Inquisitionist

I thought it was her actual pregnancy that they wrote around. But I never found the storyline realistic or interesting.

The NY Times has posted its full obituary for Sam Shepard. Re his ALS, it reports:

What a wonderful article, Bazinga -- thank you!

The AFI tribute to Diane Keaton is airing again on TCM tonight, July 31 at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT.

Apparently, very few people did. Shepard's illness had not been publicly disclosed until now.

Sam Shepard, who played Robert Rayburn, has passed away from ALS at age 73. A very sad day and a great loss to American theater.

I tend to think of Shepard as a playwright who happened to do some acting as well.

Oceans of suckitude today. :-(

He and Barbara Hershey were magical together.

Totally shocked by the news about Sam Shepard. I hadn't known about his ALS diagnosis. Had that been disclosed publicly before? RIP to a brilliant playwright and actor. ETA that according to People:

That's right in the article I linked to above: Though it didn't take them long to dumb Sam down considerably.

Nice retrospective piece in GQ with interview snippets: In case you didn't know, three actress/actor teams were considered for the parts of Sam and Diane. Of course, Fred Dryer and Julia Duffy both made guest appearances in Cheers' first season before going on to long runs in Hunter and Newhart, respectively. Dryer even came back a few times as sportscaster Dave. I've never found William Devane remotely attractive and can't even picture Lisa Eichhorn.

Ray Romano has been getting some compliments for his performance in The Big Sick. I hope to see it soon -- sounds very interesting. Here's an interview with Ray at the movie's recent premiere.

I remember John Heard being very sexy in Cat People with Nastassia Kinski.

Recently I rewatched S1, which I still find to be one of the finest first seasons of a comedy ever. Some interesting guest stars not mentioned above included: Ian Wolfe as WWI vet Buzz Crowder in One for the Book. Wolfe was born in 1896, so he really was old enough to have fought in The Great War. I love this episode. Sam wasn't yet hitting on Diane with regularity but was still trying to impress her. Lots of nice camaraderie among everyone in the bar. Barbara Babcock as the "dragon lady" agent Lana in Now Pitching, Sam Malone. After playing Grace Gardner on Hill Street Blues for a couple of seasons, Babcock had pretty much cornered the market on playing sexually forward mature women, and put it to good use here. Derek McGrath as Andy Andy in Diane's Perfect Date. He would show up again in S2's Homicidal Ham. These are two of my all-time favorite episodes, so sharply written and acted.

It all happened on one day, right? Setting aside that I don't know how Carrie managed not to smoke between the time of their afternoon meeting and their evening talk on her stoop, one day doesn't establish relations in my book. What other opportunity did Aidan have to make his feelings about smoking known until she lit up? It's not like he'd hand her a dating profile at the furniture store. ;-)

Melancholy, it's interesting that you characterize Aidan as issuing an ultimatum. I'm sure Carrie saw it that way, but to me it was simply a statement -- and one that I made way back in the 1970s. By the 90s, I didn't even KNOW anyone who smoked. I do agree with your last paragraph. Carrie's "friends" often acted like doormats. Unconditional love does not mean cheerleading your friends' blatant mistakes.

And being pretty childish himself.

Ha-ha, love this! I never understood what Aiden felt he was getting from Carrie. What on earth did they talk about during those x weeks before they had sex? I don't agree with this author's premise that Aidan was Carrie's "worst boyfriend" but I think she has a point here:

I wondered what Mia's one-woman show was about if it didn't include this stuff about her aunt inspiring her. I mean, the audition lady had been in the audience, but asked Mia for something new, and this was it. Odd. Wasn't it Mia's dream sequence? It came across that way to me, and reviews seem to agree. So it's Mia envisioning how different life could have been if only Seb had made different choices? Or somehow she's intuiting that he's imagining this because he plays that non-jazz "theme song"?

Why wouldn't Steve introduce his son as "Brady Hobbes"? I always introduce my husband by his first and last names, since his last is different from mine. As to that scene in the movie, I thought that was a knowing tease for long-time viewers of the show. ;-) I enjoy watching The Real Me, but always hate that Carrie let herself be paraded in that ridiculous "outfit" at the last minute. Just say "this wasn't the deal -- I'm out." She really cares too much what inconsequential people think of her. This is pretty predictable, but I'd probably go with My Motherboard, My Self as the series' best episode.

Thanks, I had no idea! I'm still waiting for a good 30-day window to start my free Hulu trial so that I can watch S1.

Thanks, I was wondering which episode earned the writing nom. I'll have to go back and rewatch it now, as I can't say that it made a great impression on me at the time.

Why on earth is Elisabeth Moss in the Drama series category rather than limited series? Is another episode of The Handmaid's Tale in the works?

That's all well and good, but given that it was only 5 years later and they broke up very willingly under circumstances that did NOT have to signify a complete end to their relationship, the "dream" not feel earned to me. Mia and Seb could have stayed in touch and resumed their relationship in person when Mia returned from Paris. Instead, 5 years later, she appears to have a 2-year-old child, so it didn't take long for her to move on from "the love of her life." Seems to me that she and Seb could have had most of the things in their fantasy, just on a somewhat different schedule. This was not like Ingrid Bergman leaving Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.