Lifetime’s Army Wives: Now that is how to conclude a season finale

I just finished watching the season finale of Army Wives on the Lifetime Television Network. Clearly there is going to be a fourth season, beginning next summer (presumably) to answer the questions posed by the finale’s hooks. What questions?

Did Lt. Col. Joan Burton survive an ambush on patrol in Iraq shortly after meeting with the local tribal sheik? (In her final scene, she is seen helping another soldier move a wounded member of her unit to safety. Then an insurgent fired a shoulder launched mortar round (I think – I’m no military munitions expert) at a nearby jeep, which explodes).

Did PFC Jeremy Sherwood (troubled son of Major Sherwood and his wife, Denise) commit suicide right when they returned home in the evening after attending Brig. General Holden’s promotion ceremony and following festivities?

Is Pamela’s marriage to Chase permanently over? (It’s clear that she does not understand the nature of Delta Force and its effect on its members. I don’t either, so I am clueless about the accuracy of this sub-lot.)

Will Roxy be able to keep the Hump Bar open now that it is in an off-base area that has been declared off limits to all soldiers for the next year. The reason? The night before a high-level staff meeting, Jeremy (who, at 19 was both drunk and under age) appeared to provoke a fight there, and broke the nose of the son of a local City Council woman. This while a three star general is visiting Fort Marshall.

Near the end of Season Three (this year), Fort Marshall’s commander, Brigadier General (and, at season’s end, Major General) learns that Fort Marshall is on the Pentagon’s short list for the next round of base closings within 18 months. Will Fort Marshall survive?

Season Three has been well populated with surprising plot twists and satisfying developments. Chief among the former was the single vehicle accident involving Denise and Claudia Joy (Claudia Joy was driving). Both were dinged up, but survived. During routine post accident blood work, the medical staff discovers that Claudia Joy is a type 2 diabetic. This is a valuable plot twist because it helps illustrate the all too often overlooked fact that it is possible to be in top physical condition, to be following a program of regular exercise and still be diabetic.

Perhaps the major satisfying development arose out of the almost completed divorce between Denise and Major Sherwood. Right at the last moment, he realizes that he is still deeply in love with her, and that they are about to make a terrible mistake. So he does not sign or file the final divorce papers, thereby saving their marriage. While home from Iraq to deal with this matter (and oversee a war game simulation at the base), General Holden seizes the opportunity and appoints him as the permanent replacement for Lt. Col. Burton, who is shipping out with her battalion to Iraq. Through the rest of Season Three, a softer, more well-rounded side to newly promoted Lt. Col. Sherwood emerges.

I’ll admit it – I have been hooked on Army Wives ever since I caught up to Season One on DVD courtesy of Netflix. Now begins my season of impatience – I can’t wait for next June to arrive, along with the premier of Season Four.

Sarah Silverman and "white" comedy: reactions

Last Thursday I reflected on this site about the Netflix entry on the quirky Stuff White People Like blog. At the time I also mentioned another entry on the list about Sarah Silverman as an example of white people's taste in humor.

With its new season now airing on Comedy Central, I have begun watching her The Sarah Silverman Program. While her character strikes me as quirky, free-spirited and light hearted, I do not get most of her humor. Perhaps it is a generational thing, perhaps it is a background cultural thing. Her program is set in suburban California (near as I can tell), while I grew up almost entirely in small town/rural Idaho. In general, my observation for some time is that the things Californians see as comedic/hilarious Idahoans don't, and vice versa.

Then there is the generational factor. I was born during the 1950's. Thus I was a young, impressionable youth during American comedy's golden era, when comedy actually was funny and quotable without bleeps, or a lingo translations list. Where Gen X and Gen Y relate to contemporary comics and comedy programs exclusively, I still recall the classic work of such grand masters as Abbott & Costello, Jack Benny, Bergin & McCarthy, Burns & Abbott, and Fibber McGee & Molly. I must admit that much of contemporary stand-up comedy leaves me going "huh?"

As a result I am not certain about how I classify Sarah Silverman's current program. There is an undercurrent of drama woven into the comedy. Thus, to me, it is not a pure comedy, and it is not a pure drama either. Even so, I still enjoy it and plan to keep watching.

Still, to return to the premise of the entry: can types of comedy people enjoy be accurately categorized racially? Granted, there are comics that draw predominantly African-American audiences. In my eyes, that is a good thing for every racial group and every nationality needs its stress relief outlets. However, there are cross-over comedians and comedic actors who appeal to a far broader, mixed racial audience. Eddy Murphy comes to mind in this regard. I am white, and still Eddy Murphy's movies always crack me up because of his knack for perfect timing of comments, etc. For that matter, I question whether it even makes sense to try to categorize comedy as "white comedy", "African-American comdey", etc.

Along this same line, two final examples that may help disprove the validity of comedy/humor classification along racial (or any other) lines come from American TV programs. One now regarded as a classic comedy is the sit-com Sanford & Son, which revolved around Fred Sanford, an African-American junk dealer and his long-suffering son. This is one of the best comedies ever produced because it addressed a braod variety of stereotypes, both positive and negative, in a light hearted manner. I have enjoyed it throughly since it first aired decades ago. Personally, I feel it would have been far less funny had all of the characters been white, even though most of the stereotypes would have been the same.

The other counter example (in my mind) is the new program Chocolate News on Comedy Central. This is a deliberately tongue-in-cheek African American spoof of network news magazine programs. Its deft weaving of factual information into the background of rather outrageous claims strikes me as hilarious and definitely worth watching. The fact that it is African-American themes and produced, in my opinion, adds to its enjoyable charm.