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His commute could take him across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where there are views of the Sydney Opera House, though maybe not from the cars -- the walkways are on the sides so they get the best view. But there is also a tunnel that goes under the Harbour as well. If he wanted to use public transportation, it would take a lot longer and make him switch between buses and trains and ferries. The ferry from Manly to the Circular Quay, great for views on clear days. But cars are the fastest, though the parking in the center of Sydney ould be very expensive.

He volunteered for the longer commute in exchange for place with lower rent. They showed different last names but presumably are married after all these years — at least 8 years. That would be the easiest way for him to get a visa or citizenship which would allow him to work in Australia. Yeah it’s farther from Sydney CBD than the more famous Bondi or Manly beaches. More low key area.

Have they ever repeated a show format with the exact same rules? If they have it must have been a long time ago. I don't think viewers would object if they re-used a previous format. It may be preferable than this feeling that they're making things up as they go along. Also you rarely see Dailies used more than once. They have trivia every year but they tweak it every year. They obviously repeat Hall Brawl and Pole Wrestle but they also do some minor tweaks to those.

Well they may want a certain number of episodes, which are 90 minutes long so I guess they have a lot of advertisers. But there may be some double eliminations coming soon.

Giamatti sits down for interview with Fresh Air on the movie and his other roles. https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1223919887/paul-giamatti-the-holdovers

Interview with Giomatti, about The Holdovers, his whole career. Talks about The Billions a bit. https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1223919887/paul-giamatti-the-holdovers Said he was drawn to all the alpha male energy at first. But thinks Chuck was this very driven and towards the end lonely and joyless character. Took him awhile to disengage from how miserable Rhoads was so that he didn't get too down in his real life. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1223919887

I thought this was Band of Brothers in the Pacific but it’s still in Europe?

This show is going up against True Detective and Monsieur Spade, just among detective genre shows starting up around the same time. it also has to compete vs. Masters of the Air on the same streaming service.

There is True Detective, Criminal Record on Apple TV+ and this show. January is for detective shows?

Kind of under cover because there haven’t been too many Irish episodes but the guy who’s done Dublin episodes has a kind of dry sense of humor you associate with much older people. But maybe he got it from Irish pub culture.

Several of them know they’re on the bottom of Jay and Michelle’s list but they’re just trying to hang on until the next stage? Do they know when that’s coming because they certainly don’t reveal it on TV until the last minute. Maybe they’re told the whole script for the season and just are playing dumb? in any event it seems that most of the Dailies have been team events instead of individual ones. Producers knowingly design them and “randomly” pick teams To try to encourage sabotage? We should keep seeing it? Most of the episode was this politicking drama. It’s sad that viewers apparently like that aspect the most. In the elimination it seemed like kyland was taking up only one ball at a time while Brad was doing two. That should be better strategy but Kyland was more fit so able to go up and down faster. Still, did he make twice as many trips as Brad but still was faster? They showed Brad with a couple of balls in one of the middle floors but at the top floor he was only dropping one ball at a time.

If Gators blinding is a fake out and he somehow plays a pivotal role in Roy’s capture or demise, they may still be pursuing a redemption arc. still doubtful that alone would redeem all the awful things he’s done and would do, unless he saves Dot in the finale.

Yeah I finally watched it last week. Obviously his character here required far more of Giamatti as an actor than the Chuck Rhoads character. Sure it's kind of a coming of age experience for the kid but also Hunman changes for the better.

Again it's not a real job. Their compensation for the show comes from these fictions tips. Lily was getting equal shares when her work was supposedly poor. I thought these repeat guests weren't too happy with their previous charter yet they showed up again. So fake guests and fake tips. Also, Lara sees Max as a useless slacker. But she loves him, even if his substandard worth ethic means more work for her and others.

State police, federal police. Also, another example on whether Gator is going to be redeemed, he offered under age girls to Munch. Maybe he was making things up to save himself. But a rural sheriff's dept has that much drugs and guns? Or Gator was overvaluing the contraband in the sheriff's dept. evidence locker?

Not to mention the bugs. American husband said he was getting tired of Thai food and the Thai wife joked that they would have to live near the town for his burgers. But he said he got sick after eating some street food. They got a lot of space for the growing kids for that money. Yeah I can only recall a couple of Bangkok episodes. But I guess one of the main reasons Westerners move to Thailand or Asia would be cost of living so they can really maximize savings in cities other than Bangkok.

Plus there’s lye down there. Roy instantly picked the two likeliest places but there are tunnels under the little cabin she was shackled in? That ranch has low fencing and 40 or so weekend warriors can’t cover it, especially with the sudden fog that appeared. Ole just walked onto the ranch with Gator on the end of a stick or rope. Dot could easily have slipped out of the premises but now she’s going to seek justice herself because Much told her the Tiger is free? She forgot Indira telling her not to engage. She sneaks into the big house to call Wayne instead of the police? Then the showdown with Karen, which goes as one expected. Karen will blame Dot for her horrible marriage than Roy so Dot gives her a shiner to match the one Roy had given her. Roy has a certain poetic way to express this showdown though in the twisted way of the militia mentality. Says he felt most about Dot than anyone else, then orders her execution. I’d be surprised if there’s a big shootout, doesn’t seem like it would be Hawley’s style. Instead Dot is probably going to get a chance at revenge. But that could end up tragically because Witt warned the special forces guys not to kill Dot, who could be armed and the special forces leader said “don’t kill the hostage” in the least reassuring way.

It's based on one book and season one didn't cover the whole book?

Just watched the pilot. Was screaming when they’re walking around and people were dropping random trivia so that Kor would win the trivia contest. Then the fake bar with the fake pizza oven, they’d put in raw dough with toppings which someone on the other side of the “oven” would throw away and then put a baked pizza which they ordered from a real pizzeria on the pan.😄

Watched it all. Really enjoyed the beautiful settings, especially in season 1 with all the shots in Oxford. Sept Tours I found out is not in France but in Italy, a little south of Padua, which is also southwest of Venice. It’s a medieval castle on the side of a hill and there’s another castle on top of the hill. There is another hill opposite which has that winding road with the view of the hill with the castle and the valley around it. That road is not how you reach that place but they seemed to use it a lot because the view is so great. Story was okay, not as emotional or sexy like Buffy the Vampire Slayer though there are beautiful young actresses in the cast. The dialog was literary, quoting poetry sometimes. Not sure if it was because this was a British production or the books, which I haven’t read, were literary. Season 2 was in 1590, a few years before all the major Shakespeare plays would be performed, drawing big audiences. Maybe witch hunts were a thing but Elizabethan Age is of course associated with positive things. But kind of interesting that they built up this mythology around historical figures as well as the modern day. Eh the best thing with vampires in contemporary times — early 21st century — is What we do in the Shadows.

Yeah Kyle was miraculously feeling better on tip day. Jess and Luka wouldn’t look up from their phones while messaging each other and they’re in the same room. It is easier to message people sometimes, kind of take emotion out of it, even easier than a voice call never mind face to face convos. It seemed like Max and Lara were worn down. So was Luka, a long day. But maybe also something infectious going around with people being in close quarters. That castle had a nice view but it was hard work taking all the stuff up the stairs. Interesting point about how the eyes affect your perception of how foods taste. Certainly presentation by talented chefs is a big part of the experience. But maybe there was evolution so that the way food looked and smelled warned human beings about potentially spoiled food, for instance.

Some recent news. https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a39650190/severance-season-2/ Best case towards the end of this year or early next year?

My DVR is picking up a lot of recordings from the various PBS stations around here, even though it's only suppose to record new ones. Most are repeats but it recorded Darwin, Australia, which on Sam's site is listed as the first one in Season 7. So they don't feature the city that much. It's mostly visiting an outdoor market where she has a bowl of Laksa and they show other Asian foods, because Darwin is closer to Asia than it is to Sydney and Melbourne. I'm pretty sure you can get Laksa and other Asian foods in Sydney and Melbourne though. They featured wildlife and the coast, showed a crocodile boat ride where they try to draw crocs near the boat so that people can see them more up close. The sides of the boats are fenced. But they said those things could get as big as 800 kilos? They could probably capsize those boats if they were wily enough, to get themselves a hearty meal, I thought. Darwin does have history, as it connected Australia to the world in the 19th century and there were events tied to WWII as well. But it seems the main draws, at least the ones they featured, were bush walks, some Outback-like deserts with these giant termite skyscrapers and the swamp with the crocs. Seems like they chose a place they hadn't featured on PTL or Sam's previous shows but probably doesn't have as much appeal to viewers as other destinations. Nice to see an international destination. In Season 6, the only international destination they featured was Ireland, on two different episodes. Otherwise, all the places were in North America. She did go to Alaska, which is far enough away from the continental US. She also went to Montana so that was likely one trip. She may be trying to limit distant trips so Darwin would be a strange choice. With the pandemic and having young children and being older, she may not have the interest she used to have in international travel. Or maybe the show sponsors limit their budgets. Last year she was going to host a cruise in Europe for viewers who wanted to book a package with one of the show sponsors. So we may get some more episodes in international destinations based on that cruise. Rick Steves still does a lot of international travel, to film his show as well as do tours, I believe. But supposedly he split from his wife because he refused to change his lifestyle and business. He has older children than Samatha does so he may not be as encumbered from taking off for several months out of the year.

Craig may have cleared a very low bar. The conclusion is all Southern men suck. And Craig is really a Northerner? At least these guys aren't overtly Southern but at their core, they're bros that you'd see in any larger city, reveling in their privilege.

That "I love you" scene was such a setup. So was him standing or kneeling on the stool to come face to face with him. Only way he would film those scenes is because they are not real. Who's going to declare their love in public, in front of cameras and lighting all set up like that? And who's going to take part in an emasculating scene where like a child he has to stand on a stool to be face to face with another man?