Phebemarie

I just noticed that the communications officer was the neighbor from Sass’s tree episode.

Since Bobby doesn't have a twin, I guess we're looking at a multiple personality issue. Maybe he was "Bobby" when he started the Horton fire. (That's all speculation).

I'll have to rewatch the first episode to see if Manny told Janine she would be in her classroom two days a week. If that's the case, she would have to prepare lesson plans for her students and would be justified in advising Jessca. Suspending a 7th or 8th grader for a few days for a mistake like smoking in the restroom wouldn't appear on any permanent record that a university or college would see. With the support of teachers who cared, it would be a life lesson...not a sentence to juvy. If there was no school wide rule against smoking (hard to believe), the student couldn't be disciplined anyway. I really think show was trying to equate what happened to the student with what has happened to people caught with marijuana in the past (and in some states that still have laws against it). The teachers' room confessional seemed a bit heavy-handed to show 'everyone does it'. In all my years of teaching, smoking in the restroom never tripped the smoke alarm.

I thought Janine was going to be in the classroom with her students twice a week.

The Allegra commercial with the cranky young woman wearing headphones and singing is incredibly annoying. Why is she so annoyed if she's taking Allegra and can breath in the spring? It seems to be on rotation with the Jacuzzi bathtub replacement commercial with the uptalking HGTV flipper host. 🤮

I know many were relieved when Ava was deprogrammed at the end of the season opener. I think it would have been funny to see the overly officious Ava a bit longer. She could still be a foil to the staff and funny to the audience. I think they missed an opportunity. This season seems like a year to show Janine's growth. I still remember the first season when she pulled out that ridiculously high ladder to repair a flickering light and then tried to fix her mistake by opening up the fuse box with Jacob in tow. She was an accident waiting to happen. The writers are doing a good job with the arc of her character development. This is not the same Janine who insisted on having her littles do the egg drop like the older students whose cranky science teacher couldn't stand her.

It seems like Flower would have ascended (acquiescing to those who want to avoid Trevor's more juvenile terminology) after Sam read her the email from her brother. I suppose her acceptance of being in a couple with Thor might have also been a pivotal moment...but we'd need to see a flashback showing that moment for Flower. I just don't think she's gone. I still think it's Basement Boy, who was conspicuously absent from the episode.

I thought it was interesting that there was a clip of Stephanie and Cholera Boy kissing in the season two montage at the beginning of the episode. I still think Flower’s supposed ascension is a red herring.

Wasn't part of the difficulty Janine was having getting the ASL interpreter because the district wasn't willing to hire a full time employee? Once the parents came in as advocates, the district did the right thing. As a retired middle school teacher, I had to giggle when one of the boys said, "We can fart, though?" Typical middle school boys. 😄 I would guess the older kids at Abbott might have a bit more freedom during lunch than the littles. In real life, they would probably tell the assistant in charge of the cafeteria that they had the teacher's permission to hang out in his classroom.

Not cool that the Horton house was destroyed.

I don't know...if we're dealing with tropes, I think I'd rather he have an evil twin rather than have multiple personalities. Has Days ever done an evil/bad twin story?

What was the motive to burn down the Horton house? Was Clyde trying to get back at Chad?

Is my little corner of Oregon the only West coast spot that gets the live broadcast at 8:30PM? I always find it funny that there's a warning before the Vintage SNL at 10:00 advising some material originally aired at a later time when we've just experienced everything live here without the "warning". I thought the show was a little lackluster, and Dakota Johnson's reliance on the cue cards really affected the pace. I'm beginning to think SNL needs new writers (or old writers who can be persuaded to return to the show). It did seem like Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon tried to take over...and maybe that friction caused problems with the host and cast. The taped skits were funny; the live stuff really wasn't at all.

Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they didn't get a single nomination this morning.

It's 30 degrees in NYC and Today thought it was a good idea to have two Olympic figure skaters perform a routine at Rockefeller Center this morning? Hoda was bundled up and enthusiastically said, "take off your warm ups" while one of the young women was obviously already cold. After their very short performances, Today made both stand in a long pose for the cameras. Here's an idea: talk with them inside the studio and ask them back another day when it's not so frigid.

It seems like it's SNL's go to cold open...certainly there are other ridiculous people out there they could make fun of this week. I also remember how Tina Fey worried her impression was somehow making Sarah Pallin more likable...and I think the same is true for JAJ's impression. His Trump seems much more self-aware than the real deal. I skimmed through Reddit last night and noticed a lot of folks who claimed to be supporters were delighted by the cold open. I guess the SNL cast is going through growing pains. Makes me wonder if the younger cast were excited to hang out with the cool kids this week and didn't notice the skits were all less than stellar.

It's sad that some really excellent comedies like Abbott Elementary and Only Murders in the Building have no chance. Comedy is hard, too...but big, dramatic scenes win awards. I think whoever is in charge needs to have some intellectual honesty when they submit their nominations. They should want their series and stars to compete against the best, not find a loop hole to win.

Can they please reclassify categories? There’s no way The Bear is a comedy.

I still think it's a little patronizing to acknowledge the issue of prejudice only one day a year. A good writing team would show these subtle microaggressions throughout the year rather than have actors tell us about them happening off screen.

I really enjoyed this. It was fun to see Awkwafina play the “straight man” to Sandra Oh (who was a lot of fun in this).

I think ESPN and FOX Sports also had a hand in ruining college football. Unfortunately, anything for the ratings ESPN will be happy with a Michigan win. The transfer portal and out of control NIL also share the blame.

I've noticed a few end of the year "best of" lists have included Are You There, God? I really hope the movie gets a little acknowledgement at awards time. Kathy Bates easily deserves a nomination for best supporting actor.

This whole story line is beyond ridiculous, starting with Ava and Stefan thinking they were getting ahead of Clyde. When did Clyde become a super-criminal with minions willing to do his bidding?

Anyone else a little tired of insurance spokespeople achieving a weird kind of celebrity status? I'm think particularly of Flo and Jake and Dr. Rick. At least the Mayhem commercials are occasionally witty and maybe not shown quite as often as the others.

In true soapy fashion, Marion and Larry’s happy nuptials will be interrupted by the return of his older lover, who has given birth to an adorable baby.