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Binged it, the episodes reach and sustain a good momentum. The chaos makes the episodes seem to move fast. I don't know anything about the restaurant business but some things don't make sense. Care going back to try to fix that restaurant, I understand he has this emotional thing to try to get his brother's approval but it's like a rocket scientist going to work at a Jiffy Lube. Then they have another highly trained chef going to work there as well. I get that all these people are passionate about food, including Michael and everyone in the kitchen, who put up with the emotional and physical exhaustion day to day to deliver quality in what really seems like a high-volume business. So they're all willing to work hard and do all these labor-intensive things, like braise the beef for hours or make bread from scratch. But as Richie says, the OGs or regular clients of what seems like a neighborhood place may appreciate good food, do they necessarily want haute cuisine like risottos which as Carm and Sydney talked about would be a way to raise their prices? They have people lining up when they open but they order a sandwich to split and get free water so it's high volume but low dollar per meal type of place, at least at lunch time. Then the to go business, another high-volume strategy but how exactly do to go places work inside a big city? Will people drive there from other parts of the city to get food to go there? Is there even parking? Do people jump on the L to go to another part of Chicago to pick up food and then eat outside or jump back on the L to take it home? Why wasn't there food delivery drivers coming for all those to go orders? If they're really going to do high-volume, they'd probably look to outsource more things, like order a lot of Sysco stuff to reduce the need for all this prep. That means they're not always making spaghetti from scratch, or even have Marcus baking cakes from scratch. In fact, I get that Carm and Sydney wanted to encourage Marcus, let him work on his aspirations to make bespoke doughnuts which high-end pastry chefs would be proud of. But obviously it was interfering with his regular duties. Why wouldn't they just cut a deal with a local or regional doughnut chain to buy some doughnuts wholesale to offer on the menu or buy cakes from local bakeries? Would seem a lot more efficient to outsource things which are not a part of the core offerings of the restaurant. It's not just desserts, over the course of the season, they named so many things that it's hard to believe that a little family restaurant would have such a big menu. Even that kid's birthday party, Carm had prepared so many condiments, again probably from scratch, and he was assembling all the hot dogs himself. He could have done something more than slap Oscar Mayer wieners on supermarket buns, since he was working off part of his debt for Cicero, but seems like he really went to great lengths when kids probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference or even want all these fancy veggie condiments. So now all the money lets them do whatever they want and with the name change, I guess Carm and Sydney could indulge their dreams. However, fancy dishes are generally higher-priced, requiring a more affluent customer base. So that's why restaurants pay huge rent to flock to well-off or gentrified areas. It sounded like River North was a working class neighborhood though?

This is suppose to be the last season. The show runner said “never say never” but the actress who plays Brigitte says it’s done. So she did the honorable thing, found a way to stop the drilling and resigned as party leader, now can ride off into the sunset in Brussels.

Renewed for season 2. https://deadline.com/2022/07/the-bear-renewed-for-second-season-by-fx-1235063848/ Kind of strange that two of the most highly lauded shows from FX are only available through Hulu, The Bear and Reservation Dogs.

Or maybe she's not wiling to be as confrontational with the new crew yet. That can still happen later in the season.

Got to give them credit for winning the Daily. Tyson kept going back for letters while his partner worked on the words so they came up with a better strategy and they performed. It was an interesting elimination but those lights, for all we know producers were sitting off camera with switches and decided when to turn them on. If they said they had to hIt a certain RPM and sustain it for a certain amount of time, you could trust it. But we really don’t know what it took to light up the bars. Yeah the Algorithm could similarly be manipulated backstage. They’re making sure there are no repeat teams so the lights are just displaying the teams which were selected elsewhere. It’s TV after all. It’s interesting that BB sanctioned sending Tiffany into elimination. If they had all players voting like they did in some seasons of the Challenge or had a Tribunal, it would be a different dynamic.

I've watched 5 or 6 episodes so far. First thing is that they brought back most of the cast, just for continuity but a lot of them have bit parts now so maybe they could have created some other characters, which they did and gave them bigger roles. One exception is Magnus has a bigger role but is it the same actor, a 10-11 year old all grown up? Kind of surprised that Katrina is so tough on Birgitte. I guess she has to demonstrate that she isn't swayed by her previous relationship with Birgitte but maybe she's overcompensating. It's jarring how Birgitte compromises on her ideals to hold on to her job. Not only changing her position on oil in Greenland but actually hiring Laugesan and taking his advice with social media, doing selfies with the US Secretary of State. They wanted to highlight how big social media is, with both Birgitte and Katrine affected adversely by it. Still it seems like Birgitte's poll numbers tanked very fast. And some of the vile tweets and posts that Katrine was subjected to. Another thing that is surprising to me is how often Birgitte does interviews, goes on TV1 almost every day that they ask her. I don't know if that's representative of Danish politics. That was surprising to me in the first 3 seasons as well. I thought it was just a dramatic device since some of the main characters are journalists. Yet the PM and now Birgitte are using social media a lot because they're constantly managing their personal brand, even giving up some privacy, rather than governing. Hopefully the ratings are doing well enough and there will be more seasons. I don't know yet how this season ends but it seems like Birgitte compromising on her policies and being at her political bottom is just the path they want to show. Maybe if not within this season, then in future seasons.

I can't hate for wanting a dishwasher. There are certain things, once you have them, you can't go back, you won't go back. That first property they eliminated, they have two courtyards at the bottom of the light well in Spanish buildings. So everyone else in the building overlooks their outdoor space. Met the price requirement but no AC, no dishwasher. They didn't say what they taught but maybe English? He said he studied Spanish since high school but did she? Seems like in this case, they wanted any job they could get, just so they could move to Spain. Then had a modest wedding so that instead they can have a European trip before settling into that small apartment, which they chose because it made more financial sense. So they're earnest about having this foreign experience, which is more than can be said for a lot of people who appear on HHI.

MTV has paused production on Jersey Shore 2.0, the reboot with a new and younger cast that the original cast complained about. https://www.thewrap.com/jersey-shore-reboot-production-paused-mtv-cast/ I would think if the OG cast can't be filmed in Jersey, as they approach middle age, doubtful these townships will issue licenses to film for a reboot with a younger cast, who are expected to be more raunchy and drunken.

Are the nominations for the first season or the second season? Or both? Because second season was 4 episodes. They seemed to have just mailed it in.

Maybe the engineers weren't used to the system. Sandy probably doesn't know. Worth it to save all that fuel and emissions. You don't see these yachts spewing smoke but I've seen cruise ships in fjords just pollute the sky with a haze of smog. Even boats that non billionaires buy can consume a lot of fuel.

Hmm, Natasha is flirting with Jason and Dave is looking at them with daggers. She's being touchy feely around the galley so the others think they're a couple. Now she's upset that Dave confirmed that they've been hooking up? Storm is being obvious about his attraction to Natalya but she has demands, like he'd have to shave his mustache and she won't live with a guy unless they have separate bedrooms. Then she wishes for a boyfriend and that she wasn't so lonely as she litters the sea. Whiny primary said by the second night that the food was great. No more complaints about cinnamon or rare steak. Then complained about the toys and yet they left a huge tip? Guests are more and more becoming performance art on BD. Raygan has all this experience and knowledge but they keep making her look like she's slacking. Kyle is over the top this episode. Will he keep it up with other guests as well? Kyle and Natalya, who doesn't know what "extrovert" means -- put on a little show for the primary guests. Again, this is presumably only a TV thing, not something they're used to doing on their previous real charters?

I think that was the season finale, assuming it's renewed. The actors playing the parents are terrific but this whole plot about them splitting up seemed to come out of nowhere. Maybe it's suppose to parallel Paul and Ally's fights but they're arguing about the kids or are having arguments precipitated by things the kids say and do. I guess the grandfather OD'ing caused the family to join ranks and kind of cool it on their squabbles for awhile, though Ally was ready to tear Paul a new one, though he mocked her being upset about befriending Gabby when Luke complained that his friend is making him choose between him and his ex-girlfriend -- "imagine that." Ava is just entering high school in preparation for going to university and she's deeply religious, praying as much as 2 hours. She's got to be all of 13 or so and she carries all that burden, including trying to keep Jim's secret note because she worries that her grandmother won't go back to him if she found out it was a suicide attempt. Ava is brilliant academically and Luke is talented but they're both such high maintenance for such high maintenance couple to parent them.

I still think there's a chance Emily is really Hamzad's daughter, not Dan's..

I'm guessing this is a newer boat than the others. Yes agree on the stowage of the water toys, maybe we'll see it become an issue or a story this season. But the crew cabins seemed to be larger and they seemed to like the crew mess.

Who was the Chief Stew last season? Was it that horrible woman who said the N word?

All the "good guys" drove the retro vehicles. You'd think gas would be scarce. Also have to question how reliable they'd be. I think they wanted to copy the Road Warrior esthetic. As for the glitching sign, that looked like a digital display, to be thin and bright to be outside like that. That would mean it either gets a signal to display the video or animation or it doesn't. It would either display the video normally or be off. There wouldn't be an analog state where the animation is altered. I know it gives it a certain look, a certain character but it's not a good depiction of the technology.

Why are they pretending to be interested in going to El Paso? Probably because MTV cut a deal to shoot there and secured a big house. Otherwise, why would they go there? Well supposedly a lot of towns in the Jersey shore have refused to issue filming licenses to the production. In their heyday, they got a notorious reputation. But now they're kind of boring and at most go to restaurants for a big dinner or maybe some isolated resorts. They're not going to clubs where they have to mix with the public and have potential fights.

Can't stop copying Frederick can he?

Agree but it's such a long lead time for these episodes. Nobody is talking up CRT as much as they used to because inflation and war are now used for political attacks. Maybe the last couple of months before election they will use CRT again but for now it seems pretty much dead. Maybe some politicians still rail against woke-ism but not hearing as much lately. THe episode would have been more timely 6 months ago. Maybe that's when they filmed in AZ for this episode but by the time they finish post-production and put it on the air, it's no longer as timely. Last Week Tonight is more timely but they only devote like 5-10 minutes to events of the past week and then do their deep dives which probably took weeks or even months to produce.

If Bernard and Stubbs are suppose to be a couple of decades after Maeve and Caleb, Stubbs should have aged a lot? Or is Stubbs a host too? Cant keep track, has Bernard always been a host, even in the pilot? How long has the Indian guy been a host? Host flies took over human minds. Now it’s real flies infected by some disease that takes over humans and starts wars to destroy human civilization like the sight of NY burning? Bernard learns that in the Sublime, 1 human year is like a millennium there and all eventualities have already been played out and only a very few results in humanity not being conquered or destroyed. So how does Bernard pick a point to return to? Time travel? Multiple timelines are a poor narrative device, more about figuring out a puzzle than than telling a good, coherent story. If Bernard fails, why wouldn’t he be able to try again over and over?

Pretty sure they've met each other before filming begins. In fact they probably gather and then one by one they make their entrances. They all go up to see Sandy and then meet each other. But I think younger generations may be more prone to hug, even relative strangers. Yeah supposedly the owner gets to decide on co-ed cabins. But it certainly looks like the occupants of the co-ed cabin hook up almost immediately. Natasha said on other boats she worked on, she got to share cabins with men she was dating at the time and it was a great arrangement for blowing off steam. I can see the people who own and run yachts allowing married or even engaged couples share cabins but would they really allow couples who were just dating at the time? If they get into a fight or break up, then what happens, one of them switches cabins? Or maybe one or both of them leave the ship?

When Harper was explaining to Chase that there are orders to capture him and put him on a plane, given the size of the plane, it's probably to send him to Hamzad. There was also talk about surveillance methods, with Harper telling him that technology has gotten more advanced since he was in the game. Those sound believable to me, how spies would talk about their reasoning and their assessments. These are older, well-educated people. How else would they speak? Are they suppose to talk like Archie Bunker or some common man? Same thing with the convo between Chase and Angela, between a mentor and father figure. These are both professionals who've attained high levels of achievement, very well-educated. Harper feels betrayed despite years of loyalty. Their dialog didn't sound pretentious to me at all. Instead, they didn't get overly emotional, as some people might. Instead they described their complicated situations and conveyed emotional complexity. Harper wasn't one-note, he could have been all about grievance and betrayal. Simpletons may not come across as "pretentious" but these people are not suppose to be simpletons.

That primary was coached up to bitch about whatever he could.

Yeah early impressions are usually good and the cast are happy to meet each other. Then we learn why familiarity breeds contempt. Lot of experience in the crew with Natasha, Dave the chef. Jason the first deck crew member was complaining because he was literally doing all the heavy lifting. I can believe Malta had some strict quarantine requirements to enter the country. But I smell shenanigans, they can set the schedule however they like so they could have waited another day to start the charter or flown all the cast in the same day to be on the same calendar. Two of the women are clearly ready to mingle, which is good for the males on the cast and Bravo. They were teasing Natasha about her and Dave sharing a cabin and she kept saying there was nothing going on. Then she goes to cabin, asks Dave if he wants to screw. Next morning, they're being all kissy face and she's talking about being naked. Did she just decide to hook up with him then or were they a thing already when they worked together or before they came on this boat? Natalya happened to notice Storm is very fit first time she meets him. Storm is Mzi's friend and Mzi got him this job but looks like Storm may get the kind of female attention Mzi couldn't get in season 6. Everyone seemed to work pretty well except Raygan, who was shown taking smoke and drink breaks. The boat is different. The name is "Home" and it's a hybrid and the external design and interior decor are all modern, none of the brass or gold hardware you see in some of the other BD boats. Cabins, including the crew cabins seem bigger. But even though the BD captains are all fond of calling the BD boats "super yachts" some of the crew obviously worked on much bigger yachts, with Natasha having looks like a half dozen stewardesses working for her. So they have to stow all the water toys in the front, under the deck, instead of at the back, near the water level. It seems they have to lift some of them up to the deck and then use the winch to lower them onto the water? Seems like more work and potential for accidents. Meanwhile the stabilizers stop working and the yacht starts to sway heavily back and forth, causing everything inside to spill to the floor. And they're not even sailing!

As bad as tight clothing is, remember this is the era of sexting. And easy access to thousands of porn clips on your phone.