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I just rediscovered the JoA recaps by Deborah at TWOP that I had saved before that site went off to the bit bucket. Deborah was the best at capturing the sound and sense of the episodes. Just reading them recalls to memory visual images of scenes I haven't watched in years.

In ways that any show about the family dynamic is similar. From Ozzie & Harriet to Wonder Years to Joan of Arcadia to Young Sheldon they all mine the multiple relationships, just with a POV that reflects their times. And they succeed when they're truthful. It will be a while before Sheldon meets his Winnie Cooper in this incarnation.

TENTHIRTEEN "I made this." Then I wrecked this. Where did the suspense building go. Where did the creepiness go?

Missy makes me laugh harder than I have in years. The lines and delivery are perfect.

In a several ways YS is like The Wonder Years. Both are retrospectives from the primary character's point of view. Both use a present day narrator for context. Both are about family dynamics. Time and place and themes are different, but the stories resonate in similar ways. I hope they use the TWY wrap-up method with the narrator telling what happened after the final scene, both the good and the bad. It leaves it up to the audience to imagine details and sends the series off into semi-mythical, nostalgic, bittersweet territory that will stick with fans.

I have distinct visual memories of having my tonsils out at around 30 months so it's possible. Recipes, not so much.

Clearly, a "worst" character was police lieutenant, Lucy (a/k/a Lucyfer) Preston. Good acting by Annie Potts made us all despise her conniving ways. She's now portraying similar behavior as Meemaw in Young Sheldon, but here it's endearing. It takes talent to make nasty both unattractive and humorous. Of course, the character's motivations are crucial. Lucy was predatory; Meemaw is unhappy with her situation.

Well, this Kevin is a pale recapitulation of Kevin Girardi, only dopier ... and ambulatory, of course. The show lacks the subtle qualities that made Joan of Arcadia so different and compelling. The premise obviously is trying to recapture the JoA spirit but it hasn't any sense of the transcendent. Instead it's a cartoon without a clue. Please, writers, if you really want to make a show worth watching, study the JoA S1 episodes and emulate.

TGOK looks to be awful, judging by the trailer. Simplistic. Trite. Obvious. My Name is Earl meets Touched by an Angel. Ugh! It desperately needs a Barbara Hall sensibility and sense of wonder. But I don't think even she could rescue it at this point. To paraphrase Moonves, idiocy skews better than intelligence. So it probably will run longer than JoA did. Sigh.

S1-E18 - Requiem For A Third Grade Ashtray Joan - So after you do this mitzvah thing, that's it, you're all grown up? Mr. Polanski - In theory, you know, but in practice, becoming an adult is more a series of steps and missteps. Don't you think? ---------- Joan - Ok, can I get something off my chest here? What's with god the sexist? Yeah, I said it. How come the girl in the family always has to do all the cooking and running around? How old-school is that? God - Ok, Joan, check my record. I think you'll find when I call one of you to action, it doesn't matter which chromosome I gave you. ---------- Will - You didn't get my message? Helen - Of course not. It hasn't been a good day. Will - Sorry. Helen - I hope yours was better. Will - Well, I was stuck in an elevator with an embezzler and a woman who gave birth to a baby girl. Helen - That must have been fun.

The Pilot set a high standard for following episodes. The sub-plot of Joan getting a job (her interaction with Sammy was so well done) and the menace of the predator enriched the main theme of her meeting and accepting God as real ("I'm not crazy!). Most shows struggle with a simple plot at the start, this one wove the threads beautifully. Even the wrap-up of the predator's capture was handled subtly by neither ignoring it nor over-doing the interrogation. And the final scene between Kevin and Joan sets up the long and winding arc of his conquering his injury. Credit Barbara Hall with a clear vision and James Hayman with the skill to bring it all together.

S1-E17 No Bad Guy God - Vengeance is mine. Joan - Ok. To be fair, you never went to high school. ------------------- Luke - Hey, guess what? Copernicus called, said the world doesn't revolve around you. Joan - Ohh! What a coincidence, because the dork police called, and they said they want their leader back. Kevin - It's official, I don't miss high school anymore. ------------------- Joan - Why are you punishing me? I haven't even done anything yet. God - Yet. Joan - Oh, wow. So thoughts really do count. God - Thoughts are things, Joan. And I don't punish people; you punish yourselves. Hmm. You're so good at it, I can almost retire. ------------------- Friedman - You mess with scientists, my friend, you're gonna get science.

You remind me that I need to rewatch the videos. Favorites from S1 are "The Fire and the Wood" because it's the first episode to bring the sub-defectives together (and I have an AT-autographed copy of the script), "Jump" for the final scene when Helen reads the letter to Adam, and "Silence" for the crisis of faith. Many fans thought S2 dragged, but I liked the multi-episode Judith-arc. The Duffisodes were lame, but it picked up after those with the building tension in "Trial and Error." And "Queen of the Zombies" was just a hoot.

LOST was weirdly interesting. This show isn't interesting ... or funny.

No polar bears yet.