Remember: to bring to mind or think of again; to retain in the memory
Memorable: worth remembering or easy to remember
Those who are reading this probably know me well enough by now to know I have thousands of TV scenes/episodes/shows I could remember at any moment. Whether it’s Sonny and Brenda’s early love on General Hospital to the music of Chris Isaak, “Donna Martin Graduates” on Beverly Hills 90210, the 1980 Star Wars bedding in the first episode of The Americans, the one and only season of the 80s time travel show Voyagers!, Quentin Tarantino taking over SD-6 offices in Alias, any scene with Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights, Rob Lowe explaining “POTUS” in first episode of West Wing, the mass of tribbles on Star Trek, or Lucy and Groucho’s iconic mime sequence on I Love Lucy… and everything in between, whether seeing it once or 10 times, I remember it all. (And I am not including all the sports moments ingrained in my memory the last 43 years)
Yet remembering is not the same as those moments that are memorable. Moments that not only stay in your mind, but frequently say “hi, remember me” for the rest of your life. And when I say frequently, sometimes it’s several months before those moments pop into my mind, but other times it can be multiple times a week that I recall a scene or image. And yes, sometimes it’s triggered by music of a place but much of the time, these memorable moments pop up on their own, just because that’s how my mind works. And so, even if you don’t think about these scenes as much as I do, I am sharing some of the MOST memorable moments that have become part of my thought process.
Be Still My Heart (ER s. 6, ep. 13)
I lost track on how many times I have watched all 15 seasons of ER. I initially started midway in season 1 during my second year of undergrad, and barely missed an episode after that. I made multiple mixed CDs from the music it beautifully filled as the backdrop for each storyline…and ER is the first thing I think about when hearing most of those songs on the radio (or in my head). I easily could tell you about every hook up, relationship, helicopter accident with Dr. Romano, hellos and goodbyes, non-Chicago episodes in Mississippi, Darfur, the Congo, Hawaii, Paris, and the crossover with Third Watch in NYC, or Dr. Ross wearing his “Perfect Storm” clothing on a pier when reunited with Nurse Hathaway. There are multiple series I have watched 5-10 or more times, but no question ER remains my comfort TV. Any time, any place, any episode.
Yet, even with my deep knowledge and connections to all 331 episodes, the most powerful, most memorable, or as one reviewer described it, the most brutal masterpiece, was the Valentines attack on Dr Carter (Noah Wyle) and Med Student Lucy Knight (Kellie Martin). When I binge all 15 seasons, I patiently wait for that 6th season, and when the episode starts, I anxiously wait for the song “Battleflag,” by Low Fidelity Allstars to start in those those final two minutes. It’s like one of those books you never get tired of reading: I know exactly what is about to happen as Carter walks in to blast Lucy, only to get stabbed in the back by the schizophrenic patient, dropping to the floor as staff party to loud music in the desk area, and sees Lucy lying on the floor on the other side of the room, bleeding, eyes open but unable to say anything…and then they both pass out. That song will ALWAYS be associated with ER, and when I think of the episode, I always hear it playing in the back of my mind. In many ways, it’s such a fleeting scene since we never see Lucy actually getting attacked and before we know it, as Carter is attacked, the episode is over, yet the way they wrote/directed it, and juxtaposed the song with the movements, it was simply brilliant in the most heartbreaking way. As background, the whole episode was full of sadness with doses of humanity (did they throw in operating on Romano’s dog for some levity in the midst of all the death that day?), but as touching and meaningful as the first 46 minutes were, it is all forgotten when two fan favorites are at death’s door. Not to mention the frustration as a viewer with no one listening to Lucy’s concerns or the delay in the psych consult. Kellie Martin was already a favorite young actor from “Life goes on”, so to see her character gone after 1 ½ seasons was a huge loss for devoted ER viewers. I do find it interesting that after almost 24 years, it’s only as I verified spellings that I find out I was not the only one impacted by that episode: numerous commentaries call it the best episode in the series…as it should be.
HOMICIDE: Life on the Streets
HOMICIDE is another TV series that remains on my all-time favorite lists, and why I will watch anything with Andre Braugher. Looking back, I realize it ran virtually the whole time I lived in North Carolina for school. Given its lack of reruns and shift away from VHS tapes, it’s one of my beloved shows that I barely have seen episodes more than twice. I will always remember Robin Williams guest starring in the second season as a father of two whose wife is shot as they were visiting a park as tourists. (Definitely didn’t know the son was a 13-year-old Jake Gyllenhaal.). Yet another episode remains imprinted in my memory…one I realize made an impact on almost everyone that saw it, and that is the “Subway” episode (s. 6, ep. 7)
Braugher’s character Pembleton and the other officers are investigating a potential murder, only the victim John Lange (played by Vincent D’Onofrio) isn’t dead yet. Watching Pembleton talk with the Lange, knowing he will die as soon as removed from between the train and platform, was just as frustrating and heartbreaking to the viewer as it was to the characters. They tried to find the girlfriend jogging around the harbor, but never did and I remember taking a breath as she jogs pass the subway station at the very end after Lange died. We definitely see a more vulnerable Pembleton as much as we know he just wants to get on with finding out what happened.
The Oprah Winfrey Show
There are dozens of impactful moments and takeaways from Oprah’s show over the years, from the more jovial Hugh Jackman entering by zip-line onto Oprah’s remote outdoor set in Australia when promoting the film “Australia” with Nicole Kidman to Terrance Howard’s appearance with the cast of Crash when he shared the heartbreaking story from his childhood when his father stabbed a man after an altercation when waiting in line for Santa (although Terrance’s version was later disputed by both his father and the victim’s family). But in all those years of Oprah, rarely a month (week?) goes by when I don’t think about the tragic death of a young girl going to a wedding reception…so tragic I don’t even want to go into any detail….but it definitely had me prepared for child safety in cars.
NBC 4 (DC) Evening News
Some have heard me refer to this before, but John Lennon’s death was my “where were you” moment. I was only 5 years old, but it’s a moment I will never forget. I was at my grandparents’ house, standing between the sink and island as dinner was almost ready. They had a small 14-inch color tv sitting in the right corner of the far wall, on the other side of the round kitchen table, and NBC 4 local news was playing in the background that night. It had to be the next day of the murder since Lennon had been shot at 10:30 pm. Near the end of the broadcast, they talked about Lennon’s death and I just froze, gripping the island as I listened to the tribute, and then hearing “Imagine” as the news closed for the night. No one had told me about the shooting before that, even though I like to joke how I grew up on Beethoven and the Beatles, so to hear it from the local news was a complete shock. Complete shock. And something I always flashback to when hearing “Imagine”.
Highway to Heaven
You know how your parents would try to warn you not to watch certain TV shows or movies because of the language or being too violent etc.? The Police Academy franchise is probably a prime example of what parents tried to avoid in the 80s. Yet something like Police Academy had no impact on me at all except still smiling thinking of all the vocal impressions by Michael Winslow. You know what did make a traumatizing impact on me? The Highway to Heaven episode with the snake in the toilet. The episode Back to Oakland (s. 4, ep. 16) aired when I was still just 12 years old, which had a side storyline where no one believed a woman saying there was a snake in her toilet, but then near the end we see Victor French’s character find out the hard way that it was true. As hilarious as it might be to see Victor French scramble backwards out of the bathroom when he finds sees the snake coming out of the toilet, the thought of that being a possibly has stayed with me. And thus, that episode from a “wholesome family show” has stayed with me every day from that moment on, given I look in the toilet every single time since then.
Small Sacrifices
This final excerpt from memorable TV moments is actually from a made-for-television movie, Small Sacrifices, based on the book detailing the life of Diane Downs and her conviction of murder/attempted murder when shooting her three children at the time. The movie originally aired on ABC but became a staple on Lifetime. I always liked Farrah Fawcett in her dramatic TV movie roles – usually based on true stories- but her portrayal of Downs definitely solidified my respect for Fawcett as an actor: no question worthy of the Emmy nomination. All that said, this particular movie stands out because of Duran Duran’s Hungry Like a Wolf. While I remember it playing in the car as Fawcett’s character Downs shoots the children, what is most memorable is when the prosecutor plays it on a boom box in court, and Fawcett sitting at the defense table, tapping along to the song, until her attorney puts a hand on her to stop. Yes, I will always think of the movie and that scene every time I hear the song, but I don’t need to hear the song to have it pop into my head every few weeks/months…probably for the rest of my life.
Hard to know how to conclude with so much jumping around the different memories from above, although ironically as I look over them, they all support research that shows we tend to hold onto the more negative memories than positive ones. So just to close, I think this quote from Saul Bellow is sufficient – especially with hungry like a wolf still playing in my mind as I type this: “Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.”
Intrepid Oaks 