Tomorrow we’re going to Norway. But today I went to the (very attractive) dentist. And last night, B. and I had the following conversation (more or less):
Me: I think there should be a TV drama set in a dentist’s office.
B: Why?
Me: Well, there are lots of professional dramas. Like, ER and Grey’s Anatomy. And then there’re schools, like Boston Common. And there’s The Office. And there’s even a funeral parlour! The Sopranos!
B: No, that’s Six Feet Under.
Me: Oh, yeah. Right. And the Sopranos, uh, a mob drama. That’s a work-related TV show.
B: Hmm.
Me: So anyhow, the dentist office TV drama! I think it would be great! “Dr. T and Dr. J’s Dentistry Office” — it will be like ER meets the L-Word!
B: It’s hard for a dentist’s office to be very interesting, because the patients can’t really talk most of the time.
Me: Hm. That’s true.
[Silence. Or maybe giggles.]
Me: Well, the dentists can ask yes and no questions, and the patients can go “Uh-huh” or “Uh-uh.”
B: Or “Aaargh.”
Me: And the dentists and dental hygienists and admin staff will just have to be very dramatic.
[Silence. Or some more giggles, as we imagine our dentists with very dramatic lives.]
Me: But you could learn about the patients because you’ll see what books they’re reading.
B: Huh?
Me: You know, like, they’ll have their books on their laps in the dentist chair.
B: That’s kind of self-centered.
Me: Why?
B: Well, not everyone reads books at the dentist’s office; some people just read trashy magazines.
Me: You could find that out about them!
B: I know, you could have these flashbacks where you could see what’s going on in the patient’s lives.
This all seemed very funny to us — I don’t know — does it seem funny to you? This may be one of those things that does not translate well to the textual screen.
This morning I told my dentist about this conversation. It was perhaps my first conversation at the dentistry office that I actually initiated; usually I just say “uh-huh” and “uh-uh” and wonder why the dental hygienist is so interested in my life, or whether she’s just being polite. When I told her about the TV show, the dentist laughed. I explained that because the patients couldn’t really talk much, since they’d have her hands in their mouths, she’d just have to have a very dramatic life. Dr. J arched her eyebrows and said, “Well, and it isn’t.” So I guess they won’t make that show.
Then when I came home and told B. about my conversation with Dr. J, B. suggested that I make a Facebook group and an online discussion list for my TV drama, “Dr. T and Dr. J.’s Dentistry Office.” I think that’s a great idea: we could go visit the dentist office and ask if we could pose for photos dressed up as dentists, with all the tools and everything, and then I could post those pictures as stills from the show. I could see the discussion group getting really big.
