Bastet

Same here; hell, Alex bugged me plenty of times, but I still love the show because I like playing the game. But it's just going to be straight-up weird to have others hosting after over 35 years of Alex (and I never watched it in the Art Fleming days, or if I did I was too young to remember it); I have no idea how long it's going to take me to stop being distracted by that thought and just watch the game like usual.

My Mike Rowe crush died hard, and I would not care to see him again. Personal feelings aside, he doesn't really seem like a fit for the show.

And there's an episode where Jonathan says something about her having used her hair to mop up an oil slick. This was after he'd hit a really awkward stage and wasn't used much, but that sibling interaction was perfect (and that gorgeous hair indeed looked like shit). Oh, the silly things I remember. I wish this aired on something I get; I'd be curious to watch it all the way through again. Virtually every show did, other than soaps; for a variety of reasons, air order often didn't follow production order. (It still happens in sitcoms, procedurals, etc. where serialization isn't crucial, but less so now than then, as audiences have become more savvy and social media has allowed for greater criticism of such continuity errors.) Sometimes it wasn't noticeable, but hair cuts were one of the biggest tip-offs, to the extent many actors became contractually prohibited from any significant cut/color change during production.

Aw, Kanani was so sweet with his reaction to finding out M2 is pregnant. And I love when men want daughters. (Especially when he's so devoted to "girl power" raising her.) I think M2 is right that Luke will be a great big brother. Kanani being (unofficially) adopted always put him in particularly good standing to be a stepdad who's a dad, and he's clearly going to make sure Luke continues to feel that security in the face of a sibling who's his biological child. They seem like a nice little family. I laughed at Tia telling Betty Sue (who she called Betty Lou a couple of times, heh) that Jethro "poops bigger than your whole body". Poor baby, dying that same night, but thank goodness she was with VRC who could get her to the vet right away and give her a chance. Marlowe May not getting the memo that she's sick is cute, and I'm glad she's doing well. Sebastian's face hurt my heart; I'm so glad someone who can give him exactly the kind of home he needs saw his story. His face on the video footage at home caused a grin that nearly cracked my face. Sherry, the adopter, looks familiar; she must remind me of an actor or something. I love how she, wanting him to like her the way she likes him already, didn't push at all, knowing he needs time. I liked the virtual home tour; Mariah, like so many of us, had to take a crash course in technology thanks to COVID. As she said, with all Sherry was willing to do just to get him, imagine how great she's going to make his life once he's with her. That dog is set. And Edie and Dennis continue to rock, always wanting to adopt who needs them most. (I liked them the first time around, and am sorry things didn't work out with the bonded pair; Leah's emotional issues are going to be an ongoing problem.) Irma's ears are adorable, but I knew they were going to take Angelina (just like last time, they took who had the least chance of being chosen by someone else) and I'm so happy for her.

Boy, that was fun. Thank you, Rams defense, for putting on such a show.

Same here; I didn't care about that game and only occasionally paid attention to it, but I like just about anything that ruins his day. I didn't even notice what the Rams are wearing until y'all pointed out the ugly, and now I'm thoroughly distracted by it.

No, that is not Stacey Dash (who played Dionne).

I once got hit on at the grocery store with my mom, when I was about 15/16 and the guy was probably early twenties. So fucking gross! I don't recall any other grocery store come-ons, but I've had several in the hardware store, a mix between condescending let me offer the little lady my manly knowledge overtures and fetishizing ooh, you know how to use tools - boner! advances. Either way, pass; I am here shopping for something I need, not dick. My absolute favorite take on the grocery store as pick-up joint is on Designing Women, when Mary Jo decides to follow the advice of one of those "how to trap myself a man" book for the weekend and see what happens. Feeling ridiculous all spruced up in the Piggly Wiggly, she logically attempts to actually get her grocery shopping done while she scans for eligible bachelors. Suzanne tell her she does not have a cart conducive to romance: "Mary Jo, men do not come up and talk to a woman who's wheeling around a 25-pound sack of dog food and a big box of Kotex."

I worked a few retail and food service jobs during summers in high school, and mostly worked with other kids (other than the manager). Then summer between high school and college and a few months of my freshman year, I worked for a department store, where a few of my co-workers were single moms, or widows back in the workforce for the first time in decades. It was a reality check - this crappy job I did for spending money is what some people, especially women, had to somehow live on and even support other people on. I quit to go on my family's usual Thanksgiving trip; obviously no one could have Black Friday off, so I had to either work it or quit, and I didn't need the job, so I gave my notice (and I had initially not intended to work once school started to begin with, but because I was a great worker they offered to accommodate my schedule and I thought, hey, more drink money and I keep my employee discount - sure, I'll stay). I knew how lucky I was to be able to do that, and while that was my last retail job (I switched to office work via temp agencies for subsequent summers - better pay and no dealing with the public, although of course secretarial staff deal with their own brand of abuse) it permanently imprinted on me a respect for people doing the best they can in a thankless job. During a recent trip to a chain supermarket (I mostly shop independent, but every once in a while there's a sale too good to pass up), the cashier working the express line told the man in front of me who'd just started unloading his cart that he had too many items and would need to use a regular line. After I unloaded my basket, I thanked her for enforcing the policy. She said she always does when she notices it before they've put much on the belt, but when it might cause more delay to customers behind them to make them put everything back in the cart and go away, it's hard to judge what will anger the fewest people. She thanked me for my thanks, so on my way out I commended her to the manager. And that's something I should do more often - people complain to management about all manner of things, both legitimate and ridiculous, but usually don't expend the energy to praise an employee for not just the above and beyond service, but the more mundane doing a good job during potentially volatile circumstances.

I almost made it through without crying, because I wanted to see clearly rather than through tears, but the end of the montage, with Alex getting older and older as he said "So long" and then that triumphant fist bump as he walked off the stage - that was it. I was enjoying Yoshie, so am bummed she lost; I wish she'd bet more on that crossword clues DD and FJ. I missed several in the first round, including guessing Google goggles instead of glass, and I don't think I ran a single category in DJ. I rebounded for FJ after some thought, but this was not my game. Oh, well; it was about Alex anyway, and I'm so glad he walked out of that studio thinking he'd be back.

Yeah, he really pushed for an accelerated relationship trajectory that is inherently unhealthy and just happened to wind up working out for them in the end. Watching this show after the fact, on DVD, meaning several episodes at a time rather than one per week, made it seem even faster, but I actually looked up the timeline and it was fast. I mostly like him - probably largely due to Jon Tenney, on whom I have a physical and intellectual crush - but holy crap I am with you on how infuriating it was when he'd get pissy about her dedication to her job. Have you met her, Fritz? She didn't pretend to be someone else and then spring this on you; it's her defining personality trait that you were fully aware of even before your first date. And it made me even more angry when he'd get his boxers in a bunch about her job being dangerous. YOU'RE AN FBI AGENT, DUDE! But, and I know I've said this before, as awful as his passive-aggressive behavior was, that time when he expressed his frustration with her messy ways by asking if her shoes are afraid of the dark or can they go in the closet cracks me the hell up. I found myself sometimes not getting angry with him speaking to her reminiscent of how one would scold a child, because she was prone to acting like an overgrown toddler. What bothers me about their relationship is Brenda was readily acknowledged as flawed, while Fritz was regarded as some long-suffering saint for putting up with her.

@Athena Your original definition was better, and followed the simple format of the other definitions. But I would say "Predicting the answer [or, to be properly pedantic, question] based on the category", because it doesn't refer to pre-calling the clue, but what the correct response to the clue will be.

It's nice to see how many of his costars from 20 years ago were quick to express how much they enjoyed working with him and loved his spirit.

Today's New York Times interview with Johnny Gilbert about doing J! with and without Alex is a touching read, including: and

Same here. Ditto to this as well. I sympathized with Yoshie's damn, I should have wagered more reaction when the incarnate DD was revealed. The Literary Kings category had already kept me from any hope of running the first round, but the only other one I missed was the golfer that stumped the three of them, too. Mythology doomed me in DJ, but I only missed two of them, and the Simpsons clue was my only other miss in that round. And FJ was an instaget. So a great game, even though still not a perfect one. Great game for them, too; I really enjoyed it.

My ranking for those commercials would be Ratt, clogging, aunts, fencing, but Ratt only edges out clogging because of the hair band nostalgia factor for me.

My vote: When sustained close contact is safe again, go bang him for a couple of months - or longer if neither of you catches feelings and/or meets someone else to pursue a potential long-term relationship with - if you've got a good case of the mutual hots for each other. But if you want biological kids and he's already produced three (which should mean he's done) and you have different fundamental world views, he doesn't have serious relationship potential, so just don't fool yourself into wasting time based on the hope for something else that isn't going to/shouldn't materialize. And if you think those boundaries will be blurred from jump, just avoid the whole thing.

I desperately needed tonight's episode as a mental health break from the day's events, so I'm happy it aired just an hour late rather than in the wee hours or tomorrow. The Adam & Eve category immediately ruined my shot at the elusive perfect game, but I got everything else in the first round other than a couple of the TV shows and only missed a few in DJ. I had no idea for FJ, though; "What is something I've never seen?" was clearly not going to be accepted, and none of the few titles rattling around in my head turned out to be right. I'd have sat here until I died and never come up with Wonder Woman; if you want to ask me about the WW underoos I had in the '70s, I can talk about WW. Otherwise, I got nothing. The Michelangelo clue had no business in DJ. Same with Eli Whitney.

That was me until two years ago; until then, I didn't have a car with GPS (and I don't have a smart phone). Well, I didn't print them, as all those steps wasted paper, but I wrote down on scrap paper the parts I needed to know. That's the second thing in this series of commercials that I do (or recently did), but I can't remember what the first one is - which is itself a sign of turning into my parents.

I got all of the TS except for Ghostbusters, but missed quite a few that they got right; not a great game for me.

Geico; it's the latest in their series playing on words like that - clogging, Ratt, aunts, and now fencing.

I didn't watch the reruns, so it was exciting to get back to the show tonight - and then sad to remember this is the last week of Alex. His opening remarks had me struggling to read the category titles through teary eyes. The Charlie Chaplin TS surprised me (not that none of them knew the film, but that none of them guessed Chaplin for what had to be a famous comedic silent film star). Cage did at first, too, but then I realized if I didn't have a friend who has budgies, I'd have no idea that's a type of bird. I liked the reaction one of them (Brayden?) had to Amsterdam being revealed as the answer they'd all failed to reason their way to. I only missed three in the first round - had no idea what NPC stood for or who two of the literary characters were - so it felt good to be back. In DJ, I joined the contestants in not knowing The Illusionists (magic is not my thing), but otherwise ran that round. I didn't get FJ, though; I had Don Quixote on my mental list of title characters, but couldn't come up with the sidekick's name for most of them, so wound up with no answer at all. So, good game, but I only have four chances left to achieve my elusive perfect game (in a non-celebrity game) while Alex is host, and it's probably not going to happen. It would really be something if I finally did it on his last game.

I haven't had to deal with it in a long time, and it was at its worst when I was in my 20s -- I think there was some "Who does she think she is?" resentment that I'd negotiated a different schedule than the company norm after about six months on the job. Hey, if you want to work different hours, take it up with the boss just like I did. My work was not anything that needed to be done within certain hours and I had quickly proven I was great at my job -- I simply explained I hated mornings so being awake at 9:00 was not enjoyable, never mind walking into the office then, and I'd like to come in somewhere between 10 and 10:30 instead. Her response was "No problem." She didn't even need to mention that meant I'd be leaving later, or that I'd have to come in early if circumstances necessitated it, because of course it did. It was nice to learn early in my professional life there are reasonable bosses out there, and I do not need to put up with anyone who micromanages, especially watching the clock when there's no reason to. And that's bosses -- busybody co-workers who think my schedule is any of their business? Hell no.

I used to get the opposite, snarky comments about the time I came in (around 10/10:30), as if I wasn't there for several hours after they left in the evening. I don't know why it's so hard for some people to comprehend how schedules work. Or why so many morning people think their schedule is morally superior.

Yet so sadly realistic; she's all he has, and her brand of love is all he's ever known for 16 years. When she's sober, has a job, and doesn't have a shitty boyfriend, he's happy with her. It's typical for him to diminish her culpability in his mind - blame Gary for making her dump him, blame himself for making life hard for her (it's heartbreaking in The Closer when he tells Brenda he needs his mother to come back so he can show her he can be better) - and his life on the streets is so godsawful (the Rusty-Brenda parallel in that finale is ham-fisted, but it's still true when he says he's not just dealing with bad people, it's becoming part of who he is and he can't go on like that) that he'd much rather be back with her, especially the "it can be better" version of their life he imagines. After a couple of years experiencing appropriate maternal love from Sharon, he starts to confront the reality of life with his mom, but even then his perception of when things were acceptable and when they crossed a line remains skewed (we know things went off the rails when he was six, but he thinks it was okay until he was 11); it's an ongoing process. That process is one of the 248 tragic things about Sharon dying (okay, no, I haven't made a list - but I could); 21 is young for anyone to lose a parent, but for someone who's only five years into truly having one, still overcoming his conditioning and learning to feel secure, it's even more sad to have to move forward with only memories.