When I think of my favorite television programming, I don’t often believe that it should require a box of tissues to watch it. Most of the time when we are watching TV, we are looking for an escape from boring reality. We want to laugh with a crazy storyline. We want to be educated by historical moments, we want to have our pants scared off by an evil clown or we want to find love in characters that would never end up together in real life with a storyline that would never come true in real life. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon This Is Us that I realized maybe reality isn’t so bad. Maybe we need some programming that makes us have a little bit of hope in humanity. Maybe we need more programming that makes us cry.
I know what you are thinking, “Crying doesn’t sound like the best way to spend my free time.” I get it. At first, I hesitated towards this show. I mean, who is going to invest their spare time in a program every week that people initially tell you that you are going to straight up get attached to these fictional characters and have to feel all the emotions for? I would catch clips of it and go running from the room, covering my ears, hoping that I wasn’t drawn back in again because I didn’t want to become dehydrated again. It wasn’t until I saw Milo Ventimiglia in nothing but a Steelers Terrible Towel that I knew I had to give this a real try.
What makes this show incredible is that it is a just basic storyline about a family. There is no crazy sets or unique costume designs. There are no eye-catching graphics or special effects. There are no characters with superhuman abilities or story-lines that are too far-fetched to believe. It is simple, realistic story-line of a family who loses a child during birth and takes on another as their own and the real-life struggles that they have to face. While that might not be your average “family” story, it is heartfelt and real. There are struggles that you could see your family or any other family have to deal with. It is the realness that pulls you in and refuses to let go.
This Is Us also introduces this new television concept of time jumping. From scene to scene, we never know what decade we are going to see. Where popular dramas just discuss the past and why the characters are the way that they are, this program allows us to see the character development as a whole. With the character progression played out in front of us, this allows us to fully understand their personalities in the present day, as well as fall in love with them. One of those characters that we all have seemed to fall in love with is Jack.
Milo Ventimiglia, who plays the father, was obviously what won me over to watch this show. Some of you know him from Gilmore Girls as Jesse, other may know him from Rocky Balboa as Rocky’s son Rocky Jr, but I know him as the perfect man. Not only do we get to enjoy Milo’s naked bottom, but we also get to see how a real man should act. The way that his character devotes his life to his wife and children takes chivalry to a whole new level. Jack was the one that wanted to take in their adopted son, Randall, and shines in the role of being a great father. Although we know his story-line will be cut short, we don’t know how he has passed away, but I feel like that makes us want to love him and hold on to him a little more.
Ultimate Ginger View: Bust out the tissues, pour yourself a glass of wine and get ready to fall in love with This Is Us. It is worth your heart strings being pulled at and getting dehydrated for. Not only will you fall in love with this family, but you will also find yourself wishing that you could be a part of this fictional family. It is the most real, best cry worthy show that we didn’t even know we have been waiting for. Trust me, you will not regret this.
Feature image via NBC’s This Is Us on Instagram
