Question: First I have to say ...
Question: First I have to say that I love your taste in television.
The Amazing Race,
Lost and
Alias are all faves! I have a question about another favorite show,
American Dreams. I have been waiting for a long time for the Sam-and-Meg romance because I think they have wonderful chemistry. I understand that it is 1966, so the interracial thing would not be easy. However, it seems to me like it was a huge letdown for them to be so easily swayed not to date. I was hoping for more, and since the show may be ending, it is not as though they have to make a huge commitment. It does not quite seem in character. Meg, after all, continued to protest the war despite all of her family's misgivings. Do you think I am way off base? I would love to know. Thanks! — Sara D.
Matt:
First I have to say that I love your taste in columnists. But to the topic at hand, I think that your feeling of being let down is very much to the point of why Sam and Meg's flirtation couldn't progress to the next level. It may be American Dreams' most realistic twist ever. The pressure both kids felt from their respective families, including those who they might have expected would back them up, pretty effectively demonstrates how great the racial divide truly was back then. The fact that you wanted them together shows how deeply we empathize with these characters and also shows how far we've come since then. If Meg were in college or had otherwise flown the family nest, then maybe they could have gone for it. But despite her high-minded anti-war activities, which were a bit romanticized (not that I minded), this is still Meg Pryor from Catholic High we're talking about. And there's only so much rebellion a single character can accomplish without becoming a poster child for the issue of the week. (I also thought it was brave for Dreams to send away the gay character who worked in Helen's travel office, when the conventional approach would have been for him to make a public gay-pride stand. Maybe in the mid-'70s, but not the mid-'60s.)
In related American Dreams news, Kim writes in to respond to a report that Gail O'Grady has signed on for a new pilot: "Is that telling us that American Dreams won't be back next year? Tell me it ain't so!" Here's the situation: While it's too early to know if Dreams will make the cut for next season, as we've discussed at length before, when a show is in limbo it's not unusual for some cast members to think about the future and get cast in pilots for the following season. If Dreams gets picked up and the new show goes to series, O'Grady would almost certainly be contractually obligated to stay with Dreams, and they'd probably have to recast her new role. I can think of worse dilemmas to have.
