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I love the way Lamont and Rashawn look at each other and laugh. Usually behind Princella's back since she leans forward so much. I swear, if I ever saw that family IRL, I would fangirl out. So here's my dilemma: Mazel tov to Brandy and Julie and anyone else who gets a kick out of the Housewives, but I can't with any of those shows. Like, at all. I'm then faced with the choice of fast-forwarding those segments or squirm-watching them just so I don't miss out on any funny comments. And they're featured over and over -- thanks, Bravo. I looked up their ages and that Johnny Drama guy is 10 years older than Wahlberg. How can anyone be childhood friends with someone when there's that much of an age difference? Unless Drama was the babysitter or something. I dunno. Seems weird and that's not even taking the guy's rapping into consideration. The couchies were right to cover their eyes. No Golden Girls! I would have liked to hear their motherly take on the Real O'Neals.

I appreciated the long "previously" segment because I didn't realize how much I'd forgotten until I started watching again. And I suspect a lot of my character memories are from the books anyway. But yeah. Bosch is back from suspension and still butting heads with everyone plus now the FBI ... go!

I am not a businessperson, let's get that straight. I am a consumer of American prepackaged foods, however, and I do not begin to understand the reasoning behind the marketing geniuses at Kraft. 1. Would the type of people who buy a box of cheese powder with macaroni care that much about preservatives and artificial flavors? 2. If Kraft did feel the need to make the stuff "healthier," why not just say that to start with? Were they afraid their core audience was going to run screaming into the night, a la New Coke? 3. Given that the company decided to go ahead anyway despite the above, why then release a gotcha! ad campaign that pretty much sneeringly calls us all idiots? Ya know, Kraft, I can buy powered cheese mixes that have ripped off your flavors and make my own fake mac and cheese. Just a warning.

The death that really bothered me was Juliette on Grimm. But only because she didn't stay dead.

Chris seemed actually sad when Funches was eliminated. The tournament finale episode was fun enough; I liked the Hashtag Wars speed round.

That made me snort-laugh. Oh, Hillary. I am going to vote for you, but bless your heart. Not a politician my ass. Ya know, I've actually made my peace with Trump as the eventual nominee, because I truly believe both Cruz and Rubio are far worse.

Totally agree! but I can understand someone screwing up that left turn because they didn't realize there was such a long backup and hadn't moved to the correct lane in time. Everyone does things like that. But come on. Take the next left, or the next right and circle back. There's no reason to snarl up traffic and maybe cause an accident. People act as if their lives depend on being able to take that exact turn. My traffic peeve is an intersection near me that crosses a larger, 4 lane street. People turn right off the main street and then immediately want to enter the driveway of a gas station on the left. Their oncoming traffic is frequently backed up waiting for the light. If those drivers haven't left a gap to allow people to turn into the gas station, the left turners will sit there with their blinkers on, which then backs up other drivers behind them who are turning right. What gripes me is that there is another entrance to the gas station 200 feet up! Just drive to that one and enter the station from the back. Of course there are also drivers exiting the gas station who need to cut over to the left lane to make a turn, as well as people exiting the bank parking lot across the street who also need to merge in. To make me even itchier, drivers can go through the intersection and turn right directly into the gas station from the main street, which is in fact easier than making a right, then a left. I basically hate that intersection.

Thanks to Kim for recommending Seth Meyers. I record all the late night talk shows and his has slowly inched its way up to become my favorite. The Weekend Update bits (let's admit the format thievery) are uniformly good at the top of the show, but he's also quite an adept interviewer -- no index cards! He doesn't pretend to be even-handed in his jokes, however, and there's absolutely a liberal slant, so forewarned.

Jerrod was a guest on Colbert last night, and his interview was kind of weird and meandering. YMMV, but I don't think he did the show or himself any favors.

Dang, Jerrod Carmichael was doing himself no favors in that interview. I guess he was tossing in some riffs from his stand-up? If so, he needs to put more thought into the venue and audience. I just watched Season 1 of The Carmichael Show and liked it a lot, but wouldn't have bothered if I'd seen this first.

I felt sorry for Vanessa and Tres but admire him for stopping sex when he realized he was no longer in the marriage for the long haul. Whether or not he was getting some on the side, it would have been unkind to lead Vanessa on. (And perhaps unsafe, depending on their condom usage.) Anyway, I thought they both gave it a sincere try, even though Tres threw in the towel first. He was initially like, "Hey, I'm up for anything!" and was open to falling in love, but Vanessa was too much of a chronic sadsack with her me/me/me, trust/trust/trust daddy issues. I thought she ended up being far less prepared for an arranged marriage than Tres, to be honest. She needs to develop her self respect and independence instead of piling all that baggage onto some guy and expect him to make her whole.

NutMeg, it's nice how sometimes we easily fall into old friendship patterns even with people we haven't seen for a long time. I hope the holiday is great. :) I've never eaten at Chick-Fil-A, even though there's one a few miles away. I was just cruising their online menu and think I'll check it out today to see what the hubbub's about. I'll definitely add a cookie to my order! A franchise of Chicken Salad Chick recently opened in the same part of town, so maybe I'll make it an all-chicken restaurant run. Dang. Now that I think of it, the Chinese restaurant that I like with the good orange chicken is over there, too...

I am enjoying the tournament, maybe because the people I like have been winning!

Nobody! My cat isn't a howler, but she is a hurler and will repeatedly launch herself against the bedroom door until I get up and let her in, which then I'm fully awake. As to pet-butt, hair and vomit, they are ooky but the rest of the furniture is already covered in whatever is there. It's one of the many germy things in life I purposefully close my mind to lest I end up cocooning myself in antibacterial wipes. Waiting in lines per se doesn't bother me, but I always play an internal game of Checkout Roulette in the grocery store. I cruise the lanes to take in all the variables, then make my choice and the clock starts to see if I get through faster than people in the other lanes. So if I get stuck behind someone, I'm a lane loser. Booby prize! (I'm also really bad at the game and lose quite consistently.) Work peeve: I retired in December but have been working as a consultant for the same company. My contract and statement of work specify no more than 8 hours a week and encompass only projects X, Y, and Z. Yesterday the person who supervises me asked if I would work full time and take over projects A and B while someone is out for two weeks. Uh, HELL NO? She was all, "It's okay if you say no," but she knew I would so why put me on the spot? Frankly, even squeezing out 8 hours a week is interfering with my full-time retirement laziness. :)

I would have sent the Chevy (?) guy home. It looked like it had two flat tires, the proportions were off, it wasn't shaded correctly, and the colors were milky and weak.

James Earl Jones was nice as pie! I didn't think Nathan Fillion was mean, even though he would rather not have been bothered during his lunch. Bill Nye was duped by Sheldon and badmouthed by Dr. Proton but remained his chipper self that we saw (subsequent restraining order notwithstanding).

If you feed, provide housing, and I suspect vet care for the cats, aren't they just your outside pets at this point? :) I have a friend who grew up on a farm with barn cats, and those sounded more feral to me than some purported ferals. Her family didn't even feed them; they were on their own with mice and rats.

Congrats to him and any your mutual bank accounts! If the stars align, it will even be a job he likes. :) Out of curiosity, what kind of job requires a 3-month notice of an impending promotion? Does it necessitate training of some sort, or are we waiting for the current officeholder to leave?

I'm really enjoying watching Trevor slightly shift the focus of the show to be more in sync with his own background and interests, particularly race relations. I also like the unspoken ease he has with the black correspondents; I think it's allowed them to be more caustic and often, funnier.

THANK YOU! I had a very small family to start with and she and I are the only ones left. We have 60+ years of shared history and memories that nobody else in the world knows about now, but I tell ya -- if she and I weren't related, I would never be friends with her. Too many eggshells. I wouldn't expect my SO to be hugging on me all the time, but he needs to be comfortable with the thought of it. I couldn't be with someone who, like, refused to hold hands in public.

Thanks for the tip! Are they very different from rice krispies in chocolate? For a sweet/salty combo, I'd also recommend chocolate covered potato chips. I used to get them locally made at a candy shop when I lived in North Dakota* in the '80s but it seems like they're pretty widely available now. * With Minnesota, the third largest potato growing region in the country!

I know it can't be true but it sure seems like I always get stuck behind the Person With Complicated Checkout Issues: beaucoup coupons, some of which have expired, pricing questions, leaky milk cartons that need to be replaced, verifying which specific items are/are not on sale, special bagging requests, register tape running out, going back to get that one item they forgot, slowly starting to write a check (a freaking check!) only after all items are completely rung up, etc. Then of course not moving out of the checkout lane until change and checkbooks are put back in the purse, receipt is tucked into the wallet, and chat with the bagboy is complete. But that's not even my peeve. :) I sold my house three years ago for reasons (primarily roach-related) and rented a place my sister bought directly across the street from her. I hasten to add that I pay full market value rent for this area of $1150/month. I deliberately don't have a lot of possessions, so half my closets and the spare bedroom are empty. My sister has too much stuff and keeps buying more, so her solution is to put the excess in my house. This means her golf cart is in my garage, as are most of her seasonal decorations. Then I came home today and noticed that she had put a bed and chair in my spare bedroom, along with more file boxes in the closet. Now, I wouldn't necessarily mind any of this because I do have room and don't really care, but she never even asks me! She always sneakily does it when I'm out. I feel like deducting $100 off my rent check each month for serving as her personal storage locker. P.S. She is the bossy older sister, if you hadn't deduced that already.

We can also post in the Dateline small talk thread if you'd like; a lot of the same people hang there.

Maybe we need a new thread topic for retirees, the homebound, and recluses-by-choice. :) It's great, if you ask me. Lots more time for TV!

Just saw an article in The Hollywood Reporter about upcoming pilots and this one caught my eye: Logline: An unapologetic lesbian and her best friend, a neurotic straight male, navigate their dysfunctional, co-dependent friendship and the world of dating. Cast: Andy Ridings, Julie Goldman