Does anyone remember a show called Burning Love that aired back in 2012-2013 on E! (Entertainment)? It was a parody of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. I found out my library had it on DVD so I’ve been re-watching it before bed and it’s hilarious.
The first season focuses on firefighter Mark, played by Ken Marino. Instead of giving roses to the ladies, he gives them his hose.
The second season focuses on Julie, played by June Diane Raphael. She gives contestants her box.
One of them is Robby Z, played by Paul Scheer. June and Paul are married in real life and I was curious if they met on the set and learned they were married well before then.
That led me down a little rabbit hole where I found out Paul had written a memoir in 2024 which received a lot of praise so I borrowed it from the library.
I’ve never been particularly fond of the actor because every character I’ve seen him play is super annoying, which isn’t fair to him, I know. He is particularly gross and annoying in The League. But I digress…
I was not prepared for how well this man writes. He can tell quite a compelling story, even when the content is disturbing. The amount of abuse he suffered as a child is awful and makes me so angry at all the adults in his life, particularly his parents, that let it go on as long as they did.
I’m in no way trying to say I had anything close to the childhood he did, but I saw myself in some of his tendencies, such as feeling content spending time alone (which I did a lot as a child), pretending to be a character in a movie (another thing I did often), collecting souvenirs from experiences, and journaling. My guess is it’s a self-soothing coping mechanism to deal with trauma. I believe we all have some in various degrees.
In any case, I highly recommend his book, and the show that led me to reading it, if you can find it at your library. It’s all but disappeared online other than short clips on YouTube.