Mermaid Under

While I agree that both guests are likable (and there have been a couple that weren't) I didn't find anything about their stories interesting or unusual. Except for new information about types of clowns. Who knew?

I think it goes the other way, as well.

I know the actor is unfairly limited by his appearance (limited by the entertainment industry, please don't complain to me), but hasn't he played the same mysterious nebbish in every TV show he has been in? This was the only new network drama that I decided to look into, and so far I'm still waiting to like it. I like the two leads (and the semi lead techno character-make him a lead, too). For me, they could lose the daughters, never explain what the hell is up with the husband, minimize exposure to the Mom, and make Michael Emerson's character a real human being, not another boring big bad. I've assisted at numerous autopsies, and no, no one does that. You start with the standard Y incision, which they've done on numerous tv shows. If you have to look at the brain, the incision is made across the top of the head, so it can be hidden in the hair. Then, the face is peeled down like an orange and the top of skull is taken off with a bone saw so you can access the brain. If there is a specific reason to look at the jaw (cancer is the only reason I can think of) the family would be aware of that.

I usually don't bother with comedies, but there are no new dramas that have caught me yet, and I won't do NCIS's that are older than dirt. I wasn't as down on it as most - both main characters seemed real enough to me and not cartoonish, although they are surrounded by cartoonish foils. I wondered what kind of storylines they could create with this premise, but if they don't make the numbers, it really doesn't matter. I was thinking that Bob could open a sock manufacturing plant in Nigeria.

I haven't watched NCIS for years - and only caught it last night because nothing else was on that wasn't a rerun of a rerun of a rerun. (OK, but I'm just so over Ken Burns documentary style, so I'm not watching that.) I checked to see if the actress playing Emily Fornell was named Bellisario. Because I couldn't think of any other reason she got the job. No reason to start watching this show again - and I can't believe (in reading the other posts) that this was last season's finale.

That was really the only thing I thought about this episode. The way Bell phrased the fact that Morland had been identified seemed odd to me. I think I mentioned (a lot, on different forums) that I hate the idea of "big bads". It might not be a bad concept to have a single opponent who is a brilliant and perfectly evil criminal, but it always seems to lead to cartoonish stories.

And if they did it backwards, asleep, and standing on their heads, it would still be more fun to watch than Love Island. Did CBS used to be known as a classy network, or am I imagining it? I liked the portrayal of the terrified kid, living in anger and chaos, and dealing with it by being ultra-obedient and telling everyone around him exactly what they wanted to hear. I think kids are sneakier (or smarter, choose the word that suits your opinion of children) than adults want to admit - I had no problem believing they could pull off their little plot. Having a nice big weekend home to hide out in with no nosy neighbors to notice that someone was there when it should have been empty - that was the part I found unbelievable.

I'm quoting myself from January of 2016 - when Miss Taken, the first episode with Mina aired. I was pretty damn close, and I'll be taking calls on my tele-psychic line any day now. I watched because time is ticking on this show, but it wasn't my favorite - either characters or plotline.

I'll join you if you want some company. I guess it is matter of what is on offer. I only have basic TV, so I have to be satisfied with what is on the major networks and PBS. Compared to most of the drek that is on network TV (reality and game shows starring comedians who aren't charming at all) this is top notch.

I remember reading a long time ago that "stars" that couldn't get other work would appear on game shows just to keep their SAG health insurance active. So I'm hoping, rather than some sort of guest star comeback trick, this was just a game show appearance to keep her insurance.

One thing I liked, and one thing that I found unbelievable about the finale. I loved when Sunny told the psychopath to "skip the Silence of the Lambs shtick" and his face crumbled a bit. And I found it difficult to believe that Sunny's teenaged daughters didn't want him back with their mother, simply because it made him happier to be with his new girlfriend. Teenagers just don't think that way.

Which is totally what I love about this and a lot of other British dramas. They are complex, but not like Lost, playing silly parlor tricks for the sake of social media. Slowly, like in life, it unfolds that everyone was lying, but for different and very real reasons, not because they were guilty of murder. I'm not sure I caught everything, but they cleared everyone but the doctor and poor dead Pete? Or did Pete just turn out to be a rotten salesman with a witch of a wife who only came around when he was dying? I cheered when they were loading the blogger in the police car. She had a reason for her behavior, and they let her have her moment. Everyone can come up with what they think is a plausible reason for what they do, regardless of how heinous it seems to everyone else. It is how the human brain works.

I never once thought of Mother Mildred as the "salt of the earth" type. She seemed overreaching in wielding her authority and over-awed at the status of her position. I don't know the actress, but I know the role she is playing. When writer's want to inject drama quickly, without having to come up with storylines that bring drama, they throw in a new character that makes everyone cringe. And I really like Phyllis (except for the romance story) so unless that actress has asked to be released from the series, I'd hate to see her screen time cut back. re: the young unwed mother who was having a second child because her first was taken from her. I have seen the same behaviour among girls who are adopted, and somehow feel they don't have any "real" family regardless of how kind their adoptive family has been. They will have a baby as soon as they are physically able, in order to create a blood-relative for themselves.

My "tv guide" said that this episode was about someone who was intersex, and I assumed the story was going to be a baby where the gender couldn't be determined, and the parents had to choose. No real DNA testing back then, I don't think, to help them. House did an episode on a girl with androgen insensitivity - she was tall, thin and had big breasts, in the modern world of House she was a model - with a drug problem, and other mental and physical issues. In addition to the trauma of discovering she was genetically male, House's patient also was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

My impression - and I don't think the show has revealed the reality of the relationship between these 4 men - is that it could be one of two things. Either they really have always been close friends since childhood and always looked out for one another, or they have been bound together because of their involvement in this murder. And I still think there is a possibility that the transgender son is involved in some way. At the least he must have witnessed something.

They only found a partial skeleton, but I thought they found a broken hyoid bone, which indicated possible strangulation.

I thought the final phone call (from the tv presenter to his cross-dressing son) implied that the troubled son had killed Hayley. Which means he didn't, because it is way too early to expose the culprit.

I thought there were some large omissions in the Joe Madison story, which seemed to be deliberate. The picture they kept showing of his mother had two children in it. Does he have a sibling that was never once mentioned? Why was his mother unable or unwilling to raise him? Did this unmentioned sibling live with the mother or with the grandparents ? Was his mother married to this Madison man, and how the hell did they find out scientifically that he wasn't his biological father if (given Madison's age) both parents and grandparents were deceased?

Love that this is back. The acting is so good and the pacing is so unique for a drama. Did anyone else think they were really piling on the subplot that Cassie is an empty nester (even Sunny has moved on) alone with her wine?

If you live in New York or LosAngeles, or are involved in the art or entertainment world, you might consider them well-known. Even considering that this is a public-television audience, most people are not part of that small circle. With no apology, I pay no attention to the Oscars, I couldn't tell you the artist who painted any president's portrait, and I'm not a fan of performance art. But beyond that, this group wasn't engaging. There were other guests that I didn't know, but still enjoyed. I didn't know Bill Hader, but he was charming right from the start. I didn't know Frank Gehry but he was well-spoken and interesting.

I know they use celebrities on this show because they draw in an audience; I also think that Gates has a penchant for the reflected glow of people whose names are more well-known than his. Last night's episode had three people I had never heard of, two of which had accents that made them difficult to understand. I ended up watching NCIS for the first time in 6 or 7 years, only to find out they were still talking about Ziva. If Gate's production team have run out of celebrities that haven't appeared on other shows, haven't broken laws or taboos, or that don't have an interesting story to fill 15 minutes, I have an idea for them. They can auction off a "finding your roots" package for PBS fundraising across the country. The winning bidder(s) gets access to Gate's team of researchers, including CeCe the DNA dragon. Everyone gets some sort documentation of their research (it doesn't have to be the fancy book of life and expensive family tree poster). They might find one or two people with an interesting enough story to make an episode. It would beat what they just showed tonight.

I was thinking the same thing as the first poster, but I ended up trying to watch the episode. And to my surprise I found myself completely bored. I kept switching away until I finally switched it off before I had even watched a half-hour. The episodes are generally repetitive - either your family were slaves, or your family owned slaves. Unless you are a die hard Gates or genealogy fan, audience engagement depends more on how engaging the guests are. These guys weren't. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

In other words, a teenager. As the oldest, Ariel was most often the babysitter, and the one who picked up the slack at home when her parents where off pushing along the plot points for the episode. I thought that was a good enough reason for the character to be a little sullen. I was never a Bridget fan. That character seemed to be annoying for no good reason. I remember some interviews with Maria Lark (the kid who played Bridget) when the show was ending, and she said she really had no interest in continuing to act. Which I thought was a good thing. Like most young children on television, the youngest daughter (Marie) was cast with twins, to circumvent child labor laws. And, as in most cases, the only acting talent she brought to the role was being a twin. I remember I liked this show for the realism in the writing of Joe and Allison as a couple. The issues they faced, their arguments. I liked Devalos and Scanlon and the way they gradually came to understand what Allison did, but never really lost their skepticism. I didn't like Lynn DiNovi, since it was so obvious that the role was shoe horned in to give a job to Glenn Caron's wife. But I'm glad for the reruns. With all of the stations that show "classic" dramas, I feel like I can time-travel back to the 80s or 90s whenever I want to.

Okay, I watched because I only have a few TV stations anyway. But even I admit this one weak.

Ah, yes! I remember it well. I can't believe they're still using it, though. As long as it's isolated, they can upgrade the system!! No wonder the techs are depressed. FYI: Medicaid is still running on DOS. Not sure which version. The US banking system still runs on mainframes. COBOL I think. I have to give them credit - I don't think any other show has used legacy technology as as a plot point.