BW Manilowe

Like I--& others--have said, you should try to watch it. M*A*S*H was actually set during the Korean War back in the 1950's. War is war though, & I'm really sorry to hear your Dad was among the many who had a bad experience.

I'm sorry for making you & AriAu feel old. If I hadn't been writing it at 2 whatever this morning, with insomnia, I probably would've said something nicer, like the actor..., which I should've said to start with, instead of "the guy...". As for the question in your spoiler, I Googled. That told me it was in S6, as you said. It was In the Room--the 1 with Penn & Teller & 1 of Zoey's WH birthday parties. And that's as vaguely as I can describe it so as not to spoil anyone who's a lot closer to the beginning of the show than deaja is.

ER also did a live ep, among other shows besides TWW. I keep thinking it was when Clooney was still in it, but I'm not positive--of course, he also went on to do a live production of Fail Safe, on CBS, after he left ER. Maybe that's what you're thinking of. I think it was at least a small TV trend, once ER did theirs. The Moderator was Forrest Sawyer, a real life news anchor & correspondent. As I remember he's worked for CBS, ABC & NBC. At the time he did this he was working for NBC News. Alan Alda was also nominated for an Emmy for his guest role in ER. And I was mistaken on when he won the Emmy for playing Vinick. He did win it in Season 7; but he was also nominated for playing Vinick in Season 6. If you ever get a chance to watch it, I also recommend M*A*S*H. I think the best eps start when Mike Farrell & Harry Morgan are in the cast. It was played too much for laughs, in my opinion, in the early seasons when Wayne Rogers & McLean Stevenson were in the cast. And the character of Major Frank Burns--1 of the other doctors--is from my hometown. Although that character tends to be not very likeable.

I don't think Jaxon (Jaxson?)'s name is that bad. I just look at it as an offbeat spelling of the name "Jackson"... Which it is.

Food Network's already doing a kind of "copycat" show, usually around holiday periods. It's running right now, in fact, on Sunday nights; I think at 9PM Eastern. They're calling theirs the Holiday Baking Championship. It's all-indoors, hosted by Bobby Deen--he's Paula Deen's youngest son; he helps run her original restaurant, The Lady & Sons, in Savannah, GA; he's also hosted/co-hosted various shows on FN & Cooking Channel--some with his older brother, Jamie Deen, & he's been on all-celebrity versions of various FN shows, playing for charity. The Judges are Judy Fuller, who hosts FN's Farmhouse Rules, Duff Goldman from Ace of Cakes & Duff 'til Dawn, & a British lady I don't know much about, Lorraine Pascal. I think this is the 2nd year this version of the show's been on. http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/holiday-baking-championship.html Earlier this year, FN also did a Halloween Baking Championship, sort of spinoff show. That was hosted by Chef Richard Blais & judged by Ron Ben Israel from Sweet Genius, Carla Hall from The Chew, & Pastry Chef Sherry Yard.

Allison & tWitch are having a boy: http://m.eonline.com/news/723183/pregnant-allison-holker-and-twitch-reveal-they-re-expecting-a-baby-boy?cmpid=sn-000000-twitterfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=twitterfeed&utm_campaign=twitterfeed_celebrities_topstories

There was a special called Christmas at Bobby's on FN last night (December 10th--it apparently premiered on December 6th). It involved Bobby Flay & a bunch of FN stars. Besides Bobby, I heard Alex Guarnaschelli, Geoffrey Zakarian, Sunny Anderson, Anne Burrell, Katie Lee & Scott Conant, from among the "older" FN stars. It also included Eddie Jackson, the most recent FNS winner. If you've missed it & you like any of these people--like Eddie--you might wanna keep an eye on your TV listings. You'd think it'd be repeated again sometime in the next 2 weeks (2 weeks to Christmas... Yikes! I gotta get shopping!)

If anyone's interested, Rob's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star unveiling ceremony is on YouTube. There's a "highlights" version, which lasts 6 minutes & a few seconds, here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kolngL1itMQ The full version, which lasts almost 28 minutes (but is worth watching, if you have/wanna take the time, for the speeches made in Rob's honor by the guest speakers--his friend/business partner Tom Barrack, his friend/former co-star Gwyneth Paltrow, & his friend/co-star in The Grinder, Fred Savage--as well as for Rob's own acceptance speech) is here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pvVdqnu7ouQ

The Debate was originally aired as a live episode, in both the Eastern/Central & Pacific time zones; it was shot as if it were a real life political debate, which may account for the weird filming style & the fact the actors' performances seemed "off" to you (perhaps nerves because they wouldn't have the luxury of another take, really, like they would with other eps if they really blew a line during the performance--although both Smits & Alan Alda [Vinick] had done live performances [stage, if not on TV] prior to this). The guy playing Vinick is Alan Alda, as I said. He's best known for playing Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the TV version of M*A*S*H. And 1 of his many Emmy Awards was actually won (in the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama category) for playing Vinick. I can't remember now if he won it for S6 or S7 though; I think it was S6. As I remember, the show didn't get many Emmy nominations for S7.

If anyone's interested, Rob's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star unveiling ceremony is on YouTube. There's a "highlights" version, which lasts 6 minutes & a few seconds, here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kolngL1itMQ The full version, which lasts almost 28 minutes (but is worth watching, if you have/wanna take the time, for the speeches made in Rob's honor by the guest speakers--his friend/business partner Tom Barrack, his friend/former co-star Gwyneth Paltrow, & his friend/co-star in The Grinder, Fred Savage--as well as for Rob's own acceptance speech) is here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pvVdqnu7ouQ

I was kind of half-asleep with the TV on during this ep. Did I hear wrong at the beginning-ish, or was 1 of the daughters-in-law part of a lesbian couple--I thought most of the pairs referred to "my son/my husband", then I thought the last pair's daughter-in-law referred to "my wife". Just curious if I heard right or wrong.

And Rob Lowe also received a Best Actor Golden Globe nomination today, for his work in his new Fox comedy series The Grinder.

Rob Lowe's having a good week: he (finally) received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Tuesday, then he got a Golden Globe nomination, for his work in his new Fox show The Grinder (which I think is funny, & it's probably just me), today. I somehow doubt he'll win, but I'm rooting for him anyway. I've liked him at least since The West Wing, for which I think he also got at least 1 Golden Globe nomination.

Well, they could always do You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. That should be family friendly. Except the Peanuts cartoon specials air on ABC, not NBC.

Chopped ran/reran an all-desserts competition episode during their usual Tuesday night mini-marathon this week & Johnny was 1 of the Judges.

There was also an article on People magazine's website. It also had the TLC season preview video--& you really should watch that; especially if you're fond of Will & Zoey. They've both changed over the break, in good ways. Zoey has changed the most, I think--mostly in verbal ability. She's more articulate this season than the last time we saw her last season (just as Will was at the beginning of last season), & (I think) she's more outgoing. http://www.people.com/article/little-couple-season-8-exclusive-supertease-jen-arnold-bill-klein?xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag As was said, the new season starts January 5th. The timeslot is 9PM Eastern/8PM Central (I don't think that was mentioned yet).

At the time the previous CBS version of the show was in production, the Judges--Paul Hollywood from the British version & Marcela Valladolid who's mostly known for a couple of shows on Food Network, including their current The Chew copycat, The Kitchen, where she's 1 of 4 Co-Hosts--were having an affair with each other; & it was supposedly pretty hot & heavy as I remember, but I've forgotten the particulars of how it started. And it made news, I'm pretty sure on both sides of the Atlantic--so it can be Googled, if you like. Because of that, it was like "the elephant in the room" whenever they were onscreen together (& maybe even when they went offscreen together during episodes). Things eventually cooled between them though. Paul went back to his wife in England & Marcela moved on to another guy, whom I think I read is/was a Hollywood Studio Executive, though I'm not sure they've married (or are still together as I write this). She has a son with him, who was born in the last couple of years, & an older son from a previous marriage.

Bindi discusses her family's estrangement from her paternal grandfather: http://m.eonline.com/news/722550/bindi-irwin-opens-up-about-family-s-estrangement-from-her-grandfather-steve-irwin-s-dad

Since the designers are teens, I personally wouldn't call them "children", per se, but mileage varies & all that. Also, while they probably wouldn't have gotten specific study in the fashions of the era there, I would think they'd perhaps get at least a basic knowledge of different decades (which should include at least a brief mention of things like fashion, dances, etc., of the period involved) in a little old thing in school--whether they're going to public, private, or home schooling--called *History Class*. I think I did... But I may be misremembering since it's been 30 years since I even graduated from college. And there's also being interested enough in something (like fashion) to study it on your own, without having someone have to teach it to you in a formal setting. Some of them could be self-taught. And there are all sorts of old (& even relatively new) TV shows & movies (like the Austin Powers movies, set in the '60's) set in periods outside the present day which the designers could've seen & been exposed to fashions of the era through. With all due respect, I'm not sure you're giving the designers enough credit, or you're perhaps underestimating them/their knowledge.

Derek's (already) in Australia, hanging out with Bindi at Australia Zoo & getting to know the animals--including his namesake Koala, Derek Hough. And he says having the Koala named for him is 1 of the coolest things that's happened to him. Entertainment Tonight (ET) ran a segment about it (apparently on Tuesday... Yesterday... That's when it was on my Twitter feed anyway). Also, the Judge/Court in LA *finally* approved Bindi's DWTS contract (better a couple weeks after the Finals than never, huh?!). According to the reports, including the 1 I'm gonna link from ET (the same report also covered Derek's visit), Bindi apparently made around $350,000 (presumably USD, vs. AUSD). http://m.etonline.com/news/177657_exclusive_derek_hough_met_the_koala_bindi_irwin_named_after_him_and_he_could_hardly_contain_himself/

Maybe I shouldn't mention this, but it's probably OK since you've started the season & you seem to know the leaker appears to be either CJ or Toby. As I remember, back in the day there was speculation that the leaker could've even been Jed & someone "fell on their sword" for him (seeing as a prison sentence, even in a Medical Ward/Facility, would be hard on someone with a condition like MS; plus no US President--in real life anyway--has ever served time in a federal prison or any other jail. As far as Kate being in the Bartlet Library scene, that may have been because she seemed to be a "favorite" of Jed's from the get-go (when Jed listened to Kate instead of Leo about the Middle Eastern situation practically as soon as she set foot in the White House). Plus, she probably still would've been invited to it as a former Bartlet staffer--regardless of how long she actually served in the Bartlet White House.

Nobody could believe CJ or Toby doing it. But somebody, unfortunately, had to.

Should've been eight millionth rewatch (laughs). That's probably more accurate.

Yeah. You got both of them--I had forgotten about Charlie. Duh! If Charlie & Donna had been there, I (& others, back in the day, as I remember) thought it might've given away how things turned out for them in regards to their relationships with Josh & Zoey (I couldn't see how you could have those characters there & keep their significant others out of their conversation with Jed). And I agree with you--I think Abbey & the girls (& the grandkids) were all there (Ellie perhaps grudgingly, since she dislikes being involved in Jed's political stuff) but, due to the budget cuts they couldn't be physically seen. I added stuff about Toby to my answer about Leo. Hope you saw it.

Me? No, since he wasn't a factor on the staff at that point & hadn't been for quite awhile. I was talking about a certain female.