Jordan Baker

After reading Landsnark's summation of today's show, all I can think of is J&M singing "Workin' in the Coal Mine," especially this part: Five o'clock in the mornin' I'm already up and gone Lord, I'm so tired How long can this go on? I think that last line belongs to the viewers, though.

Really strong ending to the first season. I have a question. Is the boy who is featured in the opening credits supposed to be Kendall? I realize all the kids are shown, but one young actor in particular is featured. I assume it's Kendall, and that shot of Logan walking away as soon as the picture is taken seems to sum up their relationship so well. Jeremy Strong is perfect in the role of Kendall. He has Resting Sad Face. The scene between him and Brian Cox at the end was perfection.

I've been watching Season 1 for the last few weeks, and I've been enjoying the show even as I cringe through some of the scenes. This episode was just crazy. What I like about Succession is that the acting is superb. It's to his great credit that Matthew MacFayden, who was SO memorable as the cool, detached Mr. Darcy, complete embraces the doofus that is Tom. It's a wonderful performance. The only other one of the main characters that I've seen before is Kieran Culkin. I saw him at the MCC theater in NYC in 2004. He was paired with Brian Dennehy in a very creepy playlet about a child abduction. (I had to look at my Playbill to be sure it was Kieran Culkin. I only remembered that it was one of the Culkins.) He's great as Roman. They're all great. But this episode. Man. I'm looking forward to Shiv's wedding. I think.

Thank you for an excellent laugh. I didn't see this, but I can just picture it. I have visions of those head tilts dogs do when they're befuddled. I watched a few minutes this morning. Someone (it might have been Joe) said that Trump was the odd-on favorite to win in 2020. Now, I was half-asleep, but I think that's what I heard. Did Joe (or whoever said it) back that claim up with any data?

From the episode thread: 2 HOURS AGO, XAXAT SAID: Boy, that plaid shirt Mika is wearing in that fourth tweet is something. OK, now I'm going to be singing "I'm a lumberjack, and I'm OK. I sleep all night and I work all day" for the rest of the night. Except, of course, we'd have to work those lyrics. "Work all day"? Not so much.

And when the host is prepared. And doesn't bloviate. Or clean out her purse.

What's the opposite of "From your lips . . ."?

Snarking from the shallow end of the pool . . . what was up with Mika's hair wings this morning? Her hair was done up in some sort of flipped ends that resembled wings. She should have borrowed Mike Schmidt's upturned-collar black jacket (the one that causes me to refer to him as The Count) to go along with her look. And I can't hear "women voting in the rain" without thinking of Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain."

Did Joe or Mika (or anyone) discuss the video that was shown at a recent pro-Trump event at one of Trump's resorts? https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/13/violence-against-journalists-trump-event-046541 Politico described it as follows: The footage seems to have been converted for political use from a 2014 movie, “Kingsman: The Secret Service.” The parallel scene in that movie depicts a massacre inside a church in Kentucky triggered by an evil tycoon portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson. In the version shown at the Trump event, Trump's face is superimposed on the shooter and the people he kills include members of the media and various politicians. One of the media people is Mika.

I tuned in at 6:00 this morning. I was half asleep, and so my perceptions might be off, but I heard an awful lot of laughing and giggling. I heard Joe make fun of Donnie's contrasting white collar, and I waited for someone to make a "white collar crime" joke, although I'm not sure that happened because I fell back to sleep. While I get that a certain amount of banter is natural on these shows, I think it's really odd at this moment in time. Too many unfunny things are happening.

Ha! I guess I'm in the minority on this one, then.

I haven't seen anyone mention the Geico commercial with Antonio, the not-dog. It's a very silly commercial, but the actor who describes Antonio as his "special friend" cracks me up. His voice alone is golden.

At least she wasn't cleaning out her purse.

One of these things is not like the other . . .

This Fox red carpet show is awful.

I'm curious about this. How did she say Obama handed the White House to Trump? By not campaigning enough for HRC? For alienating certain voters? Because he never appeared on MJ?

This is the only bit of the show that I saw this morning. I was busy doing other things, and so I might have heard wrong, but I thought Mika referred to the author of the piece (James Fallows) as James Gallows.

I thought maybe it referred to the body parts that were enhanced. 😉

Two random observations from watching a bit of the show this a.m.: I like Yamiche Alcindor, but she needs to take a breath every once in a while. I'm a fast talker myself, but she exhausts me! I didn't understand that bit of hazing of Robert Costa. Did Joe say that getting the Washington Week gig causes a person to lose weight and stop a receding hairline? That seemed rude. I couldn't tell whether Costa thought it was funny or was his usual stoic self.

Thanks. Now I have a twisted version of MacArthur Park running around in my brain.

I caught a few minutes and didn't see Joe. Was he AWOL? I'm surprised, if so, because of McConnell's reaction to the whole "Moscow Mitch" thing. I thought Joe would be basking in the glow. Instead, they sent in the JV squad?

I saw the discussion of Thomas Friedman's recent column "Trump's Going to Get Re-elected, Isn't He?" I know this is a nit, but Mika said it (twice, I think) as "Isn't HE?" instead of "ISn't He?" She also said "moderate Republications" as though it were the verb (MOD-er-ate) instead of the adjective (in a list of people Trump might be alienating). I don't know why these little flubs bug me so much. OK, maybe I do. Her main function on the show seems to be reading from the teleprompter. Be better, Mika.

Is "day trader" Joe's new catchphrase for Trump? I watched a few minutes this morning, and it seems as though Joe said it at least three times.

I have a fashion-related question. I am horribly fashion-challenged, but I'm genuinely curious about when frayed hems became a thing. (This is tangentially related to the show because of Mika's outfit in her interview with Joe Biden.) Seriously . . . has this been a thing for a while? And do people like it? One of the contestants on the most recent season of Project Runway never finished her hems, and so I guess she was on-trend? I just thought she had time-management issues.

I'm very happy for the Fosse/Verdon nominations. Michelle Williams is in a tough category, but I'd love to see her win. I'm very disappointed that two of my favorite shows were shut out, though. The second season of The Deuce is really good (perhaps not as good as the first but still head and shoulders above most shows) and it seems to have been shut out again. (Does the academy hate David Simon? He made arguably the best show ever--The Wire--and yet he gets no love.) Same for After Life, a really moving but also funny show by Ricky Gervais. Bah, humbug.