Milburn Stone

I caught these too and found them so delightful. The Kings are really having fun with this show.

Even as someone who's only watched ten minutes of any L&O in his whole life, I knew this was the target and loved it. The show runner of "Father Crime"--is he physically similar to Dick Wolf? Is Dick Wolf a yeller? As for Laurie Metcalf--when is she not great? The more over-the-top she is, the more there is to love.

A detail to do with the filming interested me. We never see Preston and Emerson in a two-shot until the end of the trial, when they confront each other on the courthouse steps. Until then, it's a shot of him without her in it, or vice versa; or it's a shot of him over her out-of-focus back shoulder (which could belong to stand-in), or vice versa. For a shot that features the two of them equally and unequivocally, you have to wait for that courthouse-steps scene. This was clearly a directorial (or show runner) choice, because it wouldn't happen by mere chance. My guess it was driven by TPTB awareness that many in the audience knew the actors were spouses and were waiting for them to face off not just figuratively but literally; holding it till the end built a meta kind of suspense.

What a magnificent way to end a movie! I've never made it through the whole thing. Did the plot involve the Dean character losing his medical license? (Thereby ending up as a street cleaner alongside Jerry ?) Or was that final shot just a fun payoff, with no logic necessary? Works for me either way! In fact, gives me goosebumps either way. (Of course, their being in top hat and tails before that is equally logic-free.) I've seen numbers that purported to take place on a theatrical stage even though they couldn't possibly have. And I've seen numbers that purported to take place in a real exterior even though they clearly didn't. But I've never seen a number that purported to take place in an exterior and then built a follow-spot into the gag! "We want you to believe this is a real New York street, and then we're going to totally destroy the illusion on purpose. And then we're going to pretend it's a real New York street again." So meta, before meta was cool. Fun fact: That brownstone they dance up the steps of, the one tricked out to look like a Chinese restaurant? I shot a Taster's Choice commercial on those stairs and front doorway in 1982. Only we used it as a brownstone where a young lady lived, being escorted home by her date in the snow. She stands at the top of the stairs, he remains on the sidewalk, shivering, falling snow collecting on his shoulders. He all but begs to be invited inside for a cup of coffee because it's so cold out. Cue the campaign's theme song ("Times Like These Are Made for Taster's Choice") as we dissolve to the two of them tête-à-tête over a cup of coffee in her apartment. Shooting on Paramount's New York Street (as they called that portion of their backlot) was a pinch-me experience. I've now seen that portion of the New York Street in any number of Paramount movies and TV shows, pre-82 and post. (Although I don't know if it still exists. Paramount sold off a portion of its backlot sometime this century, sadly.)

They were great, and I'd add that to fully understand the appeal of early solo Jerry Lewis, you have to have been a child when his first few movies came out. Eight-year old me never saw anything as funny in his life as Geisha Boy. It was orgasmically funny, as much as an eight-year old can achieve climax. So was Who's Minding the Store. (Both movies directed by Frank Tashlin, but without Jerry Lewis, nothing.) Now, as for The Day the Clown Cried, I can't even believe I'm saying this, but I have read one account--from someone kind of credible who somehow saw the whole movie--saying that you have to see the whole movie to understand why it's great. Don't blame the messenger!

Watched the first episode of the new season of Dalgliesh. Have they digitally smoothed out his face or something? I'd say he had "work done" except it actually looks like AI smoothing. (Just me?)

Well, you see? The point of the sketch was just that unclear to me.

I kept feeling they were trying to make some humorous points that weren't landing at all. Like, the car was racist? And also a male sexist pig? And now they're all going inside it to have sex in it All things that would have happened in 1958? I think I got it, but it was all handled with such ineptitude that I couldn't be sure. And if you can't be sure, you can't laugh. That said, even though Chris Rock was a far cry from great in the sketches, he infused everything with a level of energy that made the show go down easier than it might have.

I would go with hours'. The understanding is that it is a walk of two hours. That silent "of" makes hours the possessor and walk the possessed. (Even though it is an abstract concept of ownership in this case.)

Just to belabor the obvious, in speech, "could of" and the correct "could've" are impossible to tell apart, so no mistake is being made. It's when "could of" finds its way into writing that we go mad. (Spellcheck keeps changing my "could of" into "could have.")

Just finished the third and final (so far) season of The Tower. Jesus.

Reading for sure makes you a better writer and reading great literature makes you better than that.

This sounds great.

I wasn't sure that was all digital de-aging. It looked to me like some of it was done in-camera, because his hair literally looked like a plastic helmet. (Leaving only the removing of wrinkles to be done digitally.)

Two years of high school Latin taught me more about the logic of grammar than any English course. I don't care that it's a "dead" language!