TV THOUGHTS: BACK TO YOU

Okay, let's start with a little disclosure. Patty Heaton, who stars in Back 2 You, is an old friend of ours, so I am of course predisposed to like the show.

But I would have liked it no matter what.

Back 2 You is something we haven't seen in a while on TV: a new sitcom that's genuinely funny, without the sense that everyone's trying too hard. In fact, part of the joy of this show is that it feels as if no one's trying very hard at all -- it's so smooth, so easy, we can just relax and enjoy it.

Back 2 You returns to The Mary Tyler Moore Show's turf by taking us behind the scenes at a local news station. Here, we're watching the relationship between the two anchors, one of whom rose to anchorman stardom, only to have it crash around him due to misbehavior. He's back where he started, teamed up with his former anchor partner, who never left. That alone is a good enough set-up to provide some good laughs. But there's more.

With Kelsey Grammer (of Frasier and Cheers) and Patricia Heaton (of Everybody Loves Raymond) in the starring roles, Back 2 You is in the hands of two very funny people (isn't it surprising how often comedies are cast with the opposite?!). They deliver the jokes with perfect ease and perfect timing. And with Steven Levitan (of Frasier, Just Shoot Me, and Wings) and Christopher Lloyd (of Frasier and Wings) writing and producing, and with James Burrows (of Will and Grace and Cheers and a zillion others) directing, we know we can sit back in very good hands indeed. (The basic cast and crew above have 24 Emmys among them...)

So with that pedigree, sure, I expected it to be funny. And it certainly was.

But I didn't expect it to be moving. And it was.

I found myself most unexpectedly caught up in the late-in-the-episode plot twist that let us know there's more between our two anchors than we thought. And with that twist, Back 2 You lets us know that it give us much more than one-liners, that it will give us something worth watching for, one hopes, many seasons.

One small caveat: Back 2 You is an 8:00 show, yet there were quite a few jokes I really wouldn't want to have to explain to my kids. Plenty of people have been saying that this doesn't feel like a Fox show, but with some of the overt sexual material, it felt plenty like Fox to me. (Hopefully they'll tone it down, especially when American Idol starts and kids are watching... After all, Heroes started out inappropriate for kids, and pulled back after their first 6 episodes...)

All in all, a great way to start a new TV season. Back to You is on Wednesdays at 8 on Fox. I'll definitely be tuning in next week!

HOW'D THE PARTY GO?

I've gotten quite a few e-mails from folks asking how our "Harry Potter" party went the other night...

Well, it was actually quite lovely. We had such a far-ranging group of people that I actually had to pull out name tags so we could all speak to each other. A little awkward at the beginning, I suppose. But it all worked out. Here's what a friend who was there e-mailed me:

It was delightful to see this group of strangers standing awkwardly around the table change into a wonderfully intelligent and compassionate circle, cemeneted by a shared love.

No one came in costume except Sabrina, who insisted on making radish earrings and coming as Luna Lovegood (her own school uniform was quite handy here, as was the copy of the Quibbler that her dad made for her). But that was fine -- I didn't want this to be a costume affair.

We had some very nice food -- I think the most impressive were the Rice Krispie Treat Golden Snitches (complete with wings!). We also had "wands" of various sorts (carrot, celery, rolled up cookies w/ chocolate filling, and the best, breadsticks with cheese "cores"). We had Herbology Salad, Shepherd's Pie, Rhubarb Crumble with Vanilla Custard (like the one Harry pigs out on at the Burrow in Chamber of Secrets, and I'm sure I'm forgetting other treats.

To drink, we had pumpkin juice (which the person who brought it described as "drinkable"... well, yes). And we had hot chocolate (so many people drink it so often in the books, and handy for warding off dementors at any time). And yes, we had butterbeer -- Lots of bizarre recipes on the web (How could anyone think that a concoction involving root beer and butter would be remotely drinkable?!). But we went with a simple one involving butterscotch pudding mix and cream soda -- We had to make seconds, and the next day Cory actually asked if we had any left, and if he could make some more.

Then we sat around and talked about what our favorite part of Deathly Hallows was. Lots of appreciation was expressed for Dobby in particular, but I was really surprised at the breadth of "favorite moments" around the room. It was so clear that everyone just really wanted to express how much they loved this book and this series, which was lovely. We branched out from there into a general discussion of the books overall, really just an appreciation rather than anything particularly scholarly or challenging.

Then we played "Harry Potter Celebrity." If you've never played "Celebrity," it's basically a game where you team up in teams of two and take turns drawing a name out of a hat. You have to get your partner to say the name on your slip of paper (So if I say, "Lord Voldemort's given name," you say, "Tom Riddle"), then your partner grabs a slip of paper. You have a minute to see how many names you can get, and the winner is the one who gets the most.

I had prepared our Celebrity game ahead of time, and I didn't think it would be as hard as it was. Sure I knew there were a few really hard items in it (like "Armando Dippet" or the "International Statue of Secrecy"), but I didn't think "Peeves" or "Aunt Marge" and the like would be that hard. The fun part was to see how the kids just spanked the adults in the game. We changed partners several times, and all the kids kept angling to be partners with each other, the better to win the prizes (HP bookmarks and Bertie Botts Beans). They did a great job.

I even had someone email me asking if I'm going to throw another party when the next movie comes out... So I guess it was a hit.

And that was our Harry Potter party.

WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT?

So we're having our cozy little Harry Potter party this weekend... We'll have butterbeer and Acid Pops, and someone's bringing rice krispie Golden Snitches, and people are bringing all sorts of wand-shaped foods... And we'll play Harry Potter "Celebrity" and have prizes... And we'll talk about the books...

If you were going to be here, what would you want to talk about? What should we make sure we discuss?....

R.I.P. MADELEINE L'ENGLE

As you probably know, Madeleine L'Engle died a few days ago.

When I was about 9 or 10 years old, I picked up A Wrinkle in Time off a random library bookshelf. I'm sure I was attracted to the weird title more than anything.

"Wrinkle" was unlike anything I'd ever read before, with its combination of mysticism and intelligence. I was Meg -- the girl who was too smart for her own good, who didn't fit in to her local school system and didn't know that there even could be a place where she could fit in. It was astonishing to me to read a story featuring a girl who was that smart, astonishing to read a book that didn't apologize for being as smart as it was.

I didn't recognize the Biblical quotes or allusions. Not in the least. It would be many years before I would even lay my hands on a Bible of any kind. (Which makes me smile as I think of the kids reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows now and not recognizing the Scripture quotes on the gravestones...) But something in that book wrapped itself around my young soul and demanded that I let it in.

I was hooked. I began to read every Madeleine book I could get my hands on. I must have read The Moon By Night dozens of times, fascinated by the character of Vicky caught in the midst of her attraction to both Andy and Zachary, boys as different as, well, A and Z.

Many many years later, I realized that Madeleine's work went oh so much deeper than I had first realized, and I began to read some of her non-fiction. I think her Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art is must reading for any Christian striving to survive in the entertainment industry.

I even got to talk to Madeleine once. Lee and I, before our writing careers actually took off in any discernible fashion, optioned the rights to The Arm of the Starfish. The project never went anywhere, but we got to speak to Madeleine and ask her some questions (just what did Typhon Cutter do for a living, that sort of thing).

And now she is gone from us. I knew how old she was, but somehow it caught me by surprise. I guess she had always seemed that same indeterminate age. I was unexpectedly and deeply saddened to hear of her passing... And a bit peeved as well, as the handiest obituary to me was the Los Angeles Times, which somehow managed to omit her Christianity completely from the compilation of her life(!) -- even making it sound, between the lines, as if she was an enemy of God. Shame on the LA Times!

So I started googling to find something a bit more right. The best obit I found was the New York Times one, which you can read here.

But my googling also made me realize that my journey with Madeleine isn't over. I was surprised to see, in reading over her bibliography just how many of her books I have yet to read. (Hmmm... I feel a New Year's Resolution coming on...)

God bless you, Madeleine. And thank you for what you meant to a 10-year-old girl, and to the 10-year-old girl who still lives inside me.

MUSINGS ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Actually, we have three first days of school this year. USC started last week, so my first day of school has come and gone. This year we got snazzy new online rosters with the students' pictures on them, which, for me with my odd mental inability to remember faces, was like gold. Somehow, though, that didn't feel like the real first day of school.

And Cory starts next week -- his new school is under construction, and they pushed the start of school back a week to allow more work to be done. We go to the new students' ice cream social this Friday, and I'll learn how the dropoff carpool line works, and Cory will learn where his locker is, and I'll confirm that he can grow his hair as long as he wants.

But that doesn't feel like the real first day of school either. It's not the "first day" when you're not allowed to walk in (either by the school or by your kid, who would be heartily embarrassed if you tried, because he's now too cool for that, and besides, since he's taller than you, it would just look stupid).

No, the real first day of school was yesterday, as Sabrina, 2 1/2" taller than last spring and squeezed into all the new uniforms that no longer fit, walked into 5th grade. Her 6th first day of school, but my 8th time of walking in a child to the first day.

Only this time, without Cory there, it felt odd. I saw other moms from Cory's class and wondered why they were there ("Oh yeah, they also have a 3rd grader/kindergartener/4th grader"). I greeted Sabrina's new teacher, greeted moms, rushed down for announcements and flag salute, all automatically. But all aware that I'll only do this one more time.

And now we're in the routine already of checking homework, of slapping together breakfast, of making sure the backpack is packed. And this year will rush by, one piece of spelling homework at a time, one breakfast at a time, one hair-brushing at a time, and then it will be over.

And there will only be one last real first day of school left... I'd better enjoy every moment of this year, because next year -- the last year -- I'll probably spend the whole time crying!

Okay, Day One down. Here we go out the door to Day Two!

ON AUDITIONING, ENTITLEMENT, AND SAYING NO

I don't have to deal with actors' auditions very often, but I do deal with people who want me to read their script.

And often these people are Christians who feel an obligation on my part to read their script. By "read," often these people think I will also write extended notes (which takes hours above and beyond the time taken to read), or solve all the script's problems for them.

I used to say yes. Now, I usually say no.

One recent such request came from the husband of the daughter of someone I knew in graduate school. I gave a cursory read to his script some months ago. It was dreadful. He knew absolutely nothing about the world he was writing about, and he was astonished that I could tell he knew nothing. The story was dreadful. The characters were dreadful. The writing itself was dreadful.

He has a second draft ready to read.

Or maybe it's a completely new script. I don't know. All I know is that, out of the blue, he sent me an e-mail basically announcing he's done with his script, and could I take a look at it.

No "thank you for looking at it before." No "I know you're busy, but..." No "I'd appreciate it if..." None of the niceties or politenesses one might expect from someone asking me to put myself through a couple of hours of unnecessary pain.

So I told him 'no.' Or something close to 'no.' I pointed out that school has started, making me responsible for reading the weekly pages of two classes of students. Plus I have to read the work of the people in my writers group. Plus I'm doing a significant amount of script consulting these days (in other words, getting paid for what he wants me to do for free) and have those pieces to read. Plus, oh yeah, I'm supposed to be doing my own writing. I told him he can check in with me after Christmas if he wants.

I didn't even get a "thanks for considering it" e-mail, not even a "I'll check in with you in a few months" e-mail, back from him. The sense of entitlement on his part echoes from every bit of our exchange.

All of which to say that, even though I don't often deal with actors, I'm so very, very glad that Sean Gaffney has blogged so extensively and thoughtfully about a Christian view of auditioning here, here, here, and here.

Read them all in order.