TV Diary

 "Catastrophe" is the story of Sharon, who gets pregnant by accident, and who decides to keep the baby. ("At my age, it's dicey to just yank out the fetus and hope that another might start growing, in the same spot, later, somewhere down the line....")

Sharon sort of enjoys her life. She teaches small children. ("During war, you can either starve to death or feast off the corpse of your own grandmother....") She has a fun, bawdy colleague, who dreams of fornicating with the new principal. ("Look, if *I* chose to marry every time I got pregnant? Can you imagine?") ....Also, Sharon likes reading in bed; the bed itself may be three-fourths the size of her apartment, but it's an arrangement that works for her.

At the beginning of "Catastrophe," a stranger comes to town: It's "pre-cancer." It's not really cancer, but the word "cancer" comes up so often in the diagnosis, you could easily start to feel confused. Like any sane person, Sharon begins showing up to health appointments ten minutes early. ("I thought I would just seem so virtuous, the doctors would decide to take the cancer away, since I clearly don't deserve it.") Sharon meets with one expert who says "the tumor and other stuff" might just flood out of her body while she is giving birth. ("Childbirth is so traumatic, it tends to just wash out all the other creepy-crawlies....Is this second-opiniony ....in your view?") Meanwhile, Sharon's future mother-in-law is also conspiring against her; the mother-in-law says, "A baby cooked up on foreign soil is just the mother's responsibility....My son should dump it and run...."

Rewatching "Catastrophe," I'm struck by the attention to detail. For example, in one scene, Sharon wants to kick her boyfriend out of the flat, for several hours, but she can't quite say this. "Do you want to take a walk? Not with me. With yourself. I mean....do you want to take a walk with yourself?" Having started a small fire, Sharon proceeds: "Take yourself to a movie! An 8 AM movie! Don't hurry back....." In another scene, a surly waitress slams a glass onto the table, in front of Sharon. "Did you want to wipe up the spill?" asks Sharon. "Or present me with a napkin? Or smile at me.....?"

I think of these characters often--and I wish the show had lasted for ten more seasons.