pasdetrois

Yes, I'm no longer familiar with the laws/regulations, but generally news media cannot impose a monopoly. In the 80s there were conglomerates that owned all TV, radio and newspapers in one market, and they were forced to sell some of those off. Billy Crudup is MVP of the season. Margulies also displays this effect. It's like bumpy orange peel. Aniston wore some distracting hair this season, including one episode where she had thick wavy hair one moment (a new look for her), followed by smoothly tousled curls, all in one long scene. My actress friend says aging actresses wear the casually messy hair to help hide their faces and necks. Add to that Aniston's limited range of acting choices: big eyes, quivery lips, tight lips, flopping around in bed, making exclamations to herself. Witherspoon is just as bad. Baharie is also not believable. Greatly reduced the quality of the production. I've enjoyed them in other productions, but they are laughable TV news characters in this series (except for the realistic narcissism, which most TV news people have. One reason I left the business.). I've enjoyed the supporting cast, especially Duplass and Pittman. The 24-hour merger of two powerful networks is a joke.

Kyle and Mauricio may loathe each other, but they are conspiring together to spin the real story - with a schedule and assigned roles to family and friends - to draw viewers to their TV shows and social media. Bravo is a PR mechanism, serving up info according to plan. Reality TV is learning how to integrate prerecorded events (the edited show whose footage is ancient) with current real-time events (e.g., crafty comments issued at Bravocon, Instagram, etc.). Living together is probably for Portia's sake while their attorneys wrangle out a settlement agreement, which goes to assets, custody and child support. I know many divorcing couples who lived under one roof for financial reasons and legal strategy.

And it's hilarious. Because it's DIY.

There was a blind item claiming that the husband of a West Coast housewife was spending a lot of time hanging around a production office, implying an affair or a lot of flirting. Speculation at the time was Mauricio or PK. The timeline matches Mauricio's involvement with production of his own reality TV show and perhaps also with production of DWTS. He also spends a lot of time in Mexico for his business.

It's possible Garcelle was not around much as she pursued her career and had to travel. I question any parent who pushes their kids in front of a camera, especially for reality TV. But it seemed as if Garcelle's kids were open to it, especially the adult who was hoping to get some work out of it. But at some point reality TV kids always get vicious blowback from the public, even if we are not aware of it. Even sophisticated privileged kids who have been exposed to social media in their private lives cannot fathom how nasty and overwhelming it can be. As we all know, a TV villain will stoop low enough to hire bots to attack these kids. So Garcelle's kids probably have some justified resentment. As for voicing it on TV, Garcelle opened that can of worms by encouraging them to step in front of the cameras. (See Lisa Barlow and her son Jack on RHoSLC.)

Ramona's use of the N-word, and her typical doubling down and refusing to acknowledge what the rest of the goddam world knows is wrong, isn't old news. Vanity Fair is revealing this particular incident for the first time. Ramona certainly signaled her beliefs earlier, but this is new information.

Spending large amounts of cash can be a sign of money laundering.

Wasn't Jack positioned as a rising young entrepreneur in an earlier season, complete with stylish wardrobe and arrogant attitude? Skip college and become wealthy just like that? When that didn't happen, the mission became the latest great escape (from Lisa and boredom). I give it six weeks with Mommy buying a plane ticket home. Do we know if Jack actually went on the mission? Would the church want this reality TV kid?

I just started the series and have forced myself to watch several interminable episodes. I'm very disappointed, although I appreciate the effort to tell Poland's story. Many of the actors have limited range, each with a singular blank expression, and then there's Hunt's know-it-all journalist. Thus far, even Manville cannot save it. Since I signed up for Passport just for this, I'll keep going a bit longer.

He still gave us an exaggerated reaction, jumping back and making a face, claiming the blueberry one was too sour. And he has been sarcastic about American dessert tastes over the years.

A desperate need for attention. Many suspect Morgan is using Kyle more than the other way around.

Did anyone else notice a woman running by to the left of Chris on the track, and not long after Chris felt pain in her left leg? The show emphasized the injury as well as Chris being at risk for violence. Poison?

Thanks for sharing. Many people claim Native descent when they do not have it. She many have some tribal ancestry, but she doesn't even use the correct tribal name. It's Chiricahua Apache. Their descendants are a scattered people without their own reservation and without being recognized by the federal government. Beyond that, it's her hucksterism that rings false. Native people protect their traditions and ceremonies. They do not cobble them together and offer them for sale, nor generally publicize them. As for "medicine woman," that appears to be a self-appointed title. In a true tribal environment, that position would be studied for over many years, officially acknowledged by a tribe and held in very high regard, and and the medicine man or woman would serve the tribe's people.

I doubt she is Native American, or enrolled in a federally recognized tribe. I base this on the BS she blathers on her website. She does not state her tribal affailiation, which most tribal members do. If she is not NA, she is grossly appropriating traditional NA medicine and cynically using NA terminology for profit. The outrage over Ozempic is that it is meant for diabetics and is in short supply because of people - often of means and privilege - who are using it off-label for shallow reasons while people who need it to survive cannot get it. Thus the lies by all of the suddenly-skinny celebrities who understand they are resented. It's similar to lying about having had cosmetic surgery. Surgery doesn't hurt other people, but claiming "it's my face creme" or "it's my new hair cut" is a lie and that bugs some people. I dug deeply (as much as the Internet allows) into Sutton's background when she first appeared on the show. I posted about Sutton's $300K monthly alimony, child support, properties, and so on. Sutton and her former husband married young and worked together, like many couples, to build their wealth. (Same as Keyle and Mauricio have done, with Kyle as a homemaker who dabbled in acting.) Without question Sutton's former husband worked hard in his profession, and she benefited from that in the divorce. I don't recommend it, because there is danger in relying on a spouse for financial security long-term, but it appears to be working for Sutton. Somebody needs to make a joke about money not buying style, because Sutton has horrible fashion taste. Bless her heart.

Didn't Mina intend for one of her businesses to be her office in the back and serve wine or coffee in the front that faced the street? The place was going to have "Karen's Corner" in it. I swear they talked about food prep regulations in that episode several years ago. I'm involved with an annual charitable event, so even I know that to serve food and beverages we have to get permits. The HGTV-style makeover of that adorable Victorian cottage was a travesty. Also, I just saw an article that said renovations required one year! The episode implied it was weeks or a few months. It's hard to reconcile the immature, impulsive Tad we've seen for years with the notion that he runs a business. I wonder how much of the work will be shouldered by his fiance. And Austin. I would like Austin to further his education and do his own, successful thing. He's smart, capable and mature.

I just read Lucinda Williams' autobiography/memoir, and she covers a Loretta Lynn song called "Somebody Somewhere" on an album. Wonder if this is where the show got its title.

Interesting that my HBO/MAX does not offer the Class 57 series to me when I log in. I'll have to track it down in the lineup.

Healthy stress eating! As I watched them all struggle in the heat, I was frustrated that I was having to watch sabotaged baking. It's unpleasant to watch and a waste of my time.

Exactly. It's why her mother is being featured so much - to get a reaction out of Monica.

Many Native people resist DNA tracking. I worked on a federal project that had a DNA component, and my Native colleagues explained that the mistrust stems from the government's history of "collecting" Indians, including their remains, and anthropological activities. As expressed to me, they mistrust how the DNA data will be used. I watched the first episode and it was almost unbearable, even knowing what would come. The little one crying for her mother in the night was heartbreaking. I kept thinking how many White Americans also lived in poverty at that time, "poverty" meaning no plumbing, electricity, telephones and so on. But the Indians were harshly punished for it.

I appreciate that Burns has chosen to highlight the relationship between buffalo and the tribes' efforts to survive genocide. I loved the explanation about how each part of the animal served its purpose and was never wasted by Native people. I've listened to contemporary Natives chat about still using the old ways to cure hides. Fun fact from the show: there were buffalo in the DC area! More recently there was a privately owned herd in Virginia - near Harrisonburg I think. I was quite taken with the ancient tribal calendars, each filled with events unique to the tribes who maintained a calendar. Yet all of them noted the remarkable meteor shower of 1833. The tribes are helping repopulate the buffalo with efforts to very carefully track and reproduce the purest bloodlines. They are working with animal scientists and ranchers.

In many cases, there were the flimsiest of excuses so white folks could have a brand-new baby, while patting themselves on the back for "rescuing" said baby. I posted elsewhere that a friend, who suspects he is Lakota, was taken as an infant from his birth parents, and he has never been able to find any trace of them. He has no paper trail to follow. He assumes they are now deceased. He helped another friend get her paperwork, using a US law that provides for this for Native adoptees specifically.

Occam's Razor. Millions of married couples split up after lengthy periods of time, even with children still at home. So it's not shocking to me that Kyle and Mauricio split up. I thought they were headed that way when Mauricio began to appear to be clearly checked out of the relationship, and always stoned to boot.

The banter and the production environment affect concentration and therefore time for some of the bakers. Speaking of production, I'm assuming there are at least 3 - 4 fixed camera set-ups, plus rovers, in order to catch all of the action simultaneously during the bakes, including close-ups. It takes a crack production team to pull this off. Surely there are snafus and re-shoots occasionally, which would be difficult to overcome given that baked goods wait for no one (can't tell bread to stop proofing). If they have to re-set and re-shoot, that makes for a very long day, or possibly an extra day. Meanwhile, I'm really enjoying this season so far; I almost skipped it for reasons others have mentioned. I thought Allison might be too big a personality, but she settled right in. I will dearly miss seeing more of what Abbi could do. Perhaps they are keeping Rowan and his soggy dough because he's a bit of a character?

It's like a Ponzi scheme. Sue one person in order to pay for the damages owed to another person. Chris isn't very bright, but he's attracted to shiny things. I believe he and Candiace have reached the arrangement stage of their marriage, with a lot of mutual aggravation to boot. I can see him getting entangled with someone flashy and messy.