kickedinthehead

I, too, found this show surprisingly enjoyable . As a child, I watched all of the first three movies (or at least parts of them) but barely remember any of them, so my reason for trying the show was mostly just curiosity. But I liked the first two episodes enough to take advantage of YouTube Red's free trial so I could binge-watch the rest (now I'll just need to remember to cancel!). One of the few things I do remember about watching the movies as a kid is that my childhood self thought that Johnny was "sexy" and Daniel was "nerdy". My 39-year-old self also prefers Johnny to Daniel, but for less shallow reasons, which have already been articulated by others in this thread. Neither character is exactly "likable" but Johnny (flawed as he is) is genuinely compelling, whereas Daniel often in the show just comes across as... the thing that was spray-painted on his billboard. He does become a little more tolerable toward the end of the season, though. Both Ralph Macchio and William Zabka are great here, especially William Zabka. LOVED the REO Speedwagon scene! I agree that Anthony is an insufferable character and wouldn't mind if they just write him out of Season 2 -- or at least give him something to do other than eat and make rude, obnoxious comments. Like an earlier poster, I also wondered what became of Robby's two thug friends; the one was all, "You better WATCH YOUR BACK!" but then we never saw them again (maybe they'll be back in Season 2?). Another thing I wondered about: doesn't the high school have any faculty, aside from the principal (?) who called Johnny about Robby, and the "lunch lady" I thought I saw a brief flash of in the cafeteria fight scene? Speaking of the high school characters; I recognized "Yasmine" from a Lifetime movie called 'The Bride He Bought Online' (in which she played basically the exact same character) but didn't know until after seeing her in this show that the actress is apparently from the town where I spent my teenage years, and where I currently work (the sprawling metropolis of Gig Harbor, Washington). Now I kind of want to go back and watch the movies again. Can't wait for Season 2!

Yup, that's about all I remember of his appearance (and I completely forgot about him until I read your post). Yes -- whatever THAT was, it definitely went on for too long (I confessed, I laughed once at the sheer ridiculousness of it; but the "caterpillar"'s voice quickly began to wear on my nerves...) Was one of them the kid that asked for a Dunkin' Donut? That's about all I remember of that act. His fiancee, or wife, or whomever the woman with him was reminded me of the overly dramatic wife of last season's Escape Artist (Demian Aditya?). Hopefully she won't be as hysterical as Demian's wife (as for Scorpion Guy ... meh. Nice grunty-looking expressions when you were "bending the bars", or whatever it was you were pretending to do.) Apparently, he's Australian ? He was far from my favorite, but at least slightly less boring than many of the other acts tonight. I liked him better than the lady comic from a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if he'll joke about anything other than his Tourette's (I don't really mind one way or the other as long as he's reasonably funny, although I don't exactly see him winning). Agreed. And this is probably mean of me, but her dancing (?) was very... awkward. I'm still rooting for the cats!

https://www.gq.com/story/what-ever-happened-to-brendan-fraser Interesting article about Brendan Fraser that's been circulating ("Trust" is mentioned briefly a few times). I like him, and am curious about this show; I plan on watching...

It's been awhile since I watched a finale episode of the show. I know next week is Part 2 of the semi-finals; then, the week after that, the last 10 will perform on Tuesday, then the final 5 on Wednesday? Or something? I agree that Darci is the likely winner of this season; I'll take her over the other kid performers (at least she's not just another singer). I also wouldn't be surprised if Terry Fator joined her onstage in the final episode (even though I know he's been back a few times already). It might be kind of fun to see the two of them together. Johnny Manuel isn't my favorite, but I prefer him to Chase -- and, yes, why give him a hard time for writing his own song, then act like Chase is just bursting with originality? As for Chase's lyrics -- I'm not sure what to say, except that I doubt anybody will be referring to him as "the next Bob Dylan" any time soon. That choir needs to calm down. So does Preacher. But not Eric Jones. I found my attention wandering back to my Chromebook screen shortly after his act began. (I'm not even sure what his trick was, to be honest.) Yoli's praise from the judges ... baffled me. I thought that she was flat several times (my mother agreed). I'd be surprised if she made it through to the finals. The dogs were cute, although I noticed that Hero (or maybe it was Loki) failed to catch a frisbee at one point; this was before both dogs fought over said frisbee at the end! I don't really have an opinion one way or the other about the brother/sister skaters or Mike Yung. Finally, Evie Clair isn't the worst young singer I've seen on this show but even aside from her story, I don't see her winning. It's very sad about her dad, though; I came across her mother's blog, and according to that, Evie's father seems to be within his final hours. I can't help thinking that she needs to go, even if she is voted through, so she can go be with her family.

Whoops! Wrong thread (sorry).

That brief scene with Norma singing to Soso was my favorite scene in the episode -- but I have to admit that it's mainly because I love that song "You Are the Light" and I even know Marvin Etzioni, the guy who wrote it (we're not BFF's or anything, but I was in touch with him semi-regularly for awhile several years ago, crashed at his house once, and he even played a benefit concert I put together in 2010. We're still Facebook friends, and he also played in a band ages ago with the boyfriend of a good friend of mine). Fun fact: Marvin also co-wrote the song "Can't Cry Hard Enough", which played at the end of that Beverly Hills, 902010 episode where Dylan hugged his childhood self. Anyhow, Norma singing "You Are the Light" was about the last thing I expected in an OITNB episode (who knew she was a Lone Justice fan?) but it's definitely a fitting song ("you are the light in my dark world... you are the fire that will always burn...") RIP, Poussey. Speaking of Poussey, I thought her flashback scene at that rave (?) went on for a bit too long; however, I did enjoy the "New York" aspect of her flashbacks, especially the subway scene. So Healy checked himself into a psych hospital? Huh. When they first showed him approaching the hospital (which might have actually been in Episode 12), I thought he was maybe going to visit his mother (which wouldn't have made sense in retrospect since he doesn't know what happened to her). Anyway, with everything else happening I forgot about Healy until they showed him in the hospital knitting (?) and watching Caputo's press conference. Good for him for getting help. What else... I agree the guy who plays Bailey is a good actor, and felt bad for his character. I liked Blair Brown's portrayal of Judy, but was starting to get tired of Judy King before the end of the season, so I didn't much care about her one way or the other in this episode. I've been tired of Crazy Eyes since Season 1. Piper and Alex, just... no. I'm... not sure what to make of Caputo or the final scene, but I guess I'll find out with everyone else what happens in a year! Unlike last year (I really hated Season 3), it will be a bit harder to wait that long but what can we do? Ultimately, despite some flaws, I think this was probably the show's strongest season.

I've watched a ridiculous amount of Lifetime movies lately. I haven't seen The Inheritied, but I did watch You May Now Kill the Bride (I agree -- classic trashy yet entertaining Lifetime, with a ridiculous ending). I was really shocked when the best friend .And even more blown away when . These things never happen in Lifetime movies! Others I've seen recently include: Stalked By My Doctor (my favorite!); Mommy's Little Girl (which was highlighted by especially stellar acting -- plot-wise, this one was something like a cross between The Bad Seed and Child of Rage); The Stepchild (somewhat dull, but filled with familiar faces: Becky Baker from Degrassi, a much older-looking "John Sears", and Lauren Holly -- who appeared to have a "new face"); Honor Student (which had an ending even more laughably bad than You May Now Kill the Bride's); all of the "met online" movies (The Girl He Met Online is absolutely atrocious; the rest of them are all fairly entertaining, though, especially The Husband... and The Bride... ); and I Didn't Kill My Sister (which featured a grown-up Sue Scanlon as a woman suspected of... killing her sister. But she didn't! Or did she?)

The first one was entertaining enough, but this.looks.AWFUL. It doesn't help that I kind of can't stand James Franco. That being said, I have an embarrassing addiction to Lifetime movies and so will probably end up watching this at some point. I'm prepared to hate it, but maybe it will surprise me and turn out to be so-bad-it's-good. (Doubtful, but you never know...)

I binge-watched this silly show when it debuted on Netflix, and by this point I've half-forgotten most of the episodes (and wouldn't necessarily be able to say what happened in which episode) but for some reason this episode stood out to me more, so I guess it was my "favorite" of the season. There was nothing particularly great about it, but I'll admit I snickered at the "Time of My Life" dance scene. I "like" Joey about as much as I did in the original show, though. Which is to say, not.at.ALL. Did they even throw in a line about how he happened to be in town (that part, I don't remember)? Or did he fly from Las Vegas (or wherever he's supposed to live) specially to baby-sit DJ and Kimmy's brats, just so DJ could have her little night on the town?

None of these are new, but in recent months, I've noticed a few cast members turn up in movies I've watched: Michelle Hurst (Miss Claudette) has a small role in that masterpiece "Airheads"; Dascha Polanco (Daya) appears in the 2013 film "Gimme Shelter" (playing -- wait for it -- a pregnant girl); and Kimiko Glenn (Soso) turns up in another obscure 2013 movie, "HairBrained" (as a character with the very important name of "Perky Girl", who acts very much like Season 2 Brook Soso). I've also seen Natasha Lyonne in several movies: she plays the typical "supportive friend" role in "Kate & Leopold" (kind of an odd role for her, though); she's also in the not-very-good films "4:44: Last Day on Earth" and "Girl Most Likely." And I haven't seen it in a long time, but my favorite movie with her in it is "Slums of Beverly Hills" (I'd love to see her co-star from that film, Kevin Corrigan, appear on OITNB!). Of course, Blair Brown has also been in a bunch of stuff -- for some reason, of her roles that I've seen, the first one coming to mind is some Lifetime-ish TV movie from the 90's called "Convictions." She went to prison in that movie, too, but as a visitor -- who bonded with her son's killer (Cameron Bancroft). I barely remember the movie, but I liked (and still like) both lead actors, and enjoyed seeing them together. ETA: Oh, yeah -- Maria Dizzia (Polly) has a one-scene role in "The Other Woman" (the Natalie Portman one, not the other movie with the same title). I remember watching it several months ago and feeling annoyed trying to figure out who she was, until I finally placed her. Oh, and Fischer is in the (very odd) video for the They Might Be Giants song "You're on Fire."

I'm not sure how unpopular this is, but I hated almost everything about Season 3. Including "Stella"; I had no idea who Ruby Rose was beforehand, but (sorry, Ruby Rose) I don't think she's remotely "hot" or beautiful, at least not as this character. I semi-liked Norma in the first couple of seasons, but she lost me with that ridiculous "Cult of Norma" storyline in Season 3. I also hate Piper and Alex, *especially* together; I end up fast-forwarding through many of their scenes together, because I so.do.not.care. Piper's little side "business" -- just, ugh. I thought the Morello/Christopher story was one of the better ones of Season 2, but I agree that Christopher didn't deserve a beating and if that was supposed to make me find Morello more endearing or think that Christopher "got what he deserved" or somesuch -- fail. (Also, I couldn't care less about Morello's new husband.) And while I suppose I prefer Big Boo in her scenes with Pennsatucky to most of her other scenes, this isn't saying much -- because I DESPISE Big Boo. So their friendship didn't do much for me. (Pennsatucky, on the other hand, is one of the more interesting characters; I hated her every bit as much as Big Boo in the first season, possibly even more so; but she's become far less grating and obnoxious and I more or less tolerate her now... although for no real reason, I tend to find Taryn Manning slightly off-putting). Other characters I don't hate as much as Big Boo, but don't care for, include Nicky, Sophia and (sorry) Poussey. (Black Cindy is also very annoying, but -- not sure why -- I'm occasionally amused by her. Although, again, as with most of Season 3... her Judaism story failed to engage me.) As for Healy and Red -- meh. Their story didn't bug me as much as some, but I wasn't greatly invested in it, either. That brings me to another unpopular opinion; Healy, in general, is actually one of my favorites on this show. I can see why others hate him and I'm not sure how I'd feel about such a person in real life, but I do think the character is compelling, and (despite some of his more questionable actions) has a good heart underneath. I enjoyed his relationships with Pennsatucky in Season 2 and with Lolly in Season 4 (I still have four episodes left to go of Season 4, so I'm not sure if anything else happens there). I also think his scenes with Caputo are kinda funny, in a dorky sort of way. Speaking of Caputo -- I have mixed feelings about him. I like him when he's playing with a band, interacting with Healy and some of the other staff, and (sometimes) when he's interacting with the prisoners. However, I really don't care about his love life (other than his creepy crush on Fischer in the first couple of seasons, which was at least more interesting than his sex scenes with Fig, etc.), and I'm not really into his MCC/warden story (and find that arc somewhat predictable). His Season 3 flashback also bored me. Finally -- after 9 episodes, I can definitely say that Season 4 is a HUGE improvement over Season 3. Depending on how things go in the last four episodes, it might turn out to be my favorite season (so far, I'd still say Season 2 is my favorite).

I don't exactly love Lolly, but I like her better than most of the other prisoners (I kind of like Judy, too, largely due to Blair Brown's performance; she's great in the role. The other prisoners, I either tolerate or hate; most of them have annoyed me at some point or another, and I pretty much hated everyone in Season 3.) Speaking of hated characters -- I'm one that actually enjoys Healy; and I, too, liked his scene with Lolly in the "time machine." I also enjoyed Lolly's flashbacks (the younger Lolly looked and sounded a LOT like Lori Petty; good casting there). It was random, but kind of fun, to see that her story took place in "Seattle" (was that really Seattle?). How did she end up in a New York prison? Fun fact: "Randal" at the group home (? or whatever that place that flashback-Lolly ran away from was supposed to be) -- the guy that spoke in the third person and said that he "got violent" -- was played by Rob Sedgwick, brother of actress Kyra Sedgwick. I've seen him in a few others things but probably wouldn't have recognized him if I hadn't noticed his name in the opening credits.

Not that he much counts as a "90210 Cast Member", but did anybody else ever notice that Walton Goggins ('Shane' from "The Shield" and 'Boyd Crowder' from "Justified") appeared in that boring Season 2 episode with the girl whose father wanted to tear down the Peach Pit? Walton was the dorky guy named "Mike Muchin" who told Brandon that he came to the wrong party (after Brandon showed up at their "All Blue" party wearing a red jacket). Anyhow, I saw that episode on DVD recently and noticed that -- for whatever reason -- on the DVD, Walton Goggins simply says "I'm Mike..." (then there's the briefest of pauses before he goes on to whatever else he was saying, but he doesn't finish his name). I know I didn't imagine that he originally said something like "I'm Mike Muchin -- rhymes with cushion" ("Marcie" even refers to him as "Mush", which remained on the DVD). I mean, maybe I did, but that would be a very odd thing to imagine. So apparently they edited out the rest of that line, which seemed like a very random bit to edit (and made me wonder what other lines -- or even just parts of lines -- might have been edited out of the DVD's; this was the only time that I noticed such a thing).

I liked Ray, too. I also liked "Matt Durning, Attorney at Law, Networking With You!" (I preferred him to Brandon); and I thought that drunken Noah "7, 8... 9" Hunter was one of the most entertaining things about the last couple of seasons of the show (though, admittedly, I was more entertained by Vincent Young's bad acting than by Noah himself).

Responding a little late to this -- and just to nitpick, no less ;-) -- but Valerie actually slept with Ray in the previous season (before she and Ginger tried to frame him for stealing that ring; that plot was hilarious, by the way). Clare and David knew because LuAnn Pruit (in a drunken state) blabbed it to them before she "passed out in her pantyhose" (after they took her home from the PPAD), but Donna didn't find out until Val, Donna, Clare, and Kelly went on some road trip to... ? (they ended up at a convent; I don't remember where they were originally going.)

I recently saw several Bradys turn up in the ridiculous movie Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (the movie's from 2003; I just happened to see it recently). Barry Williams appeared in one scene where he sat around playing pool with Screech, Corey Feldman, Danny Bonaduce, David Spade (who was the annoying star of the movie), and I think a couple of other former child stars. Barry kept trying to bet with crap from old "Brady Bunch" episodes. That scene was... kind of funny (in a bizarre sort of way). Then, at the end credits, Florence Henderson, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, and Mike Lookinland were part of a HUGE chorus of former TV stars, singing a weird song about how they used to be TV stars.

Right. Or, in the other direction, to use my "famous" relative Christy Mathewson as an example -- Mathewson is my 2nd cousin 4x removed, meaning that 1.) he was my great-great grandfather's 2nd cousin, and 2.) the "4x removed" part factors in because my great-great grandfather was 4 generations ago in my line (so, my dad = 1x removed; grandfather = 2x removed, great-grandfather = 3x, great-great grandfather = 4x).

Ancestry can be fantastic in a lot of ways. The city directories can definitely be helpful! I haven't been a paid member of Ancestry for several months (can't afford it right now) but I've found several random documents there that helped me track down what information I currently have about my brick wall great-grandfather. He (my paternal grandma's dad) only had one child, my grandmother, before he died at age 25. And I'm his only living direct descendant that's interested enough in genealogy to try to track down more about him, so it's been a challenge to figure out just who he was (my grandma was only a few months old when he died, so she never knew him). I don't even have any Ancestry member trees to go by, at least not for him! Anyway, I still haven't figured out who the heck his parents were (or where they came from), but through Ancestry I found the WWI registration card that confirmed his name and birth date and location (before, I only had a name, which wasn't even his actual name but was close enough that I was able to make the connection). I was also able to connect him to my great-grandmother, to whom he was only briefly married, but they had a custody battle in 1920 involving another man and my great-grandma's half-sister (which I read all about in an old newspaper article found on Ancestry). And in one of those city directories from 1928, I was also able to figure out that he died young after seeing my great-grandmother listed there as his widow. (I found additional details about his death later on, such as the year, and the location where he died -- which was the same as my grandmother's birth location -- but before I came across the city directory, I didn't know if he and my great-grandmother divorced, or if he'd lived to 100, or what.) I'm hoping it's just a matter of time before I find another document with one or more of his parents' names so I can learn more about that particular branch of my family tree! Meanwhile -- in general, I agree about the "take with a grain of salt" mentality regarding Ancestry member trees. I won't rule them out if they look credible (i.e. if parent/child ages make sense, if sources are included, etc.) and I've found some helpful information on a few of them. But I would never just assume the information is accurate without additional research. Admittedly, I "fell" for a few of these trees when I first started researching my family. I quickly became skeptical, however, when through one of them I traced my "ancestry" back to Odin (*snicker*). (I'm pretty sure at least one "Cherokee princess" appeared in the Ancestry member trees version of my family history, as well.)

This. Well, I didn't enjoy her much in the first couple of episodes (I could hardly stand to look at her with those teeth). But while I DESPISED her character in Season 1, I actually quite enjoyed her weird friendship with Healy in Season 2 (it was one of my favorite things about the season). I have a feeling I might start to hate her again in Season 3, but at least it was nice to see her somewhat tolerable (and even occasonally likable) in these episodes, after all of her utterly annoying scenes in Season 1.

I started watching this show out of curiosity after I'd read the book. I binge-watched Season 1 last year -- not so much because I "loved" it but because it was there, I had little else to do that weekend, and I felt a need to finish the season. There were parts of Season 1 that I found interesting, and scenes/episodes that "passed the time"; however, I also hated almost all of the characters and by the time I'd finished the Season 1 finale, overall I really wasn't much of a fan of this show. Still, I started Season 2 over another uneventful weekend this past summer. While I'm still not fond of most of the characters, surprisingly I ended up getting into the second season ... and even liking it in many ways. After I finished Season 2, I re-watched Season 1; and I enjoyed it slightly more the second time around, though overall, I'm still definitely partial to Season 2. Some of the things I particularly enjoyed about Season 2: the fact that Alex hardly appeared (LOATHE her); the scenes with the staff (perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I find Healy to be oddly compelling; Caputo also has his moments, Fig was sort of amusing at times, and even the rest of the staff members are interesting to watch, though I wouldn't necessarily want entire storylines dedicated to some of them); the Morello backstory (I often hate the flashbacks but her story was pretty engaging); and the Rosa story, while it could have been "depressing", turned out to be one of the better plotlines, as well. As for the new characters: "Soso" was annoying, but at least she was supposed to be, so I didn't mind her too much. And it was similar with Vee; I didn't love her, but she was an entertaining enough "comic book" (obvious) villain without being too over-the-top. There were some things about Season 2 that bugged (I guess this is also an unpopular opinion, but I don't care for or about Poussey; and can't Big Boo just get released, or be killed by the next villain, or something?) and I basically couldn't care less about Piper (or any of her love interests, for that matter). Still, even though I have no idea where they'll go with it, I am quite curious now to see what happens in Season 3. Somebody mentioned earlier that they'd like to see a backstory with Norma; I agree. She's one of the few prisoners that doesn't annoy me, and I'd love to learn why she doesn't talk!

Both Elmers (Elmer Dobkins and "fat" Elmer). Ginny (Jenny?) who didn't really have to cut her hair for the play, but did, anyway. Brother Hodgekiss (though I can't remember if he was supposed to have "settled" in Walnut Grove). Little Lou, the banker (hilariously described as a "young" father in the Wikipedia episode guide for Season 9; Billy Barty was practically 60 when the episode aired. I suppose Little Lou's poor, deceased wife was a "young" mother, too?)

Pa: "Darn fool cow ... (something else, then repeated:) "darn fool cow." From the Season 2 episode with the tornado, after a cow is killed. I can't explain why (especially because I find the rest of the episode rather dull) but for some reason that scene has always stuck with/amused me. (Not that there's anything amusing about a poor cow killed by a tornado!)

I can't think of anything new to add to the thread, but I absolutely must chime in on the absolute horror of Albert puking mor-PHINE, the rats/tainted cornmeal, and the guy setting himself on fire. I sometimes watch (the rest of) the mor-PHINE episode, but I don't even bother with the other two.

Willie's teeth were pretty bad, if I recall correctly (though they might have been magically straightened toward the end of the show's run).

I actually didn't mind the Disney World episode too much, but I agree with the Stavros and Papouli episodes. In fact, I'd say just about all of the episodes in Season 7 and Season 8 are my least favorites. There were a few semi-amusing moments, but I can barely tolerate such plots as Michelle's feet being too big, Michelle convincing her family not to move, or pretty much anything involving Joey. I suppose Season 8 was slightly more watchable than Season 7; at least it had that silly band episode (and its not-at-all-dated nod to Ace of Base).