“How’s that working out?”

I have been spending all my free time lately being utterly charmed by White Collar. The fact that all the main actors are such pleasant people in interviews and despite their fame, manage to have really sweet family lives, only speeds the growth of this warm fuzzy feeling. You know you’re getting broody when that’s your criteria for celebrity crushes; are they cute with their kids? (Although now that I think about it, I remember being pretty enamored of Richard Dean Anderson w/Child back in my Stargate Days.)

But actually, that’s one of the appeals of the show itself – FBI Agent Peter Burke investigates crimes with the help of “former” con-man Neal Caffrey, and then he goes home to lovely wife Elizabeth. The Burkes are the best married couple I have seen on TV – or maybe have seen ever. Neal gives peter advice on what to do when he forgets his anniversary, and El tells him how to handle his untrustworthy partner. For a show about crime, it’s all very domestic.

 

The lovely Tiffani Thiessen, who plays Elizabeth, had a baby last year but continued shooting the show while pregnant. (You know, I could do a post just on how TV shows conceal or incorporate the impending motherhood of their actresses, it’s kind of hilarious.) I understand why they didn’t include it in the story – second season is a little too soon for a parenthood storyline. But if they do go there in the future (and can do it without ruining the charm of the Burke peaceful marriage) I think it would be hilarious – Peter not being able to handle a crying baby, and Neal somehow babysitting in an emergency situation and being able to soothe it to sleep using a paperclip and a shoelace - a baby is, after all, only a very small mark.

 

Meanwhile, Tim DeKay (who I fell for because he was in Big Eden, a romantic comedy I'm currently starry-eyed over) plays Peter, and has two older kids:

“About once a month or so, my daughter and I go out on what we call a Fancy Dinner Date, just the two of us. Here's the criteria we use to decide where to go: (1) There has to be a white tablecloth, and (2) there has to be flowers or candles on the table, or both.”

Awww.

 

Neal’s actor, Matt Bomer, is being the exact opposite of his unreliable character, and is raising three kids – including twins – with his partner, who had them via surrogate. I’m crossing my fingers Mr. Bomer decides to add to that number, because those are some genetics that really ought to be passed on to future generations.

 

But topping all those mountains of adorable and heartwarming is the story of Willie Garson, who plays the show’s comic relief Mozzie. In his forties as a single male, he adopted a little boy.

“He has a spark. He was balancing himself on a curb, and I was like, ‘That’s my kid.’ I knew it right then.”

I’d call that an inspiration to us all – or maybe just me. I don’t need to get it done in the next four years!

 

And just because: