profreader

It was killing me who Gil reminded me of -- it finally hit me -- William Atherton, who played variations on douchebag boss/rival through the 80s and into the 90s. (Real Genius, et al.) Gil is like his younger brother.

Yep, Google Translate says Finnish.

Also verrrry excited about new possible podcasts -- another (former) soap watcher here eagerly anticipating Love/Hate In The Afternoon...

That Brandon head-in-the-sand needs to be the subject of a Photoshop Battle a la reddit. Just on the GIF I think Tori's "brainsyuck" moment looks funny -- I think as you said b/c she's not being a try-hard. Poor Ohndrea. But these writers are insane -- I can believe that Brandon would feel the loss of his pining admirer, but I cannot believe that he'd go so far as to kiss her / try to start something with her -- as horrible as he is.

The draft was great -- I admit I was a little confused by DA, Executive ADA and Junior but I think I figured it out (like, I know what those positions are in practice, I think I just never knew the title distinctions). What I think this shows is that the entire franchise consistently hired really competent actors over time (with a few glaring exceptions.) I liked that they always hired actors with gravitas, with distinctive looks, and with good speaking voices -- as opposed to the too-glossy types you see on so many other shows. Thank you, Sarah, for having this idea. I cannot waaaait for the Star Trek version. I agree with leaving the movie stuff out of it (and definitely the JJ Abrams stuff.) There's plenty to chew on with just the TV shows. (Nobody choose Neelix. Please. The worst.)

I can't believe that all this time I didn't know that Grant Show's name rhymes with now, not with no. Bad jeans-pocket actor or not, those cheekbones got me to watch Melrose Place (although it was interesting to see how handsomeness does not equal charisma, as Billy stole the audience's attention...) That sax-plus-rhodes piano -- aieeee. I have been squinting and squinting at the "La Boca Grande" hotel sign... "Hotel Carlanteyz" ... buhh? It's driving me nuts. And Gordon Lightfoot's ad got me right in the feels too, just like YoSaffBridge.

Ohndrea's black & white outfit was left over from when she was a chorus girl in a production of ANYTHING GOES.

Great episode -- also loved the Game Time.

I just want Donna Lynne Champlin to become a household name. She is hilarious in everything she does.

I could not be happier that Joe is back where he belongs. The minute my podcast app refreshed and I saw the description, I may or may not have audibly squee'd on the train. A manly squee.

Yes! I was thinking about a Charmed behind the scenes as well ... "How Shannen Always Gets Fired" ...

And Not-Gabrielle was giving me serious Jan Hooks vibes. We could have had a Sweeney Sisters reunion.

As Sarah said, it would be impossible to find someone with Tori Spelling's particular looks... but at least she was slightly more round-faced than FauxJennie. I am always weirdly obsessed with the casting of these "behind the camera" shows ... seeing how close they can get to the originals. FauxJason looks like a wax version of RealJason that melted in a hot car. And FauxShannen looks like she's ready to play an assistant DA on Law & Order.

Now all I can imagine when I see Brandon's Brayface is the sound of a corgi. You know: tiny little legs, nippy, wants all the sheep to get in the corral DAAAAD.

"Deadwood, 90210" was HILARIOUS. Oh my god. Also being pinched to death.

"The Beverly Hills Gang" -- Bad News Bears meets Troop Beverly Hills. The scamps, tykes and waifs of Beverly Hills team up for hi-larious weekly shenanigans. Brandon Walsh makes an appearance (vocal cameo on an answering machine) in the pilot.

YES. Oh god, yes. Eeeeesh.

Great canon submission -- I remember that episode pretty clearly (but totally get the season 3 issue...) Dave made it a little tougher on y'all with GameTime -- I originally thought of the four clues that players would get two at first, and then two more -- I didn't think it was likely people could get answers off one clue (but obviously Dave was right -- you guys pulled off quite a few 4-pointers there.) The IMDb keywords were maybe kind of iffy as clues -- but I do love the weird specificity that they have sometimes. And I bet they totally get added as fetish search terms... (Also ditto on loving the "Heathers" answer & hearing Mabel throw in her two cents.)

Actionmage, I would watch ALL of those. Especially Margo Martindale & Stephen Amell. But all 3 are fantastic -- somebody make these happen - !

Corn Palace! Went there -- if you're into kitsch, it's worth the drive.

That was hilarious. Coincidentally... I have actually stayed overnight in the Lizzie Borden house (it was a b&b at the time, about ten years ago... not sure if it still is.) There was a last minute cancellation so we got booked into the guest room -- that was the room where Mrs. Borden was found. It's supposedly the most haunted room. I bought the gigantic book that they have for sale which collates every known fact about the murder (which makes a pretty good case for LB not being the killer -- but that's another story.) Stayed up reading, nothing ghost-y. Went to sleep. Ordinarily our dog (Boston terrier) would be a little restless at about five in the morning, and would walk from one side of the bed to the other. I came out of sleep feeling the dog walking around, followed by the realization that, no, we didn't bring the dog. I was AWAKE then but with my eyes still closed. I could feel pressure in spots along the side of the bed -- just like if a small dog or cat was stepping on it -- or if someone were tucking the sheets in, like they were making the bed with you still in it. The tucking started near my feet... moving up the side of the bed ... it got to about my hips and I opened my eyes. Nothing. I got up to go take a shower (the bathroom was the next door down the hall.) When I came back, I told my now-ex that the bathroom was free, if he wanted to take a shower. He opened his eyes and said, I thought you were here the whole time. He felt me (or someone) lying on top of the covers next to him. He was still halfway asleep and was irritated that I was doing it, because he hates to feel pinned down like that. Ooooo. At breakfast, we learned that those were fairly common for that room. They had had reports of more dramatic things happening (shoes getting tossed around etc) but this was creepy enough. One thing that a woman who worked there told me which I found interesting was -- in the moment of something happening (someone touching you from behind, seeing someone, hearing a voice), it all seems perfectly normal. It's only when you realize that no one is there that you are creeped out...

That Game Time was fantastic -- the categories alone made me laugh. I hadn't seen this episode of the X-Files -- I'm not sure why I missed it, as I was a fairly die-hard viewer until Mulder left. (I actually have an X-Files ep that I've been considering for the canon -- can a show have too many eps in the canon? I guess we'll see...) I recently re-listened to an older ep which was one of the first to feature Liv's Face Off reports -- it's amazing to realize how much she's grown up just by the sound of her voice. Awwww.

You know, I've often heard people say that a lot of successful actors/TV personalities are like bobbleheads -- big head, tiny body (I think I first heard it said about Vanna White.) Well oh my gersh -- Luke Perry in that first screen cap in the visual aids? It's like someone took the "skew" tool in Photoshop and just did away with his lower half, like it was retreating into a black hole. Like -- if you stare at it long enough, you can halfway convince your brain that he's leaning forward toward the camera at a 45 degree angle. Holy moly. ... and Steve, in that crop top and jazz pants, is serving up Double Dream Hands realness.

You know, BiBi is a very private individual, so it took a while to obtain these pictures from Padma's private collection. BiBi was such a cute kitten - ! BiBi is, as one would expect, very glamorous. She developed the ability to change her eyecolor to coordinate with Padma's outfit. ... but sometimes, BiBi just won't eat your food and your ass can't win.

I took the SATs at about the same time as Sarah. It was a Catholic school and I was in the track with the overachievers — so I think it was assumed that everyone would do well — people were competitive about their scores, but mostly because they were competitive about everything. I always happened to do well on standardized tests, probably just because of the puzzle-construction nature of how they are put together. So I did the usual practice tests but not any coaching beyond that. It's so funny seeing how the writers just glue a standard story over top of the characters, and push them into roles that don't really fit, just to be mouthpieces for one side or another of An Issue and move the plot along. (Like with the "elect Brandon" story where Kelly is the kingmaker all of a sudden, etc.) As everyone else has pointed out, OHHndrea is a terrible choice for "the one who is freaked out about the test" because she's absolutely the type who would have been studying since birth and probably could have published her own guide to the SATs. They would have been wiser to couple the SAT story with a different A-story, one that didn't involve Brenda. Then Brenda could be the freaker-outer, because a) she's Hapless Brenda b) her parents could have high expectations for where they think she should go to college, and wouldn't be able to buy her way in for her, as Kelly / Donna's parents probably could. I'd still want to keep the Steve/Ohhndrea story (they would have been a great couple and would have given Steve some real dimension). The A story could be Brandon discovering he has an enormous brain tumor which has been pressing on his Judgemental Braying center, and all is explained.