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Nineteen gold medals is insane, for sure. And no doubt Michael Phelps is an incredible swimmer. I love watching him race. The way he pulled away from the field in that relay shows what a fierce competitor he is. The extreme hype that he (and his mother) happily feed into wears, big time. I don't call it overhype, because he absolutely is the greatest Olympic swimmer, ever. But the constant pimping by NBC, to the detriment of his teammates, is not a good look. And while he may not be initiating it (anymore), I do feel like he could shut it down and he doesn't. JMHO. You know what would be awesome? If he/the media acknowledged (and maybe he has) that while his medal count is amazing, it's only possible because he's in a sport that has many chances to medal in a single Olympics. It's not like he's won 19 decathlons. (TBH, I hate "medal counts" in general, for just this reason.)

Because God forbid they talk about swimming and NOT mention Michael Phelps. SMDH

I think arguments can be made for many Olympic events not being "sports" and their participants not "athletes". I mean, why is a figure skater an "athlete", while a ballerina is a "dancer"? In the equestrian events, who is the "athlete"? The rider or the horse? It's all pretty arbitrary, so I think it's a slippery slope if you start making comparisons.

They just interviewed the U.S. women's team who took silver in one of the swimming relays. Announcer: "Lead-off swimmer, what was your plan for the race?" Swimmer: "Get in the water and swim as fast as I could." Me: "Bahahaha!" Seriously, what did they expect her to say?"

WTH is up with Bob Costas? Does he have a leg in a cast? A bad case of crotch chafing? Every time they go to him, he's standing with all his weight on one leg, with the other extended stiffly forward and out to the side.

No weirder than the "Juicy" pants, IMO. (So glad that trend is over.) The designer also sells a dog-sized shirt with the same graphic, FWIW. Regarding the apple, I think it's worth noting that in the episode all the articles are referencing, where Lorelai thinks she's pregnant because she wants an apple, she isn't pregnant. So I don't think is a sign of anything. But then again, I don't want Lorelai to be pregnant, so maybe my judgement is off. I know a lot of people want to see a L/L baby, but I think that's stretching biology a bit far.

So pretty, and I loved the relatively simple lighting of the flame. I remember when that man was attacked dieing the marathon, so it's cool to see him get his moment.

No judgement from me! Granted, I haven't watched ANY of this season until last night, but I found him entertaining. I got the sense that he's playing his own bro alliance as much as anyone else, which I can respect on this show. And I liked the "Sound of Music" bit. I guarantee none of the other bros would even admit to having watched a musical, lest their (over)masculinity be called into question. The psycho crying girl... WTH? It's a bruise, girl, it's hardly going to cause kidney failure. So she doesn't want them to think she's violent, but she's okay with them thinking she's a weepy nutbag?

@AussieBabe and @Sayla Vee, you said it so much better than me! If they want me to believe that Quinn has changed, they need to show me that she has changed. She can start by respecting her own damned son's wishes. She hasn't modified her behavior one iota. She still does what she wants, when she wants, with no regard for anyone else, least of all Wyatt. I'd love it if he would be completely done with her for awhile; she would finally have lost something, and I'd respect Chicken a lot more. At least Ridge and Rick wouldn't be able to bicker about it anymore! lol

As talented as RS and JMc are, and as happy as I am that TIIC are giving front-burner stories to their more "mature" cast members (also including KKL and RK), I just can't get behind Quic. Maybe if some more time had passed, and Quinn had actually paid for something. But every time she brings up Liam, I cringe. I mean, I'm glad that kidnapping and raping him made her be a better person and all, but this apparent "rehabilitation" is completely unearned. I get that people hate Steffy. I don't like her, and I definitely think she's ridiculous to make this all. about. her. But she's not wrong about Quinn. I wouldn't want that psycho dating anyone in my family, either. And there's no comparison between Steffy killing Aly in self-defense or even the stuff with Ivy and all of the crap Quinn has done to various people deliberately and with fore-thought. She pushed Deacon off a cliff simply because he was going to go to Bill and tell him that she was keeping his severely injured son hostage with no access to medical care. Yes, he survived and is apparently all "bygones!", but that doesn't get her off the hook with me.

Add me to those who never got the Marty love. He's just such an Eeyore to me. Like instead of taking a shot with Rory (or anyone), he just moped around and then got pissy because she never noticed him "that way". UGH. Total dishrag.

I'm sick of Waffles acting like Steffy is being forced into this (stupid) social media campaign. Wasn't Wyatt's whole inspiration the fact that Steffy already had a bunch of followers? So presumably she was already really active on social media? Why is Liam acting like the whole thing is beneath her? That said, the execution of the whole thing is relatively obnoxious - how many photos do they need? - but just like marrying Wyatt, nobody is making her do it. She's a big girl who makes her own decisions, and a man who supposedly "loves" her should give her at least that much credit. Ugh. Her eyebrow pencil was incredibly thick yesterday, and FAR too dark for her. I guess they were going for "glamorous evening look"? But it was distracting, IMO.

Yes, Maddox mentions that her husband went on a hunting trip to the same area in the episode. And I noticed in this episode she's wearing a wedding band. I like Maddox a lot, but I'm not sure where they're going with her. Even though I love the Chuckle Brothers, I'm annoyed for her that she's constantly playing third fiddle, when she's a sergeant, and seemingly capable. Even Innocent and Hobson, who both give her knowing looks in this episode as if they sympathize, default to Lewis and Hathaway being partners and sending Maddox on errands. But at the same time, if she gets a more prominent role in the cases, that takes away my "James and Robbie time", so I'm conflicted.

My biggest problem with Lorelai is that she went nuclear so quickly. It was summer. There was time. Rory had just had a horrible week (by her own hand, I'll grant you). Give it a couple of weeks, and then bring up other schools, other majors. But basically telling your own child who is going through a crisis that she doesn't have a home with you anymore unless she follows your plan for her life is awful. Frankly, it's Mitchum levels of awful.

I'm pretty sure this has been photoshopped. ;-) The real thing was certainly white and flowy, but not quite such a perfect match. (That said, I didn't watch the real thing, but I saw Laura Bernanti's excellent parody on Colbert, and I think the dress was the same.)

I've recently discovered that the episodes available on US iTunes are the "full" British versions, so I'm going to rewatch from the beginning. (They're also available for streaming on Amazon Prime, and you can get a 30-day free trial. Those are the PBS versions, though.) I'm thinking since there are only 13 episodes, there's no need to be formal. I'll just create episode threads for the pilot and Series One, and we can use the already existing threads for Two and Three. Any interest?

Nice! For some reason, I didn't think they were making any more.

I think I hate Bill Spencer more than any other soap character ever. And I've watched Grampire on Y&R since $Bill was still Brad the pool boy. There was zero justification for keeping Katie from even visiting Will. I hate that bastard. I am beyond tired of Quinn's shtick. RS needs to take a vacation. And not to Monaco. Liam, rooting for Steffy's marriage to fail, out loud, to her grandfather? Wow, that's tacky.

I think Quinn/Eric should be Quic, as in, how quickly they're shoving this down our throats. Ridiculously bad story telling.

Such a sad episode, but James and Robbie paddling away at the end - in suits! - will never NOT be funny.

Just an FYI - I created a topic for long-form comparisons of this show with the previous version(s): http://forums.previously.tv/topic/45068-tunnel-bridge-ferry-or-canoe-compare-and-contrast/

So, apparently there are previous versions of this? Or something like it? Anyway, debate 'em all in here.

No worries, @TobinAlbers! I was just being goofy, trying to pretend it's not real, because I so don't want it to be real, if that makes sense. lol