Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Beth's Favorite Fictional Character --- Miss Parker


Today's guest blogger is one of the first bloggers I met, and one of the kindest.  Beth from Beth's Book Reviews is one of the gems of the book blogging universe.  And I'm just not saying that because she sends along quite a few of her read mysteries my way after she is done with them.  She has sent along a few Rinehart books that I haven't read yet, and I appreciate that more than I could ever say.  It's more than that though, she seems to be everywhere I look.  She always seems to have a kind word or a helpful answer to any question.  She was one of the examples I looked to when I first started my blog, an example I wanted to emulate.  So I hope if you don't know her, that you stop on by her blog and say hi.



When Ryan asked me to write a Favorite Fictional Character guest post  my mind immediately went into overdrive.  Who did I love more?  Should it be Paddington Bear?  Mole from The Wind in the Willows?  Rose from Doctor Who?  The possibilities were endless.  I finally settled on one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite television shows - Miss Parker from The Pretender.

Why not Jarod, you ask?  Well, despite his sheer hotness, Jarod is just a bit bland for me.

In the age of the 90s Ally McBeal micro mini Miss Parker rocked her wardrobe with those fabulous legs (the actress was a former dancer) like Ally & Co. never could (well, except for Portia de Rossi and Dyan Cannon), but alas, I digress.



Miss Parker was the perfect blend of brains, beauty, and balls and men wanted to be with her and the women wanted to be her.  She was fiercely loyal to her friends and at heart a genuinely good person doing the best with what she had.

She really developed as a character throughout the show's four short seasons.  She started out as an uberbitch just trying to bring Jarod back so she could leave her job once and for all, to someone with true compassion beneath her gruff exterior.  The rare moments of softness she displayed, beautifully shown in the season 2 finale when Angelo was regressing and could no longer play the piano, were a heartbreaking glimpse into her soul.



Thankfully we also got to experience her lighter side in the fabulous dream scenes from "Cold Dick".  Sadly, there are no good clips of this on YouTube.  

She also had some of the most wonderful lines in the series:

Sydney:  How come you know so much about Greek lore?

Miss Parker:  I did a lot of frat boys in college.

***

Miss Parker:  (phone rings)  What?

Jarod:  Well, well, well, long time no see.  And how's life treating you?

Miss Parker:  Like he caught me in bed with his wife.

***

So, Miss Parker joined all those other great characters of shows whose lives were cut short yet remain beloved by devoted fans.

I'm feeling all nostalgic now and must go fire up my Apple TV for a Pretender marathon!


3 comments:

Beth said...

Thanks for having me! :)

Ryan said...

You are more than welcome. You made me remember why I loved this show so much.

DarkEva said...

Hi Ryan,
Great post highlighting a great blog! I confess I'm not familiar with The Pretender, but it sounds like a cool show, and Miss Parker sounds like a cool fictional character :-)

DarkEva