[Due to a lot of commitments I’m a little late getting involved, but there’s still time for everyone to go back and enjoy South Dakota Dark’s Deeply Superficial Blog-a-Thon. I might be jumping in at the end, here, but many others have been busy throughout the week, so check out Todd’s index posts for all the details. In the meantime, here is my own contribution.]
NBC: Television’s Prettiest Network
If there is something to be said about Peacocks, it’s that their beauty is pretty much their only defining quality. It’s not as if a peacock does anything interesting outside of being attractive to look at – they don’t seem to have a personality or a story, but rather a lot of pretty feathers.
Now, I won’t say that this is true of the entirety of NBC’s television lineup, of which there are some shows I greatly enjoy (See: The Office, 30 Rock). However, they also have a bunch of shows where people are ridiculously attractive, beyond any sense of reason even. It makes NBC’s series flashy in a way that is honestly disarming – if people were this attractive in my life, I’d probably want people filming it at all times…although I’d probably detract from the process.
[Note: The following are the Top Five Prettiest Shows on NBC, ranked by a combination of level of superficial attractiveness and the level of guilt I would have if they ranked above #3 on any list I ever create. As a result, the most superficially pretty series might not be #1, because it would destroy my soul.]
5. ER
It is no coincidence that George Clooney emerged from within the world of NBC’s central medical drama, a rife location where enormously pretty doctors work in order to save the lives of famous guest stars. What I always enjoy in my brief forays into the world of ER is when they try to depict one of their characters in a gritty scenario, hiding their beauty in order to emphasize the dire situation at hand. However, let’s give credit where credit is due: the people on ER look closer to real-life doctors than say the enormously pretty Grey’s Anatomy cast.
Sidenote: STAMOS!!!
4. Heroes
When Heroes began, its two biggest heartthrobs were Ali Larter, the duplicitous Niki/Jessica, and Milo Ventimiglia, who portrayed the all-powerful Peter Petrelli. And, while I think that Peter has certainly had his moments, it is no coincidence that the series’ two prettiest individuals have become some of its most redundant and frustrating from a storyline perspective. Mainly Niki. Ugh.
Hayden Panettiere, who portrays the young cheerleader Claire, is perhaps the next down the line, and her storyline has been a frustrating fluctuation between great (See: Company Man) and awful (See: Most of the 2nd Season). I don’t really know how her prettiness relates, exactly, but I’m sure there’d be an equation if I had time to really delve into it. On the whole, Heroes is an attractive series, but attractiveness isn’t exactly a sign of an enjoyable character.
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Cultural Learnings 