Voice-over Theory

I have a running discussion with a friend that many television shows we like are voiced-over. So, we've developed this completely unscientific theory that television shows with voice-overs are usually good (note that I said "usually"). I find that they add something useful to the show and they can be integral to the story. For example, Arrested Development relies heavily on Ron Howard's voice-over because quite a bit of the story is told through it and it's funny. Other times the voice-over adds to the viewers understanding of the character's psychology such as Dead Like Me, Dexter and Veronica Mars. Burn Notice does a bit of psychology mixed in with how-tos: Michael details how to make a bomb MacGuyver-style or how he will coax a villain out of hiding (you never know when this stuff might come in handy...).

This list isn't exhaustive, but what I could remember having memorable voice-overs. Please let me know in the comments of other shows that you'd put in this category.
Arrested Development Find it in the catalog!
Burn Notice Find it in the catalog!
Dead Like Me Find it in the catalog!
Dexter Find it in the catalog!
Veronica Mars Find it in the catalog!
Wonderfalls Find it in the catalog!

Library scenes on film and TV

New Directions members get their glee on in the stacks.

In honor of National Library Week, I compiled more library scenes to add to last year's list. I think my favorite fictional library enthusiasts are Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls), Brick Heck (The Middle), Jesse St. James (Glee), and the characters on Community.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Find it in the catalog!
Belle is imprisoned in the Beast's castle after offering herself to be held captive in place of her ailing father. Seeing the way Belle misses her home and how lonely she is, the Beast shows her his lavish library, and tells her that she has her pick from the thousands of volumes.

Before search boxes, you had to search card catalog drawers.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Find it in the catalog!
After Paul (George Peppard) and Holly (Audrey Hepburn) enter the library she asks him, "What is this place?" Yes, Holly Golightly has never been inside a library. Paul explains how each card is either a book or an author (what about subjects, Paul?). They look under his last name, Varjack, to find the card with his book, Nine Lives. They have to bring the card to one librarian and then wait until their number is called at a different desk. The librarian helping them at that desk is uninterested in the fact that Paul wrote the book. Holly informs her, "It's Varjack, Paul in person!" The librarian is quite annoyed with them, tells them to be quiet, and becomes upset when Holly encourages Paul to sign the library's copy of his book. That provides Holly's cue to go: "I don't think this place is half as nice as Tiffany's."

Community (2009-present)
Season 1: Find it in the catalog!
Jeff (Joel McHale), Britta (Gillian Jacobs), Annie (Alison Brie), Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), Troy (Donald Glover), Abed (Danny Pudi) and Pierce (Chevy Chase) form a Spanish study group and every episode is set at least partially in the library, since that is their meeting place. I wanted to highlight a recent season 2 episode, because it demonstrates why Abed and Troy are among my favorite characters on TV and also have one of the best friendships on TV, in addition to the fact that the episode involves a librarian-centric plotline.

If only the librarian would notice them...

Season 2, episode 15: "Early 21st Century Romanticism"
Best friends Troy and Abed both want to ask the same librarian to the Valentine's Dance. They watch her from their study room and hope that if they're too loud she'll shush them, so they yell, "BOOKS!" and then pretend to sleep when she actually does look in their direction. When they finally do approach her, they suggest that she hang out at the dance with both of them, so she can get to know them before she makes her choice.

Troy: Why does being a librarian make her even hotter?
Abed: They're keepers of knowledge. She holds the answers to all of our questions, like "Will you marry me?" and "Why are there still libraries?"

Eastbound & Down (2009-present)
Season 1: Find it in the catalog!
Former baseball pitcher Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) now teaches gym at a junior high school, where his high school girlfriend April (Katy Mixon) also teaches. In a season 1 episode, he goes to talk to her in the library, where two girls get into a fight. Powers breaks them apart and yells, "If you're gonna fight, do it in a parking lot somewhere, not in a library, surrounded by books!"

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)
Season 2: Find it in the catalog!
Season 2, episode 15: "Lost and Found"
Rory's (Alexis Bledel) boyfriend, Dean (Jared Padelecki), can hardly hide his boredom as he sits next to two piles of books she has already selected to buy from the library's Buy a Book! fundraiser. After over two hours of perusing the sale, Rory is still going strong and has yet to look at the astronomy section.

Crush-Worthy Women of TV

What follows is a list highlighting five decidedly crush-worthy women of television. Just because.

Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey
From: 30 Rock (2006-present)

Upside: Smart, sublimely awkward, and unrepentantly nerdy, it's hard not to love Liz Lemon. And her abiding devotion to the Food Network is icing on the cake. Even her spastic, weirdly dissonant dance moves are kind of endearing.
Downside: Yes, I'm aware of the foot problem.

Debra Morgan, played by Jennifer Carpenter
From: Dexter (2006-present)

Upside: Deb is hilariously profane, up-front about what's important, and unfailingly devoted to doing the right thing.
Downside: It would be like dating a "dude." Debra is as unsentimental and commitment-phobic as any of her male peers, if not more so. This kind of makes sense, when you consider that she was unwittingly engaged to a serial killer at one point.

Joan P. Harris (nee Holloway), played by Christina Hendricks
From: Mad Men (2007-present)

Upside: Joan is one of the most compelling characters on the superb period-drama Mad Men. Chronically underestimated by her coworkers at Sterling Cooper, often to their own detriment, she does the real work of keeping the business up and running. Her despicable husband (despicable is really too generous a word for that creep) is condescending and blithely uninterested in what she wants out of life, though Joan is clearly the stronger personality. One senses that Joan could be a veritable force of nature, if she could only transcend the limitations of her era.
Downside: Hmmmm...

Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, played by Lynda Carter
From: Wonder Woman (1975-1979)

Upside: She's Wonder Woman.
Downside: The Lasso of Truth, maybe.

Thelma Evans, played by Bern Nadette Stanis
From: Good Times (1974-1979)

Upside: Thelma is a confident, artistic young woman who remains steadfastly idealistic in spite of the poverty that surrounds her. She more than holds her own against her comically boorish older brother. She also has excellent taste in music, favoring '70s soul giants Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes.
Downside: She married her sweetheart Keith Anderson, who overcame alcoholism and a serious knee injury to play for the Chicago Bears. Who'd want to break up that happy ending?

A Non-Fictional Runner-Up:

Campbell Brown, played by Campbell Brown
From: Campbell Brown (2008-2010)

Upside: Her unwillingness to play a character is actually the most appealing thing about Campbell Brown. (Her elegant features, classical profile, and deep brown eyes are incidental to her crush-worthiness.)
Downside: She is married to this guy. You know, for real married.

Crushworthy Men of TV

Runner-up:   

Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider).
From: Parks and Recreation (2009-).
Find it in the catalog!
 
Mark isn't the most interesting character on the show, but he's the dreamiest.  He's got a good job (city planner) and he's played by one of the handsomest (in my opinion) actors around.

10). Henry Pollard (Adam Scott).
From: Party Down (2009-2010).
Find it in the catalog!  
Seasons: One and Two.

Henry is mid-thirties, works as a caterer and occasionally toys with the idea of moving back in with his parents.  Yeah, doesn't say much for my taste in men, does it?  Or maybe it just speaks to the power of his witty banter on the show.

9).   Mark McKinney, various characters.
From: Kids in the Hall (1988-1995).
Find it in the catalog!
Seasons: One, Two, Three, Four, and Five.

Just being a part of the hilarious Canadian comedy troupe is enough to make you crush-able in my book.  But McKinney is the only one who doesn't look better as a woman. 

8). Nick Andopolis (Jason Segel).
From: Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000). 
Find it in the catalog!

Tall and friendly, Nick is probably the kindest of the freaks.  I thought he was super cute up until the point he started to smother Lindsay with affection. 

7).  Eric Gotts (Tyron Leitso).

From: Wonderfalls (2004).   

Find it in the catalog!

Sweet, charming, and oh-so-cute, Eric is every girl's dream bartender.

6). Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård).
From: True Blood (2008-).  
Find it in the catalog!
Seasons: One, Two.

Eric is pretty much the tall, Swedish vampire version of Logan from Veronica Mars.  And what's not to like about that?