Part of Me

I was so close to tears on Tuesday night. 

Why?

The Private Practice series finale.

Every time one of my shows ends, a part of me dies.

Yes, I'm very dramatic, but it's true!

I've developed this thing called a "parasocial relationship" with characters on TV, which basically means I think of the characters as friends, they mean something to me and I care about what happens to them. It's the "Friends Effect," in my mind. For the longest time, Jennifer Aniston was everyone's best friend because Friends made her a part of our lives.

So yes, I care that Naomi and Sam FINALLY got back together. 

I care that Addison finally got the life she wanted: a baby and a husband.

I care that Amelia got over her drug addiction and finally found a man who loves her regardless.

I care that Cooper and Charlotte's triplets survived and that Mason so easily accepted Charlotte as his step mother. 

I care that Violet's husband died and she's now left alone with her son and writing a second book (conveniently and cheesily called Private Practice).

 

And all these feelings are for a show I'm not entirely attached to! I can only imagine the grief I would go through if/when Castle comes to an end. I may go into a deep depression!

I also got sad news that they cancelled freshman comedies Ben & Kate (FOX) and Emily Owens, MD (The CW). I mean, first of all, who in their right mind cancels a show starring Meryl Streep's daughter!?! That's just wrong!!!

I'm not only so attached to the character on the show, but I usually care about the actors themselves! I mean, they're out of work now! 

Anyway, on Tuesday, Caterina Scorsone (Amelia Shepherd on Private Practice) sent out a letter to the fans. I thought it was really nice of her to write it and it seems to me that it could apply to almost any actor in any show. This letter is what I hope all of my favorite actors are like. I'm grateful to watch their shows, but they're also humble enough to be grateful for their viewers as well. Here's an excerpt of her letter:

"When I was kitted-up as Amelia Shepherd, I got to embody the desires, triumphs and brokenness felt by an audience of which I was still a member.  

"The point is -- I totally get the fan thing. And as an actor I want to take a few hundred words to acknowledge the debt I owe to you guys for being the reason I got to run around carving up brains and dancing on tables, falling in love and acting out, getting high, grieving and growing as Amelia Shepherd. I got to be Amelia because you guys are Amelia. You are the stuff she's made of. You know what it is to win and lose and to battle pride and shame and grief and acceptance, and you kept tuning in to watch us play out your drama. You unwound from your pain and celebrated your pleasure by watching your lives pumped up in neon kaleidoscopic technicolor and spoken back to you through the doctors on our show. In fact, often there was no exaggeration necessary. I received countless letters from fans who had lived stories shockingly close to the scenarios we played out on screen.

"As the dear friends that I've made while working on Private Practice scatter to the winds to find new jobs and new stories to play, I want to say thank you on behalf of the whole cast for being as beautiful and messed up as the characters we had the privilege to play for the last clutch of years. Without you there would have been no us. Yours were the heartbeats we were fighting for; yours were the tears we shed and the jokes we told.

"As Private Practice comes to a close, I'm comforted to know that the characters we so lovingly built won't end with the new spring television schedule. They'll keep right on trucking out in the world as you guys go about your lives and study up at the Neverending school of life.  

So from the actors on Private Practice, you made all of this possible. Thank you for watching. We are your biggest fans.

Gratefully,
Caterina Scorsone"

**************

 

So who are you "friends" with on TV? 

 

Lorelai Gilmore, perhaps? Or Meredith Grey? Cristina Yang? Kurt and Blaine? Mary Richards? Rose Nyland and the other Golden Girls? Julia Sugarbaker and the Designing Women? Sherlock and John? Lucy Ricardo? Sam and Dean? Barney Stinson? Sheldon Cooper? Doctor Who? Castle and Beckett? Addison Forbes Montgomery?

I think you'd be surprised how you'd feel if one of your shows, even a show you only watch occasionally, were to be taken off the air forever. It's a part of you. And it'll stay with you.

And you want to know why I know it'll stay with you? Because of the stories I've heard from my parents of the good ol' days of television--Andy Griffith Show, That Girl, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Leave it to Beaver, and many, many more.

x J