Amnesia of the Future: Haven

30th November, 2009 2 Comments

My dad and I have this joke that my mother MUST get her way–all the time.

Actually, it’s not so much a joke as it is the truth.*

Watching Haven, Lwaxana Troi totally reminded me of my mother.  I’m not sure if I should be happy mom doesn’t watch/never watched Star Trek and so can’t be insulted or to maybe rent the disk next time I visit my parents so that she can watch it and maybe get the hint that I don’t need her to call and remind me to brush my teeth every night.

Okay, that’s an exaggeration–my mom isn’t thatbad or anywhere near as annoying as Lwaxana. 

But if you’re a Big Bang Theory fan, you might recall this season’s episode where Penny and Leonard set Howard up with Bernadette and the two bond over the fact that their mothers are a bit…smothering.  After the episode premiered, my mother sent me an email stating that SHE was Howard’s mother–while visiting the previous weekend she had made me healthy lunches and chosen outfits for me for the week.

By the way, if this is my last post ever, please know that my mother has just killed me for sharing all that. **

That’s basically the long-form way of saying that for one episode, and one episode only, I did not hate Troi.

And rather than ruin the funny that I’ve already written, I will sum-up by stating that I enjoyed Haven and am not going to bore you with other random thoughts and facts.

Memories of the Future:  Chapter 11

Let’s reiterate things I’ve said in past posts while reviewing Memories of the Future–Wil Wheaton is funny.  First-off, if I didn’t love my liver so much, I might be inclined to take part in the drinking game he talks about in the Haven chapter.  My favorite line in the entire book is included in the synopsis of the episode:

If you’ve been playing [the drinking game], and you’re not passed out by now, I’d like to say how cool I think it is that Keith Richards is reading my book.

I’ve also previously stated that my favorite parts of each chapter are the Behind the Scenes moments, and I’m disapointed they aren’t longer.  With Haven, we learn a little more ab0ut the process of writing/directing a television show, which the average person (i.e., ME) is completely unaware of but can make or break a show.  As shows now make their way to DVD, we get all sorts of bonus features–anyone watching all the extras is paying a lot of attention to the man behind the curtain.  On one of the Brothers & Sisters DVDs, instead of having the director or cast do a voice-over commentary, the writers of a particular episode talk about the choices they made in writing and seeing their words come to life. 

It was interesting to learn that so many different writers and directors were involved in Star Trek and even more surprising at how few writers would even bother to talk to the actors about the personalities of specific characters.  To do that just seems so risky; you end up with a very flat show that no one wants to watch because the audience cannot connect with any of the characters.  Lucky for the Haven episode there was a talented writer who made me not hate Troi for once and some rather lovely acting and character development.

Additionally, back in 1987 a large budget was still too small for the special effects that were needed.  I don’t think many of us give much thought to the fact that in twenty-two years technology has progressed to a point where it’s now so cheap to make chameleon roses actually change colors more than once, or to create a snake-like vine plant that doesn’t look like a clearance item from the K-mart silk plants department and only moves for five seconds.  Despite the large budget, had things been cheaper back then, both things could have been a lot of fun in this episode.

Also, the little girl in the Partridge Family had her own clothing line (not that she saw a penny of it) while her show was on the air.  How come Sears didn’t have a line of Wesley Crusher sweaters? 

*Seriously.  Some people who used to work for her at this charity event she ran called her DAISY.  Which is a NASA acronym for “Do As I Say, You!”

** In the weird coincidence that something “does” happen to me, please note that my mother would have had nothing to do with it.  She’s actually the most awesomest mom ever and just happens to be a really easy to pick on.  If she was your mom you’d pick on her too because she just sets herself up for it and rarely ever gets annoyed about it.

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