Meltdown Karaoke

There are few things in life worth getting worked up about.  In fact, I've gotten pretty good at rising above things like stress.

"That darn stress won't get me," I snarl as I see it taunting me from across the room.  Nope, I'm better than that.  I'm in charge.  I'm focused.  I can handle anything!

Except that I can't.  Not always.  A couple of days ago, when the weekend was still so very far away, I could feel the stress seeping into my pretty, little head in a surprisingly fierce way.

The domino effect of another change in our shooting schedule did it to me.  As a film kicks into gear, filming locations move around all the time based on proximity, budget, conflicts, pairing with other locations, etc.  Eventually, the whole enchilada of things fall into place so I don't let it phase me.

That day however, I felt I'd been on the rollercoaster a tad longer than I'd intended.  When I felt the stress storm coming on, I locked myself in the bathroom on-set and had my mini-meltdown. 
 [I hate crying at work, but occasionally it does happen.] 

I emerged about five minutes later looking tired and depleted-- sort of like a melted crayon some kindergartner had left in the backseat of a car in the middle of summer.  Only, it wasn't summer.  There had been flurries that morning.  I was freezing.  I don't like winter, that's why I live in California.  And no, my day was not going well.

Mini-meltdown behind me however, I tried to re-focus.  This was followed a series of feverish texts, phone calls, e-mails, and me flipping through my notebook countless times while accomplishing seemingly very little.  It was then a crew member turned to me and said:

"You know who you remind me of?  Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada." 

I looked up at her.  Yes, I'm brunette--  I got the bangs and the straight hair, and a similar body type (minus the boobs.)  Like Hathaway's character in the film, I also had the worrisome look on my face and my phone clutched in my hand at all times.

Yes, that day I felt like the devil wears Prada--  only in my case, I didn't know who the devil was.  Meryl Streep certainly wasn't anywhere to be found.  We didn't cast her in our film, did we?  Not that I'm aware of.

Moments later, they were rigging up karaoke to be used in a scene the following day and they needed someone to test it out.  As another woman was making her way to the stage, I unexpectedly jumped up to join her. 

It should be noted that I am the least likely to volunteer for karaoke ever.  In fact, I don't think I've ever volunteered for karaoke in my life.  I've always been dragged into it by some overzealous friend.  But I needed karaoke right then and there.  I needed to get the stress out of my system.  Kick that devil to the curb.  So, I sung my heart out with this woman I'd never met.  In fact, we bonded over that short-lived experience. And that's how my stress fled back into the shadows and out of my day.

Copyright © 2012 by KLiedle

Knowing When To Take A Bow

I was just as bummed out as anyone else when I heard that Louie is going on hiatus until Spring 2014.  Louis C.K. though?  I applaud the guy.  It takes balls to walk away from a critically acclaimed show and say,  You know what?  I wanna do something else for awhile.

He's certainly taking a chance, but I don't think he sees it that way.  Thanks in part to the popularity of the show, he's got a cult following.  Those people will ensure that he won't be forgotten.  They'll follow him on the road, back to his stand-up roots.  Kudos to FX for allowing him to go, for giving him the creative freedom to explore, for taking a leap and putting the show on the air in the first place.

As I see it, Louie C.K. cares enough about his show to walk away from it.  To make sure that it doesn't lose an ounce of integrity, that he doesn't get tired of doing it.  It's hard to keep the creative juices flowing day-in-and-day-out, especially on a TV series.  You can't force creativity.  I have no doubt that when it comes back, it'll be just as quirky and endearing as it's ever been.

According to Top Of The Rock: Inside The Rise And Fall Of Must See TV,  Seinfeld had an initial run of only four episodes-- one of the smallest sitcom orders in television history.  When the network ordered more episodes, Larry David said he didn't want to do it:  He was out of ideas.

Luckily, someone convinced him otherwise.  Seinfeld went on for nine seasons, totaling an astounding 180 episodes.  And you know what?  I still miss it.  And I miss Cheers and The Cosby Show and Mad About You and The Golden Girls.

We should all be reminded that the best shows go out while they're still on top.  The best performers know when to take a bow, when to turn away, and when to do something different.  That's what makes them iconic, what makes them memorable.  It something that happens so rarely these days.

Today, breakout stars burst onto the scene with unbelievable force.  They're overexposed, overdone, and annoyingly in-your-face, all the time.  More often than not, they burn out before they've reached their own potential-- if they had potential at all.  New shows get cancelled before they ever get a shot at finding an audience and other shows seem to go on for years and years beyond their glory days.  Remember how tired Friends felt in its last few seasons?  It was beyond embarrassing.

So, no one should be whining about Louie.  It's not like it's going away.  In fact, its absence will give an up-and-coming show a chance to be seen in a highly sought after time slot.   That alone, is something I'm sure Louis C.K. would be proud of.

Louis C.K. : On Tour

Copyright © 2012 by KLiedle