[Gymnastics]

1 hour ago, PoshSprinkles said:

How was Cottbus BTW? Worth the watch? 

The Brazilians had a fantastic meet overall, so it's worth at least watching their routines. 

[Figure Skating]

On 11/23/2018 at 12:02 PM, honeywest said:

Go, Jason! (But grow that ponytail back.)

Disagree  - I always hated that greasy thing. He looks so much better with short hair. YMMV of course.

I hadn't realized that the scoring system changed to downgrade the quads - I certainly hope this means that we will see cleaner programs, with people planning jumps that they actually have an expectation of landing, rather than just chucking things to get the points for trying. I'm also glad that this means that someone like Jason, who has so many good qualities, can once again be competitive even without a quad jump (last season I was thinking that he should just move on to be a show skater because he was never going to be competitive, which was true under the previous system).

[S11.E07: A Lifetime of Achievement]

Rewatching this one and I just want to give a shoutout to Avery's line about Murphy being able to hear him and his girlfriend because "she has the ears of a fruit bat." This is the same thing Murphy said about baby Avery, and how he would wake up if there was any sound: "He's got the ears of a Peruvian fruit bat!" I've always loved that line and loved the throwback here.

[Gymnastics]

Dear Olympic Channel,

Hi, it's me again. Thank you for providing a live stream of the Cottbus World Cup on your website. When I tried to watch it on my iPad yesterday, though, it was practically unwatchable as an ad would automatically come on every minute, blocking out actual routines. But hey, at least watching the stream this morning on my laptop worked. But now, we have back our "favorite" inept British guy announcer. He doesn't know how to say the name Jorge? What broadcaster working in international sports doesn't know how to say the name Jorge? This guy, apparently. He thinks German giants on high bar are super innovative? Yes, they look cool, but they've been around for decades. Does he even know that they are called German giants? No, of course not. And don't get me started on him saying Lara Mori is "a real honey, this one." WTF? Oh, and saying that Rebeca Andrade's gymnastics isn't beautiful? Get the f**k out of here. 

I get that you're probably stuck with whoever FIG has hired as the English-language commentator for the world feed, but can't you turn off his commentary? Anyone dedicated enough to watch the livestream of a World Cup event can live without him, I promise you.

But, I do want to give a shoutout to Tanith Belbin for the commentary shown last night on TV. She actually called Tim Daggett out on his more inane comments, or at least asked him to clarify what he means. Now, if only you would replace Tim...

A Gymnastics Fan

[FYI: This Just In: Murphy Brown in the Media]

As far as this season goes, it was already known from the beginning that it would only be 13 episodes, no matter how well it was received or how high the viewership was, because that is all that Candice Bergen (and I think Diane English as well) was willing to commit to. It's basically a half season, and is much more accepted now as a show schedule/structure than back in the '90s, when each season of the show had ~25 episodes or so (which is exhausting to make). There are plenty of shows now (even on the networks) that only run for part of a year, but return for multiple seasons.

I don't know the exact figures for viewership but I have a feeling that, as the tail end of the CBS Thursday night lineup, the show is probably doing well enough that CBS would sign on for a second season if English/Bergen/etc. are up for it.

[S11.E07: A Lifetime of Achievement]

This episode was great, and I think it may be because a lot of it (except for the Avery subplot) could have taken place in a previous season of the show. The FYI gang attends an awards dinner, and hijinks ensue (with a sprinkling of a wacky former-secretary character to boot). They weren't contorting themselves to fold in a bunch of up-to-the-minute political stuff, so the story could just breathe. Avery's girlfriend was a great match for Murphy, and I really hope we see more of the Judge and Murphy together. The attraction between Jim and Phyllis is so sweet - it's too bad that Charles Kimbrough isn't well enough to be in more episodes, but it's great that he's able to be there when he can. Jim, Jim, Jim!

[S11.E07: A Lifetime of Achievement]

I think Murphy's somewhat wacky wardrobe this time around is simply a reflection of the fact that they brought on Patricia Field (of "Sex and the City") to be the costume designer for the show. This is the same woman who put those oversized flower brooches on Sarah Jessica Parker so an oversized spider brooch seems of a piece with that.

[Gymnastics]

2 hours ago, HartofDixie said:

Mckayla Maroney’s old gym is closing

https://www.chalkwarrior.com/single-post/2018/11/05/All-Olympia-Gymnastics-Center-to-close-its-doors

 

And

https://www.usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=22880

It's about damn time. On both counts.

[The Bullpen: Past Seasons Discussion]

AntennaTV played that episode recently in their regular order of episodes, so I don't think it's a licensing issue. It probably just didn't make the cut for whatever criteria they used to select the episodes for the upcoming marathon, but it is in their rotation. So if it's your favorite, keep an eye out as the episodes progress through the order again.

[Gymnastics]

A note to the camera people at this year's world championships: STOP MOVING THE CAMERA AROUND! YOU ARE MAKING THE VIEWERS NAUSEOUS!

It was really most egregious on parallel bars. That damn camera never. stopped. moving!!!

[S11.E06 Results May Vary]

16 minutes ago, AdeleDazeem said:

I was half watching. Not really paying attention. I thought that was a nod to Robert Pastorelli by the writers. 

Murphy has a framed photo of Robert Kennedy behind her couch (and did in the original run of the show as well), so I think character-wise that homage makes more sense (YMMV). There was also a joke in the original show that on her list of possible baby names (before she settled on Avery) she had "Robert Kennedy Brown" (and "Desmond Tutu Brown").

[S11.E06 Results May Vary]

I can't help but notice that this week's episode and last week's episode were both written by some of the writers of the original version of the show (Gunzenhauser, Donzig, and Peterman), and I don't think it's a coincidence that (IMO) they have been the strongest so far, since they know these characters and the DNA of the show so well. 

As far as I'm concerned, there can never be enough Avery. I love that (as far as I remember) we finally know Avery's middle name - Robert. That makes sense that Murphy would name him after Robert Kennedy. 

I was so happy for Pat when he found his groove!

[S11.E05: The Girl Who Cried About Wolf]

4 hours ago, doodlebug said:

TPTB may need to come up with a reason for Avery to live with Murphy full time.  Maybe Murphy has an in-law suite?  

Not necessarily - Eldin never lived in Murphy's house, but spent enough time there to be featured in nearly every episode when Robert Pastorelli was on the show. I could see a scenario where Avery buys a condo or something nearby as his DC home base, but since he and Murphy are so close, he comes over for dinner or to chat several times a week. Avery and Murphy are each other's only family - it makes sense that they would spend a lot of time together when they are both in DC.

On another note - I really love the details that the set designers have added to Murphy's living room. In this episode, I noticed that they have a framed copy of this photo of Murphy holding baby Avery. This attention to detail really makes the Murphy-Avery relationship shown now feel so much more organic and real.

 

[Tabloids: Gossip, Innuendo, and Déclassé]

I think one would have to be really cynical to read something nefarious into the timing of the baby announcement, beyond just a coincidence. Meghan's in her late 30's, and Harry has been very clear that he has wanted kids for a long time. They obviously started trying to get pregnant as soon as they were married, and it worked within a couple of months. Then it just so happened that by the time Eugenie's wedding rolled around, Meghan was starting to show (which is not hard on someone with her super-slim body type). Yes, Meghan's coat at the wedding wasn't the most flattering, but it was a dark color and clearly intended to blend in the background and not draw attention away from the bride. Moreover, there are accounts that Eugenie and Jack were among the very small group of family members (i.e., The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, and Prince Charles) who were told of the pregnancy before the wedding. They weren't trying to spring a surprise on Eugenie on her wedding day.

Then, since H&M were leaving immediately for their tour, they had to make the public announcement since she wouldn't be able to cover up with coats and such in the warmer weather in Australia. They probably also wanted to pre-empt any questions of "Where's Meghan?" when she inevitably needed to decline certain engagements because she needed more rest, was trying to avoid Zika, and so on.

The announcement of Meghan's pregnancy doesn't detract at all from the joy of Eugenie's wedding. Celebrations of happiness are not a zero-sum game.

[Gymnastics]

Based on the performances at the worlds selection camp, I think taking Ragan was the correct choice. Yes, she's still dealing with her ankle, but she earned her spot to travel to Worlds, and could easily step in for the team on any event. I understand the rationale to say that she just spent the last 2+ weeks doing a bunch of routines that maybe she didn't need to do (especially on the hard floor in the training hall), but no one can predict the future and if someone had gotten injured, she was/is ready to come in and cover the spot.

[Figure Skating]

I think Terry genuinely feels a lot of affection for Tara and Johnny after working with them so much. He's kind of like their cool uncle or something, and it comes out in his teasing of them and their antics. I like the three of them together. 

[Figure Skating]

12 minutes ago, Chaser said:

I get and agree with a lot of criticism about Tara’s commentaries. But tbh I don’t understand why people harp on this with Tara. It happens with every comment on artistry or when a jump is a flutz. The idea that she isn’t allowed to remark on something if she struggled with it as a skater doesn’t make sense. 

The point is that it seems a bit hypocritical for Tara to be saying that someone is too young to win the Olympics because they need more time to develop their artistry, when she won the Olympics at an extremely young age without a lot of artistry to her skating (YMMV). Now it's fine if she comments on a skater's lack of artistry (after all that's part of her job as a commentator), but this particular line of commentary just seems to lack some self-awareness.

[S11.E03: Hashtag Murphy Too]

On 10/12/2018 at 12:14 AM, Athena5217 said:

Also, did the writers forget that Miles and Corky were married? Perhaps she wouldn’t have told him ALL those stories when they were married, but    at least some. They don’t act like two people that were ever more than coworkers.

Diane English said that since the whole "Miles and Corky getting married" storyline happened after she left at the end of season four, and that she hated it, it will be ignored in the reboot of the series.

[S11.E03: Hashtag Murphy Too]

Adding the story of the professor sexually harassing college student Murphy helps to loop back to Murphy's vociferous defense of Corky when she was being sexually harassed by the network exec, and Murphy told him that if he bothered Corky again she would punch him so hard he'd "be coughing up things [he] ate as a child."

[The Bullpen: Past Seasons Discussion]

Perhaps you're watching them on DVR and getting the days confused? On Monday they showed S8 Ep 23 and Tuesday night they showed S8 Ep 24.

\At any rate, that's why you're seeing episodes from two different seasons, depending on whether you watch on the weekend or during the week. Don't worry - if you continue on the weekend schedule, you should see all of the episodes in between eventually. :-)

[The Bullpen: Past Seasons Discussion]

The episodes on Antenna TV that are on over the weekend are on season four, but the episodes on in the evenings during the week are at season eight. The weekends and weekdays are each going through the episodes sequentially, but the weekends are far behind since those days only have 2 episodes/week vs. 5/week for the weeknights.

[S06.E01: Pre-Washed Lettuce and a Mime]

On 9/30/2018 at 10:03 PM, SmithW6079 said:

Nope. I disagree. It's law school, not kindergarten. I groaned as soon as Christy started making lame excuses as to why she didn't do the reading. If she can't hack it, then she needs to quit now. 

A professor who walks in to class on the first day and implies that some of the students don't deserve to be there, before any of them have done or said anything, is a bully and nothing else. Even in law school. 

That said, Christy's whining about how the other students don't have to deal with what she has to deal with was grating. Honey, you knew what your situation was before you started law school. Deal with it, and be more responsible.

[S24.E01: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Jodie Whittaker, Ryan Gosling and Sir Rod Stewart]

"Warty teats" sounds like something that should have been on the sign in front of Fawlty Towers.

[S24.E01: Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Jodie Whittaker, Ryan Gosling and Sir Rod Stewart]

I don't know whether or not Gosling's silence reflected an unwillingness to be there, but I think it was one of those episodes where there were too many guests on the sofa, and someone was going to get left out of the conversation. Lady Gaga acting in her first movie, which is also the first one directed by Bradley Cooper (and to my knowledge, the first one in which he sings), provides a lot more discussion material than Gosling's movie about Armstrong. Perhaps it would have been different if Claire Foy had been there as well to contribute to the discussion about the Armstrong movie. Add in the novelty of the first female Dr. Who, which of course will be the most interesting part for a British audience, and it just seemed like Ryan Gosling was superfluous this time.

[S11.E02: I (Don't) Heart Huckabee]

I still adore Candice Bergen, and it breaks my heart to say it, but unfortunately with age (and maybe as a result of her stroke ~10 years ago?) her speech patterns are slower and her delivery just isn't as sharp as it was the first time around. There are also definitely moments where it just feels like she's overacting, maybe due to the strain of trying to memorize the lines and get them out. The contrast is striking when you watch one of the old episodes on Antenna TV, followed by one of the new episodes. It may be an unfair comparison, and of course everyone changes and slows down as they get older, but it just doesn't feel fully like Murphy's "back."

Avery is definitely the best part now. Based on the strength of the character, I could honestly see an "Avery Brown" spinoff coming off of this revival, with occasional Murphy appearances, although I don't think that Diane English would be up for it long-term. But the Murphy-Avery dynamic is the new heart of the show, and also that's where Candice's acting seems to be the most natural now.

Tyne Daly as Phyllis was much better in this episode (not that she was given much to do on the first one, though). I think it's an interesting dynamic for her to acknowledge that she's not the natural bartender that her brother was, rather than just making her the female incarnation of Phil.