NBC's Trauma Deserves Another Chance

Trauma deserves to return for a second season. The last half dozen episodes or so of the show were some of the best TV I've seen in a while. The scripts were more character driven, and the actors seemed to have received some real attention and direction. I often found myself riveted to the plot and to the excellent acting. I hope they bring it back. 

In the last episode I saw a couple of friends on the show: the multi-talented Carla Pantoja played a housekeeper! Can you believe the woman pictured here played a housekeeper! (The picture is a production photo for Way of the World at The Pear Avenue Theatre). Not only is she a versatile and skilled actor, Carla is also an expert at stage combat! Check out her company, Dueling Arts.

Also, Michael Ray Wisely, bay area stage star and host of the DIY Networks do-it-yourself home improvement show, Home Transformations finally got to show his stuff on the last episode of the season. He's currently appearing in To Kill a Mockingbird at Theatreworks.He played the brother of a guy who got fried by chemicals or something. Michael Ray used a very interesting sort East Coast accent in this episode. It was kind of cool. Actually, I wonder if he was emulating an accent I used to hear all time as a kid growing up in San Francisco. My grandparents had it pretty strongly and sometimes I find myself slipping into it. They were born in San Francisco, but their parents immigrated from Italy. I believe that there were a large number of mostly Irish and Italian people that spent a decent amount of time in New York City after arriving on Ellis Island, and many of them took the trip out west to San Francisco. Their first introduction to English was with a New York accent, so it stuck. If you go sit in some of the old watering holes in North Beach or in the Mission, you'll hear some old timers who still speak with the accent. Listen to the "r"'s, like in words like drawer. They will usually say "drawuh" like on the East Coast. Thanks Michael Ray for bringing it back. Brought back some good memories.