Whitney and Ellen gab about their favorite period dramas (and boy, do they have opinions on those). Plus, the stirring conclusion to their Oscars pool in which Whitney has to try and struggle through a dramatic reading of horrible fanfiction featuring multiple Batmans (Batmen?) and a buff Mickey Mouse. You have to hear it to believe it.
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This weekend I did something a little crazy. Ok, a lottle crazy. In a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly there was an article written by Marc Snetiker on how to best prepare for the Emmys next Monday. Well, how to best prepare for the Emmys in only 24 hours and because I’m a weirdo, my first thought was, “I could do this. I should do this. I’m GOING to do this.” I honestly don’t watch a lot of the Emmy shows, especially in the Drama category, so I saw this as the perfect opportunity to get myself edumacated.
I prepared by making sure I had all of the recommended episodes or at least access to them and by placing an order with Amazon Fresh to make sure I had a cavalcade of themed snacks. As you should do for any binge.
Oh, and I live-tweeted the whole thing. And it turns out you can tweet a lot in 24 hours.
First show, first snack.
For Orange is the New Black, I watched “Lesbian Request Denied” and I have to say this is one of the viewings that made me want to watch more.
Next up, True Detective. Continue reading
All you Downton Abbey fans need to watch this if you haven’t already.
– Ellen
Eating is such a drag (said nobody, ever). If you’re looking for a way to spice up your weekend meals, look no further than our Fangirly Meal Plan, designed to help you literally live, breathe, and eat TV.
Friday
Thanks to some shady scheduling, ABC’s Happy Endings is now on Fridays, and in honor of the show’s gorgeous garbage gut Alex (Elisha Cuthbert), we’ll be eating nothing but ribs. Seriously. Just ribs. And if by the end of the meal you DON’T look like you just took down a live cow with your teeth and bare hands, you’re probably not doing it right.
Saturday
Every good geek knows that Saturday is Doctor Who day, or as Ellen and I like to call it, the Nerd Sabbath. We’ll be commemorating our favorite show with a special dish, Fish Fingers and Custard! It is quite literally just fish sticks and pudding. If that is a little “Too Who for You” then here is a super cute Fish Stick Cookie and Vanilla Pudding recipe, from Bakingdom.com. (Side note: how does Matt Smith manage to make pre-packaged seafood look so sexy?)
Sunday
Let’s close our weekend on a classy note, shall we? Sundays are all about the Masterpiece Classic, so we will be eating like our cousins from across the pond. What does that mean, exactly? I’m not really sure. What I do know is that what you eat is far less important than how you eat it. First, set the table so that each place setting has about a zillion plates, forks, and glasses. Second, be sure to have a very intense conversation during your meal that is frequently punctuated by zingy quips from an old woman. Finally, find someone to serve you your meal, preferably someone who is dealing with their own drama, thank you very much.
-Whitney
I would like to start off by saying that this post is fraught with spoilers. Fraught. So if you haven’t seen the finale of Downton Abbey you should probably 1) get your act together and 2) don’t read any further, because this is about to get REAL.
I am fully aware that Mr. Fellows, creator of DA and Oscar-winning writer of Gosford Park, probably had very little to do with Dan Stevens’ decision to leave the show. Stevens is a star, baby, and if he wants to head off in search of bigger and better parts, more power to him. (This is me being diplomatic; in actuality I am super pissed). What I can’t condone, however, is the emotional roller coaster Fellows forced us to ride, like a cinematic Splash Mountain. I mean, killing someone off minutes after the birth of their on-screen son? A joyous event that has been three seasons in the making, followed by a fatal, and dare I say totally avoidable, car crash? Not cool. Also, why are we trying to vilify babies? Killing off a lead character every time there is a birth in the family seems a little unfair to the infants in question.
Matthew melodrama aside, I loved this episode. It was nice to see Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) getting some well deserved extra screen time, and watching the reconciliation between Jimmy (Ed Speleers) and Thomas (Rob James-Collier) was pretty satisfying. Oh, and then there was this…
Good. Grief. We at Fangirly try really hard not to objectify our favorite stars (false) but I think the award for Best 20th Century TV Bod goes to Mr. Allen Leech. I don’t know about you, but I’m suddenly much more optimistic about series four.
-Whitney
Allen Leech arriving at the 2013 SAG Awards, proving once and for all that bow ties ARE cool.
I feel like I spend so much of my time and energy trying really, really hard not to be weird. This week was particularly challenging in that regard because last Sundays episode of Downton Abbey sent me down a crazy celebrity crush spiral. The foxy object of my affection? Allen Leech, who plays the chauffer-turned-son-in-law Tom Branson. Of course, after watching his weep-worthy performance on Sunday I was obligated to spend an hour on youtube looking up interviews with Mr. Leech. Turns out, not only is he cute AND Irish AND an awesome actor, he’s also hysterical. I present exhibit A. He doesn’t say much but check out his perfectly executed eye-roll around 00:53.
Adorable, right? In this next clip Allen does a pretty hilarious Julian Fellows impression.
Believe me, I could go on. If you need an Allen Leech fix, be sure to watch Downton Abbey, Sundays on PBS!
-Whitney
There’s no logical reason why I should love FX’s The League as much as I do. It’s heavy on the crude humor and the language is about as foul as it is possible to be on cable. Did I mention that the show is centered around a fantasy football league? All in all, not your typical Fangirly fare. That being said, I’ve watched each episode at least three times. Turns out, crude humor is hilarious! Even the football nonsense is starting to make sense. For example, I now know that…ok I still don’t know anything about football.
Part of the reason this show works so well is that it’s semi-ad libbed by some of the funniest people on TV. My personal favorite is Ruxin, the morally ambiguous lawyer played by stand-up genius Nick Kroll. Please enjoy this clip featuring just a few of Ruxin’s best moments.
Obviously this is not the kind of show you would quote while having brunch with the ladies, which is probably part of its appeal. I mean, you can only rewatch Downton Abbey so many times before you want to throw a fancy tea tray at Dan Stevens perfectly shaped head. Every once and a while a gal needs a break from shows that can be described as “girly” or “adorkable”. For those times, I choose The League. If your looking for some good, not-so-clean fun, tune into FX and watch The League!
-Whitney
Are promos for a British period drama supposed to get you this pumped up? I’ve included both the ITV (the network that airs DA in the UK) promo and the PBS promo. I prefer the British version, but then, don’t I always?
Fangirly 