daisybumble

I recently read Mr. & Mrs. America, the novel that Palm Royale is based on. It's a fun read, a good beach/vacation book. But it barely has anything in common with the show, other than a few character names, the time period, and some of Maxine's character traits. I hate when that happens - when a book is optioned but so much is changed that it's not even the same story anymore. I had read that Laura Dern optioned the novel, but her Palm Royale character and storyline are not in the novel at all!

I do not like alliances on TAR. It weakens the show significantly. Alliances work on Survivor because it's a completely different competition. If they want to encourage teams to work together, then change the name of the show to The Amazing Teamwork. I'm not enjoying this season at all. I agree that staying in South America is too much of the same thing. I like TAR because of the changes in different parts of the world - culture, language, climate, etc. And yes, this gives Spanish-speaking contestants too much of an advantage. I also miss airport drama - YMMV, but I like seeing teams strategize to get the best flights, or a team who thinks they're ahead get screwed over by a missed or delayed connection. And these teams are so meh. I feel like Danny badgered Angie to be on the show - she's totally game, but has admitted all along that she's not up to a lot of what is required. Leticia does not seem to be good at anything, ever, or just gives up too quickly. I'm not rooting for any of these teams, and it's rare that I can say that about any TAR season.

Veteran high school teacher here - I am so glad that this show is back. But there's one thing that annoyed me. Near the start of part 1, we see teachers prepping for the start of the new school year, as well as the first day of school. Yet everyone was wearing long sleeves, darker colors - Manny was wearing a heavy turtleneck sweater! Do the California-based production people think that it's that cold in Philly in early September? Also, there's no way that an old building like Abbott has central a/c, and I don't recall seeing window units as part of the classroom sets. I have to wonder if Manny was honest with Barbara, that his mom really is a teacher and he grew up hearing her stories...or is that not the case at all, and he just knows how to play to his audience and say the right things. The district trio could be truly eager, invested, and supportive. But chances are they are not going to be around for the long term to really build change. They will move on to other opportunities, or they will leave in frustration because others at the district level don't support them, or district initiatives will change and there will no longer be funding for their positions. My husband suggested that Mr. Johnson is a character like Creed Bratton on The Office or Kenneth on 30 Rock - a character that started out fairly simple, but the writers have fun adding more and more quirks, details, and possibilities. I would not want to work for Ava, but I also would not want to work for Serious Principal Ava. But I love her as a character on this show.

The need for a dramedy category goes back to the 80s. Moonlighting was considered a drama because it was an hour show. The Wonder Years was a comedy only because it was 30 minutes. This is so stupid and short-sighted. Emmy questions that I have: - Where the heck was Christopher Storer on his show's big night? - Why were Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers standing so far apart from each other, quite awkwardly?

I find it interesting that we are never told anything about Midge's other marriages (other than the one to Philip Roth that didn't happen. That was a very expensive cake). I happen to be reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, so I want Midge to tell her story! I didn't find the ending sad at all. Since we never saw her dote on her own children when they were small, I don't expect to see her character immersed with children or grandchildren now. Kids grow up and move away. And just because she was alone in a palatial apartment at that moment doesn't mean that is how her life is all day, every day. The fact that the dining room was all set up implies to me that she's having some big bash the next day. Even the biggest society matron is going to have quiet time at the end of the day. Oh, I just realized something - is Midge now a bit like Sophie Lennon? Living alone in a palatial, gorgeous home with an army of staff and servants to take care of her every need. I like that we had the visit to Bryn Mawr. I attended a women's college in the 90s, and took a flip through some old yearbooks. The ones from the 50s flat out admitted that most girls were there to learn to knit, develop a smoking habit, develop their bridge game, and catch a husband. Midge probably had the same MO, and did end up with the 50s dream - husband, beautiful home, two children, everything perfect. But the fact that she could pivot so quickly once things started to fall apart shows that she really did desire more for herself, or perhaps realized that she could have a fulfilling career and that the things she had always been told were the ideal really wasn't right for her. Can I tell you how much I loved seeing Susie in a caftan with wild, long, curly, grey hair? Susie is one of my favorite television characters ever - can we just give Alex Borstein the Emmy now?

There were many things I liked about this episode (and none of them involved KeeleyJack or NateJade). But the best was the use of “Sometime in the Morning” by the Monkees. I love that song, and I love this show.

I would bet that they didn't even try to contact Micah's parents, just to have more DRAMA. I mean, they couldn't even dig up a friend or a cousin or something, just so he would have someone to cheer him on? And while people most certainly can be weird about things, it doesn't make sense why Micah's parents would have that much hatred against the idea of him being a chef. It's honest work that can be very lucrative, and have a great deal of opportunity.

I think a season or two ago, a woman contestant was a city bus driver. She got kicked out fairly early, but for every show she was in, she had to wear her work uniform. Because of course she would wear that while cooking *eyeroll* And if a guy is from Texas, he will have to wear a Stetson and talk about nothing but grilling steak. BTW, I can't stand when they make people who aren't from the coasts talk like they are completely ignorant about seafood, gourmet food, ethnic ingredients, etc.

I don't get the team challenges. They're home cooks, right? That's a known fact. Most of them have no food service experience whatsoever. Yet they're expected to handle large-scale food service and turn out large amounts of food, all identical in quality, in a very short time. They're also using kitchen equipment that they're not used to using, or equipment on a much larger scale. The only purpose of these challenges is to see who sinks and who swims. And for GR to go on about Masterchef alumni, they showed hardly anyone. They had maybe one winner? And I laughed out loud at the group that was just labeled Season 3 (or whatever) contestants - like they couldn't even bother IDing these people. And yeah, I was looking for Leslie, too! And notice that none of the MC people were in swimwear - all of the people actually pool-partying were likely just pretty actors who got paid to splash around and look good in bikinis while eating raw chicken. AND what's the deal with dragging out the elimination challenge? We used to get team challenge and elimination challenge in the same hour. But I guess this gives another opportunity for them to go on about the Coveted MC Trophy.