More Paris Hilton

Could there be any reason why a person would declare a desire for more Paris Hilton? Faint ye not, faithful readers! I have found a setting in which our much-despised Ms. Hilton is not only tolerable but beneficial. To whit:

I recently began watching Veronica Mars. Sara started watching during Season 1 a few years ago, and recommended it to me early on as something that I would probably really enjoy. I didn't jump on the bandwagon, as I was already deeply committed to some other TV shows (e.g. Buffy and The Simpsons, to name a few), and to be honest, I don't always share Sara's taste in entertainment (let's just say that it is due to her influence that I've suffered through many an hour of rom-com dreck: for instance, Miss Congeniality 2). But Jeff and I recently finished watching all of Angel, via Netflix, and I decided to try at least one disk of Veronica Mars' Season 1, as my heart was ready to give Sara's recommendation a chance, and if I didn't like it, I didn't have to watch any more. Well, beginning with the first moment of the first episode, I was hooked. A good many Buffy aficianados are commenting on the similarities between the protagonists of the two shows, and no less a person than Joss Whedon has put his stamp of approval on VM (up to and including appearing as a guest star in an episode).

For myself, I really like it. I identify with Veronica in many ways, I appreciate her relationships and the plot situations, and the realism with which some of them are handled, and the obvious theatricality in others (after all, it's television; if I want completely real reality, I'll videotape my own life). I think the writing is decent, and it has been getting stronger as Season 1 progresses. I wait eagerly for my disk to arrive in the mail, and watch it as soon as possible when it does come. I am in the middle of a cliffhanger right now, and am angry that the holiday weekend will interrupt mail service. Will Veronica ever find Lilly's true killer? What, oh what, will happen with Logan and his mother?!? Ah, the suspense!

Anyway, Paris Hilton had a role as a guest star (playing a spoiled rich girl who engages in inappropriate sexual relationships... hmmm...) in one of the first episodes, and while she is no kind of actress, she was believable in her role, and I think it would have benefitted the series to maintain her character as something like tragicomic relief. I found it jarring to have lack of continuity: characters appear in one episode, and then are never seen again, even though they supposedly live within the community or go to school with Veronica. They should keep some of the one-shot characters around, even if they just serve as extras in the background, to keep that crucial sense of realism and continuity.

My one dark spot is that Jeff refuses to watch "teen angst TV" with me, so I have to go it alone. I suspect that he would get hooked, too, just as he did with Buffy, but he won't give it a chance.