ombelico

Craig's voice is a bit high, but the voice that really grates for me is Miguel Almaguer. Everything is so sing-songy and over-enunciated with him.

I get that "Today" was excited to be the first show to have two female co-anchors, and I suppose that's laudable, but honestly, I wish they would replace Hoda with Craig Melvin. He's delightful, measured, and funny. Willie's great too, but I get that he's busy with "Morning Joe" at that time.

Saw it yesterday and agree that it's an enjoyable piece of summer fluff with a great cast. Was worth the price of a matinee ticket, not more than that, but I got a few good laughs out of it. I feel like Diane Keaton is actively trying to wear the most unattractive clothes possible, and while that's her right in real life, it didn't seem to make sense for her character. Truly, at one point she had on one of the most unattractive pairs of jeans I've ever seen in my life. They were so hideous it took me out of the movie for a second - someone who has such a gorgeous house in Santa Monica can afford a decent pair of jeans! And who goes on a date with a sexy airline pilot wearing 3 heavy layers in Southern California and Arizona? If it's an issue of her wanting to be modest, there are ways to do that while still wearing something at least remotely attractive. I adore Candice Bergen (yes, it's mostly carryover from Murphy Brown) and while her character was portrayed as a bit more pathetic than needed (after all, it's a woman's right to move on from a divorce by swearing off relationships and getting a cat), I didn't like that they framed the issue as her still being hung up on her ex-husband for 18 years. The issues between Mary Steenburgen's and Craig T. Nelson's characters were frustrating because really all they needed to do was talk. I mean, even she says early that he had changed since retiring, and it's not that far of a leap to think that perhaps that is giving him a bit of a late mid-life crisis. Jane Fonda's character had the most interesting story.

If the age limit is really about protecting young skaters, then the ISU should also prohibit quad jumps in junior competitions. It's probably not possible to fully police what skaters/coaches do in practice, but if it's known that they can't perform a quad in competition until they are a senior, then hopefully skaters won't feel pressured to practice them so much until closer to the time that they can actually use them in competition. In the same vein, maybe juniors should be limited to 4 triples in a long program.

I think the host is allowed to suggest ideas for skits - I wouldn't be surprised if this was something Donald Glover brought to the writers, since he was so committed to the parody (and on point - even the dancing at the beginning is straight out of the video).

I highly doubt that's true, but if so, Jack and Helen should get out of the acting business.

The cold open was efficient in terms of fitting in all of the characters/strands of this crazy week of news. I don't know if having the real Stormy Daniels there actually enhanced the sketch, since her wooden acting stuck out among all of the better actors there. "Friendos" was funny even if I wasn't familiar with the actual rap group they were parodying - same goes for the 80's music video parody. I wasn't familiar with the original video (although after seeing the link posted above, I might be a bit obsessed now), but even without knowing the source material, it was still funny. Jost/Che were good (smart hard pass on Kanye) but good god, Pete Davidson is useless - both on WU and in any skit. One thing that stood out to me in this episode though, was that it seemed like Cecily Strong was everywhere. I like her, but it seemed unbalanced - she didn't need to be in A Kanye Place, that easily could have been Kate or Heidi in that role.

I'm over it at this point. Bernie's hands are not entirely clean in the outcome of the 2016 election, IMO. But the Bernie/Cardi B crossover was funny.

So Carrie Underwood looks... the same?

I'm pretty sure that Hillary Clinton had a pillow cushioning her back when she was on the show earlier in the season, so it looks like one can be provided if a guest requests it (as it should be).

I wonder how much Nathan's choice to pursue college now is influenced by the fact that it represents an opportunity to put a continent between him and his family. I'm sure he loves his parents, and they only want what's best for him, but the stories about his family telling him what to do in his Olympic short program, rather than listening to his coach, smack of over-involvement and lack of boundaries. Getting into Yale is a convenient excuse to move out of the house and get some freedom and breathing room. I'm skeptical that he would be able to keep his skating up the same level, though, if he's doing a full load at Yale. I bet he'll do one year at Yale and then take a leave of absence to train, and return to finish college after the next Olympics.

I don't know what the UK laws would have been at the time, so perhaps someone can enlighten me. It's one thing for bigamy (and child marriage, for that matter) to have been commonplace in Pakistan, but wasn't it illegal in the UK by that time? Wouldn't there have been any legal ramifications for Mr. Gani to have brought the pregnant child bride to the UK? Would the doctors/nurses have been under legal requirement to report the young age of the mother to authorities? It seemed like the show just wanted to focus on the first Mrs. Gani making lemonade out of some seriously sour lemons, but glossed over all the other associated issues of the storyline. I find Sister Monica Joan completely tiresome. But I'm glad to see that Barbara and Tom seem to return in the next episode since I've always liked them.

I still enjoy the show because it's better than at least 90% of the other dreck on TV, but this episode is not one I'll want to watch again. I get it that Mr. Lunt is busy working the night shift and is overwhelmed, but he can't give his kids a bath at least every couple of days and do a load of laundry once a week? Also I can't help it, but every time Mrs. Lunt came to the clinic, or when she was giving birth, I couldn't help but cringe at how horrible she must have smelled, and the nurses were acting like there was nothing wrong. Perhaps it rang true for the time period, but the story line also bothered me because it implied that someone with Huntington's cannot care for children, which is not true, at least not at the stages of the disease that Mrs. Lunt was showing. I think she was also depressed, but that was not addressed at all. And then Trixie telling Christopher to go back to his (ex)wife. Oh, please! Who would do that? She herself had previously taken offense to the comment Christopher's ex made to Alexandra about the nail polish, so she had to think that perhaps Alexandra's perception of the situation was being influenced by Alexandra's mom. And now she's telling Christopher he needs to return to that woman? With no concern for the fact that he DIVORCED her? It was just so unbelievable.

I still can't get over the perfection of the term "cunniliftus." That is definitely going to be one of the main takeaways from this season for me!

Was there some falling out between her and Maggie Haney?

True - "O-Level" in the British system designates "Ordinary Level," just as "O.W.L." designates "Ordinary Wizarding Level."

I miss gymnastics compulsories and would be in favor of there being a set program that all skaters have to do (maybe they could choose their own music, but the steps/jumps would have to be identical). I don't find gymnastics compulsories boring because, as noted above, they really allowed someone like me, just a fan of the sport who was never a gymnast beyond a few classes when I was 5 years old, the chance to really discern the differences in quality and technique. It was also fun to see that, even with the exact same routine, different gymnasts could bring their own flavor to the routine. See Daniela Silivas' 1988 Olympics compulsory floor for an outstanding example of a routine that is just excellent in all aspects, compulsory or not. I think skating (and moreover, skaters) could really benefit from having to spend more time on the basics of technique, which would likely help lessen injuries and burnout, as well. If it means fewer quads being attempted in the free skate, I'm ok with that. However, I would not want to see the return of compulsory figures. That was like watching paint dry.

So is Jennifer Lawrence a giant, or is Jodie Foster tiny?

Is Jane drunk?

Maya Rudolph looks like something out of The Handmaid's Tale.

Who goes to see a movie at a theater next door to where the Oscars are being held, while the Oscars are going on? This whole setup seems fishy.

Dare I hope that the absence of Al Trautwig from the American Cup (an event he has typically commentated on) means he won't be involved in NBC gymnastics coverage anymore? Pretty please?

If Beijing 2022 means more rollerblading pandas, I'm here for it.

The Walmart "Ring My Bell" commercial isn't Olympics-specific, but I've definitely seen this one more often during the Olympics, and really hope it goes away fast. God, that song is so annoying.

I honestly couldn't really care who wins hockey, but the OAR team should be stripped of their gold medals for singing the Russian anthem while the Olympic anthem was playing. The IOC told them they were not allowed to make any political statements or protests of the ban. How is that not a protest?