architecture

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Single. Handsome. Charismatic. Architect?

According to The Gutter, everybody's second favorite network ABC is searching for "a 27-33 year old single, handsome, successful, charismatic guy who would like to be whisked away to an exotic, tropical location dating 25 beautiful girls" for the television show The Bachelor. For this casting call they "are interested in finding an architect."

Curious about what exactly a "single handsome charismatic successful architect" is, I naturally consulted Google. An image search for that term resulted in zero matches. But a broader web search yielded a previously-tried-yet-unsuccessful TV show, 2000's Madigan Men, starring Gabriel Byrne as "Benjamin Madigan, a handsome, successful and charismatic architect in New York City." I never saw this show but it appears to be a reworking of Frasier, cute dog and all, but with the potential for some Irish 'tude and the occasional AutoCAD joke or reference to Vitruvius.

Missing image - madigan.jpg

This page on TV single dads also tells us about another show with an architect father, 2002's Family Affair starring Gary "Midnight Caller" Cole in another role that harkens back even more directly to Mr. Brady (Cole played Brady in the funny - to me - 1995 film), the TV architect of all TV architects. According to tv.com, Cole plays "a wealthy and handsome businessman...[with] a high-powered career, a stunning penthouse on Central Park East, a succession of beautiful women and a dignified old-school British butler," played by Tim Curry. Perhaps somebody should have reminded the writers and producers that the main character was an architect, not an architect's client.

What comes to my mind with ABC's search for the impossible is not bad, formulaic TV but somewhat-decent, formulaic TV, Law & Order Criminal Intent's 2003 season-premiere where "a promising young architecture student is found murdered with a screwdriver, [whose] bold design for a new and prestigious downtown building strongly resembles those of a celebrated architest [sic]...whose personal life is even more elaborate than his blueprints." Supposedly "ripped from the headline" of Nathanial Kahn's film about his famous father, the L&O episode is memorable for attempts to parallel the story about the womanizing architect with his creations. Most evident is the walkway that abuts the architect's office; the glazed walls offer views of the female employees calves as they walk past, unaware of the situation. Sure, it's funny to laugh at the writer's complete disregard for practical matters -- is anybody really going to go to that effort and expense to frame and support that opening in the floor for what would clearly be seen as voyeuristic intentions? -- but nevertheless it's refreshing to see the attempt made for drama based on the architects (albeit perverse) mindset, as opposed to some unrealistic and lofty ideals, a la Family Affair.

All this makes me wonder who exactly ABC is looking for...the "real", introverted architect whose inner desires manifest themselves in their designs, or the hoped-for, middle-of-the-road rich guy who just happens to be an architect? If it's the former, I'm taken, but if it's the latter, they're screwed.

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