Ashforth

Wait, what? Jeff Goldblum is playing a character in those ads?

OMG y'all are hilarious! How did I not get that?

Not gonna ask how you know that. Not asking. Nope.

Love to you @Bronx Babe and all of our fellow posters!

Nothing against pressure cookers, but I make beef pot roast or stew in a cast iron Dutch oven that my mother gave to me. That thing is magic! Add a generous slug of balsamic vinegar along with whatever other liquid you're using to braise. Grands biscuits make good dumplings. Cut them into quarters.

I usually use a spoon to try to press the seam hard enough for it to pop open. I think in the future I'll just whack it with a knife!

This year has been tough. That's my rationale for my vulnerability to sentimental holiday commercials. I have literally wept. This excludes the weird-ass Kerrygold "Happy First Day" ads that have turned me into an amateur psychologist/wannabe face-reading-body-language expert every time one comes on. I have spent way too much time trying to figure out the dude's expression when he comes through the door - because it's different in the different ads! They are intentionally fucking with my head. Also excluded are the exploitive tear-jerker ASPCA ads. They are long and they are intentionally grotesque and seem scammy to me. Any time that you hear "call in the next ten minutes" you can rest assured that if you call and give money, most of it won't go to the cause you intend. Give Local!

I appreciated that the storyline was kind of a fish out of water tale on both sides. It was different than the typical "successful but single (so not really successful) woman gets stuck in a small incredibly Christmas-oriented town". This movie felt more grown-up to me than most.

That's a big reason that I don't watch as much Dateline and 48 Hours as I used to. There's a recap after every commercial break. If there's a video or audio recording, it's played over and over again. There's so much repetition that about halfway in, I'm thinking, just get to the ending. Sometimes it feels like the "mystery" is manufactured for drama, which is not what journalism should be. But are these shows supposed to be journalism? Or are they admittedly flat out entertainment?

Darnell was pretty much my gift from Santa for this year. Call me, Darnell! 😍

Watching a rerun of a 2019 episode with FN Celebrity chefs. They have to cook a three course meal and - red light special - use regular or vanilla Oreos in each course. At one point Beau McMillon added some of the cookie to one of his dishes, turned to the camera and said, "at that point, my integrity left my body." At least that what I think I heard. I laughed so hard! As it turns out, this is one of those celebrity contestant episodes that make me wish I could taste the food.

"That boy ain't right" and "Take the bitter pill" have long been staples for me. Joe Sears, Jaston Williams and Ed Howard created magic with the Tuna plays. A Tuna Christmas is my favorite.

It just occurred to me when I quoted DiDi Snively to a co-worker yesterday ("GOD... Dammit, RR") that my fellow posters would probably love A Tuna Christmas, and I was hoping to find it for streaming, but alas, it seems to only be available on DVD (at a whopping $49) on Amazon. I wish it was more readily available, because it is a hoot. Here's an interview with the stars: I found a poor quality copy of the HBO production of Greater Tuna (the origin play) on YouTube, but found it pretty much unwatchable. Greater Tuna is darker than A Tuna Christmas, imo, and I didn't like it as much.

But WERE you? Maybe you kinda were. That story is hilarious. I think the Beatles (and I'm embarrassed to admit how long it took me to get the pun of the band's name) had a much wider range of artistic expression than the Stones, but the Stones really rocked it out. I wasn't a Stones fan even though I knew their music and thought Mick Jagger was gross until I saw them live in 1980. Wow, then I got it. I don't know whether I've ever seen another performer as charismatic onstage as Jagger. It's too bad that with the passage of time, I have realized how misogynistic the Stones generally were, and some early Beatles songs as well.

The bunny wasn't wearing a Citizen watch, so he was persona non grata. What a strange and unpleasant commercial. Way to go, Citizen!

And they're all, who is that woman? And who is Conrad?

I think it's because she loans you the money for your bail and a lawyer, and you then cheat on her with her best friend and never pay her back. Finally, she takes you on Judge Judy, where you smirk and say it was a gift.

Not so fast, Comrade. But she has been dead for a long time now, so to me it got weird to use the commercial. I bet that a lot of viewers wouldn't have any idea who she was.

The funniest thing I've seen on The Kitchen was in a recent re-airing of an old Thanksgiving show when GZ made a dirty comment about prepping a turkey for roasting ("Oh, I'm gonna get in there") and the whole cast was trying to keep it together. I don't recall whether there was any audience reaction, because I was busy cracking up. I posted about that before, apologies for the repeat. In other old repeats, I'm reminded of why I used to avoid this show like the plague (ooof, bad comparison). The crafting segments had a lot to do with it. On the FN thread, someone regularly posts the ratings. To me, they are all much more likeable cooking from home than in the studio. Even Alex. 🤭 Sunny is a conundrum, but hey, we need someone to rag on. You go girl, with your winter outdoor cooking!

I never found him to be charming or a great communicator. I was a young woman when he was elected after vilifying poor people (remember the "Welfare Queen" rant) and I remember the "tent cities" in Houston while he was President. I have never understood why so many people revered him. The fact that it was later revealed that he had Alzheimer's explained a LOT about his presidency (at least the later years, if not the early ones).

So true, my friend. So true. I haven't dived into the streaming movies yet, so I'm hoping when I do that on my days off this week, they're better. I think the Lifetime ones have been very uneven, but a few have been pretty good.

It wouldn't surprise me if, like many shows filmed with a live audience in the Before Times, the audience reactions (applause, laughter) are sweetened up in post-production.

But the mailbox is beside the decorated tree, and there doesn't seem to be any indication that it's in a Christmas tree lot. I think it's a very sweet commercial. I didn't get at all that the ending happened in a Christmas tree lot. I thought it was at the mailbox where they went to mail the ornaments.

Oh, dear. I've long heard the expression, "She's a tough cookie" but I don't know that I have ever actually eaten a cookie that was tough.

Just for clarity, I posted: I don't know why sometimes quoting a quoted post attributes the quote to the first quoter instead of the OP. OMG, that can be the "big misunderstanding" in the last 20 minutes of a future holiday movie! Hallmark, Lifetime, whoever, you're welcome! Send me a check.