And Studdedly, the Best Show On Television Is Almost Gone #SaveTrialandError

My parents do not watch television.

Ok, let me rephrase that. The only things I’ve ever seen my parents watch are the news, sports, and occasionally The Tonight Show/Saturday Night Live (they record it now). Now obviously I know they have watched more than that in their lifetime but within the last 10-15 years that is all I can honestly remember them watching consistently. Being the child who binge-watched the actual television, before online streaming was a thing, you can imagine how difficult I always found it to try and get my parents to watch something on TV. They were kind and almost always allowed my sister and I to watch what we wanted and they would sit there, half-listening. My father might read the newspaper, my mother, who was constantly doing school work (she was a teacher/principal), would be grading papers or any of the other insane things she did for her job for 30 years. I remember when my parents and I kind of started to like the same things on television. When I was old enough to actually fully understand and watch SNL, we would watch together sometimes (if they could stay awake). But there was never anything that we would all definitely, without a doubt, watch together. Even when The Office was in its heyday and NBC ruled the comedy scene, there was never a single show that brought my whole family together, or at least got my parents’ full attention.

Then, in 2017, a little show called Trial & Error premiered.

For those that don’t know (and unfortunately, it sounds like that might be a lot of you), Trial & Error is an NBC sitcom/crime documentary spoof based in the fictional, but oddly realistic, town of East Peck, South Carolina. In season 1, a young, hopeful lawyer named Josh Segal (Nicholas D’Agosto) comes down from New York to East Peck to try the case of Larry Henderson (John Lithgow), who has been accused of murdering his wife, and Josh’s eyes are opened to this small, backwards, southern town. Jayma Mays plays Carol Anne Keane, a prosecutor who wants to be the District Attorney, but needs to win a big case in order to win over voters and is willing to do anything to get there. Continuing the list of magnificent characters, there’s Dwayne Reed (Steven Boyer), a lovable yet somewhat incompetent lead investigator for the defense. There’s also Anne Flatch (Sherri Shepherd) who is Josh’s assistant and head researcher. She can’t recognize faces. Or look at art without fainting. Or hear bad news without laughing uncontrollably. Or come out of a medical procedure where anesthesia was used without having a British accent. Oh and she also has dyslexia.

Now this barely covers the surface of this brilliant show. But, the most amazing part of Trial & Error? It got my parents to sit down, without anything else in front of them, and watch television. I go over Thursday nights and watch it live every week with them. They will also ask me every week if the DVR is going to record it, just to make sure we can’t possibly miss a second of it. We are currently on vacation and my mom said the other day “ok well Thursday I will be coming in from the beach to watch Trial and Error at 9.” This crazy, funny, relatable, show brought us together. It may not sound like a lot to you but in my eyes, it is truly a miracle.

Season 1 was hilarious for an infinite number of reasons (roller-scising, Judge Horsedich, Josh sharing his office with a taxidermist) and season 2 has been no different. However, due to what I believe was a lack of marketing which in turn, led to a lack of views, but is also NBC/Robert Greenblatt just being wrong and not thinking, Trial & Error has not been picked up for season 3. This is an absolute travesty. Not only is Trial & Error exactly the kind of show NBC should be investing in just because it’s good, but it’s so clearly a show that fits their style. They were the kings of the mockumentary TV show (The Office, Parks & Rec), and the creator, seasoned TV vet Jeff Astrof, is a brilliant writer who knows exactly what he’s doing. He deserves to have NBC supporting him and actually promoting the show, not cancelling it because the Ads department didn’t do their job in the first place to tell people about the show. And don’t even get me started on the fact that it was never in the Fall lineup alongside The Good Place. I mean, hello NBC, remember when everyone was watching you on Thursday nights because it was comedy night? You could be doing that again!

The point of all of this is to plead with you, person on the internet, to help us. Help the Peckers save Trial & Error. Whether it’s NBC, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, anyone! This show needs to be on television. If you aren’t sure, check it out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed. Tweet, call, even write to Robert Greenblatt himself, just please #SaveTrialandError.

Fixer Upper: The End of an Era

Tonight, we say goodbye to TV’s golden couple, Chip and Jo. 

     Well, at least until next Tuesday when their new show, Behind the Design, premieres. But really, tonight is the end of an era. For the past 5 years, we have invited this amazing couple and their family into our living rooms. We’ve watched them do everything from transforming their own 100-year-old farmhouse into everyone’s dream home, to moving their offices and shop to the old Silos downtown, to writing books, to starting a bakery, a bed & breakfast, a furniture line, a paint line, and a restaurant, and in-between all of that, flipping pretty much every house in Waco, Texas. Chip and Joanna Gaines have not only set the world on fire with their farm-chic style, they have stayed humble and true to themselves while their lives played out on TV for millions of people to see. 

     Chip and Joanna aren’t just #couplegoals because they’re good-looking people with a TV show. They are real people, with a family, and real lives that they made sure they didn’t stop living just because there was a camera around. Their emphasis on family and faith never faltered or went away. And while I’m sure a lot of their viewers (my grandmother being one of them) loved seeing a nice, Christian couple on TV, I would bet that at least half, if not more, didn’t really know or care about their religion. I believe Chip and Jo just do their best to live as good people and good parents and it comes across in every episode and every interaction they have with the camera.

     I write this tonight, not as a promo for a show that I love (I do love it, if you couldn’t tell) but just as my way of saying “thank you” to the Gaines family. I want you to know that I, as a viewer, acknowledge and appreciate the sacrifices you made to put you life on TV. I appreciate you letting your children grow-up on camera for a few years, it has been a joy to watch them. I am thankful for you letting me see the amazing work you are doing in Waco. Thank you for providing an HGTV show that I didn’t mind watching with my family (seriously, before Fixer Upper came along, I hated HGTV), and in turn, creating a wonderful family show that we could all sit down and watch together.

     A few weeks ago, in my Sunday School class, we were talking about the sabbath. We debated on how the word could be interpreted today since, in this world, it’s fairly unrealistic for the average person to literally do no work on Sunday (or any day). We talked about how sabbath means peace and how, maybe we could take it to mean that we need to find times of peace in our day. When I got home from church that day, HGTV was having a Fixer Upper marathon. I immediately thought to myself, “this is my sabbath, this is my peace.” And it’s true. Television has always been an escape for me and something that means a great deal to me. Fixer Upper is the only show that I can say brings me complete peace when I watch. I might be laughing at Chip or in suspense of what snafu they just hit with construction, but I am truly at peace when I watch the show.

Chip, Joanna, Drake, Ella, Duke, and Emmie Gaines, thank you.