magicdog
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Posts posted by magicdog
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So sad to hear about both Bob Barker and Arleen Sorkin!
Bob Barker I grew up with - as a kid watching The Price is Right when I was home from school! When he turned up in his hilarious role as himself in Happy Gilmore, he developed a new generation of fans. Watching those TPIR shows in which college aged guys would appear, they'd be afraid to come too close to Bob, and they'd say, it was because they'd seen what he could do on Happy Gilmore! Bob must have gotten a kick out of that!!
Sorkin I knew more by name as I wasn't watching much of soaps, but I remember her better as the voice behind Harley Quinn on Batman: The Animated Series.
RIP to both!
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3 hours ago, AstridM said:
It’s perfectly legal to be a mess and suffer from mental illness in this country. She has the same right as everyone else to squander her life and money as she chooses. She earned it .🤷♀️
Perhaps, but it's not good for anyone to constantly be taken advantage of, especially for their money. The last thing I want to see for anyone is to have their illness exploited, stolen and devoured by so called family while the victim is left in the streets. Heaven knows we have enough of that now.
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21 hours ago, meep.meep said:
Queen for a Day.
I actually had heard of it! It was a radio program at first, then transitioned to TV. It seemed so exploitative to me - airing sad stories to a national audience to win an appliance. It seems to have continued on reality shows though.
Of course in my statement was more of a person goes into a contest and tells his/her competitors their [made up] sob story in order to get them to throw the contest.
QuoteWas there anything stopping Hazel from winning the contest and then giving the poor bereaved competitor the trip?
No. She had the reputation as the best baker in town, and purposely threw the contest. She was baking a cake and sabotaged herself on purpose by reducing the heat in the oven during the baking process which caused the cake to go flat. A mistake Hazel would never make otherwise. By episode's end, she bakes the exact same cake that evening for the family perfectly fine.
QuoteHazel is a bit of a Mary Sue. She’s pretty much good at everything she tries. And she’s selfless to a fault.
In retrospect, yes, she was. Although her main fault was being a buttinski - even if it was done with love. However, I always admired that the character never let who she was stop her from trying something new (a good lesson to us today!). In one episode it was mentioned she had to drop out of school to support her family after her mother died, so she couldn't continue her education formally, but in many episodes you see her reading a lot and learning new vocabulary words. It was good to see someone keep herself active and never thought of herself as beneath anyone just because she was "the maid".
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Here's a wacky story (and it's rather long) just posted to Entertainment Lawyer. Short version: two super geek fans of a TV show got married but the groom is a mama's boy of the highest order to his wealthy mother, and the bride was willing to stay with him but the MIL is doing everything she can to make her look bad and get her to divorce her boy. What show was it and any idea who this couple is?
QuoteThis is a story about spoiled Hollywood hangers-on/geek superfans aborted marriage- yet the shameful wedding went on, because they both wanted to have a lavish party with celebrities, with a Freudian twist. Skip to the asterisks *** for the wedding. Friends thought the groom would never find his forever partner because he was sooo obsessed with this certain TV show, so much so that every aspect of his life revolved around it. Also holding him back was that he insisted on making people think he lived independently and also that was a successful filmmaker, when in reality he’d go down the street every night from the large home his parents bought him to sleep at his childhood home, in his unchanged childhood bedroom, nearby. Very few people knew the truth. He’d made it his life’s work, aided by his industry connected-mother, to befriend celebrities from this show while protecting his secret. Never having really worked, his life revolved around his commitment to his fandom, and to maintain this fabrication about his gorgeous house and career. When he met, started seeing and got engaged to another equally obsessive superfan, he disappeared socially. People assumed this was due to his happiness. In reality, he had just never told her the truth about his dependence on his parents and had managed to deceive her with all sorts of lies and manufactured drama to keep her from spending the night. I was invited to the wedding, which was several months out, bought an expensive gift from the registry with money I didn’t have, dropped everything to show my happiness for my friend and the mystery girl that he never had time to introduce. ****About 15 stars from the show who were close to his family were in attendance. One of them even officiated. A prop from the show was involved in the vows, and music from the show was the soundtrack to the whole ceremony. She wore a custom dress, and even got lipo to have the perfect shape for it. The wedding planner (Colin Cowie) also did JLo’s. Every speech at the reception focused on their geek love. The ceremony-reception was held in a highly desirable location in Malibu. It was a beautiful, lavish, themed but in a tasteful and sentimental way. All our friends were there, from all over the country and the world. I cried, the groom cried. It was everything I’d hoped for for my friend. Just too perfect. HER parents paid for everything. This should have been a red flag, since HIS parents were just as loaded, though they pretended they were going though hard times. It should have been a clue that the groom’s best friend wouldn’t come, and would huff quietly to me that it was a sham wedding and he just wanted her help funding a movie, but he wouldn’t elaborate and I personally refused to believe he was that awful. Groom had the eccentric innocent Peter Pan act down pat. *** When I still didn’t see him the rest of the year, I reached out to the bride on Facebook, as the groom was notoriously hard to reach. As it turned out, they’d decided to marry and divorce months before the wedding invites were even made. He couldn’t go through with the real-life commitment for the obvious reason, his inability to detach from his parents, but she was still not clued in. When she mentioned their issues, and I commiserated, I inadvertently betrayed his 2 year deception to her. They’d never broke up and he was still picking fights with her to get her to leave before his bedtime run to mommy’s, but she was still attached to his celebrity friends and the illusion of his industry status. It was apparent his mother just could not cut the umbilical cord and was sabotaging his attempts at breaking free at every turn. And both of them, the narcissists, had insisted on going through with the wedding because they wanted to be the center of attention of their star-studded event. Literally, bride told me the two of them BOTH decided they really, really, really wanted to have a giant expensive party, even if it was a lie that they’d have to account for later to all of these people. The mother collected all the wedding gifts that she instructed guests to send to her house, and kept them. When the jilted bride spewed the truth all over social media, along with wild accusations of an inappropriate relationship between MIL and groom, sh*t REALLY hit the fan. A campaign to make bride look like a malicious, bitter, psychopathic liar began, headed by the MIL. But the thing that bothered the bride more than being made to look nuts, and to generally and understandably to feel like a chump, was losing her new extended celebrity family and how infuriated she was that they wouldn’t console her or even get involved in the public drama when she thought they really cared about her. Yeah, LA...
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19 hours ago, kathyk24 said:
I wish writers understood that a character can be good at their job and have a happy home life.
THIS!
Sometimes I think it's one part a reflection of the writer's lives (unhappy ands dysfunctional) and the lack of being able to write drama that didn't involve tragedy. Just once I want to see grown adults in a dramatic series that had a good relationship with their families.*
* I did see an episode of Emergency in which we see the father of Dr. Kelly Brackett (Robert Fuller) being admitted to the hospital for a serious condition. Later, Brackett stops by his dad's room and chats with him about the surgery he'll need and his guilt over not being home as much as he'd like and suggesting they plan a fishing trip together. I remember thinking that if this show were made now, there would be all sots of drama about how irascible dad would be and how distant he and Dr. Brackett would be! It was so refreshing to see a normal father [adult] son relationship!!
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6 hours ago, Mabinogia said:
If you want to get real cynical, for a brief moment I thought, and imagine if Hazel runs into the mother and child at the fair, and the "dead" father walks over with corn dogs!
I LOVE THIS! Yes, I have a weird sense of humor. I'm now imagining people who compete in various contests and give a sob story expecting their competitors to purposely lose to her out of guilt!!
6 hours ago, Mabinogia said:As for forget the fathers death. I'm hoping she meant, like for a few hours he could feel like a normal, happy kid again and get a break from being the kid who lost his father. Otherwise, geez, how bad a dad was he that he'd be that easy to forget? lol
Sure, I knew he wouldn't literally forget him (the boy looked about 10 or so and I imagine he has a strong image of Dad in his mind as well as the relationship he would have had), just that that's how the mother put it. If anything (and I've been in this situation myself, as many of us have) he would have been saying things like, "Dad would have loved to see this!", etc. .
QuoteIn Hazel's case though, how badly did she want to go to the World's Fair? Was this something she really wanted? If it was something she really wanted, then yeah, she shouldn't have to give that up.
My parents were at that fair (in fact, my father worked in construction at that time and built many of the pavillions). It was considered the highlight of a lifetime to go. The last time the fair was held in NY was 1939 (My grandparents went to that one, but my dad was still a baby!). Anyone who could afford to travel and get admission would have wanted to see what was there as for many it was a once in a lifetime experience. I think Hazel wanted to go because Harold wanted to go. Of course Harold's father could have just agreed to make it a family outing from the outset.
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On to a vintage of anger inducement:
On Hazel, in the episode, Just Me, Harold and the Unisphere (1964)
Hazel enters a contest in which the first prize is two tickets to the World's Fair (which at the time was being held in Flushing Meadow, Queens, NY). Hazel is a natural shoe in to win, but of course, there's a complication: her competitor is the mother of a friend of Harold's (the son of Hazel's employers and a sort of grandson to her) and of course she had a sob story. She's a widow and really needs to win to make her and her son's dreams come true. In her words, she hopes that winning the contest and going to the fair will help him forget about his father's passing 6 months earlier. Being the good sport, Hazel feels badly and sabotages herself to let her competitor win.
ARRGH!
OK, so she has a sob story. Forget his father's death? That won't happen. Not that maybe the boy wouldn't have a thrill after dealing with a big loss like that, but ultimately, you still wake up knowing that your loved one is still gone and nothing will ever change that. Purposely lose to every person you need to compete against just because they're possibly in a worse spot than you? What does that teach us? Nothing wrong with having empathy and if you're able, to help them in another way, but one shouldn't sabotage one's own efforts either.
Or is it me being heartless and cynical?
Of course the episode ends with her employer telling her and the family that he was taking them all to the World's Fair as a family.
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14 hours ago, merylinkid said:
Guess he grifted what he could from her and now is bailing. Yes Britney can be a LOT at times, but he knew that going in. I really hope that prenup is a good one.
THIS! He's been enriching himself in one way or another using her money once her earlier conservatorship was dissolved. Either she got a clue or someone in her family finally got through to her about what a thieving heel he is.
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This seemed interesting:
Quote“They have consistently treated him like a son and one of their three children. His response was to threaten them, including saying that he would plant a negative story about them in the press unless they paid him $15 million.”
Oher has claimed he received nothing out of the more than $300 million earned by the film, claiming the Tuohys were each paid $225,000, plus 2.5 percent of the film’s “defined net proceeds.”
[snip]
Quote“The evidence — documented in profit participation checks and studio accounting statements — is clear: Over the years, the Tuohys have given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from ‘The Blind Side.’”
Then, the shoe drops:
QuoteOher “has actually attempted to run this play several times before — but it seems that numerous other lawyers stopped representing him once they saw the evidence and learned the truth. Sadly, Mr. Oher has finally found a willing enabler and filed this ludicrous lawsuit as a cynical attempt to drum up attention in the middle of his latest book tour,” the statement continued.
There's a bit more in this article.
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On 8/13/2023 at 7:06 AM, Blergh said:
While I have to admit Kat Mandu (played by, of all folks, the performer turned writer, novelist, singer and executive producer Deborah Pratt) was an intriguing character, that whole episode 'Fonzie Meets Kat' was among the lamest ones due to the writing.
Well, the ultimate endgame was to give the character a spinoff of her own, though the network didn't bite. I would imagine the character would have been a bit like Caine in "Kung Fu", wandering from place to place helping people out. Her character doesn't seem like one that would stay in one place too long.
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Just found out about this death this morning - even though it happened in May: the passing of Mike Norell, who was best known as Captain Hank Stanley on "Emergency" (1972-77). He was 85. He not only costarred on the show, he wrote 4 episodes as well.
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1 hour ago, Wiendish Fitch said:
I work for a major grocery store. I'm looking for full time work after having worked part time my whole life (don't ask, it's a long, boring story). My manager asked me if I considered full time, and I said yes. He gave me a packet about the joys of 401k and all that jazz. It felt like a done deal at the time.
This is now, that was a year ago.
I was never promoted, and please don't think I never asked about it. Apparently I wasn't full-time material in his eyes. I transferred to another store recently (again, long story, don't want to discuss it), and I've been the squeakiest wheel about wanting full time work. I ask what I can do to improve my job performance, anything I can do to get full time work, and I only get vaguely encouraging answers.
On the side, I've been applying for full time work I think I might be qualified for, but I'm concerned I might not fit the bill of what they want. I hate even discussing this, because I'm sure everyone is itching to lecture me on how whiny and entitled I am.
But I beg to differ. Feedback on my job performances through the years have ranged from merely positive to downright glowing. When I go to work, I work. I don't play on my phone, endlessly gab with others, waste time, whatever. I do my job well and damn near break my back, so I earn every dollar on my paycheck. I have had 2 (2!) absences this year, and I haven't been late once (come to think of it, punctuality is a strong suit of mine). I keep a positive attitude and am never hostile to co-workers or customers. I follow the dress code, the rules, I am open to learning new things, and my supervisors constantly tell me how "awesome" I am. While I appreciate the compliments... I also don't. Warm fuzzies don't pay the bills, and sure as fuck won't keep me financially safe when I'm old. I need fucking money and benefits, not free sandwiches and smiles.
So, yeah, I'm a little frustrated that I'm having difficulty getting full time work. I really don't think I'm asking for more than I deserve... or am I?
IMO, you're not the assh*le, but the problem with the workplace environment now is HR and poor management. I've seen it time and time again with my own frustrations. I did just as you did - follow protocols, work hard, show initiative, only to be ignored when I want to move up. All you can do is keep applying elsewhere and hope someone notices you.
HR's are a nightmare as well, since many of them are staffed by bitter, petty people who delight in keeping people from getting what they need. I fell like I'm in middle school sometimes (except I can't beat up the bullies this time lest I risk arrest) with all the nonsense.
Consider some alternative job search sites like this one or this one. Of course there's also the usual like indeed and monster and perhaps linked in. The only other thing I can recommend (because I'm dong this myself) is start your own business and work for yourself. I'm tired of dealing with idiots anyway.
2 hours ago, Laura Holt said:I don't think complaining about something, however trivial, is the same thing as being catered to.
Actually, it is. At least that's what I see - management bending over backward for one disgruntled person who has nothing better to do than whine about trivial matters when there are serious issues. It's like they feel the need to overcompensate because this person is upset over a triviality. I hear about people getting upset over stuff they have no control over or have no business worrying about. I've seen careers destroyed because someone was upset about someone's opinion (which should be kept personal anyway) the websites they browse or their method to get the job done (not illegal or wrong, just different than how the complainer would handle it). IMO, if you're whining about open toed shoes in the workplace (and you're not in a lab or construction site) or that someone's lunch was moved to a different shelf, there is a much bigger issue at work.
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5 hours ago, BlueSkies said:
I think a lot of a job really depends on the culture. Like that one job I had the owner would threaten to hold people's pay checks. I mean nobody actually liked it there but you know they sucked it up.
I remember an assistant news director (before Bitcheroo) who liked to play a game called, "work more hours, get no OT". People who were NOT salaried employees would be ordered to work extra work hours but not given earned OT with the excuse that the station was trying to save money. Someone reported it to the labor review board and that nonsense stopped quick! She was canned some time later.
5 hours ago, BlueSkies said:Meanwhile where I work now there is an abuse hotline employees can call if they feel I guess "abused" or what not. But it's like the stupidest shit people call about like they dont like somebody having open toe shoes. Or someone didnt say hello to somebody. But the culture in this environment can be gossipy/overdramatic/whiny, etc....
That's the uber snowflake world we're working in now. To think my parents fought to keep me from being like this as a kid and to learn to take it on the chin, only to see those people catered to! Seriously, open toe shoes??
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There are so many woulda, coulda, shoulda moments from this show it isn't even funny!
Even when it was still in productions, we fans had better ideas about what to see. I'm sure writers were instructed to ignore any postings since they don't want legal issues, but I wish they COULD have at least contacted fans about some things. I would have loved a contest in which submissions could potentially have been made into an episode.
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On 8/1/2023 at 11:51 AM, Leeds said:
The question is, what will be the CoD? "Crash," "Vomit," or just plain "Old Age"?
"Died suddenly".
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13 hours ago, Blergh said:
However, the main premise of the Clampetts was that they were naive rubes who not only had struck it rich BUT they also had 'country sense' and somehow outsmarted the greedy snob Mr. Drysdale and others who thought they were easy pickings.
To be fair, Mr. Drysdale came from humble rural origins himself and earlier in the series was actually kind to them (he did get flanderized by the color seasons but that happens to a lot of characters when they've been on too long). It was his wife who was the real snob of the family.
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18 minutes ago, Fool to cry said:
Reuben was also great on Murphy Brown as one of her many secretaries.
Was he? I could have sworn he played the nephew of the network honcho.
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On 7/28/2023 at 2:08 PM, MissAlmond said:
Actor Inga Swenson best known for playing cook Gretchen Kraus on the TV series Benson and also portrayed Hoss Cartwright's mother, Inger, on Bonanza as died, age 90.
AWW! There goes another childhood performer for me. I remember some years ago she announced her well earned retirement but I didn't realize she was 90!
Before "Benson", she was on "Soap", as Corinne's birth mother, Ingrid Svenson who was trying to interfere with her relationship between her adoptive parents, Jessica and Chester Tate.
To Jessica Tate:
Ingrid: "You think I'm finished?"
Jessica: "No, you're Swedish!"
Of course half the fun on Benson was watching the verbal sparring between Krause and Benson.
RIP Ms. Swenson.
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On 7/12/2023 at 10:40 AM, deaja said:
I looked a couple months ago to see if this was streaming anywhere. It was a childhood favorite.
The show is also airing on Cozi-TV weeknights starting at 3AM EST
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6 hours ago, stonehaven said:
Just got the word on Facebook that legendary guitarist and session player for John Denver and the Chad Mitchell Trio, Paul Prestopino died.
My father was a fan of the Chad Mitchell Trio (still have the LPs!) and they were one of my introductions to late 50's-mid 60's folk. If I dig them up, I'm sure I'll find Prestopino's name somewhere.
RIP sir.
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9 hours ago, RealHousewife said:
I’m not surprised about Ariana divorcing. She hasn’t looked happy or healthy in awhile.
Same. I think he was intimidated by her career. A [revealed] blind item had them as the subject in which she wanted to go to a movie premiere, but he refused to go with her and urged her to stay home. Now, I can understand not being into the red carpet business, but I think he was just tying her down like a bad HS boyfriend.
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21 hours ago, MissAlmond said:
Jimmy Weldon who was the voice of the Hanna-Barbera character Yakky-Doodle has died, age 99.
AWW! I remember he appeared on a Saturday morning cartoon preview show and it was the first time I had ever seen voice actors of my favorite shows for the first time (Mel Blanc being the notable exception at that point). I remember he not only did Yakky Doodle as a single character, he was able to create a "group" of ducks singing at the same time! I thought it was incredible!
RIP Mr. Weldon.
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Some new blinds for July courtesy of Entertainment Lawyer:
QuoteOld Hollywood: In a true Garp (“The World According to Garp” driveway scene) moment, this A list mostly movie actor was killed when the woman he was forcing to orally service him while driving, bit down on him. The actor ended up crashing into a tractor trailer in front of him and died.
Some people guess it's James Dean but Dean's passenger was a male. Since it's Old Hollywood, the actor's death would have been spun into something tragic but never reveal anything "inappropriate" to his image.
QuoteThis foreign born singer was A list for a couple of years. She made it very clear in a very outspoken way about how much she hated meat eaters and hunters and said she wished them all dead. Now, she owns a cattle farm that raises cows to be slaughtered.
HA!! Now, how many vegetarian or vegan foreign born has-beens are there? Not to mention what got her to change her mind. Could it be an Australian or Canadian?
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2 hours ago, Blergh said:
Maxwell Smart of Get Smart (1965-1970) who worked with alluring 99 for years, married her and even sired twins with her- yet somehow NEVER learned her actual name- not even when her clueless mother came to visit (and somehow never uttered her own daughter's name).
THIS! I loved this show (saw it on reruns and my Dad not only watched it first run, he could still laugh at it decades later!) but I think even Max deserved to know 99's real name. The fact that her mother appeared, one would think she would have used her name at least once - even a nickname! I guess TPTB were afraid of taking all the mystique out of the couple by revealing it.
I remember an episode in which 99 was engaged (it was actually another job to catch a Kaos spy) and her name was revealed as "Susan Hilton", only for her to reveal by episode's end that it wasn't her real name. I think it would have been fair if it had been whispered to Max so that only he knew it after they married.
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A Case Of The Mondays: Vent Your Work Spleen Here
in Everything Else
Now, for my umpteenth rant about my immediate supervisor who does not listen to a thing I or my edit partner tell him!
He comes into work right as we're starting to get a last minute edit rush. He says he got the word from "up high" about our shift that there's too much video looping. We both explained to him that there is a reason why this may happen: because there is limited video to begin with!
You see there's video that our photogs film (in house) and stuff that comes from FOX (we're an affiliate) or CNN (we have access to national stories they run). Now, whatever the big networks send us, that's all we have. maybe it's a package that we "bust" (break down into a simple VO or a SOT/SOTVO). We have to edit based on script as close as possible, but sometimes, talky anchors do't know how to shut up and before you know it, the video we initially cut is too short and we have to cut it longer (also orders from "on high"). That means it's inevitable that some of the same video will be see onscreen again.
If the video is raw video our people shot, we may have more leeway, but there are still only so many useable shots. For example, our local little league team went to the LLWS, unfortunately they lost and came back home a few days ago. I was given a source for the raw video of their return to the airport to greet their families. I used every useable shot possible (many shots were pointed at the floor, shaky cam, etc.) but I still had to loop it after about 30 sec or so of footage. Since this was a story the anchors would drone on about, we hat to cut at least a minute - preferably a minute 30 seconds. I explain this to supervisor who apparently has all the answers:
"Just let the producers know and let them decide to continue as is."
Really? My partner and I do NOT have time to constantly question every darn story in the rundown. Sure we contact the producer when there are questions or problems of one kind or another but this is insane! We get quick instruction in the scripts what to do and do it. Sometimes we have no choice but to use what is available to us.
What does supervisor say? THE SAME THING! It's like he's really not listening! He's just repeating what someone else said (who is NOT in our edit bays dealing with our issues and they never even bothered to invite us to meetings and have us tell them straight up what we have to do to get through the day).
Sometimes I think he wants us to rage quit or something.