roseha

I am just in shock. Grant was always my favorite Mythbuster. It wasn't even close. So very sad. I can't get my head around it. Rest in peace Grant.

I can usually cast videos from the Chrome browser to my Sony Android TV (when my guest network feels like cooperating) so hopefully that will be one way I can catch this movie. I have to say though, what is NBC *thinking*? They had all this time to prepare this service and they have made it so difficult.

I thought of Mel right away too! For all that Carl Reiner accomplished, the story of their continuing friendship at each other's homes in recent years was so touching and sweet. Rest in peace Mr. Reiner and thanks for everything

I think it was the Peacock website. Someone on another thread here (I think on streaming services) said there was a reduced yearly plan being offered. It's still being offered here for $29 a year: https://www.peacocktv.com/earlysignup

This whole thing is so confusing NBC. I signed up for the special rate offer but then got an email saying "see you July 15!" What if I miss it that night, will it even be repeated? I'd rather just buy the show from some service but it's not clear to me if we can do that.

The classic 1941 Maltese Falcon with Bogart, Mary Astor, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook was the third version, so there's clearly no harm in a remake if the original wasn't the greatest. Speaking of Bogart, I much prefer The Big Sleep over To Have and Have Not as a Bogart/Bacall pairing. No, I don't really know everything that happened in The Big Sleep (neither did Bogart apparently) but it doesn't matter to me. Regarding the Marx Brothers, I enjoy them but I feel their movies are really not the same if Margaret Dumont isn't there to play Groucho's brilliant foil. I just love the way she carries the opening of Duck Soup basically by herself.

Thanks so much @ForReal, and for sharing that story. I'm so glad the renewal has been confirmed, even though we will all have to wait until it's safe for them to film, understandably of course. I wonder if they will be getting an older child or children to play James at that point? I was cracking up when James was still an infant and was saying to myself "that's not the same baby". It was cute the way they originally were listing maybe half a dozen children as baby James. Of course there are strict limitations on babies being filmed naturally. I'd love to see that special video the cast made to celebrate the health care workers but it wouldn't play in the US, I wonder if it's on Youtube?

I've been watching this show on Acorn and not going on the board because a lot of the posters were way ahead of me before now. I won't reveal any spoilers, but I do have one question - after seeing the finale of Season 9, does anyone know if there will be a Season 10? I'll just say that inquiring minds want to know. I do think that Al and Morwenna are a cute couple and Morwenna especially was allowed to mature after acting rather clueless in the beginning, that was good to see. I have to agree about Joe Penhale, it's hard to blame the actor when the character is so consistently dumb and self-absorbed, but I wish he didn't get so much screen time. Bert is kind of annoying in his con-man way also, it always makes me sorry when poor Al is caught in the middle between him and Ruth. To be honest I couldn't stand Mrs. Tishell either for the longest time, and after her breakdown I was hoping they'd write her out but strangely after I felt a lot more sympathetic about her, maybe it made her more three dimensional although her hero-worship of Martin didn't really go away. I saw a behind the scenes piece on Acorn with all the actors talking and it was hilarious to see Martin Clunes smiling so much! What a change. And loving all the dogs! I do feel for both Martin and Louisa, he has issues relating to people and she has issues trying to understand him but they have made progress.

Speaking of silent films I hope this isn't too off topic, but Ben Model, the accompanist who has played for silents for many years, is having a weekly Silent Comedy Watch Party over his Youtube Channel every Sunday at 3 PM Eastern. It started as a one-off due to the coronavirus lockdown and he's kept it going - I believe this next one will be the ninth week. It's three shorts a show, including some very rare ones. I really recommend it for silent fans in particular: Here's his Youtube page

I just saw this! I love photography and I'm ready to watch it for the subject matter alone. I'll be sure to try it.

I wasn't able to watch the entire show on Stephen's birthday - my cable was down and my internet stopped - but I loved his comment about being another year more "at risk". It reminded me that I have a birthday in less than two months, and I wonder if we will still be on pause in NYC then also. I wouldn't at all rule it out. Loved the kid's question segment, I was particularly glad they included the little kid on the piano so Jon could respond.

This is also about delivery, but it involves Whole Foods and an increasing pet peeve I've noticed for some time now, that is creating a frozen meal with no oven directions. I had asked WF for Saffron Road Palak Paneer, they were out of it and suggested Deep Palak Paneer so I ordered 3 of them and saw they are microwave only. Just like these annoying overpriced hipster "healthy meals" delivery kits that are all over social media (one of which actually had the tag line "oven not allowed"). Well my microwave is dead and I also hate the taste and texture of microwave food, so just please provide the oven directions, even if I have to take it out of the tray. I emailed Deep and hope I hear back. I could be cooking I know but with a dishwasher that hasn't drained for almost two weeks I'm trying to cut down on the number of things I put into my little sink.

My feeling is that if Novak refuses to get a Coronavirus vaccine, if/when there is one, he should not play on the tour and expose untold numbers of people. But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting to see anyone tell him that. I imagine realistically he would have to cave, at least I hope so. Roger's proposal of the two tours uniting would be great, though of course many current events might have to be eliminated or combined, but I think long run it would benefit everyone. The new ATP head, Massimo Calvelli, has given some interesting interviews to the effect that he thinks that tennis doesn't get the exposure it should given its popularity and is much too fragmented from a fan's perspective (certainly true) and that one advantage it has is that the men and women both play at the biggest events. Maybe tennis can use this time partly to organize itself to everyone's benefit.

I just found this in The Guardian and found it really sad, all the more because I thought tennis should have had its head examined for letting Coco Gauff play so much after the extraordinary burnouts of teenagers Austin, Jaeger et al. It's not like there weren't any past examples. 'I was just lost': Coco Gauff says rapid rise and hype led to depression "Gauff’s tale is troublingly familiar. Capriati struggled to overcome very different problems away from the court and burned out before she got out of her teens. Injury prematurely cut down Austin and Jaeger. Gauff, Andreescu and Osaka have it all before them, good and bad."

I enjoyed the Kennel Club Murder as well, early-talkie atmosphere and all. I guess this was part of William Powell's transition from silent-era villain to smooth-talking, often comedic sound era leading man. I wish I could get to see his two earlier roles as Philo Vance. I have read that the first one, The Canary Murder Case, co-starred Louise Brooks, but it was converted to a sound film from a silent I believe, and she ended up being dubbed because she refused to come back from Germany where she was filming Pandora's Box.

I think that Stephen's daughter is doing the best makeup job on him that I've ever seen. Maybe she should pass along her tips to the folks at CBS - and yes, the black button down shirt look is great. The off the cuff atmosphere has been fun in general.

Just guessing here, but maybe the issue over at CBS is not so much that Dylan would really sue that but that CBS is afraid that Dylan would sue them? For what it's worth, I seem to remember that Bob has freely allowed bootlegs of his music to be available online to his fans over the years so I wonder if he's really that concerned about a take-off like this. I'd love to hear the whole satire! I haven't yet seen both extended versions of the Stephen/Conan interview. I'm pretty convinced that they actually like each other a lot but find it entertaining to pretend otherwise.

That sounds great. I so wish that Instagram would work properly on a desktop though. Every time I try I can't read 90 percent of the comments. Not everyone uses a phone or a tablet all the time. Have to look for my iPad!

So very sad, I was hoping John Prine would make it. Here is a very good obituary from the New York Times. I never knew before that he was a mailman in his young days and would think up songs when he was on his route. Rest in peace Mr. Prine.

Here's the official story from the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/52104196

It's so sad. Given the international travel and audience that tennis has though I can see why they have to be so cautious. When they canceled the Olympics I thought it would be hard for Wimbledon to make it (I think they are supposed to make it official tomorrow). On the feel good side, the USTA has just devoted their space (the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center) to New York City as an emergency treatment center for COVID-19 patients and to help medical staff. And Roger and Mirka have donated one million Swiss Francs for coronavirus support in Switzerland.

Reuters is reporting that Wimbledon is expected to cancel this year's tournament soon. More below. I wonder how much tennis will end up being played at all this year. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-tennis-wimbledon/wimbledon-will-be-canceled-says-german-tennis-official-report-idUSKBN21H0P8

Update: The ATP and WTA have suspended events until June 7. Here's their statement. Just one comment: If you carefully read the last paragraph, you may notice there's no reference to the French Tennis Federation, who have just unilaterally moved Roland Garros to six days after the US Open without consulting anyone else. As you may imagine this has been met with huge criticism. (Bolding is mine) "The professional tennis season is now suspended through 7 June 2020, including the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF World Tennis Tour. At this time, tournaments taking place from 8 June 2020 onwards are still planning to go ahead as per the published schedule. In parallel, the FedEx ATP Rankings and WTA Rankings will be frozen throughout this period and until further notice. The challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to professional tennis demand greater collaboration than ever from everyone in the tennis community in order for the sport to move forward collectively in the best interest of players, tournaments and fans. We are assessing all options related to preserving and maximising the tennis calendar based on various return dates for the Tours, which remains an unknown at this time. We are committed to working through these matters with our player and tournament members, and the other governing bodies, in the weeks and months ahead. Now is not a time to act unilaterally, but in unison. All decisions related to the impact of the coronavirus require appropriate consultation and review with the stakeholders in the game, a view that is shared by ATP, WTA, ITF, AELTC, Tennis Australia, and USTA."

Conan's put up a podcast episode to entertain fans during the coronavirus shutdowns. I haven't been able to listen to much yet, just throwing out the news. I did like his podcasts with Stephen Colbert and Bob Newhart, going back a ways I know. I should catch up on some of the others.

I guess they will have to make an executive decision about freezing points. My understanding is that in the ATP at least, the best 12 tournament results are used to summarize the *ranking*, going back 12 months and which determine the player's seeding in most events. The *points* start over with each tournament, and go by the current year to qualify for the year end event in London. So it's conceivable that they could let them drop off if they resume after 6 weeks though that's certainly not a given. Or they could freeze the points and/or rankings? which I would guess is more likely if the players will be voting on it. It seems to me that they may just freeze the rankings since no events are played? It's clearly an unprecedented situation although I can't help remembering that after Monica Seles was stabbed by a crazed Steffi Graff fan, her fellow top players (with the exception of Sabatini who abstained) voted against freezing her number one ranking. It's also worth noting that some tournaments (Wimbledon mainly) seed the players as they see fit, and don't always rely on the rankings.