the living statue

I always think of Tyra Banks advice about smiling in photos when I see Jill. If she only relaxed her smile a bit, that top lip wouldn't "disappear". She'd look so much better.

Another vote for Monarch of the Glen. Julian Fellowes is excellent in it as Kilwillie. I'd also recommend The Barchester Chronicles, based on the Anthony Trollope novel. It's an older British series, and the production budget was probably not high. However, it features Donald Pleasence, Alan Rickman, Susan Hampshire, Clive Swift and Nigel Hawthorne... some of my favorites. :)

Sweet! Thanks for posting this. I did a re-watch of all of the original Full House episodes last year (yes, I own the box set), and read that blog along with the corresponding episode. I love that site too, 'cause he deep down has love for the show (especially Kimmy Gibbler), and nails the hilariously bad things.

IIRC, even Jesse's "Have Mercy" catchphrase was used in a different context in the reboot.

Oh Mylanta... Stephanie's wardrobe was distracting in episode number one. All I recall from the second episode was that she was in a Joey-style pair of PJs. I've always loved Jodie Sweetin as Stephanie Tanner. Thought she was the most talented actor of the Tanner brood, by a long shot. Would also be interested in hearing reviews of her book.

I loved this show when I was a kid, but thought there was always too much Michelle, and... they always catered to her whims. The Olsens had the star credit in the final season, I believe. I understand the Olsens feeling neutral/ambivalent about returning to the show. They were infants when the show started. It's not their problem that fans are attached to the character of Michelle. I agree that it would be disastrous for any other actor to play the character of Michelle, too. Kind of like the Brady Bunch specials where Cindy and Jan were replaced. Better off leaving her out. I don't like the way Stamos and others have given those subtle "digs" at the Olsens, either. I'm sure it was meant in good fun, but it did seem a bit passive aggressive.

I really enjoyed the opening episode. I grew up watching this show. When I was a kid, Stephanie and Kimmie Gibbler were my favorite characters. Mostly because they were rule breakers. They are still awesome in the reboot. Stephanie's wardrobe was distracting in the pilot, though. Can't she just get a mullet, a la Uncle Jesse?

I've watched this documentary twice, also. It was heart-wrenching. As a long-term migraine and headache sufferer, the first thing that struck me was, if you can't get "headache medicine" at the gas station, the last thing you would reach for is the liquor. That's only going to make things miserably worse. I can't imagine what was going on in Diane's mind, but it doesn't add up. How terrifying for those young children in the car with Diane. And, of course, the innocent victims traveling in the other car. I tend to agree that this will probably be one of those "unsolved mysteries", though I also believe that Diane's husband and several of her family members know a lot more than they let on in the documentary: both about what happened prior to her getting into the car that day, and Diane's life in general. Diane's husband in particular did not come off as a very sympathetic character. You want to feel sorry for him. He's a widower, with a young (injured) son to support. Perhaps I'm unfairly judging him but he seemed to do little more than a woe-is-me routine. There seemed to be little sympathy for anyone else. The sister in law appeared to be in deep denial. These two could have given the many victims some closure by admitting a basic fact of this case: Diane had a blood alcohol content well over the legal limit. This was verified by an independent source. I don't blame the victims families for being very angry.

C1 Robin is a really good one: she was actually quite gorgeous, but already a fossil in terms of a modeling career. C10 Dominique was one of my least favorites. She already looked kind of old and the "soccer mom" haircut courtesy of Tyra did her no favors. Also, I disliked C5 Kim. I didn't see "high fashion" in her, at all, and didn't understand the high praise she got during her season. eta: I forgot to mention I also feel that Yoanna, the winner of c2 photographed "old" to me, and never looked fresh. It's funny that some of the other girls were criticized for this, but I don't think they explored this with Yoanna.

That's true. For me, this is where I really noticed Kelly Taylor, though.

I would love to know this, too. Amazon Instant briefly removed Degrassi Jr High and High recently, and then put it back again. I know this because I was in the middle of watching the series... and it went away. Then it came back again about a week or two later. TNG has been "currently unavailable" for a while. I wonder if Netflix might get the TNG catalog. It might be a nice companion for the new Degrassi.

"Perfect Mom" is one of my favorite season 1 episodes, too. I read somewhere that Shannen Doherty resented some of the other cast members 'stealing her shine' (originally, the show was mostly only meant to be about Brenda and Brandon), and I wonder if this episode had anything to do with that.

Yes, Degrassi Junior High Arthur was more interesting than the older Arthur, I think. He had the relationship with his sister Stephanie for a start. Degrassi High Arthur is usually always portrayed as "the nice guy" even when he really isn't very nice, and he seems utterly incapable of introspection. How sad for Arthur that he peaked in Junior High! Wheels is a great example of a character who is far more fleshed out in this respect. Though I loathed what his character turned into, as you say, he was not one-dimensional and did seem capable of realizing that he needed to make changes (even if it was just for self-preservation purposes).

I love your entire post but quoted for brevity. Yick hooked up with the awesome Tessa Campanelli, at Degrassi High. She dumped skeevy Alex for him. School's Out! felt like a different universe in the OG Degrassi world. Some of the characters barely seemed to acknowledge old relationships, like you mention. It would have been awesome to see Tessa dump stoner Yick, and then have her hook up with Joey Jeremiah. And re: Arthur. His conduct with regard to his father's relationship was so petty. In a cheesy sitcom, he would have seen the error of his ways, and made amends by the end of the episode. I s'pose part of the charm of Degrassi is that the characters are usually shown to have choices, and sometimes their decisions end up being sub-optimal. Arthur often ends up looking like an awful person to me, though it seems to me like he is meant to be portrayed as "the nice guy".

I love the conversation about old school Degrassi as I've also been watching it on Amazon Prime. Unpopular opinion: I can't stand Arthur. He is sanctimonious, Yick was actually a pretty decent friend to him, and no-one cares about him being "rich".