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debraran

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Posts posted by debraran

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    7 hours ago, Blergh said:

    I wouldn't have minded occasional lightweight and/or humorous episodes but IMO, it was best in the first few years when there was still a sincere effort to depict the Ingallses as having to struggle and take serious risks just to survive instead of seeming to totally dump that gritty aspect for soapy stuff.

    All the above said, I actually agree with ML's call that it would have been too much for Miss Grassle to have worn prosthetic gunk to 'age' her hands- even though I know that pioneer women putting their hands through all kinds of tasks wouldn't have looked as though they had just popped in from the manicurist!

    I agree, if it was just a movie, a one time thing, maybe. You can't change that viewers thought it was "real" any more than you can change minds now about things. I think like you, the ones with them trapped in a cabin during a blizzard with the Native American saving them was "gritty" for the show. I didn't need to see Pa skin an animal or Ma cook it, but mentioning the work was what she meant too. Everything just appeared done most of the time and she was always radiant. ; ) Seeing them make flour or Caroline plow a field was "gritty" for the show. I always wanted something, special on the Long Winter and how they survived but then you couldn't have Laura meeting an older man in the woods or finding a baby...well maybe you could, lol

    • Like 2

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    On 12/7/2023 at 9:29 PM, Blergh said:

    The deal of them crossing the Ingallses crossing the flooded river in the wagon with Jack trying to swim with them is rather nail-biting in that the viewer isn't so sure that they'll be able to safely make it across and one is ready to mourn the faithful Jack (and understand WHY Laura and Pa's bond has gotten strained while their dog's fate is unknown) so when Jack DOES return, it's quite a cathartic scene.

    Alas, the show quickly ditched the whole 'pioneers struggling to provide their own basic necessities' deal very quickly on the series!

    Charlotte Stewart talked of Karen wanting that but understanding later, the public wanted to think it was like LHOP. Part of interview  "

    Stewart noted that Grassle often felt the series failed to realistically portray Midwestern farm life in the 1800s.

    “[Grassle] thought the show was a bit too lightweight in its exploration of themes such as family, marriage relationships, the harshness of prairie life, and so on,” Stewart wrote. “She wanted the show to be grittier, as she said once in an interview, adding that at one point she felt like the show was ‘Let’s Pretend on the Prairie.’ She says she’s come to see it differently with time.”

    • Like 3

    All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

    in ER

    · Edited by debraran

    6 hours ago, GiandujaPie said:

    Watching the entire run of the show in order, you can really see the decline of the show. At this point in the original run, I had also stopped watching regularly and so many of these episodes I've never seen. I know they were competing with Gray's Anatomy at this point, but the personal and romantic drama just doesn't work when it appears to be the main focus and the characters are annoying. Neela is annoying and not a romantic lead, same goes for Abby and Sam...not one of them is as appealing as the show makes them out to be. And the men really aren't any better. 

    Yes, watching it again on Hulu few years ago, I missed a lot because after what they did to Romano, I signed off. I would watch the "Clooney is back" episodes or Mark's ghost so to speak but it was hard. I am glad it ended the way it did with Carter but I felt with him, it was left with a ?  Does he find happiness? There were some gems thrown in the last few years but much less than the first 6. Still in my eyes, the number one show for medical and seeing the reunion with them on youtube 2 years ago was fun.

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    7 hours ago, BlancheDevoreaux said:

    I just watched Annabelle the other day. This is a ridiculous episode. Why would you take the blind school children to the circus? Pa is sitting there laughing like an idiot and Mary has to keep asking him what is so funny. "Look out! There's a clown running with a bucket of water! He might throw it on you! Oh wait, it was confetti! Oh it was actual water this time! HAHAHAHA!!!" Harriet is the bad guy for commenting on how big the fat lady is, but that is the fat lady's entire schtick. Bratty Laura is jealous that Zaldamo is dating some snooty bitch so she decides to pour water on rip snooty bitch and rip her dress the poor girl is standing there in her underwear in front of the whole town. Then, for some reason, the snooty bitch is the bad guy for not laughing about being doused in water and exposed to the town. And "baby" Grace sits there the whole time just crying.

    I might be wrong, but in one bio book of the show, I think they said the crying was very real of course with Grace which is sad. She cried a lot, another time it didn't seem planned was when they moved back to Walnut Grove. Maybe it was Karen who mentioned it.

    Yes it was silly and I don't understand how being "fat" for the circus is okay but no one is supposed to comment on it. Odd concept and the fact that she wasn't that huge, the clothes added to it. And Nel's never would have not seen his sister because of her weight or Harriet not know he had one. I'm not sure if that was the worst plot or the blind children there or Laura acting like a bitch and getting away with it again. I guess Monzo's girlfriend didn't realize she belonged in the big city with John Jr's . ; )

    • Like 3

    Suits - General Discussion

    in Suits

    · Edited by debraran

    I agree with above. It was a rollercoaster ride with some big bumps but fun. Louis was my fav. The rest were Barbie dolls including Harvey. They started to have more depth but Donna and the ladies in general were fluff and trying to act tough but you just went with it. I found myself having my first hate watch in a way but really missing it when I watched the last one.

    • Like 1

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    · Edited by debraran

    13 hours ago, Blergh said:

    Thanks for sharing the link of that Bonanza episode I don't recall seeing before 'A Dream to Dream' (Season Nine, Episode 26, 1968). While I immediately recognized the young redhead son's performer as Johnny Whitaker, the mother Sarah Carter seemed familiar but what a surprise to do research and find that she was played by none other than that marvelous prolific performer Julie Harris (1925-2013) who'd done a phenomenal job playing the tomboy Frankie in A Member of the Wedding on Broadway and the 1952 movie! Anyway,  she wound up easily out-acting by circles Jenny Sullivan (born 1946) who played Leslie Harper in the LHOTP adaptation.  I found conveyed she conveyed Sarah's anguish over her husband Josh's self-destruction as well as her desperate need (but not love) for Hoss to rescue her and her children from being dragged down by her wounded mate. BTW, Josh Carter was played by the prolific performer Steve Ihnat (1934-1972) who'd been born in what's now Slovakia but had fled with his parents to Canada just three days before the NAZIs closed his birthplace's borders and sadly died of a heart attack at age 38 just a month after his son's birth!  Dan Blocker gave a tour-de-force performance here with Hoss being his usually fun big galoot but also himself believably  somewhat falling for the anguished Sarah and her children but wanting to do right by ALL members of the family (even when fighting back Josh's hopeless attempt to beat HIM up). Yes, Hoss himself was single and would have had no impediments getting married to Sarah after she had gotten a divorce (and it was far more believable that loaded Ben Cartwright's middle son would have  cash to spare to buy  horses from  the prosperous but anguished husband than Pa Ingalls). BTW, Dan Blocker (1928-1972) was far deeper than one might have imagined. I mean the Texas-born performer  even went so far as to refuse to appear at an event in the segregated State Coliseum  in Jackson, Mississippi in 1964 (though Canadian-born Lorne Greene and New Jersey born ML DID appear at this event). Oh, and Mr. Blocker himself  also started the Bonanza/Ponderosa Steakhouse franchise in 1963!

     I also should add that Johnny Whitaker as young Timmy Carter gave an unexpectedly deep and believable performance as a young child who had no illusions about his parents' union but still cared enough about his wounded father to appeal to Hoss to see if he could give Josh one last chance to relearn to live again.

     P.S. The name of the Carters' lost eldest son was Michael (as in the LHOTP version) but, not surprising since ML had helped write both episodes!   Still, it's interesting that either he and/or the Bonanza producers believed that Hoss/Mr. Blocker would be a better 'rescuer' than ML's Little Joe (whose lasting interest in any female usually meant a literal kiss of death for her). 

    P.P.S. Though the episode ended with the Carters giving each other yet another chance, I have to wonder what the reactions of Ben and Little Joe would have been had they found out that Hoss had been willing to take on a miserably but still legally wed potential fiancee with children- to say nothing of him having done a LOT more than simply buy horses on this jaunt!  Somehow I think they'd have been more surprised at that turn of events than Narrator Laura would with Charles's (even though there was no hint of a 'Baby Hoss/Eric' being born 'two years later' in the former episode).

     

    Yes, it was much better and thanks for all the extra info. I loved his performance and thought the baby born after Saint Charles left was a bit much but so Michael Landon. lol

    I can't watch the LHOP version without wanting the acting performance from the original. Dan was a great actor and knocked this out of the park with subtle strokes instead of sledgehammer. All of them were excellent.

    This short video from Johnny mentions what he remembers of that episode and Its so Dan to get him gifts and be kind.

     

    • Like 3

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    · Edited by debraran

    Watching the episode where Charles try to wave his wand with the horse dealer. I thought their chemistry and touching was much more than anything on The Handyman.Well maybe the touching, Chris was pretty sexy and nice guy. When Charles complimented her cooking and hands and after her husband rejected her, he put his hands on her from behind while she said she was invisible. Chris just caught Caroline when she was falling. : )

    I kind of liked the Bonanza version better with Hoss.  He had a lazy day copying it but of course he had more flirting etc. on LHOP  Hoss was just such a big teddy bear.

     

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    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    · Edited by debraran

    Okay, but that wasn't deliberate, just careless. I think the reason the actress who played Nancy stayed away from LHOP reunions was her character was disliked so much. Not her fault, but I think she's going this year and hoping most forgot the awful scripts she was paid to read. I think overall, she had some of the "you hate me" worst scripts of anyone on the show. So sad, Michael killed the show with having a sociopath on it. She was never redeemable and I'm not sure who in his life was like that, but it retrospect, it was sad. She wasn't even made that way by the system, she was like that when they got her which is worse.

    I would have loved to see Harriet get a "Nellie" in looks but she was nice and you saw a different type of daughter, maybe overwhelmed by the things they had, but a normal kid. Harriet spoiled Nellie but Nellie wasn't evil. Vindictive and jealous at times but not evil.

    Maybe the anger at the tabloids and his wife or the tarnish on Mike's image, IDK, but he lost focus and let the show die. Even Melissa G knew it toward the end. You felt you were just going through the motions.

    • Like 2

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    · Edited by debraran

    19 hours ago, Blergh said:

    Something that needs to be said re  Charles bringing the morphine-addicted Albert to Walnut Grove. Before the episode finished, Charles virtually spelled out that his original intention was to ABANDON Albert in Walnut Grove like a stray cat. Did Charles think that Half-Pint, Manly, Isaiah or even Harriet would have deserved to have had a rootless Albert lurking around raiding the sugar bins for a fix?

    I don't remember that...Wow. I thought it was odd he was made an addict, attracted to kids he wouldn't have liked,  but Michael did want to bring somethings in his life to the screen. (I think Cheryl his daughter had addiction issues) Suicide was another thing he had way to often and his mom used to pretend to do that. He had a lot of issues to work out in scripts.

    Was that in a conversation with Doc? I must have glossed over it probably thinking the same thing you did. Wasn't show I wanted to watch a lot.

    I just remember the kind storekeeper asking Charles why he left, and he said something about "failed crops" or whatever.  He did have him on another episode, a friend that had a heart attack while traveling with him.

    I got the demonizing of the city, but they weren't all dens of sin, sure they had a saloon but not every shopkeeper was mean and insensitive and WG wasn't free from crime, rapists, racists and mayhem.

    All I know is Caroline looked happy in the one episode of her on a telephone call and her home seemed very nice and she had so much room, you never saw Carrie or Grace or her other kids in any scene. I wish they showed more of it, eating dinner at a table with real plates, having a bathroom for Carrie, a bed not 2 feet from their grade school child.

    I hated seeing the Carter's stuff in the little house...sure they had less kids but it was so crowded with things, like she downsized but didn't give enough away. : )

    • Like 1

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    · Edited by debraran

    I just read that Jonathan's wife on the show is going to be at the reunion in Ct too. I wouldn't bother her about it, but I did wonder about her relationship if any to him since they had so many scenes together. Did he keep in touch with her or like her, that kind of stuff.

    The show was going off the rails then, but I did like Jon's scenes with his dad and how mature he was. They tried to make the young couple not able to keep their hands off each other, something you didn't see with others, but the show was getting older and flagging in ratings .

    Mike hated reunion shows but a couple of years later would have loved a 2 hour special with everyone meeting in the city or showing WG while Nel's and Harriet and Willie are getting ready to go to Nellie's for Thanksgiving. Something like that. Or vice versa. Alas it wasn't meant to be but it would have erased the last years I think and they wouldn't have aged that much in a few years (Mike's worry)

    • Like 3

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    Yes, even when the weather just hit the little house and not anyone else's you wonder why he just didn't try being a blacksmith. ; )  I think after the rapiest died, it was open. Even when the crops were okay, a kid would get kicked by a horse, the only one doing chores it seems. Can't have a birthday or anniversary or holiday go well. Can't let Caroline have a trip that goes well, a reunion where everyone is not doing badly usually because they were  "well off". Can't have an old friend have a decent husband, Charles was last of the them in the big woods I guess. Can't move your family to the "bad city" without sacrificing the smart, street savvy one to morphine because Albert would do that.....wasn't enough to burn down a school, kill his sister's baby and friends mom, I'll go crazy and make Pa take me back to Walnut Grove, because detoxing in the bad city is impossible. I can go back there later though.

    You just have to love it. ; )

    • Like 3

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    2 hours ago, Blergh said:

    IIRC, a few years before the end of his life, ML got a facelift along with this 3rd wife Cindy. Funnily enough, ML insisted that these his and hers facelifts were because his 30-something wife was blue about appearing older and he only went under the knife to cheer HER up! Yeah,  natch, that the 50-something ML stayed such a youthful Adonis to the very end despite smoking like a chimney and drinking 'socially' like a fish for decades. I'm amazed that he didn't attempt to claim that he had to show ID to vote since he was too youthful looking to pass for an adult. SHEESH what an ego and WHO did he think he was fooling!

    At least, he let Pa have SOME angst about getting older and a sense of humor about himself!

    I remember thinking Cindy did not need a face lift but what a world they live in. I am glad he let Charles go grey on show. Most of them don't look great no matter how much money they have to pay the doctor.

    • Like 2

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    7 hours ago, Blergh said:

    Well, they're both currently single. . .

    “My attraction to Gil gave me an adrenaline rush, the work had gone well, and tension over my contract was in the past,” the Little House star recalled. “All was right with my world. Wasn’t it?”“He had that charisma many women find irresistible,” she remarked of Gerard. “When he showed up on the set, even the little girls sat up and took notice. He was sweet and hard-working and endeared himself to all of us women – young and old.”

    Hmm, maybe if he held onto the tool belt. ; )

    • LOL 1

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    I can’t believe for 50th reunion LHOP is coming to my state.  Never happened. CT

    image.thumb.jpeg.0826fded36f3cd19cd4938907751a208.jpegLHOTP original cast members scheduled to appear will include: Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder)Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls)Charlotte Stewart (Miss Beadle)Melissa (Missy) Francis (Casandra Ingalls)Alison Arngrim (Nasty Nellie)Allison Balson (Nasty Nancy Olsen)Lucy Lee Flippen (Eliza Jane Wilder)Pamela Roylance (Sarah Carter)Stan Ivar (John Carter)David Friedman (Jason Carter)Wendi Lou Lee (Grace Ingalls)Jennifer Donati (baby Rose Wilder)Olivia Barash (Sylvia Webb)Karen Grassle (Caroline Ingalls)Gil Gerard- (Chris Nelson)Leslie Landon-Matthews (Miss Plum)Victor & Tracy French (Victor French’s Children) & special guest, Susan McCray (casting director for LHOTP).

    Three BIG days of fun, as we celebrate 50th 

    I was surprised to see Gil Gerard after what Karen wrote about him  ;) 

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    Suits - General Discussion

    in Suits

    1 hour ago, circumvent said:

    Can someone explain to me the reason behind Rachel telling Louis in the beginning of season 7 that she should be the overseer of the associates? I don't remember she had even passed the Bar yet, but I am assuming she had. Still, she is on the same level of the other associates, no matter how high she thinks of herself. She is probably behind them, if they were there before her, busting their asses while she strolls on her stilettos. She is not even a Junior Partner, why would she be taking over the leadership?

    Was that the same season (show started to go off rails) when Donna thought she should be partner too? I think Louis has a bad day being dumped and yells at the associates and she wants Donna to use her super powers to get her to be in control of them but it fails. All I remember for now.

    Suits - General Discussion

    in Suits

    · Edited by debraran

     

    I was never a Donna fan, I did note also she never repeated an outfit, was the "stepford" secretary and pined for Harvey while he screwed other women and she kept busy on occasion with a guy she'd never love. Kind of sad...10 years of that until he finally woke up. Geez And she thought she deserved the salary she got and never suspected Harvey padded it??

    I did like Louis most of the time because good or bad, he had the most dimension and depth. They were all cutthroat but he saw it.

    Rachel didn't act in this show, she pivoted constantly on her high heels and walked away after saying something not too profound. I never felt any chemistry with her and Mike.

    Re the jail weight comment, some do lose weight for sure, but many (look at OJ) get puffy and do gain weight because of the heavy carbs and lack of real exercise. Some get extra food depending on their influence and job.

    The reality of law and boards and all that, I suspended. This was my first hate watch, I used to watch Million Little Things and say that but I had to stop, it was just too much. This show, sometimes was background, sometimes I was actively watching and sometimes I was watching but also paying bills etc. You missed something, it usually wasn't a big deal, certain episodes were better than others. I found a page that gave a synopsis of each so I could have a heads up.

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    2 hours ago, Blergh said:

    Not to mention, that they would have been able to have gotten started on their homework and [non-existent] chores straight away! LOL

    Yes, you rarely saw chores being done, just promises to do them or Laura saying she'd do Mary's to get her to do something else. They did fish and pick berries (which also got them in trouble) and Laura met older men but the hard things like laundry and dishes and peeling potatoes, no. I guess they couldn't have a show if everyone was as  busy as a real pioneer family. Unlike the poor chap who got beaten like he killed someone for being late for his chores (which was Albert's fault) for talking him into staying longer. He never had to do anything either. 

    • Like 1

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    · Edited by debraran

    Yes, his presence was enough, I'm sure that extra money for the stove got spent somewhere else. Charles got many gifts, remember the pajamas and hat and shirt and scarf and mittens, but Ma? Even Carrie got a toy Laura made I think but Uncle Chris make her a nice wooden one when he saw she was left out during his visit. Another one who never really had a birthday on LHOP. I  never saw a gift of cloth doll, rocking horse etc. We saw one birthday cake Ma got when they made a mess they couldn't clean up yet but more were made for others. She was just the silent,"it's not about me" wife/mother. 

    For whatever reason when they were ridiculously snowed in , there were gifts galore for everyone, store bought gifts, I remember being  distracted by it. But again, Charles knew what was in his because he "peeked" but what did Caroline get???

    • Like 3

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    · Edited by debraran

    Yes, you nailed it. 😄

    And knowing Charles wanted to buy his wife a stove like an "adult" he gives him a catalog picture and doesn't tell him his very minor daughter is giving him her horse for the stove. It wasn't HIS gift. Even if he mentioned working on the saddle, he would have kept mum I bet.  Totally ludicrous. Poor Caroline never got anything really for Xmas, things were made for Charles, it was her only big gift in 20 years. Even the dishes were not to be. Tin plates, same clothes, 50 kids in a room, but never broke her.

    In the "bad " city though, their home was lovely. I saw scenes with Caroline on the phone (gasp) talking to a relative, and it seemed very nice and although we never saw the little ones, with all the rooms maybe they were lost. lol.

    • Like 2

    Little House On The Prairie - General Discussion

    in Little House On The Prairie

    8 hours ago, Blergh said:

    Would you have been willing to let your minor child trade one of the family horses to a mean child to have gotten it?

    On No!! I meant the seamless cleanup. lol. I am in the minority for real, that is what ruins the Xmas show for me. I didn't think a child that young could barter with an adult (sorry Nels, you are almost perfect but not this time) and the chaos to get it back, silly, because we can't make Nellie like animals or Laura have a bad decision. Her dad could have bought the stove and Laura bartered by working or whatever, something else special, but alas I know I'm in minority. Just didn't like it.

    I realize though though you are jesting and I had a visceral reaction to something "sweet".  😉

     

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