Driad

Another possibility ... a season on the show does not have to be a year for the family. (See The Simpsons.) Depending on how long the show lasts, and how fast the kids grow, they could arrange to end the show while George is alive and he and Mary still get along.

Sometimes he would just say, "We know what that means." Peachy, Alex, your mom must be proud. Re Word by word: the secret life of dictionaries ... I worked on a major dictionary. If you wonder who becomes a dictionary editor, they are interested in everything. We had the most amazing conversations.

Wondering why they chose Songbird Road as Nicky's address. The name sounds cheerful but the story is not. Maybe it is deeply symbolic in some way?

Bertie seemed to have a vision problem. Is there historical evidence for this? What eye tests and treatment were available then? Feodora was Victoria's half sister, not step sister. They had the same mother but different fathers.

Oops, you're right. I usually do well in math, but ...

Week 20: 2/5. Weeks 1-20: 69/100, 7*.

This reminded me of the West Wing episode "In Excelsis Deo." A homeless veteran died and a staffer arranged a funeral with an honor guard. The president said, "If we start pulling strings like this, don't you think every homeless veteran will come out of the woodwork?" The staffer replied, "I can only hope so, sir."

New security officer seems bright and competent. But they made the common mistake (IMO) of pushing the new character in our faces, giving her lines and scenes that should have gone to other characters. In one scene I thought the doctor should have been there with Ed, but new security officer was there instead. I've never delivered a baby, but I know the mother shouldn't push until her cervix is sufficiently dilated. Did Kelly even check that? This is assuming the anatomy is similar, give or take the silver face decorations.

The people on that planet are able to build telescopes, but they can't understand that from a different star system (e.g. those that Kelly and Bortus come from), different constellations etc. would be visible?

When Jack died, can we assume that people at work offered Jack's non-work-related things to Rebecca?

We get it broadcast (no cable) and yesterday's show was OK.

I missed a few minutes. Did Bishop tell Nolan why she was being so positive?

When Chrissy is on "That Was Us," she sits very high. Presumably this is more comfortable for her, but it looks as if she is on a throne or is much taller than the other people. Someone could adjust the heights of the other seats so this is less distracting.

Jack sounded as if his family was peachy before Vietnam. If he thought that, he was really repainting his past.

So do I. When there are three, I get more confused. "But she said her father was ... no, that was the other one."

Andrews is Pooh-Bah! In Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado" several high government officials had resigned. Pooh-Bah was the character who took over their positions. And their salaries.

Article about the Chartists, on this show and in history.

Picturing Howard sending today's Dilbert to Sheldon.

What is "Good For You" in French?

3/5 this week. My third 3 in a row (the previous weeks had asterisks). Do I get a GFY for that?

Science fiction readers often recommend Shogun as a good "first contact" novel. It's not between humans and aliens, but the characters see the other side as very alien. I enjoyed the chemistry category even though ammonia was a TS.

Jill, congratulations on your silver medal! I misunderstood FJ ("In 1790 Thursday October Christian became the first child whose birth was recorded on this remote island") and thought Thursday October referred to the birth date and Christian was the child's first name. If they had said "a child named Thursday October Christian" I might have had a chance. Oh well.

An episode of the Dick Van Dyke show had Rob running for some town office against a popular many-year incumbent. IIRC, they had a debate and Rob realized that he could not do as good a job for the town as the incumbent was doing, so he dropped out. I hoped Russell's plot would go that way. Russell could use his financial experience to do good without uprooting his family.

Being on Jeopardy is like being on an Olympics team. You're a champ whether you get a medal or not. I hope some of the students asked that one if he had been on Jeopardy.

Boston viewers -- tomorrow (Tuesday) WBZ will air Jeopardy at 7:00 PM instead of 7:30, because of the mayor's speech at 7:30.