Inquisitionist

Shades of Don Draper!

Same here. When I rewatched the first episode a year or two ago, I was surprised by how little screen time the NRFPT Players had -- there was a LOT of George Carlin (first host) and too much of those creepy Muppets. But that cold open with Belushi and O'Donoghue was great! I agree that the Romano Tours sketch just kept picking up steam as it went on. I think my favorite was "remember, the pictures you're in are gonna have you in them."

Don't forget Paul Reiser as Cy Feuer. I didn't recognize him until reading a review! Absolutely! Splitting the top prizes here was spot on.

Do you 4 boys take these 2 girls to be your 7 brides? Bwah!

Aw, Max Fischer's dad. RIP.

I'm getting tired of the way everyone treats Elizabeth like a baby. Yes, she's the youngest by far, but by Season 4, which I'm now watching, she has to be at least 7, and she's a sharp little cookie, when she wants to be. In yesterday's episode, The Search, a tire blows out while Olivia is driving with Elizabeth and Jim-Bob to visit a friend on the other side of the mountain. The older boys, Ben and Jason, had been instructed to replace that tire before Olivia set out, but they neglected to do so, and were chastised for this later. But here's why fries me: Elizabeth goes wandering away from Olivia and Jim-Bob to follow a loose chicken without saying anything to either person. As a result, they go looking for her and find themselves lost in the woods, away from the road. And no one EVER says to Elizabeth "Don't you ever do that again." I can understand not coming down hard on her while they're lost and she's afraid, but after they were rescued and safely back home? She would have gotten an earful from me.

I'm with you there. Not terribly impressed.

This comment ties to an observation in the movie Spotlight. Priests tended to abuse boys because of (a) greater access (e.g., altar boys, boys clubs) and (b) the shame factor (boys were easily cowed into silence).

"Looking the other way" suggests the parents had explicit knowledge of Jackson's actions and condoned them. I don't think that's an accurate or fair characterization. The parents had been seduced as many people have been in the past by a very sly con man who had them convinced (and not just them) that he was still a child himself. I think Part I makes it very clear just why these parents were so trusting, and why many other parents would have been, too. Also, to those who have criticized the moms for telling the early stories in a happy, light-hearted way: those were the feelings they had at the time, and I can understand that they'd still view the good times that occurred before they knew of subsequent events in a positive way. No one is just one thing: Michael had elements of a monster, but he also had elements of a kind, generous person. Similarly, the parents can feel outrage at what they finally learned that their sons endured, but still cherish the happy memories that were separate from those events. Reconciling the contradictions that exist in all of us is part of being a mature human, IMO.

Not sure what you mean by "in real life," that that may be a key to this -- it didn't feel like "real life" because of Michael's larger-than-life celebrity. Also not sure what you mean about the numbers not making sense. Have you seen the movie Spotlight, about the Boston Globe's investigation into abuse by priests in Boston and Cardinal Law's outrageous actions to cover it up? It's really excellent and portrays well through a variety of means how abuse is allowed to occur and then be covered up. They quote the research of Richard Sipe, a former priest turned psychologist, who found that 6 percent of priests are pedophiles and that this is the same percentage as in the general population. Six percent. That's a lot of people. Michael also had them completely convinced that he was NOT a grown man, but an overgrown child, an asexual being.

This problem seems to have been fixed. Thanks!

Finally caught BlacKkKlansman last week, and there is a brief scene early on where a white police officer is looking at a magazine spread about Cybil Shepherd and kind of taunts the young black recruit for saying he thought Shepherd was a talented actress rather than the 1970s equivalent of "I'd hit that." The white dude also admits he hasn't seen The Last Picture Show because he doesn't like B&W movies.

I have loved this movie for years despite its notable flaws. My husband and I quote it a lot. Yup, and we use "You like it? I only wore it once." quite a bit. Also, "You think I was born a minsk-a-pinsk?" and "Well, we know he can do that." Also, totally not politically correct but my Jewish in-laws loved the line regarding the the lack of pork in the Filipino pork'n'beans: "You can't! There's Jews here!"

Thank you! I'll have to revisit that one.

I can see my followed forums and topics, but every time I go there, I have to hit my preferred sort option again (by most recent post). Is there some way to make this choice stick?

Can. Not. Wait (for it).

Uh-oh, there was a "poopers" callback? What'd I miss? What'd I miss? WHAT'D I MISS? 🙂

I recently found The Waltons in the INSP channel (wish it were being shown ANYwhere else). INSP was about mid-way through season 2 when I picked up, and now nearing the end of S3. It's already starting to feel a little repetitious and occasionally contrived, but the quality level is still pretty high. I wish I'd been able to pick up from the start. I'll keep an eye out for when INSP gets back to that point. I've skipped a few episodes in S3. The acting by the youngest siblings was not very good -- those playing Ben, Erin, and Jim-Bob tended to rush their lines and not sound very natural. Elizabeth, the youngest, was actually better than them, IMO (Kami Colter).

As far as I'm concerned, he can leave last week.

I had not seen this one before and I've never seen Ryan Reynolds in anything. I was surprised by how good much of the material was and how both Reynolds and Gaga committed to it. The closing "bubble outfit" sketch was golden.

An opening number and a few montages that have a relevant theme are fine. It's the time wasted on "stunts" throughout the show that irritate, especially at the expense of speech time. There is no reason this thing needs to run longer than 2.5 hours even if each winner gets a "whopping" two minutes to talk.

I'm headed to the Exit door with you. I was expecting something much better based on Patty Jenkins' interview on NPR. She needs to hold her screen-writing husband to higher standards.

Oh, yes, you'll know. Love it!

Doug Judy is returning? Woo-hoo!

I decided to watch the first episode based on an interview with Patty Jenkins I heard on NPR a few days ago. As I watched, I found myself thinking, "There's a reason this is on TBS/TNT and not HBO or even AMC." Clunky is a good word, and even the acting didn't impress me that much. This review in the NY Times captures the show's shortcomings well. I'll watch the next episode to see if it improves, but so far, I'm not impressed.