From the "How'd I Miss This?" File: Weeds

Sometimes, friends, this blog really is just about tv.

This weekend's new discovery: Weeds. This show is fantastic. It is sharp, witty, and biting. Mary Louise Parker is masterful (but, then again, she always has been). And the show is both dark and hilarious. On the surface, it is a satire about life in suburbia. But it is not mere farce. It is also a family drama with well developed characters that are worth caring about. Think American Beauty meets Brothers & Sisters with a little of the irreverent silliness of Ugly Betty thrown in for good measure.

The answer to the question "how'd I miss this?" is actually fairly obvious. Weeds is on Showtime. I do not subscribe to Showtime (although I'm thinking I may need to start!). But the beauty of watching tv made for a premium movie channel is immediately obvious from the first episode of season 1 of Weeds. There is no concern for the FCC here. The language is raunchy (and, therefore, sounds real), the sex is graphic, and the drugs are on full display. But the show also tackles every other sacred cow left on TV -- from teenagers having abortions to fifth graders wacking off and uncles finding ways to avoid being sent to Iraq by enrolling in religious seminary. (Not to mention the drugs themselves... could you really have a show where the hero is a pot-dealing-soccer-mom on NBC? Um... no.) And it works. It just works.

It's late and I've watched two seasons of Weeds on DVD in the past three days, so I can't explain it any better than that.

Simply put, you need to drive to the video store, or put this show on your Netflix cue, or download it from Itunes. Now.

Next week (June 3) you can add season 3 to your list. And in the middle of June, season 4 premieres on Showtime.

Derek & Meredith (or, A Meditation on Timing)

It's hardly a secret that Meredith and Derek will finally ride away into the sunset together (or something like that) on Thursday's two-hour finale of Grey's Anatomy. It's got me thinking about timing.

In the beginning, Derek was ready and Meredith clearly was not. Then Addison came back and Derek thought he'd try to salvage his marriage. Then that didn't work, but Meredith was working on drowning herself and things. Then Meredith thought she was ready but Derek had just started moving on, ever so slightly. It's the classic game that the writers play with us. The male and female romantic leads can't just find each other and fall in love and live happily ever after. Then what would the show be about? I get that. It keeps us coming back for more.

And yet, at some point, the writers realize that the game can't be played forever. At some point, the characters have to either admit that they're in love and no matter how hard it is, it's worth it... or they have to move on. (And maybe start their own spin-offs, like Addison.) Sometimes the writers get the timing right on this. And other times they miss their critical window -- the missed connections and the gnashing of teeth take over the aura of the show and the magic is lost.

This scenario has played itself out on every show I've ever watched. And I get sucked in every time. And I cheer for the relationships right from the start, even though I could predict that it will be three or four seasons before the writers acquiesce and let them live happily ever after. So I guess I'm a sucker, but I will nonetheless watch with a little glee on Thursday night. 'Cuz sometimes, even if it takes years, the timing does eventually work out.

Grown-ups Dating (or, Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned Watching TV)

A Sunday morning romp through YouTube...

Dating has been the theme around here lately. Some of it my own -- with N, my husband of 8 years -- some of it related to others. Here's what I know:

1) Grand romantic gestures are good. Making grand romantic gestures in public is even better. Pacey bought Joey a wall for her to paint. Seth climbed on top of a coffee cart and declared his love for Summer. Danny showed up, dressed as Santa and gave CJ a goldfish pin in front of the entire press corps. Works every time.

2) There is a fine line between nervous, anxious smiling and happy, excited grinning; and the former often leads to the latter. See, e.g., this scene with Addison and Pete in a "not horny elevator."

3) Sometimes the guy who is not "boyfriend material" turns out to have surprising potential. Logan was a wild-child with a zero kScale (tm) score. And then along came Rory and they -- almost -- lived happily ever after. We'll call it the L-corollary.