Demian

It doesn't, as far as I know. Long story short, someone I know who got a job on a show about 20 years ago tried to include my real name in a list of (fictional) high school students on a bus as a nice little shout-out to me, and he got blocked by Legal at the network, and he had to ADR the scene afterwards with a list of network-approved fake names. (P.S.: The show was Dawson's Creek. I coulda been a somebody! A somebody like Glenn Coco.)

That was dumb as hell, but that rack focus on the actual Statue of Liberty immediately afterwards was fucking embarrassing. (And I hope I'm using "rack focus" correctly to describe that shot -- it's been a while since I've felt compelled to comment on lousy, insulting camerawork.)

Christ, I'm old enough to remember the Pia Zadora mess in 1981. The Globes have always been an entertaining joke of an awards show.

Wow. Benson's howl at The Rape Tree was certainly...a choice. And another character tonight was named Clem Shirk. I mean, I know there are legal considerations when naming fictional characters on TV shows, but are they now just going for the most ridiculous names possible so they don't get sued?

I wonder what was behind the business decision to run a big ad for the World Cup in the middle of an episode about a rapist soccer player.

100%, absolutely. Though the satire/humor isn't anywhere near as broad in this series as it was in Kristen Bell's, this is absolutely a send-up in the same vein. It was brilliant. The only thing it was missing was copious amounts of white wine (although conspicuous day-drinking might have pushed that scene over the top -- I loved that the gallery owner said, "I'll get you some water!" instead).

I love that these morons blew all that money on a security system, and their passcode is 1-2-3-4.

Having seen more of the episodes: Yes! Yes, this show is a parody. A pretty nasty parody of exceptionally wealthy and privileged East Coast assholes, but a parody nonetheless. And it's pretty fucking fabulous.

And the kids are pains in the ass, and Mitch and Mo are boundary-violating assholes, and the cops are incompetent morons, and Mia Farrow is fucking batshit crazy.... I'm pretty damn sure we're not supposed to find any of the characters likeable at all. I'm also pretty sure that that's the point -- the 'Watcher' of the title isn't the evil, here: It's everybody else. It's, like, the only way this series makes sense to me at the moment. And, I should add: I think this series is pretty fucking fabulous -- at least at the moment. If they fail to stick the landing, which is always a possibility in a Ryan Murphy show, then I'll be wondering why I wasted so much time on it all. Edited again to add: Oooh! Excellent call. I'd love to see that take on this story, too.

I know, I know. It's just one of those little things that bug, and there are always -- always -- some things, little or big, that bug in a Ryan Murphy series. Especially in a Ryan Murphy series.

I completely agree, but if the young girls disappearing were all young girls of color, I doubt the local police would have prioritized any of their cases. However, if they'd been missing white girls, the cable news networks would have had round-the-clock, wall-to-wall coverage of the disappearances for months.

I'm about to pick a pretty silly little nit, but it does sort of reflect the way this series has modified facts for dramatic license: There was not a total eclipse of the sun the day Gacy was executed. In the Midwest (and I was in Kohler, Wisconsin, that day), it was a very partial one -- no more than a third was covered by the moon. Also, Gacy was executed the night before the eclipse happened, which I remember because we all did celebratory shots at the time of said execution. I have no idea if Dahmer was Baptist-baptized on the same day as that eclipse, and I have no desire to look it up, but yeah: This show has fudged a lot of the facts. By the way, does anyone else think that opening sequence means that Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan are doing a series about Gacy next?

I'm only three minutes in to this episode, and I already think it's disgusting. Using Bucha as a plot point? Dick Wolf needs to...just stop. This is wretched.

Well, with Snatch Game happening next week, I think it'll become a lot more obvious who the remaining filler queens are, but I can't see either Fiercalicious or Kimmy doing well in that challenge, and I'd be willing to bet both end up in the bottom. Gisèle, Bombae, Vivian, and Irma Gerd are my favorites right now (the last mainly because of her drag name, Ermahgerd!), but Boom Boom's definitely a strong contender. I can't see the other three lasting much longer. And since we're talking about how busted the faces have been looking, can we also talk wigs? It might be because I'm coming into this season straight off of the All-Winners All Stars, but my Christ, these wigs are fucking tragic. Edited to add: I'm definitely aware of how the money available to the United States drag queens allows them to heighten their looks, and how the money available to Canada's queens is a whole hell of a lot less. Still, hairspray is pretty cheap, and flyaways are incredibly visible on hi-def TVs. Can't Production help with that shit?

And plus: She grew up in an era where "difficult" women just disappeared into mental institutions, and stayed there for the rest of their lives, quite often for what we now know to be post-partum depression (like, oh, say, my great-grandmother). I can easily imagine that the terror of being permanently institutionalized would have sent Betty Ford into a spiral. And yep, Betty Ford's storyline is manifestly the strongest of the three. I don't think it's because of the writing -- the writing on this show is depressingly and uniformly awful, all across the timelines -- but rather because of Michelle Pfeiffer's performance. I think tastemakers have been sleeping on how good an actress she is for years.

David Corenswet? Oh, yes, indeedy. But Jake Picking? Oh, my holy God, Ryan Murphy, get this guy a regular TV gig RIGHT NOW.

Two of my mother's friends from high school ended up accidentally drowning in the bathtub (y'know, like Whitney Houston) because they mixed overly prescribed prescription drugs with wine.

A Delightful Chat With the Beignet Guy From Barry

WHY IN HELL DID THEY MAKE US TRY TO DO THIS? Just to humiliate us in front of our peers who actually could climb ropes? Why was climbing ropes considered a skill we needed to learn? Obviously, I still have issues. And this season of Stranger Things has unexpectedly dredged up a lot of them. Finn Wolfhard has both unnaturally perfect cheekbones and an unnaturally perfect jawline. Despite the fact that he otherwise looks like a scarecrow, his face is gorgeous, and he will make very much more money than the rest of us as a model.

I thought the first episode captured that nicely with that creepy-ass family dinner, with all of the Loving Cup bullshit. Just...gross.

I know it's a TV show and everything, but there is no way in hell Nancy has the upper-body strength to climb that bedsheet.

Bingo.

Agreed, especially given this show's reported budget-per-episode. They've got the money to get it right, and they just...don't. Ever.

The costuming's off this season as well -- no one was wearing all that neon crap (not to mention that hateful full-on acid-washed denim jumpsuit) at the roller rink in 1986. It was jeans and button-downs (or band t-shirts). Especially the jeans -- you really wouldn't want to be wearing short-shorts if you wiped out.

I've a feeling the Vecna's going to snap most of them in half. Or, you know, into about a hundred different pieces. Either way, there's no way B-Ball Blondie is making it out of this season alive. In this instance, I'm not even willing to consider the fact that assault might be wrong. Eleven needs to rip those little shits' heads off.