ProudMary

👋 I'm watching the Red Carpet on the People YT feed right now. I'll be switching over to Netflix at 7 to see what their coverage is like. Evidently, Netflix is also live streaming their Red Carpet coverage on their YouTube channel.

Tonight's the night! Coverage of tonight's Screen Actors Guild Awards is live streaming exclusively on Netflix beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST/4:00 p.m. PST. As the awards are scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST, I'm assuming that Netflix is showing an hour of red carpet coverage prior to the ceremony. E! has live televised red carpet coverage beginning at 6:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. PST. People and Entertainment Weekly have shared red carpet coverage live streaming at 6:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. PST on their You Tube channels. Here's a link:

Nicolle Wallace is back on Monday. I think Alicia Menendez has been great while Nicolle's been on leave. Nicolle Wallace To Return To MSNBC Show On Monday

Week 24: 1/5

I'm watching only Episode 1 today as I want to savor instead of binge. I did a re-watch of Book 1 of the original series within the past few weeks, so it would be fresh in my memory. The casting seems quite good. Aang is perfect, unlike in that film which shall not be named. They condensed quite a bit of story into Ep. 1. This is definitely a nitpick, but it bugged me. Katara and Sokka wouldn't have known how to get Appa into the air because they never saw Aang get him airborne. This could have been easily accomplished by giving us one quick scene where the trio had some FUN together. Penguin sledding, perhaps? Humor was such an important part of the original series. The fact that we saw none in the first episode has me a bit concerned. Overall, it was good. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Weak episode. Stupid premise. This could be a good show, but the writing for Lexi's character is positively awful and amping up her character with the addition of her father is a disaster. Not even Brad Garrett can save this part of the show. They need to concentrate on Nell and her deceased subjects. It's the main premise of the show. Stick with it. I like Nell. I like Edward. I love Cricket. Sam and Dennis are decent characters, sometimes borderline silly, but at least they seem like real human beings. Lexi is a caricature of a person.

Do any other baseball fans think Jesse looks like MLB pitcher David Robertson? I think they must be at least distant cousins! (This photo is from his time with the White Sox. He's played for several different teams.)

Yes! The opening sketch was basically a 5 minute episode of Staged.

BAFTA Awards winners: BAFTA Film Awards: ‘Oppenheimer’ Wins Seven Honors, ‘Poor Things’ Gets Five Zero awards to Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon and Maestro.

Week 23: 2/5. I'm so pissed off at myself for not getting Thursday's and Friday's FJs. For Thursday, I immediately figured it was an arch, but my mind got stuck in Europe and I said Arc de Triomphe. I've been to St. Louis and have seen the Gateway Arch! 🤦‍♀️ Tonight, I absolutely should have gotten Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, but all I could think of was A Streetcar Named Desire and that didn't fit the clue. 🤦‍♀️

How was New Orleans a TS? They were looking for a port and were clearly talking about the Louisiana Purchase!

The ancestor's given name listed on Dionne's tree was Adolphus, with Dolphin in quotes as his nickname. I enjoyed the whole episode. I found it interesting--and devastating--that Dionne's ancestors lost their farm to the boll weevil infestation. That's a big deal historically and I don't recall hearing the boll weevil story being told on Finding Your Roots before this. It was one of the major causes of the Great Migration. It was a good episode because Dionne and Danielle were so relaxed and genuine. Each had a nice rapport with Dr. Gates.

If you want hear all the nominees announced and see them being positioned on the risers for the photo above, here's the video from the Oscars Luncheon. Fast forward to the 7 minute mark. That's where the stream begins.

I realize that this video I'm sharing (Length 7:35) is from the YES Network so non-Yankees fans may choose not to watch, but it's a very good panel discussion on the automated ball-strike system that was implemented last season across AAA Baseball. I've been a cheerleader for the system's implementation at the major league level but after listening to this discussion, I think I like the halfway mode where the umps still make the calls, but the team has challenges available if they believe an egregious call has been made. Worth a watch, IMO.

Book details at its Penguin Random House website page. https://sites.prh.com/whats-next-book

I'd like to share here the most interesting and entertaining 58 minutes I've spent on YouTube this awards season. I always enjoy these discussions among potential nominees in various categories, whether from The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times or Variety's "Actors on Actors." I've watched a number of them, along with predictions for nominations and general film criticisms. This Screenwriters' Roundtable from THR is a cut above. It was posted to YT two months ago, although I just watched it earlier this evening. Obviously, that puts its timetable ahead of all the awards nominations. Of the six writers included here, three received an Academy Awards nomination. Those nominees are indicated by an asterisk. On the panel: Tony McNamara* (Poor Things) Adapted Celine Song* (Past Lives) Original Eric Roth (Killers of the Flower Moon) Adapted Chloe Domont (Fair Play) Original Cord Jefferson* (American Fiction) Adapted Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers) Adapted

😄 Thanks for that. 😊 I realize that every generation has its own favorite group of SNL players, but I'm so glad that the original NRFPTP were my group when I was in my late teens/early 20s.

Specifically because the mods did a great job of keeping the opinions respectful via quick and careful pruning.

While it's been off the air for a couple of seasons now, the This Is Us forum used to go off the rails every now and then, mostly triggered by (character) Kate's weight issues. Randall's character getting elected to public office also brought politics into some discussions. The mods had their hands full there a few times. A show like This Is Us, which was a ratings' juggernaut, brings many demographics to the table. Clashes of opinion are more likely when the forum's population is extensive.

Oh yeah, they're out there. Kellogg's has a version and so does Post, bringing Hostess in to seal the deal.

As a precursor to what is probably the most locked-in Oscar category, Christopher Nolan won the DGA award for Oppenheimer last night. From Variety: Christopher Nolan Wins at Directors Guild for ‘Oppenheimer,’ Full DGA Winners List

I finally had the opportunity to see this as it's now streaming on Paramount+w. Showtime. What a beautiful film! Incredibly well written. I hope it wins the Original Screenplay Oscar for Celine Song. I've seen 4 of the 5 films nominated in that category--I've yet to see Anatomy of a Fall--but the writing here is head and shoulders above the others, IMO. It touches your soul.

Week 22: 3/5** (M, W, Th)

While I never even entered that forum, I was aware of it being problematic because a lot of topics that arose in "The Crown" forum, but didn't really belong there, would be culled or moved over to the other forum. I remember reading that "The Royals" forum was completely removed from Primetimer a few months back, even in advance of this recent "Fresh Start." Evidently, there must have been other hot spots, also. Reality TV shows, I wonder? Whatever, I'm glad we have such a civil bunch here on the Jeopardy! forum. 🙂