My Favorite Scenes: School Dances

So, I'm doing a lot of writing at 4 AM on Monday morning because I'm up and won't be able to update during the week. That being said I got a head start on Old School Friday and this week's theme is prom. You'll see my choices on Friday. First off I wanted to give you some of my favorite scenes from television show dances/proms. I did this very literally. Moesha always had great stuff, but it was never at school. It was always at the one neo-soul..ish cafe that 15 year olds found uber appealing and let rappers and singersw and their ilk come as they like. Why did I think that show was real? Anyway onwards and forwards.

Why did something dramatic always happen at the dance or prom? Why? Didn't people just go and dance? Either someone broke up, got together or a celebrity appeared.

Family Matters had the best school dances, always.




Saved by the Bell : the best of Saturday morning.




California Dreams: Gut Wrenching TNBC with a soundtrack.


The Cosby Show
So this isn't the clip how I'd like it,..but these guys planning their prom entrance was classic. classic....and exactly how every teenager thinks they can get something extravagant and be the best.


Sadly, this is the best I can do right now without my family leaving me. I wanted to do college parties as well. C'est la vie.

Have any favorite school dances memories from tv?

My Favorite Scenes: Let's Go to Church

Editor's note: I've had this post sitting on my computer since March...pre-hiatus.

An Old School Friday Post made me think of all the random church episodes on television shows. When a need to demonstrate singing or deal with some moral can't be otherwise weaved into a plot, all of a sudden "the chuch" comes into play. Now note, there were some shows based on the church. (That link will bring you to one of my favorite short lived shows "Good News" on UPN. Can we have a channel that just shows old, kinda bad but lovable tv?)






But then there are these where we end up at church. Not that it's a bad thing to go to church- the sometimes religion reflects the nation on a whole- but it sure is random in retrospect.

227
This isn't the only time the show and "the chuch" combined so this one isn't really random. Mary and her lot were extremely active within their church community. Church was incorporated into the episodes and there was an obvious connection. I want to post this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWRGi9wCzSo but can't embed it, so this one will have to do.

Family Matters
Carl yelled often, but not often about church.


Sister Sister
I've posted this clip before. But church is really a great reason to get some singing in on a show.


Fresh Prince
I find it hard to believe that the Banks family did not attend a more bougie church. There has to be an Abyssinian counterpart in L.A.


Sometimes singing goes wrong.


Do you have a favorite church scene? Let me know...leave a comment!

Old School Friday: New Edition

First off: Happy Black History Month!
The appropriate new cover/banner will be coming soon.

Okay, down to Old School Friday business. Today we are doing songs by New Edition or members of New Edition. I have a tendency to utilize this group often, and in all actuality one of few popular mainstream songs I can recall knowing at 3 or 4 was Poison. (Another is Iesha by ABC, a Ne-BBD derivative). I had no idea how to pick just two. I'm not even going to do my favorite, "Is This The End?" Before my sister got her best of New Edition CD from one of those Columbia House memberships, I was much more familiar with songs by members of New Edition than New Edition themselves. This was mostly due to TV. So I bring you two songs and their corresponding Family Matters moments, because I was apparently raised by TGIF.







Skip to 7:20 for a typical mini singing moment on Family Matters



Skip to 1:55 for a guest star moment



Goodness, they never stopped: really was their demographic watching TGIF that often?


I actually miss Being Bobby Brown. That ish was hilarious and I have no shame in my tv show choices.
Happy OSF! Check out other participants here: http://www.themarvalusview.com/osf/

Haul,
The Queen

Top Gender Benders on TV : I Want to Work for Diddy and Changing Society

On last night's episode of "I Want to Work for Diddy" (VH1), the reality competition to work for Sean "Diddy" Combs, Laverne-the resident transgendered contestant was eliminated. In a battle for what seemed to be the integrity of her identity versus exploitation versus the public's comfort--Laverne did not fare well in the heat of the battle. Kimberly, also known as Po-Prah managed to stay in the battle despite her annoying ways because she knows how to play a game. I can't wait to see her in future reality shows where they use old contestants.

Laverne isn't the only gender bender to pop up on television recently. In keeping with the classification of two sexes and their socially constructed genders, television has been showing more and more people not conforming to the roles. America's Next Top Model now features a transgendered contestant, Isis, and on Project Runway an episode was dedicated to drag queens with RuPaul as a guest host. I guess times are changing, because when I was growing up RuPaul was quite the scandal even though there was a talk show. Today Andre J has become a celebrated [hot mess] personality and Ms. J teaches all the girls how to stomp on the runway on ANTM.

"To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar" gives a laundry list of definitions in the beginning--running through all the trans terms and ending with drag queens. Film has long portrayed transgendered folk, but television has done it quite differently making lots of noise within the last few years.

With much less ado, I present top Gender Bender moments on television, in no specific order. These aren't all transgendered, transexual or tranvestite moments...just gender bending.


UGLY BETTY:
Following Christian Siriano's celebrated turn on Project Runway where he popularized the phrase "Hot Tranny Mess" he appeared on season 2 of Ugly Betty using his phrase on Alex/is, the transgendered sister who revealed herself on the season finale of the first season.



THE RUPAUL SHOW
RuPaul had a talk show on VH1 back in the late 90s and a bevy of guests appeared including the Backstreet Boys. One of the many performances on the show.


DIRTY SEXY MONEY
ABC's show about the rich that did not live up to the hype, but is more than watchable is all about the twist. So it's nothing unusual that the politician son played by Billy Baldwin has an extra-marital affair, the twist is that the affair is with a transexual, played by Candis Cayne and offering just that much more drama.


BOSOM BUDDIES
Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari helped define an era with this show about two men who dressed as women in order to live in the Susan B. Anthony apartments. They didn't care what you said then and Tom Hanks surely doesn't care now.


THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MIRIAM
Call me close minded, but the premise of this UK show is just wrong. Men vied for the attention of a women all to find out in the final episode that Miriam was born male. I admit I'm a little surprised the U.S. has not copied this idea yet.


ALL MY CHILDREN
This favorite ABC soap opera has been on for years and although a family favorite, I can't say I really follow it. I knew about Bianca, but I also found out there's a transgendered character named Zoe.


There are other noticeable moments, seen on shows like the L-Word and Ally McBeal. For the full list of transgendered moments offered by Wikipedia click here. See below for a bonus!

Black Men like to Dress like Women

So okay, not just black men do this obviously. We already have a clip from Bosom Buddies and we all remember that episode of Saved by the Bell when the guys dressed up as girls--or at least I do. But let's admit--black men like to dress like women.

THE FLIP WILSON SHOW
I'm sure theres at least one interview out there questioning the morality of Flip Wilson's Geraldine , where the answer is "The Devil Made Me Do It!" In fact that should become the slogan for cross dressers everywhere. As one of the mainstays of his show, Geraldine did skits and interviews and won the hearts of many fans.


MARTIN
Comics are known for playing roles of the opposite gender, and Martin Lawrence is no exception. After Flip Wilson did Geraldine and before the Wayan's brothers became white chicks, there was Shenehneh.


FAMILY MATTERS
I reference this show way too much. As it Steve Urkel wasn't enought, they made him also share the role of his female cousin , Myrtle Urkel.



What gender bender moments on television stick out for you? Let me know!