“I’m 30, and I’m Catholic and I’mma die alone in a light-up Christmas sweater talking to a menagerie of parrots” -Happy Endings

TV shows came back with a vengeance last week but there was one crucial comedy missing from my line up. Happy Endings. It's first season, all 13 episodes, premiered as a mid-season replacement last spring and was criticized to be a poor replacement of Friends. I wasn't expecting too much, the commercials made me laugh enough to tune in. The first episode made me laugh enough to forego my bedtime and watch the second. After that, I was hooked.

The show follows the friendship of Alex, Dave, Penny, Max, Jane and Brad. In a very broad sense, it's like Friends. The trials and tribulations of these 30-somethings in Chicago, but when you get down to it, this show is nothing like its much loved predecessor. In the first episode, Alex leaves Dave at the altar and everyone is left to wonder what will become of their group. Jane and Brad are married, Max is a homosexual and Penny is...Penny.

What makes this show so uh-mahzing is the fact that in every episode, a discussion will be had that you've had with your friends. A character will go through something that you went through just the other week. The show is the opposite of Friends because it's so relatable. I have never dated the same guy multiple times, nor do I plan to, but I have absolutely had a conversation with my friends about Z-day or being in a dark place, "like going back to grad school dark."

Season 2 premieres this Wednesday at 8:30 central, after Modern Family. And if you can't fall asleep tonight, go ahead and watch some of the first season. I guarantee you will get hooked after the first I've said that before! moment.

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And for once it might be grand

to have someone understand,

I want so much more then they've got planned

-Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast. A classic and, in my mind, the best Disney film. Maybe I took to it because she was the first brunette "princess" so I could obviously relate to her so much more than the previous princesses. Plus, she loves to read so basically, she's me in cartoon form.

I have to admit, watching this movie again now is a little...upsetting. Firstly, the Beast's rose is set to bloom until his 21st birthday at which point, if he doesn't find love *spoilers* he's stuck as a beast forever. 21?? Twenty one? As in the year Americans become old enough to legally purchase alcohol? Granted, some people have been fortunate enough to find their true love before or by that age but goodness, I can't imagine it. Not because here I am, 23 and single but because I have grown and changed so much in the past six months, not to mention the past two years.

Then again, at the same time, 21 was quite old to my ten year old self and I had always imagined being married and starting a family pretty quickly. That I blame on my mother and all the other Disney movies. I also blame Disney for setting unrealistic expectations. Why does there seem to be a Prince on every corner who's ready to build their Princess a library or travel through town putting a shoe on every girl he sees? Oh Disney, you kill me but you know what? I wouldn't trade those unrealistic expectations for anything. That's how you'll know that guy's someone special.

Secondly, it's upsetting only because I really am an adult now and this movie only reminds me of simpler times. Was it really 15 years ago that I was pretending to be Belle in my gold ball gown at halloween? My how time has flown. Now, my life didn't turn out the way I had imagined it would when I was ten but then again I had wanted to be the next Lindsay Lohan. Frankly, I think I got the better end of the deal.

So, for the next 90 minutes I will escape into the France on my screen while remembering my youth, still wishing I had the blue jumper dress to wear everyday to work. Looks like someone just found her halloween costume!

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