It’s Memorial Day, Charlie Brown?

As most of you probably know, Monday is Memorial Day, the federal holiday during which we commemorate the military men and women who died in service of our country.  Before I continue, let’s have a moment of silence for these fine folks, because this post actually has very little to do with them.  And writing a post that uses the word “Memorial Day” in its title, while not actually discussing the true meaning of the holiday AT ALL, might actually have the unintended side-effect of making me feel like a Totally Insensitive Poopy Head.  . .

So, I’m going to try to make a half-assed attempt to remedy that right now, OK?  Here it comes . . . Shhhhh!  No talking . . .

Thank you.  On to the post . . .

So, as I said, Monday is Memorial Day, a national holiday.  And do you know what I tend to think about when approaching a national holiday?  (Aside from “Thank GOD I finally have a day off!”  . . . because, of course, I ALWAYS think about that first . . .) 

I think about Charlie Brown!  Why, you ask?  Because EVERY national holiday comes with its own Charlie Brown television special!

Thanks for the vid, fishfreak!

Correction:  Evey holiday EXCEPT Memorial Day! (And, actually, I think July 4th . . . random, right?)

Personally, I think this is an issue that needs to be remedied ASAP, Peanuts people!  And just to prove what you’re missing, Memorial Day (and July 4th!), here’s a brief look at the holiday calendar, as seen through the eyes of Peanuts cartoons . . .

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!

Honestly, as far as Peanuts holiday installments go, this one is quite lame.  I think this has a lot to do with the fact that Peanuts gang is so YOUNG!  So, they can’t truly enjoy this holiday the way it was intended to be enjoyed.  Would you believe, the premise of the episode ACTUALLY involves Charlie Brown reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace?  

Correct me if I’m wrong here, but isn’t Charlie Brown supposed to be like EIGHT?  Do you know what I was reading at age 8?

Clearly, Charlie Brown went to a better Elementary School than I did .  . . which I find strange, considering that none of his teachers seemed to have a particularly solid grasp of the English language.

Actually, my favorite “part” of “Happy New Year, Charlie Brown,” is the unofficial “promotional poster” for it, which always seems to find its way into holiday cards, and the like.  I enjoy it immensely!  Because, unlike the actual “Happy New Year, Charlie Brown,” this poster features our main characters, Charlie Brown and Linus, impliedly doing what most of us regular folk do on New Year’s Eve — namely, get completely wasted and make bad life choices.

In Charlie Brown’s case, his “bad choice” comes in the form of deciding to wear a highly unflattering Trucker Cap . . .

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown!

This one may very well be my favorite Charlie Brown holiday special of them all!  Unlike the New Year’s episode, which featured the Peanuts doing things I would NEVER do on that particular holiday, Charlie Brown’s Valentine’s Day looks just like mine always does!  In it, Linus develops the hots for his teacher!

Those of you who watched Dawson’s Creek back in the day, probably understand (and hopefully enjoy) the above reference. Those who DIDN’T, are undoubtedly wondering why the guy from Fringe is sporting such a ridiculous haircut . . .

During the special, Charlie Brown gets NO VALENTINES AT ALL (until the end of the show, that is, when some random girl gives him one out of pity)!  Inappropriate crushes, rejection, and self pity.  It’s just like MY Valentine’s Day, Charlie Brown!

It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown!

Unlike the dream-killing Halloween Charlie Brown episode (to be discussed below), where the legendary Great Pumpkin NEVER actually makes an appearance, we actually DO get to see the titular Easter Beagle in this one!  (It’s only Snoopy, of course . . . but it’s better than nothing.)  So, you would think that being the Owner and Best Friend of the “Beagle in Charge,” would ensure that Charlie would be entitled to at least ONE Easter egg.  But NO!  He gets none . . .

 

On a lighter note, I LOVE the trippy, surprisingly “meta” scene from this episode, in which Snoopy engages in a dance with some very happy Easter Bunnies (Or DOES he?) .  Watch the clip and listen closely, because in it, Snoopy utters the ONLY WORD he will ever speak during the ENTIRE PEANUTS series!

Thanks for posting chickiechickie!

Personally, I think this “Easter Egg” is the KEY to deciphering the Flash Sideways World on Lost . . .

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Of all the Charlie Brown holiday shows, this one is probably the best known. Whenever people talk about, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” they always seem to want to discuss, Linus’s fruitless all-night vigil in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin, who never arrives.  However, when I think of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” this scene is always the first to come to my mind . . .

Thanks digitmarketing!

I’m guessing the “rock” is not considered “wrapped candy,” so Charlie Brown’s mom is probably going to have to throw all those away.  It’s too bad, because, with all those rocks, Charlie could have made a pretty awesome “Great Pumpkin” shrine . . .

Happy Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown!

This was probably the only Peanuts Special that made me really jealous of Charlie Brown.  After all, I was a really picky eater as a kid.   So, Iwasn’t a big fan of most of the food at MY Thanksgiving table.  But a dinner comprised of toast, pretzels, popcorn and jellybeans?  I would have been TOTALLY down with that!

A Charlie Brown Christmas

This Peanuts episode was kind of a downer for most of its duration.  (I know it probably seems, based on my descriptions of the Specials, that they were ALL downers.  But that is simply not true!)  In this Special,  Charlie Brown’s purchase of the saddest little Christmas tree alive, threatens to ruin the ENTIRE school’s Christmas pageant!

Admittedly, the entire show is a bit preachy, what with its hammering home the lesson that Christmas has become overly commecialized, and its constant discussions (damn you and your lessons, Linus!) of the “true meaning of Christmas.”  However, the last few minutes of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”  are guaranteed to be the BEST THING YOU WILL EVER WATCH ON TELEVISION during Christmas time!

I’m only a little embarrassed to say that I watched this video about eight times in a row this evening, in a feeble attempt to try and mimic each character’s dance moves . . .  DO NOT TRY THAT AT HOME!

So, there you have it folks, a calendar year, as seen through the lens of Peanuts Holiday Specials . . .

Dear Memorial Day,

       Consider yourself SCHOOLED!

                      Love,

                    The Peanuts Gang!

Back to School – A Recap of Grey’s Anatomy’s “Time Warp”

When I heard that this  Thursday’s installment of Grey’s Anatomy was going to be a “flashback episode,” one that intermingled the characters’ present day experiences with events of the past,  in order to shed some light on the characters’ current behavior, I found myself struck with an overwhelming sense of deja vu.  I couldn’t kick this feeling that I had been here before.  That I had seen this before . . .

Oh, yeah . . . now I remember . . .

In an effort to differentiate himself from former Chief Webber McBoozy (although after 45 days of sobriety, I guess it is no longer appropriate, nor fair, to call him that), and to make a name for himself as the “touchy feely” Nu-Chief, Dr. McDreamy Shepherd reinstitutes Lecture Day at Seattle Grace.

“See?  I’m the sensitive one.  Look into my puppy dog eyes,  and tell me I’m not sensitive.  Just don’t make me cry, because I’ll punch your lights out, if you do.”

As guest lecturers, Shepherd commandeers Bailey, Callie, and Chief McBoozy Webber (sorry, force of habbit).  Webber takes a bit of extra persuading on Shepherd’s part.  After all, learning that you have just been demoted from “Chief of Surgery” to just plain “surgeon” does not exactly make one feel all “happy-go-teachy.”  Nonetheless, Webber ultimately agrees to guest lecture, and what appears to be the entire staff of Seattle Grace packs a rather large auditorium to see him do so. 

(Seriously, Seattle Grace?  Your entire staff?  This is why you aren’t ranked in the top ten!  This is why your patients die all the time!  Doesn’t anyone practice medicine here any more?)

But I digress . . . Here’s what we learned from our three lecturers:

Webber’s Lesson: “When I was your age . . .”

Our first flashback took us all the way back to 1982 – a time when the medical profession was very much an all-boys club, an all white boys club;  a time when doctors were largely ignorant about and frightened of immune system-related diseases and homosexuality.  It was also a time when people dressed like this . . .

Back then Webber was a just teetotaling, ambitious young resident trying to make a name for himself at Seattle Grace, while, at the same time, boinking Meredith’s Mommy, Ellis Grey, in the on-call room.  Yes, apparently, they did that in the 80s too.  Talk about sexually transmitted diseases . . .  How often do you think they sterilize that place?

“28 more years of this and we will ALL be under quarantine . . .”

When Ellis and Webber encounter a patient with a rare bacterial infection, they begin to suspect that he may have GRID, Gay Related Immune Deficiency Disorder, or AIDS, as it is now commonly called.  This was a highly sensitive subject for any doctor to broach during that time, let alone a young resident with minimal job security.  After all, few cases of the disorder had been discovered at this point, and very little was known about the disease. 

Apparently, homosexuality was just not something you talked about back then, it being a time before

 Will and Grace and . . .  well . . .

Grey’s Anatomy!

Initially, the patient takes Webber’s inquiry into his sexual orientation very badly.  He leaves the hospital in a huff, refusing treatment.  Unfortunately, a few weeks later, he returns, now extremely ill and desperate for help.  The problem is that, now that his secret is out, most of the doctors and nurses at Seattle Grace are afraid of infection and unwilling to help him.  THIS MUST BE A JOB FOR  . . .

 . . . no, not them, just Young Webber and Young Ellis Grey.

The dynamic duo risk their careers and, as far as they know, their lives, to save this patient.  Fortunately, the surgery goes well.  (Yay!) But . . . then the patient dies anyway (Boo!)  But, not before Webber learns of his own fallibility and the importance of maintaining your humanity as a surgeon.  (Yay!)  Then, afterwards, Ellis bullies the future Chief McBoozy into taking his first alcoholic drink. (Boo!)   But, before, that, we got to see how adorable Meredith looked at age 5.  (Yay!)

Needless to say, it was a very emotional rollercoaster-esque lecture.  Yet, at its conclusion, Webber gives a rousing speech about the importance of doctors adhering to the Hippocratic Oath.  He then raises his right hand and recites the Oath himself.  Admittedly, it was some pretty powerful stuff, and really served to highlight Webber’s true love of medicine.  Clearly affected by his own speech, the Old Chief ultimately decides to accept McDreamy’s offer and return to work.  (Yay!)

Bailey’s Lesson: Shark tales, a.k.a. The Birth of the Nazi

Before Miranda Bailey became the Nazi; before she turned into a strong, smart, powerful, but often angry, woman who looks like this . . .

Bailey was an overachieving but painfully shy and polite-to-a-fault intern, who looked like this . . .

The year was 2003.  While medicine had come a long way since 1982, there were still many obstacles for women who wanted to succeed in the healthcare industry.  And for many women, their biggest obstacle was one another.  That’s right.   Mean girls, unfortunately, stuck around long past the 80s . .

This movie came out in 2004 . . .

Despite the fact that Mean Girls wasn’t due out in theaters for another year, one of them had managed to sneak into Seattle Grace.  Bailey’s resident “advisor” is  a bitch with a Capital B.  And, like any two-dimensional villian, this 30-something year old woman tortured Young Bailey with the zeal, intensity (and maturity) of a 16-year old cheerleader who just found out that her boyfriend has decided to go to prom with the class nerd.

Be careful Bailey!  This never ends well for people like you . . .

Fortunately, for Bailey, she is due for a major personality transplant and stat!  And who performs said transplant, you ask?  None other than Superman Webber of course!  “Surgery is a shark tank, and sharks have teeth.  Be a shark, not a minnow,” the then-Chief instructs Bailey. 

And I bet you know what happens next . . .

That’s right!  Our Neo Nazi Bailey solves a difficult medical mystery.  Then,  in what we now know was the first of her eloquently angry, yet rousing, monologues, Bailey hands her bitchy resident advisor her ass on a platter for ordering countless unnecessary surgeries for a patient, who merely required medication.  “You are going to be a brilliant surgeon one day,” commends Webber (and we know that he is right!)

In addition to being an awesome surgeon, Bailey is also terrific public speaker.  She owns both the stage and her audience, awarding them for class participation with chocolates.  And as a nearly perpetual student, I can tell you that candy bribes WORK and work well!

Callie’s Lesson: “Everybody f&*ks Alex.”

You know who’s not so hot in the public speaking department?  The typically loud and brash Callie.  After vomiting up her breakfast in anticipation of the big event, Callie stumbles around stage, head tucked inside her notes, mumbling almost incoherently about the club footed patient her and Alex cared for back in 2006, when she was a new resident.

With Alex’s help, however, Callie ultimately recovers nicely.  She recounts for the group the immensely gratifying experience of repairing the leg of a 28-year old student who was told he could never walk.  When all of the other doctors discounted the patient, and berated Callie for mismanaging his expectations, Callie refused to give up.  As a result, this formerly bed-ridden man can now roam freely (with the help of some crutches, of course). 

And this wouldn’t be Grey’s Anatomy if the story didn’t end with an on-call room boink fest between Alex and Callie . . .

“I am so much better at doing this than public speaking  . . .”

Apparently, Alex has screwed the entire staff at Seattle Grace, and most of its patients.  That is one dirty boy!

Not only is Alex a slut, he is also, apparently a liar.  And Callie catches him in a real whopper.  As punishment, she forces him to perform the surgery he claimed to have already done by himself in an elevator shaft, even though that surgery was actually completed by Callie’s ex-hubby, the now deceased, George.

R.I.P. Dude!  The show hasn’t been the same since you left . . . really.

So, there you have it, folks.  A love letter to medicine, with three flashbacks, two sex scenes, lots of chocolate, and a shout out to an old friend.  Not bad for a single episode.