imdb and me

This past weekend, my friend CJ and I were watching “Ordinary Joe,” a new network show that has some potential. CJ asked me if I recognized one of the lead characters. I could not place the actress but she looked familiar. “What else was she in?” I asked CJ and she said “The first season of YOU!” I quickly recognized her and was so pleased that CJ was able to connect those dots for me. I do this all of the time. I can’t stop myself. And IMDb makes it so easy that I automatically look people up whenever they seem familiar.

Kit Harrington from “Game of Thrones”:  I didn’t recognize you at first in Season 2 of “Modern Love,” but thanks to IMDb, I got it all straightened out. I’m sorry to say you were pretty dang hot in “GOT” and not so hot as a regular guy in “Modern Love.”

Sam Richardson, who expertly played Richard Splett in “VEEP,” transformed himself to take on a wealthy African soccer financier in “Ted Lasso.” This is someone that I would like to see more of and will utilize IMDb to watch other shows he’s in that I haven’t seen yet.

Anna Deveare Smith is one of my favorite supporting actors who has had very memorable roles in “Nurse Jackie,” “West Wing” and “Philadelphia.” She is someone that you instantly recognize but can’t remember where you have seen her.

The feeling I get when I figure out where I have seen an actor before – other shows or movies – is the same one I get when I snap in the last few pieces of a puzzle, check off a completed to-do list or clean out the refrigerator. It feels productive. 

Sadly, my daughter is entirely dismayed about this habit. It does not disturb her as much as when I type on my phone with one finger or ask her if she knows the person who posted the dog video on TikTok, but it seems to be a solid third on her grievances list with me. If I’m watching a show with her and happen to say out loud, “I know that guy from somewhere. What else has he been in?” she groans with disgust and says, “Why does it matter?” She urges me to let the moment pass without hitting up IMDb. She doesn’t understand that I’m mentally putting the last LEGO piece in the log cabin set, and it just needs to happen!

If you went to middle school and high school in the 1980’s, you often struggled with tasks that are now solved in under 30 seconds. We used to wait for a song to be played on the radio in order to record it onto a mixtape, we watched TV shows at the scheduled time they were aired and could be forced to miss an important episode if there were conflicts. We frequently encountered busy signals when making phone calls. We were used to waiting, missing out and not being able to get information very quickly. 

Now every question can be answered on demand. While my daughter is looking at people she mostly doesn’t know modeling bikinis or cutting soap in a visually pleasing manner, I am doing something that scratches an itch. I would like her to understand why it is ok for me to constantly and compulsively make a mental flow chart of actors and the shows they have been in. Obviously, her complaints won’t make me stop getting on IMDb and commenting, “This guy was in the first season of NYPD Blue!” I am fully capable of hiding this habit from her when she is home. I just want to find a way to get her to understand what a fun game this can be and how much better it is now that the information is right at hand.

This is one of those things that makes me understand why people like to spend time amongst their peers. We speak the same language. We have the same reference points. Hopefully, no one my own age is going to complain or be embarrassed about my IMDb habit. Optimistically, I think several of my friends already hit up IMDb as much as I do and will be happy to join me. (One of my daughter’s friends helped me edit this post and admitted to do the same thing I’m doing but via Wikipedia.)

Here’s the deal I’m going to propose to my daughter: let the IMDb habit happen, without comment and complaints, and I promise not to make a fake Tinder account, find you, screenshot your profile and then show it to my mom/her grandma. If Nana has her Tinder profile, she will use it to set her up with her friends’ grandsons, and I don’t think she wants that to happen.