The top five places I'd like to see the 'Psych' pineapple

Over winter break, my mom finally convinced me to watch one of her favorite shows, Psych. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and some of it was actually funny.

One thing about the show that I'm glad my mom told me about, because I would never have known about it otherwise, as the show doesn't tell you, is that there is a pineapple in every episode.

Wait a minute. What?

In each episode, there is a sneakily hidden pineapple. For example, on the most recent episode, a cheese cutter had a pineapple handle. Some of them are more obvious, like ordering a pineapple smoothie or holding a physical pineapple, but many of them are quite tricky. Luckily, I found a fan site called Pysch Pineapple that provides a screenshot of the pineapple from every episode of all six seasons, so if you're unobservant like me, you can still be in the know.

Here are some places I would like to see the Pysch pineapple hidden in future episodes.

1. Pineapple fascinator. This would be perfect if there is a wedding in Psych's final season, as the "Neil Simon's Lover's Retreat" episode hinted with the fact that Shawn has purchased an engagement ring. A simple pineapple headband with cream-colored veil would suit Juliet quite nicely. Side note: If I ever meet James Roday, I will be custom crafting a pineapple fascinator for the occasion.
2. Pineapple vest. My mom has always wanted to see a beach-themed episode where Shawn wears a three-piece suit with a pineapple-printed vest. Make it happen, producers.
3. Pineapple nail art. Ideal for the episode in which Shawn proposes to Juliet, providing a close-up hand shot for a ring finger pineapple nail decal.
4. Pineapple tacky Christmas sweater. Obvious but effective.
5. 99 Pineapples. Schnapps has not added pineapple to the 99 Schnapps line yet, but perhaps they would consider doing a limited-edition 99 Pineapples if it were featured prominently in the show. Psych often has very blatant product placement -- Jamba Juice and New Balance, to name a couple -- so this shouldn't be an issue.

Gossip Girl's Royal Wedding

I wrote this piece on Gossip Girl's 100th episode, the royal wedding, for HerCampus UNC last week. Enjoy!
See also: my defense of why I still watch Gossip Girl, also available on Her Campus.

256: Review: Zooey Deschanel Hosts SNL

Of all the Saturday Night Live hosts this season, Zooey Deschanel was one of the most anticipated, announced in late 2011 and hyped in commercials online and on air.

From being the blond actress in Elf to the adorable female component of She & Him to the quirky New Girl star, Deschanel has won admiration from both indie and mainstream audiences without betraying either of these bases. Hipsters and sitcom lovers alike waited excitedly to see how Deschanel would act on SNL.

One Vulture commenter said that it was the best SNL episode since the '90s, and many other commenters agreed that it was at least the best episode of the current season. 

But how much of this was because of Deschanel, and how much was because of the week's surrounding events -- Santorum's primary successes, the Super Bowl, etc.? Was Deschanel a better host than others this season?

Photo: Vulture

Deschanel's monologue didn't stray far from her “quirky” celebrity persona. She wore a heart-printed dress and performed a song about men forgetting Valentine's Day, complete with a ukulele performance. 

While her monologue may have been relatively predictable, Deschanel proved that even though she’s the star of a major network television show, she can still sing beautifully. Her musical performance was arguably better than that of Karmin, a pop duo whose performance was lackluster at best. After the Lana del Ray fiasco, though, the SNL producers were probably wise in choosing a lesser-known artist with few expectations as the episode’s musical guest.

In general, Deschanel stuck with the “adorkable” persona during the other sketches as well, straying away from any performances that might be deemed offensive or mean-spirited. The first sketch about M.I.A.’s hand gesture during the Super Bowl was the only time Deschanel hinted at mockery, and even that sketch was fairly light-hearted.

Running sketches like "Technology Hump" and "Les Jeunes De Paris," while not exclusive to Deschanel's episode, seemed more innocent with her performance. The cameo by Jean Dujardin, star of The Artist, was also a nice, unexpected addition to the latter performance.

In "Being Quirky with Zooey Deschanel," where Abby Elliott played Deschanel and Deschanel herself played Mary Kate Olsen, we learned two things: that Deschanel isn't afraid to laugh at herself and what people think of her, and that she can really act. The Mary Kate impression was spot-on, and her impersonation was much more convincing than the Very Mary Kate series of internet renown. Taran Killam’s Michael Cera impression rounded out the innocent factor and added levity to an already laugh-worthy sketch.

What were arguably the episode's most memorable sketches, though, didn't include Deschanel. 

Bill Hader's three-part series imitating Chrysler's Super Bowl commercials with Clint Eastwood stole the show, simultaneously poking fun at other Super Bowl ads as well as Chrysler's. With senseless lists of product placement and criticism of traditional American values such as being able to drive a Chrysler, Hader left a lasting impression on viewers, even if that impression was simply one of him wearing pants raised to unnatural heights.

Nicholas Cage's guest appearance with Andy Samberg on "Weekend Update" was a great wrap-up to Samberg's recurring Cage impersonation in the "Get in the Cage" sketches. Like Deschanel, Cage wasn’t afraid to poke fun at his own performances, joking that all of his movies include speaking at two levels: whispering and shouting.

And the Deschanel sketches with predictable endings, "Front Page" and "Patio Party," seemed like time-fillers that were mediocre at best. Kristen Wiig can play many roles! But we didn’t need to insert a doe-eyed Deschanel into a 1950s-style newsroom and a Southern crab dinner to know that.

While this episode showed that Deschanel can act and that SNL front-runners like Jason Sudeikis and Bill Hader can carry on a great show, it did evoke nostalgia for SNL seasons past with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, whose performances made any guest hosts’ episodes shine. 

But perhaps that's what the writers intended, since next week's host is Maya Rudolph.

Great feature writing: New York Magazine and Vulture

As someone whose writing relies heavily on wit, I always look forward to Vulture's television recaps each week. 

The recaps I've followed the longest are Gossip Girl's, though the New Girl (or should I say New Schmidt) ones are a close second. New York's senior editor Jessica Pressler been recapping Gossip Girl for the last two seasons, and I enjoy reading her insightful analysis of what some might see as an insipid program.

While some of the other TV recaps on Vulture are written in essay format, Pressler writes the Gossip Girl recaps a bit differently. 

Specific quotes and actions from each episode are filed under 'real' and 'fake,' and at the end of each recap, Pressler tallies the points to see whether that episode was realistic or not realistic. Though these are, of course, tongue-in-cheek since the world of Gossip Girl is one unlike any other, the points are entertaining, to say the least.

Pressler also makes reference to earlier seasons as well as the Gossip Girl book series in her recaps, which shows that she commits to extra research and finds connections that average viewers may not notice. 

She's created a persona for each character and bases her analyses around these, and points are often awarded based on how closely each character behaves to these ideals. When a character does something that they normally wouldn't, Pressler is the first to notice and point out the discrepancy.


Aside from Gossip Girl recaps, Pressler also writes blog posts for Vulture's "Daily Intel" blog and even interviewed Penn Badgley on his involvement with the Occupy Wall Street movement, not to mention her summer 2012 cover feature on Emma Stone. Pressler's dedication to Gossip Girl and its recaps paid off with the opportunity to interview one of the stars -- this is a great inspiration for young writers to sharpen their review skills, because you never know who you may have the chance to interview.


I'd love for my writing to be even a quarter as witty and sharp as Jessica Pressler's is. Whatever Vulture deems "the greatest show of our time" is what I would love to recap -- Jessica Pressler has the perfect job.


UPDATE: While in New York this summer, I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Pressler for coffee at the New York office building. She is every bit as charming and intellectual in person as her writing suggests!