lark37

I like TJ too but just thought of something: Doesn't Lexi have a daughter? Did they forget about her? Also-- This show needs Martin Mull more than it needs Brad Garrett imho.

Sorry everyone. I would delete my comment if forum would allow me to. I quit watching 24 after season 3 as I felt it jumped the shark way too many times. I remember DB Woodside from Lucifer.

Dennis Haysburt played the President in 24 aka the allstate guy. this secret service guy is played by DB Woodside.

I've never heard that said before and as a middle aged woman who's husband wants to retire in a few years to a place 2000 miles away that really speaks to my dismay and unwillingness to uproot my life and leave my family, friends, and career behind. Thanks for sharing that. As to this episode, I never got the impression that Mrs Hall was that into Gerald. She seemed to be very hesitant about him in previous seasons. He seemed like someone she wanted to keep firmly in the "friend zone." I miss Tristan! Callum Woodhouse is such a delight. He absolutely made the Durrells of Corfu worth watching. If there is another season of this, I hope he is back!

My tv is 15 years old and no fancy equipment is needed to stream needed just a $20 Roku stick and wifi. I can't believe people still have cable. It's so expensive! Cut that cord. PM me if you want to know more about the above. We haven't had cable for 15 years years and have saved alot of money and Paramount + and Netflix are free with our cell phone package. Your cell service may have freebies too. While i agree that Freddy being a firefighter isn't consistent with original Freddy, they never bothered with consistency between Cheers and the original Frasier show and that seemed to work out just fine as it was so successful it garnered this reboot!

Just like all English people and foods are not the same — all American desserts and apple pies are not the same. Mine are made with tart Granny Smith apples and are just the right combination of sweet and tart my friends and family say. Paul is often guilty of demeaning and generalizing foods from other countries and that is one of the many reasons I dislike him besides his enormous ego. I thought Rowan should have gone before Abbi did, so I wasn’t a bit surprised to see him eliminated this episode. He seemed like a great young guy, but in over his head.

Big Christian Siriano fan here—although I didn’t like him much on his season of PR. I follow his career and runway shows. So I have to disagree that him dressing Leslie Jones was his “break through moment” although it was great that he was the one designer willing to make her something for her film premiere. Christian was already a successful designer who had dressed many a celeb for red carpets for quite a few years before then. The Leslie Jones gown was in 2016. Here are some celebs wearing his gowns on red carpets before 2015. https://www.latimes.com/la-ig-christian-siriano-red-carpet-photos-20150217-photogallery.html He consistently uses plus size models in his runway shows too I agree with others that the fix seems to be in for Laurence. I know leather is her signature, but has she done much other than jackets or jumpsuits in leather? I think they are keeping Rami around to make a final collection to justify Christian’s save of him. I didn’t think Korto’s was the worst. I’ve never gotten what the judges see in Praije (sp?). I didn’t get him in his season nor do I this time. Christian’s Golden Girls was pretty spot on! Bishme may have a chance of winning the whole thing as well, but I think this is Laurence’s redemption season.

I found the finale “Exeunt” rather boring honestly. It was as if they tried to throw too many things into it to wind up everyone’s storyline. With the Blenheim Vale wrap up, Joan’s wedding, and the Charlie story why did they also need to throw in a “new” murder mystery? That one was wrapped up too easily, and the scene with Thursday and Morse and the killer too heavy-handed IMO. Shaun Evans is listed in the cast (sporting a full beard too) of a show on Peacock called “Vigil”. I don’t subscribe to Peacock anymore, but my Roku says it’s available on the Peacock app as a free show. I watched the trailer and it looks interesting. Evans didn’t say enough in the trailer for me to know whether or not he is using his “real” accent. My husband and I are in the middle of several other series right now, so I don’t want to begin another yet. I may give Vigil I try soon though. Sorry to see Endeavour go! I always enjoyed it despite never being able to get into the original Morse.

I believe Chartre, a cousin to Louis XVI is supposed to be this guy, Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartre and later Duke of Orlean. Here’s some info on him—granted it’s from Wikipedia—but according to a Marie Antoinette documentary I recently watched seems to be historically accurate. He was quite a paradox in that he ran with Antoinette’s crowd initially, then ended up turning on her and supported the French Revolution which ultimately guillotined both her and Louis. His son eventually became the first French king of House Orlean rather than House Bourbon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Philippe_II,_Duke_of_Orléans

After watching all the YT videos Gingerella kindly recommended, I was curious about why they cast a British actor as Louis XVI instead of a French actor like they did with Marie Antoinette. Turns out Louis Cunningham is descended from royalty, and most likely speaks French or at least Luxembourgish which is a similar language. He is the grandson of Prince Charles of Luxembourg the brother of the late Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg. That means he is descended from the Bourbon-Parma royal family and other royal families as well since they are all so inter-connected. Here’s an article about him. I am really enjoying this despite its historical inaccuracies. I like this much more than I did “The Empress” on Netflix. https://hollywoodlife.com/feature/who-is-louis-cunningham-5053702/

Thanks. I will do that tonight before I watch the third episode.

That’s funny as I had weird dreams after watching the first couple episodes too! I love period pieces and other than Sanditon there aren’t many to watch right now that I haven’t already seen. I don’t know much about French history but when I saw James Purefoy was in this, I gave it a go. It’s weird and of course they made everyone too attractive, but I will stick out the 8 episodes then decide if worth watching the second season.

She is Lady Susan Worcester. Charlotte met her in Season 1 at a masquerade ball. She quickly saw Charlotte’s feelings for Sidney, and became a bit of a confidante of Charlotte’s. She is portrayed by real life Lady Frederick Windsor (Sophie Winkleman). Lord Frederick is the son of Prince Michael and a cousin to King Charles III. She’s a charismatic actor IMO, and I find it refreshing that she was allowed to continue with her acting career after marrying into royalty I guess being that far down in the line of succession to the throne has many advantages. Despite being disappointed that Esther wasn’t returning for season 3, I enjoyed this episode, although the writers really do throw in every trope available. Now we have the secretly gay Duke who will use Georgiana as his beard. And, the mustache twirling Edward is up to his old tricks. I hope they throw us a curve by having Edward truly be reformed!

I came here to see if everyone else agreed with me on the awfulness of this second season and apparently I’m at a table for one. I often repurpose clothes and there’s no way I would ever wear any of that stuff. The focus this year seems to be on streetwear designs yet they keep saying they’re looking for something new and not seen before. Then they keep giving the win to basically oversized hoodies And baggy pants which we’ve all seen before! Season 1 had some truly unique designs. This one so far in my opinion is terrible. I think I’m out.

West coast cities were definitely designed with cars in mind particularly in California. The older part of America (east of the Mississippi) has cities that were definitely not designed for cars (Boston, NYC, Philadelphia all come to mind). Also, the average American didn’t own a car until after the Great Depression. My parents each grew up prior to the Depression in different parts of America walking everywhere as only the very wealthy could afford cars then. Personally, as long as the weather is decent, I walk or bicycle several miles per day everyday. So, I didn’t think it was odd at all for Helen to walk home from the farm. About the misunderstanding with Harcourt, I found that particularly contrived. Siegfried has a telephone. Why didn’t they call Harcourt’s office and explain that the report was accidentally mailed before James had completed it? Surely there’s a secretary there that could have intercepted it. The actress playing Helen did a great job of selling just with her facial expressions a mixture of sadness, fear, and pride while James signed up. I’m not a fan of overly long seasons of a show, but I do wish they would give us at least 8 episodes each season. I truly enjoy this show.

Yes, I agree. I’ve been a fan of British TV for a long time. They have shorter seasons—8 to 10 episodes, and the acting and writing are top notch. I am not a fan of network (broadcast) TV, but I do make an exception and watch on my ROKU 2 network broadcast shows…Ghosts on CBS and Abbott Elementary on ABC. Both of those sitcoms are excellent, and remind me of streaming type shows. The bear scene was ridiculous. Do the show runners think we don’t know anything about bears? Why on earth would they get out of the car? Stay in the car with the windows up, and slowly start driving. Bears aren’t stupid, it would have run away. I get that Gamache and company were trying to apprehend the killer, but they should never have encouraged them to leave the car. Once in Smokey Mtn National Park, we had a bear come after our car at a scenic view drive off spot. It literally climbed (it was a young cub) up on top of our small sedan. We kept our windows up and slowly backed out of the scenic view spot and it clambered off and ran away. No way would I have gotten OUT of the car! Gotta say, I find the books a little too long and boring. I am liking the series better than the books.

Aisha should have won out of the finalists, in my opinion. I thought she was the most consistent in both flavor and decorating throughout the competition. Overall, I liked Harshal and giggly Kristin, and felt they both got cut too soon. I don’t decorate cakes very often, but I’ve made a few simple decorated cakes. Dru’s mountain cake looked like something I could have made which means it looked homemade by an amateur and not something I ever thought I would see in the finale of the Holiday Baking Championship. I realized I missed last year’s competition in early November and binged it. Compared to last year’s winner, Adam, I thought all of this season’s finalists cakes looked so unprofessional. Check out the photos of last year’s and this one. There was way too much favoritism this season. Nancy made up her mind around episode 4 that Dru was the winner, and nothing he or anyone else did was going to change that.

I enjoyed this episode although yes, Tom can be a LOT! I can relate to Marina so much as my husband, unfortunately, is a good deal like Tom. He is never satisfied with anything in his life. He’s always complaining about something like his job, where we live, our house, the yard, money, even the weather! Since Topher Grace is an executive producer as well as the “star” of this ensemble cast, I’m sure he has input into his character. I’m gonna bet that he knows a few “Tom’s”. I miss the character Sarah as I do like the actress. I’m sure she’s off for maternity leave for a few episodes. She was very good in the Haunting of Hill House on Netflix. Kim Coles does look good. But, as a fellow 60 year old who is also told I don’t look more than 45-50, I think in general people age better now that not many of us smoke, and we eat cleaner, and drink more water.

Finally watched New Era since I have Peacock Premium, and a couple days off. I watched the show faithfully when it was on PBS Masterpiece although the last couple of seasons, I will admit my interest had waned. I watched the first movie on Peacock first. Overall, I thought the first movie was better than this one. It certainly had more of a plot. This one suffered not only from having the cast split up into two locations, but also from a distinct lack of the Dowager Lady Grantham. My understanding is that Maggie Smith really didn’t want to do the films at all, but reluctantly agreed. She was the one thing throughout the TV series that remained constant with her witty and sarcastic remarks. This one kept her mostly in her rooms with no major scenes with anyone other than the one with Isabel and the one with Robert. Julian Fellowes always annoyed me with his so obvious love for Lady Mary and his disdain for Lady Edith. Nothing new in this one on that front—Mary once again has another handsome man fall for her, and Edith barely has a few lines although at least she is back to work at the magazine. They wrapped up all the storylines now, and I don’t see any need for another movie. Although Julian Fellowes will likely milk this cash cow for as long as he can. In response to some comments, Matthew Goode is no more in demand as an actor than Hugh Dancy who played director, Barber, in fact maybe less so. I have no idea what has kept him from being able to film these two movies other than perhaps a salary dispute? I have always adored Hugh Dancy since the moment I first saw him in Ella Enchanted to Hannibal and The Path, Law & Order, etc. I wish he had been given a larger role. Also, DA has been the biggest ratings success for Masterpiece, but I have always gotten tired of people new to Masterpiece who came to it because of DA comparing everything to it as if it was the quintessential period piece ever! Yes, the costumes and sets were gorgeous, but so are so many other Masterpiece productions. My personal favorites are Poldark (the new one with Aidan Turner) and The Forsyth Saga. This ended with everyone sort of settled. Please, Mr. Fellowes, let this be their happy endings.

I was about to say the same thing. I have a couple of friends who came here from Russia. I find that sometimes words that we use commonly that have a couple of different meanings, they don’t understand. Perhaps Kristina thinks “suit” means pants as in a men’s suit. Obviously Wendy thinks of a women’s suit as jacket and skirt as you’ve said. It was a communication issue not necessarily “lying” in my opinion. Also, I liked Coral’s dress the best, but not in that color. As a blonde, nude, ivory, and beige really wash me out and washed that lady out too whomever she was. That dress would have looked beautiful in a jewel tone and may have won.

Is this a remake of It Happened on Fifth Avenue? If so, its worth watching the original on HBO Max. Its in Black and white with the Skipper from Gilligans Island and Wilbur from Mr. Ed. Ok some of the old fashioned themes are anti feminist but its still funny and sweet. One has to remember that it was made a very long time ago (1947). I enjoyed Christmas at the Castle or whatever it was called. It doesn't look as if Brooke Shields or Cary Elwes has had any work done other than maybe coloring their hair. That's refreshing to see! I've been enjoying Christmas Hard except someone upthread spoiled the end for me. If you're going to tell us how the movie turns out or who someone ends up with please put it in spoiler tags as not all of us have seen all these movies yet. Thanks

Just because both hosts spent a little time on SNL doesn't mean they aren't talented and successful. Shoot take a look at the list of former SNL players and their success rates- --spoiler: its a long list with a great deal of success! I dont watch SNL anymore and haven't since college which was a long time ago but I know who Maya and Andy are. Andy spent the last 6 years as the star of the critically acclaimed comedy Brooklyn 99, and Maya has been in everything from from Bridesmaids to The Good Place. That said, I think the eliminations have been pretty random with strong bakers leaving while a couple teams slide by I think more because of their story rather than their baking. And yes, the Maya/Andy shtick got old quickly as they seemed to ramp it up towards the end. Overall I enjoyed this as a.pleasant holiday baking show.

I enjoy this show. But I've always had a soft spot for Topher Grace. That 70s Show wasn't the same after he left despite the stellar supporting cast. That said I feel his Tom character is a bit too much like Eric Forman grown up. I wish they would have his character be a little less geeky writer and give him something meatier to work with. I won't get too attached to the show as ratings are.bad and I've gotten burned too many times with network sitcoms that I truly enjoyed (ahem Better off Ted, the Kids Are Alright, Schooled, Bless this Mess, The Mick) being cancelled too soon. I enjoy all the characters in this one especially Connor's housekeeper!

Fondant is trendier I think because its easier to use. Anyone can learn to roll out the play doh like substance and mold it into shapes or cut into flowers etc. Icing flowers, borders, etc require skill and practice. I remember on an early season of Next Great Baker Buddy Valastro being amazed at the cakes a contestant made who only used icing and no fondant. This is why I thought the other two cakes were superior to Luis and Natalie's as they didn't rely on fondant. Back to the finale I guess I'm of the opinion that producers wanted Luis and Natalie to win so basically threw out the crime scene element to play to their wow factor decorating style. Some of their other desserts were nicely done but still overrated imo. After all, this competition wasn't about decorating but detecting!

Luis and Natalie's cake looked like a birthday cake for a child not an adult woman. It was leaning and they covered it with fondant. My mother was a cake decorator with Wilton for many years. She always said fondant was for lazy cake decorators. She did amazing cakes using icing only. I think both of the other teams decorated theirs and didn't rely on fondant. As for Jason and Lorie, I thought their cake was a sophisticated design suitable for a birthday for an adult! Their getting a house stuff was annoying but may well have been producer driven. I was rooting for them. Not sure I will watch another season. I didn't like the finale format at all. It seemed to throw out the crime scene mystery dessert format just so Yolanda could pick her favorites as the winners. There was no suspense at all by the end. They may as well have given Luis and Natalie the money weeks ago.