Bastet

I don't have the emotional energy to truly get into my myriad feelings (which, yes, I still have, strongly, three years later) about killing Sharon off, making the whole damn show about Rusty vs. Stroh in the end, and Rusty and Provenza's actions in Stroh's death, but since you weren't around at the time, I'll just tell you that James Duff has given at least six different answers for why he did what he did, and one of them was to claim he wanted to show that without Sharon, everything went to shit, that Rusty and Provenza would never had done what they did if she'd been alive. (Mind you, this is an answer he gave after being raked over the coals for months, so I do not believe him, and it's stupid even if true, because it states that her influence on them died right along with her.) Duff also said - as if this is an amusing anecdote - that he used to threaten TNT with killing off Sharon all the time to get what he wanted in season renewal negotiations. (This is not information he ever shared with Mary McDonnell in the past, but he did tell her heading into season six - which, while they hadn't officially been cancelled yet, they knew would be their last despite still being TNT's highest-rated show [the new exec hated it; he wanted "edgy" programming] - that he was going to do it.) The only thing we will ever know as true is that the story of Stroh's death as we saw it is what he wanted to tell in the end, and that couldn't happen with Sharon alive. (She'd have never allowed Rusty to be anywhere near the scene to begin with, she wouldn't have allowed Rusty or Provenza to get away with it, etc.) And, like you, I'm glad she didn't live to go through that; having to let the two of them face the consequences would have been a fate worse than death to her. But, holy shit, if the story you want to tell in the end requires giving your main character the world's most-rapidly progressing case of cardiomyopathy so she won't live to see two of your other characters who've changed so beautifully under her leadership and love take a shit on her legacy, maybe that's not the right story to go out on! I like the way she dies itself (I love a death in the line of duty not involving a single bullet or drop of blood), I love the case her final four episodes were about, Tony Denison does great work with the scene where Sharon wants to postpone the wedding until she knows what's in store for her, Mary McDonnell knocks it out of the park and into another park on the other side of the country with Sharon's last day, the squad's reaction in the hospital to the news of her death is perfect, etc. There was good television in there. But it wasn't worth it for what it took away. And that's all I can get into these days, because I've never reacted so strongly in my life to a fictional character's death and that night is still this surreal thing in my head. Those season six threads are among the few parts of the old forum that can be found via the Wayback Machine, if you want to track down what everyone said at the time. Here's the thread for Sharon's final two episodes, and here's the one for the finale.

I love hot tea of various kinds, but not iced. If I somehow had to drink it, I'd be fine, so long as there was no sugar in it (lemon I could take or leave). My lemon + servers peeve is a minor one: how many forget my request to include lemon with my water. When I'm not having beer, wine, or a cocktail with a meal out, I just have water, and I often have water alongside those other beverages. At home (where I drink water all day long), I drink it plain because it's filtered. Depending on the municipality, sometimes unfiltered tap water tastes not at all bad, but a little distinct in a way I don't want to be distracted by, so when I order it in a restaurant I ask for water with lemon just in case. Forgetting it is no big deal, since I just have to wait a minute or two after reminding the server of my request and then lemon shows up at the table. Far better that than having food or drink arrive with something I'd asked to be left off. But water with lemon is not at all unusual here (in fact, some places automatically put a slice/wedge on the lip of the glass), so it shouldn't be a brain fart as often as it s. Also, if they remember from jump, we avoid dirtying (and thus using water to wash and rinse and energy to dry) the bowl/plate used to bring it out after the fact.

Well, this is how I'll be singing it from now on. Hilarious!

Godsdammit, Saints! You had one job - get Tom Brady out of my post-season life. I will never have rooted for Green Bay as fervently in my life as I'm going to do next weekend.

The one where the kid gets a bike and is so bummed he didn't get an insurance bundle instead like his sibling he kicks it? I love that one.

Yes, Linda Rothman was Phillip Stroh's lawyer. He got the best of her during the preliminary hearing (season two finale), getting the previously-excluded threatening letters admitted. I tear up every time I watch it. It's terrific specifically for Sharon, and she's also standing in for women everywhere, so we feel it in a particular way when she finally gets her due. (BTW, we have Mary McDonnell to thank for the promotion; she'd periodically ask James Duff if Sharon was ever going to be Commander.) I love it, too, because it's so clear without Sharon needing to say it that she knows he wouldn't speak that way to a male superior officer, and that pisses her off. Yes, he is, and, no, he doesn't ever wind up having a clear purpose. Granted, they wound up with only 13 episodes to work with, and there's another new character introduced, too (plus, Mason is new), but just like the storyline of a cop trying to reintegrate to squad life after being undercover - and with Nazis to boot - for so many years doesn't get explored in season five, it doesn't get any better in season six. Mason does prove to be problematic in season six, but in a different way and manner than Davis would have been. Same here. I love to picture Rusty mowing her lawn for eight years, like he agreed to as part of getting her to sign off on him interviewing Slider. I also love when she snaps her fingers in his face instead of just asking him or otherwise politely gesturing for him to hand her a file in "Cleared History". Yet only slight. There's only a small percentage of each episode available for personal storylines, and with about 10 characters in the main credits, the overwhelming majority of that precious time is given to Rusty. And not just more than the other members of the ensemble, but more than the main character. It's infuriating, no matter how I feel about Rusty himself at any given time. That is a particularly egregious aspect of the Rusty worship going on at that point in the show, because Judge Grove had always been so deliciously cranky and annoyed with Rusty despite the judge's friendship with Sharon. Very. Duff and the writers have said the audience hated her more than they intended; they tried to redeem her in the second half of season two, but it didn't work and she only ever appeared again in conjunction with the Stroh case. Which was fine with me; I found her very out of step with the rest of the show, and how often she was the subject of the camera's gaze - especially in that wardrobe of hers - was disturbing. Gloria Lim is another problematic character, and it's disturbing two women of color were written as such stereotypical antagonists.

He influences me to change the station post haste. He had a significant impact on the genre, certainly (and unfortunately, IMO). How much his influence is still felt, I can't properly speak to; I listened to less and less country starting around 2000.

She was already Commander; Mason, in his first act as Asst. Chief, promoted her in "Shockwave" (the season five finale).

I got caught up with the Still Woman Enough reading (I love Kathleen Madigan's reactions, especially to all things "Doo"), so started watching the Nickel Dreams stuff last night; Tanya's crazy life is tame by comparison. Oh, hell to the no. This needs to be significantly higher. I now have this song stuck in my head. And I don't mind.

I love her reaction when her grandma goes to get that guy's number at the gas station.

I, on the other hand, will take a hard pass on all of them.

Well, I noted her brand of it specifically as knowing how to get what she wants without rubbing the wrong people the wrong way; it's a particularly refined stubbornness skill (especially as contrasted to Brenda's scorched earth policy - this is most amusingly evident when Sharon has to get the FBI [meaning, Fritz] to do what she wants). She's selective on who she'll manipulate and how she'll manipulate them (she won't go outside the law; the ends don't justify the means to her if it violates her oath), but within those bounds, she will not stop. And personally, too - she did whatever was necessary to first keep Rusty, and then to lead him through the growing up process. We can imagine the dogged determination in raising the first two kids, especially under more difficult conditions. Stubborn has a negative connotation, especially when describing women, but, I - as a stubborn woman 🙂 - think in terms of the strong-willed, persistent, resolute, etc. aspects of the definition. Tenacious is probably more in line with common vernacular, but I like to reclaim stubborn. She's a fantastic boss, truly a team leader; she makes it clear who has the final word, and doesn't hesitate to play that veto card, but she ascertains and acknowledges everyone's strengths and wants their input before making that call. She's also not afraid to delegate as time goes on, based on relative expertise and experience, and I'm always impressed by that since it was the hardest skill for me to learn in managing people and something I still have to put conscious effort into. I'd love to give the benefit of the doubt that it was a conscious characterization-based decision, but I can't; James Duff clearly gave far more thought to the characters he based on his own character traits - Brenda and Rusty - than any of the others, including Sharon, even when she became the center of the new show (that was initially TNT's idea, not his). Sharon was never his in the way Brenda was, and then came Rusty, his Mini Me. That's not the only answer, but it affects things.

Lilac trying to eat the DNA swab cracked me up; I imagine many dogs do that. She's clearly been through nothing but shit in her young life until she came to VRC. Mariah's reaction when she got a lap full of her kisses for the first time was so cute. As was Earl lying down and her getting totally into him once he was submissive. I'm glad she's happily ensconced in a home Props to those TX sheriffs (those are not words I tend to find myself typing) working to find a rescue to help the wolf dogs abandoned by the asshole breeder. What a rescue operation that was! "This is like the worst game of Whack-a-Mole ever." Catching the low-hanging fruit on day one and then coming up empty on day two put Tia in a "What do we do?" position I think she's not often in given her experience. Buying the property as a wolf dog sanctuary wasn't a solution I saw coming (I don't follow social media). There's our answer to the female parolees question. Knowing they don't repeat names, I'm surprised they hadn't had an Athena before. I'd have been stunned if there was no coyote in her, given her looks. I love the story of how the adopter got his previous dog. Seeing everyone sitting there without masks was weird, when that segment was filmed during the pandemic (and they put them on walking out, and during the home visit) -- learning curve days, clearly. Anyway, Giovanni sure knows how to pour it on! Who could resist that performance? They were so adorable together on the couch. LOL at Tania and Mariah's date to try to do some sort of testing with him when they can't take him out in public. "Who's paying?" It cracks me up whenever Tania says "Oh Mylanta"; it's something I used to say 25-30 years ago and hearing it again tickles me.

Oops! I got so excited at having your posts to respond to, I forgot to specifically respond that, yes, indeed, it's nice to hear from someone watching for the first time. I'm glad you found your way here.

Well, boo, but I'm certainly not surprised, and I don't dislike the Packers (I hated Brett Favre, and I like the Bears in a vague way, but still - eh, they're fine now). I like the Saints best of remaining NFC teams, but if it wound up being the Packers, I'd be okay. As long as it's not the Bucs!

I mostly know Aisha Tyler from her stand-up and a few acting roles; I've hardly seen any of her hosting, but I really like her and would love to see her as a guest host. (If she's a good host, maybe she's someone they're talking to about the real gig, though; looking at IMDb, she's a busy bee, but it doesn't seem like she's under contract to anything ongoing.) The Betty White idea is a hoot; you're right, she was a good host back in the day, and those who pay attention not just to the show but to media about it would know Alex's joke about her taking over. It looks like she hasn't done any on-camera work (just voice) in a few years, so might not be up to doing five episodes like the other hosts, but now I'm sitting here laughing thinking of what sort of one episode special they could do with her - maybe Betty White as guest host of a game where three celebrities face off in a charity match.

I don't think Sharon (it's Raydor, not Rayder) is lonely (nor does Mary McDonnell, but I felt that way before hearing her confirm it). When Ricky - whose head at the time was filled with stuff Jack said in expressing his "concern" about Sharon wanting to adopt Rusty (and thus finally cut her final legal tie to Jack) - said that in "Sweet Revenge", part of Sharon's epic take-down in response to him mansplaining her own life to her was to mock that notion ("... and I mean that from the bottom of my ever-so-lonely heart"). One of the many things I like about the presentation of Sharon - undeveloped as it is - is that she's content with her personal life. Rusty and Andy are bonuses rather than filling holes in her existence. I agree there aren't many avenues of her life where she's not at least mostly in charge, but I think she likes it that way. (I love how she immediately finds a way around their agreement that she'd only be the boss at work, everything else would be a discussion, when Andy gets hurt and has to stay with her -- "Well, your doctor said you needed care and supervision".) I think part of that is a natural result of meeting Sharon when she's almost 60 - she's raised her kids, she heads a division, she's effectively divorced (and later legally is) - so she's organically in charge in all aspects of her life. Certainly as a single mom dealing as a sergeant/lieutenant with a paramilitary organization when it was even more inhospitable to women, where her best avenue for advancement - and a little more stability/safety as a parent - was within a department the rest of the LAPD despised, we might well have seen where she needed a space in her life (e.g. a best friend) where she could just drop those burdens and not be the one making decisions all the time. But I also think it's just her; she's stubborn - she knows how to get her way without rubbing the wrong people the wrong way - and she likes being in the leadership role, whether that's as a boss or a caretaker. And, boy, as she says (paraphrased), she has a long history of managing while dealing with the male ego, and she's over it. (Which, of course, doesn't mean she doesn't need/want/have friends, and that's just one more area of her life it would have been nice to hear even a mention of to help further develop the main character.)

I am so annoyed by trying to have a long talk with friends who don't have a landline that I pretty much don't do it anymore; we'll just email, and then talk when we get together. I have to strain to hear, damn near every call gets interrupted at one point by a disconnection, there are periodic dropouts so we have to do the "what was the last thing you heard?" thing, etc. No thank you.

By far. The ensemble getting something to do is second (to Sharon Raydor, whom I adore beyond reason and have since her first appearance in The Closer) for why I like this show a lot better than its predecessor. So much so I have a hard time watching The Closer other than the Sharon episodes, because the squad is so underutilized. I didn't know any better at the time, but now that I know who they are and what they can do, watching them just fetch people for Brenda is frustrating. Oh, thank you for starting my day off with a hearty laugh. No, you're in good company with that one. Plenty of people quit Major Crimes because of him; they liked everything else about the transition from one show to the other, but couldn't handle him. Add in the larger number who loved the show but complained about him every episode (oh, for the archived forum not to have gone poof in the big server change), and yours is not at all an unpopular opinion. I roll with him a lot better than most, as I like his early storylines and always flat-out love his relationship with Sharon. I don't ever dislike him until season four, when he becomes unfuckingbearable as Rusty Beck, Super Journalist (which, of course, has nothing on Rusty Beck, Junior Detective in season five ... and then there's the unforgivable sin of making the whole damn thing about Rusty Beck vs. Phillip Stroh in season six), because by then James Duff is so far up his Mary Sue's ass he can't even see straight and we get storyline after storyline for this little shit while we don't so much as know if Sharon has siblings, where even one of Mike's three kids goes to college, etc.

Thanks to Stephen King's episode of The X-Files, I'd expect to be murdered by a talking doll if I played that song. I dance around the house occasionally, but not in response to nearly as many things as sets people to boogying in commercials, no. It would definitely be more believable in a commercial for, say, Tito's Vodka sponsoring a Totally '80s Weekend a local radio station.

Boo to no more Lucy, but I dig Jennifer, too, and she played a good game. Star was a surprising TS given "celestial" and, ya know, the picture of something star shaped. I had a bad feeling elderberries was going to be a TS. Knowing the Eagle is what landed on the moon did not belong in DD. (Nor did knowing infer is the flip side of imply, but someone still missed it.) I only knew two TV titles, so the first round was not off to a good start for me, and I missed several other clues scattered across the board. I missed probably another half dozen in DJ. I almost didn't even try with FJ based on the category, as I don't pay attention to royals, but once the clue was read, I thought, wait, I'm good with early and "modern" versions of who was president when (I'm just really bad in the middle), so I may be able to guess this. My guess went: Prince Charles must be around 70, so the youngest (whoever that is, heh) of her kids is probably late 50s. So who was president in 1965 (2020-55 = 1965 [easier to work with rounded off numbers in a hurry])? That I know - LBJ. Nailed it! Could I have done that under game conditions? Unlikely.

Right? Like that's why the show has gone stale. It's not the fact the cute little kid can't act now that he's grown, the writers have chosen two or three traits for each character and exaggerated the hell out of them while ignoring the rest so they're now more like caricatures, the plots are increasingly unrealistic because most typical situations have already been covered, and you've drawn out "will they or won't they?" so long the primary relationship no longer makes sense. Nope, it's the theme song - update that, and those ratings will bounce right back up.

When Maddie died, it was the first time in a long time I was cat-less, and it was so weird not to have company in the bathroom. Then I adopted Riley nine months later, but she's not as into it as most of my cats have been, so I can go a week without a bathroom escort, and then she's more interested in inspecting the room to make sure nothing had been changed without her approval; I get a brief stop so she can rub my legs and I can scratch her head, and then it's off to check the perimeter - and then, if I'm in there long enough, check to see if any of the cabinet doors haven't been closed tightly.

He just reversed the words. Brett answered "Dr. No", when the answer they were looking for was "No" (since it was in a "two-letter" category and asked for the physician's surname). That was good enough, but instead of saying, "Correct - No," Ken said "No - correct". It happens all that time, where the contestant says something a little different, adds something, etc., but it's still right - if it's not something they have to think about and say "we'll accept that," it's already known to be okay, Alex would say it the slightly different way they were looking for while ruling the contestant correct. Sometimes he'd say yea first and then restate the answer, sometimes he'd restate the answer first and then give the green light. It doesn't matter which order - except when the restated answer is "No". (Especially with a host who has so far always seemed to say "no" rather than mixing it up with "incorrect" and such.) Then you may see what indeed happened last night, where the contestant stops listening after "No" and the confusion has to be cleared up.

I've never heard of this brand, but it's distributed nationwide, so if anyone feeds Sportmix pet food and hasn't yet heard, there's a recall.