BW Manilowe

Culver's has Crinkle Cut fries, as you said. So do 2 more similar "regional" chains--I'd also consider Culver's a "regional" chain--in my Southern birthplace, Birmingham, Alabama. You probably aren't familiar with them, but they're Jack's restaurants & Milo's Hamburgers. It's kind of weird but, to the best of my recollection from all the meals I've had while visiting my relatives in the Birmingham area, it seems like (except for when you go to the local stores of the national chains like BK, Hardee's, & McD's... Also Chick-Fil-A, which serves "Waffle Fries") the Southern "French Fry of choice", if you will, is the Crinkle Cut style over any other style. I'm pretty sure my Grandma cooked those more than any other style of potato/French Fry; as I said, Jack's (which I've eaten at many, many times growing up) & Milo's (which I haven't eaten at once, so far--there was a Jack's near my grandparents' house, but not a Milo's, & my family usually goes to the closest restaurants to us instead of driving to find a particular 1) serve Crinkle Cuts; & as I remember, any other local restaurant we'd go to in the Birmingham area (if not many other Southern cities) would serve us Crinkle Cut Fries when we'd order French Fries with our entrees/sandwiches. But, when I order French Fries in Indiana (where I live now), or anywhere outside the South--except for the local stores of national/regional chains with specific styles of French Fries, or unless the menu *specifically* describes the French Fries/potatoes as being Crinkle Cut, Waffle, Wedge, or another style--what I usually get served is a shoestring-type; a non-wedge, thicker & longer than a "shoestring-type" "Steak Fry"; or a sort of "Boardwalk"-type Fry, like at Five Guys. It seems to me French Fry styles are something of a "regional" thing.

When I think of "steak fries", I think of (usually) "wedge" type fries--those thick & chunky ones. Five Guys' fries aren't that. They're a little thicker, & longer, than McD's & BK's "shoestring"-esque fries, but not a thick, wedge type, like at Cracker Barrel (which sometimes isn't actually a "wedge" fry) or like Bob Evans is serving right now (& yeah, I know those aren't "fast food" restaurants, per se; but they're the only restaurants I can think of serving that type of fry, or close to it). Someone upthread said Five Guys' fries are like "Boardwalk" fries. I agree most with that description for Five Guys' fries.

Tom's recently been Tweeting the airdate for his Who Do You Think You Are? episode is Sunday, August 30th, 9PM Eastern/8PM Central on TLC. That's why he couldn't host the PBS A Capitol Fourth 4th of July concert from the lawn of the US Capitol building this year--he was in an undisclosed (to us, for now) location filming this show instead.

According to this, which was posted to The Hollywood Reporter's Twitter/website earlier today, Amazon Prime Video's picked up the Sneaky Pete Pilot & will start airing it on amazon.com on August 7th (I think you have to be an Amazon Prime member--& probably in the US--to be able to see it). They've apparently *only* picked up the Pilot, so far; it looks like there will be some sort of vote taken, involving the people who watch the Pilot, to determine if the Pilot actually goes to series or not (which they also apparently did with other programming they air). http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/amazon-officially-picks-up-bryan-811828?utm_source=twitter

Looks like Matthew & Keri's offscreen relationship is still going strong, judging by this pic from People magazine's most recent StarTracks photo gallery, posted to their website yesterday. The pic itself was said to have been taken on Sunday. http://www.people.com/people/gallery/0,,20940417_30365839,00.html

CBS is airing repeats from S5 again this week in the timeslot formerly occupied by David Letterman's The Late Show, which will be occupied by Stephen Colbert's The Late Show beginning in September. That would be after your late local CBS news, at approximately 11:35PM Eastern/10:35PM Central Time. I think the eps being aired this week start with Ep 510, & are 510-512; then, for some unexplained reason, they cycle back to Eps 501 & 502, respectively, on Thursday night & Friday night.

Ragtime author, E.L. Doctorow, dies of lung cancer at 84. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/07/21/e-l-doctorow-obituary/30494901/

The Taco Bell thing's a "Chickstar" because it's like a chicken variation of their Crunchwrap Supreme, in which the tortilla's wrapped around the filling(s) so that it--very loosely--looks like some sort of star with more than 5 points. Personally, I always thought the Crunchwrap Supreme & Chickstar looked more like a hexagon, septagon, or octagon than a star, but I also think they kinda look like the "star" that's the logo (or was) for Chrysler Corporation/cars.

I've actually seen food trucks, maybe also brick & mortar restaurants, featured on other Food Network shows, or maybe Man v. Food reruns on Travel Channel, which make grilled cheese with pulled pork (also mac & cheese &, I think, caramelized onions) sandwiches & they appeared to be big hits wherever they were sold. This is a recipe link for the sandwich I remember seeing on TV, wherever it was that I saw it (FN or MvF). http://www.tastespotting.com/features/cheesy-mac-n-rib-recipe-from-the-grilled-cheese-truck

It appears, as of this Friday, July 24th, WGNAmerica has switched their L&O reruns back to their original 4-hour block on Fridays, from 9AM-1PM Eastern/8AM-12 NOON Central Time.

You're welcome. Glad I could help. Like I said, I didn't see the play with Scott & Melanie Griffith in it (or this hiatus's play, with Scott & Claire van der Boom in it), but I don't think the casting choice was that bad--speaking for myself--although Melanie's only a little over 19 years older than Scott in real life (she was born August 9, 1957; he was born August 23, 1976). So she may be just a touch young to be his mom, at least in real life. But it doesn't matter on TV/in movies, since we rarely know the exact ages of the characters anyway. At least her hair's blonde--which makes her physically credible as Scott's mom since Scott's hair is dark blond/blond-brownish, & she can make herself credibly sound like she's from the east coast, which helps since Danny & his family are supposed to be from New Jersey. Although I honestly thought her "east coast" accent was probably a little better in her movie Working Girl.

When I read Mr. Coe's obit before posting the link here, I noticed it said he'd been in The West Wing; but for the life of me I couldn't remember who he played in it. According to a post in the TWW forum, he played Bartlet White House nemesis Senator Howard Stackhouse (of--among other eps--The Stackhouse Filibuster, which he caused because he apparently had an autistic grandchild no one [or few people] knew about & he wanted more funding for autism research in, I think I remember, a children's health care bill the Bartlet administration was trying to get passed). So TWW fans have lost Lord John Marbury & Senator Stackhouse in the same month. That's kinda sad.

Oscar-nominated character actor George Coe dead at 86. http://variety.com/2015/film/news/george-coe-dead-sag-1201543614/

Character actor Alex Rocco (The Godfather, The Facts of Life, among many other works) dead at 79. http://variety.com/2015/film/news/alex-rocco-dead-godfather-facts-of-life-1201543634/

Dodgers, Nationals blame Taylor Swift for power outages causing suspension of Friday night's Major League Baseball game between the teams (& so do I, simply because I can't stand her [laughs]) http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/18/taylor-swift-power-outages-nationals-dodgers-game?hootPostID=6a137c37e6b65359b7a8ab7166ec6b2b

This is a slightly convoluted explanation, perhaps, so bear with me & just keep reading. I've also provided links to sources which can back everything up, at the end of each paragraph. Here we go... Back during the summer hiatus (break) between S2 & S3 a then-new play Scott Caan wrote, No Way Around But Through, had its World Premiere run at the Falcon Theatre in the LA area (which is owned by writer/producer/director/actor Garry Marshall, brother of Laverne & Shirley's Penny Marshall). http://www.falcontheatre.com/no_way_around_but_through.html This mirrors the just-ended hiatus between last season (S5) & next season (S6), when another new play Scott wrote, The Trouble We Come From, also had its World Premiere run at the Falcon Theatre in the LA area. Scott also appeared in this play, but not as the lead; he was the best friend of the male lead. Among his 3 Co-Stars in this play was actress Claire van der Boom, who plays Rachel Edwards, Danny's ex-wife & the mother of his kids, Grace & Charlie, on H50. However, their characters didn't have a relationship connection in the play, & I don't think they had any scenes together (Claire's character apparently only had a small part). http://www.falcontheatre.com/troublewecomefrom.html Anyway, Scott played the lead character in the first play & Melanie Griffith played his mother--replacing, for unexplained reasons, actress Lainie Kazan (who played--among other roles--the mother of the character shared by Mayim Bialik & Bette Midler in the movie Beaches) who was originally cast in the role. http://m.playbill.com/news/article/melanie-griffith-replaces-lainie-kazan-in-world-premiere-of-scott-caans-no--193242 I didn't get to see the play (either play) myself, but I read all the reviews I could find (of both), both professional & by H50/Scott Caan fans. Many of the reviews of the earlier play said that Scott & Melanie had great chemistry together onstage. H50 Showrunner Peter Lenkov also saw the earlier play at some point in its run; he apparently also saw the previously-mentioned chemistry & wanted Melanie for the role, after seeing the play, once he knew they were going to have Danny's mom come for a visit. http://www.50undercover.com/2014/02/26/dannos-mom-rolls-into-town/ http://www.honolulupulse.com/2014/03/outtakes-online-melanie-griffith/ So, *that's* how & why Melanie Griffith became Danno's mom in H50 (& if things had been different, Lainie Kazan could've been Clara Williams instead... just saying).

I think the order of the divorces among the hosts/ex-hosts was Giada, Alton, then Bobby. That's the order in which I heard about them anyway. But, filing-wise, Giada & Alton could perhaps be flipped, because of how long it can take some couples to settle division of property & other assets. I remember Giada's was announced the end of last year/beginning of this year, but I don't remember if the thing I read about Alton's mentioned when his was actually filed; what I read (& I think I posted the link to) just said his was finalized. And on that note, Bobby's divorce is now apparently finalized. I used the least tabloid-y/celebrity news-y/gossipy link I could find, by the way. http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/55a9394ce4b0f904bebfe5c1?

Small point here... In Scorpion, Katharine McPhee's character isn't 1 of the geniuses; she's the (apparently average) mother of the youngest genius (a 9-year-old boy) on the team. Her character description on the show's Wikipedia page says, among other things, that she helps the team interact with normal people. In turn, the team's leader helps her character understand her son isn't challenged, he's really a genius.

Especially considering how much praise she seemed to get after the episode aired (at least here & from the Television Critics' Awards... Or whatever they're called), I'm somewhat surprised (though I guess I shouldn't be, considering the lack of attention the show normally gets from the Emmys) that Lois Smith wasn't nominated for Guest Actress in a Drama Series. Not that I'm knocking Margo's nomination. I love how she plays Claudia. But, because of her other work, she *has* had a decided lack of screentime in the show the last couple of seasons & maybe she got this nomination as more of a "sentimental favorite/recognizable as a past winner" sort of thing, than for her actual work in the submitted episode.

Bradley's up for an Emmy Award, in the category of Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, for his recurring role as transgendered woman Marcy in Transparent, which airs through amazon.com's Prime Video. The Emmys will air on Sunday, September 20th on Fox. Good luck Bradley! http://m.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/

Nothing much, really. If you look about 3 posts upthread--or just above my last post--someone else posted that Darius Rucker, their lead singer (who's currently engaged in a successful solo career in country music) recently had to wear University of Notre Dame garb (a hat & shirt, if I remember the original post correctly) & sing the Notre Dame fight song, somewhere, to pay off a bet he'd made with someone (& they linked to video of Darius doing it). Just the same as CJ had to do on Air Force One (I think in The Portland Trip) after she lost a bet to President Bartlet around the time of the Notre Dame/Michigan game.

David-Troy Somerville, Co-Founder & Lead Singer of '50's Rock & Roll Group The Diamonds, Dead at 81 from Cancer. http://m.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6634361/david-troy-somerville-diamonds-dead?utm_source=twitter

George Lucas is among the 6 recipients of this year's Kennedy Center Honors. http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/honors/

Darius Rucker is still the lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish. No, they haven't recorded or toured together in awhile, but toward the end of this article (which, granted, is from 2014--but that's only last year), it definitely says the band hasn't officially broken up, & that they still get together for (usually charity) gigs in their home state of South Carolina. http://www.charlestonscene.com/article/20140219/CS/140219288 (Read the linked article starting where it says "Cracked Rear View", toward the bottom) I guess their situation is something like that of Wilson Phillips the last however many years. They get together when the spirit moves them, but right now they're pursuing solo endeavors, enjoying their family lives, etc.

Apple made the first substantial changes in the iPod lineup today, apparently since the 160gb iPod classic was discontinued in September of last year. Most of the changes were made to the iPod touch. They discontinued some body colors & replaced them with others; they upgraded the processor & camera; & they released a 128gb version. However, like the (product) red iPods, & apparently the new deeper blue iPods, you can only buy the 128gb version at an Apple Store or through the online Apple Store, not at Best Buy or other retailers where you can normally find iPods. They may have made other changes in the iPod touch, but I can't remember right now. The only changes made to the iPod nano & iPod shuffle were the body color changes the iPod touch got.