or any less of a man. I’m comfortable with who I am and can watch the show with my pint of ice cream week in and week out with little care for what you might think. Oh, and I eat that ice cream with a steak knife, you know, just to “man it up.”
