Lorna Mae

Jimmi Simpson (Liam) is in some demand; dunno about the guy who plays Ryan. Bird law finally paid off for Charlie!

Wait, when did we see Tom get a letter from the Countess? I saw Isobel give a letter to Robert, who read and summarized it, but where was Tom's letter? ETA: Ah, I see. Thank you.

Slightly OT: I was 10 when John Lennon was murdered. First thing I said when my mom told me was, "Did they know it was him?" My mom's head exploded, but to me, it was a valid question. All I knew about Lennon was, he was an ex-Beatle, the Beatles were super rich, and this happened in NYC. I also knew that in NYC, people could be killed for a dollar, so my take on it was, Lennon had been seen as just any rich guy getting out of a limo, and the shooter was after his wallet without caring who he was. Of course, not the case. Topic: When I first heard that "O.J. Simpson's wife" had been killed, without mention of her being his ex or of Ron Goldman, that's also what I thought. "Someone tried to rob the house, and killed her because she was a witness. Boy, I feel sorry for him/them when O.J. gets ahold of them." Hoo boy.

I'm okay with the Kardashian kids being in this. Reason being, it seems one of the purposes of this series is to show how American society changed because of this trial. There most likely wouldn't be a show about Kris, Kim et al if it hadn't happened, so we're seeing a foreshadowing. Daddy's on TV! I wish I could be on TV! That's where we are now, whether we should be or not. I didn't see anyone in the IMDb credits playing Bruce Jenner, though. He testified briefly, right? But probably Caitlin didn't agree to a portrayal.

Neurochick, what I remember is that the Reverend Rosey Grier visited O.J. in jail, and because he was clergy, they were given complete privacy. During that convo, O.J. raised his voice and said...something. Something that probably, but not provably, included the word "wife". "Killed my wife"? "Didn't kill my wife"? We'll never know. There was a lot of speculation about what people nearby heard, or thought they heard, but as I said, anything said to clergy by a prisoner is inadmissible. Why Grier wasn't called to the stand? Don't know, but probably because he was not a witness except for this. ETA: But I don't Grier had to make a point of it; that's just the way it is. Anything said by a prisoner to a minister, rabbi, priest, shaman, whathaveyou, is privileged. (Maybe it was "She made me do it!" But I remember thinking at the time that bystanders could convince themselves they'd heard just about anything.)

No, I think they would have had to stay. The check Frank was offering was for a year's rent on that house. So if they left, they lost. ETA: Ohhhhhh. You're right: it is ridiculous that they honor all their bets.

The synopsis was misleading too, claiming that Kevin lived in a motel because his home was so full of porn. I was picturing stacks and stacks of XXX media and tubs of paraphernalia. What we saw was just not that severe. Plus, it may be that he didn't know the TV crew would be there until he was already off site, and he didn't have a porn buddy to sanitize the place for him. And really, there have to have been other subjects, on this and the other show, who had some porn or paraphernalia. There must have been a vibrator or two uncovered by a cleanout crew. This is just the one case where they made it a focus of the episode. ETA: In fact, there was a rerun I saw a week or two ago. Fuzzie and Fredd, husband-and-wife punk/goth/slackers: the ones Matt told they had enough hobbies and needed to get jobs. They were pretty kinky, with the mannequins and the birthing table. You could tell they were jonesing for reactions to the birthing table. Wish Kevin's sisters could have seen that.

I watch those hoarding shows, and when I saw the piles of newspapers, that's exactly where my mind went. The hoarding neurosis always seems to be triggered either by a specific trauma, like fire or a death in the family, or it goes along with, and contributes to, a slow decline. Newspapers, books and magazines are a common fixation: the hoarder is going to read them "someday" and won't tolerate even one item leaving the house because they're all crucial parts of a grand plan. Ties in perfectly with the homeowner insisting that the good times and happy people will, will! come back. While he's drying his laundry on the firescreen.

What I don't get? Why Thomas and O'Brien were so tight. I kept waiting for either the big reveal that she was his bio-mom, or at least an admission that he was her sister's or close friend's son that she had a hand in raising. She seemed to have a vested interest in his success, as if she was counting on him to support her in her final years. Always encouraging him and pushing, with the valet job, with the black-market scheme...But she left, and I'll never know if there was any bond between them beyond smoking buddies.

Perfect example of people nowadays aging better than in times gone by: I've been watching a documentary about the day JFK was shot. Lot of interviews with people who were on the scene, like Clint Hill, like the officer who booked LHO -- people who were in their twenties or thirties at the time. Which puts them in their seventies or eighties when interviewed for the docu. And while they're not young in relative terms, they're also not decrepit. They're wrinkled but not pruney; their hair is gray or white but they still have a lot of it, they're not hunched over or palsied, and they speak clearly and concisely. Whereas, people in their seventies/eighties in 1963 would likely have had some combination of shaking or arthritic hands, curved spinal columns, liver spots, hoarse voices, and inability to follow a conversation or finish a thought. ETA: txhorns79, point taken. Anyway, as far as Downton, for me, Carson + Hughes makes up for Isobel turning down Dickie Merton. Why?! I mean, I understand why Violet turned down her Russian suitor, but Isobel turning down Merton because of his sons was weak. Phooey.

There were times when I thought DJ was being treated abominably. Yes, the "No, honey, you were a surprise!" scene is very touching...but it doesn't seem to carry over to Thanksgiving 1991. When people talk about how "weird" DJ is, I think of the sheer heartlessness of D&R making him sit alone at a card table, and snarling at him when he tries to join the conversation. How could anyone be "normal" when they're shunned like that? And I never understood why, when he was 12 and wanted to assert himself ("I'm not done talking about this...You never listen to me!") it was at the beginning of the episode where Al dies, so it couldn't be pursued. Why write it that way?

I agree. When she tenses up and says "Girrrrrrrrrllllllllllllzzzzzzzzz?!?!?!" I cringe. When my mom sounded like that, it was time to get away. (Whether or not it was something I did, which it wasn't always.) I don't quite agree about Jo, though. She didn't put down Tootie and Natalie, just Blair, and that was an even match. And her attitude was appropriate sometimes. Like when Mrs. G's son visited, the first time. Blair was hounding her with questions and Jo told her she was out of line. "But Mrs. G said we could ask her anything and we didn't have to be embarrassed!" "She was talking about sex. This is personal!"

Thank you!

I liked "It's too blue!" But that was full length, so maybe too formal. I didn't like the one Roseanne chose either; too babyish. What I really want to know,though,is how they did that continuous loop.

There was another episode about crossing the race line. I'm sure of it, and it was not Brian and Sylvia because I just watched that. It was later in the run, and Tootie (older and not so screechy) had a good go-off about how no one seems to care what the black family thinks in that situation. "Oh, they'd jump for joy, right?" Anyone remember that?

Never saw the Brian and Sylvia episode until just now. I can't believe Richard Dean Anderson had two series. He and the woman who played Sylvia were totally mugging -- overacting, biting off every word. It was so unreal; more so when Tootie and Natalie were in the scene with them.

I've been watching the first two seasons on Netflix, and I think it was absolutely the right decision to reduce the cast size. I can't. stand. Mr. Bradley. The actor grates on me a bit, and it also seems like they didn't know what to do with the character. In the very first episodes, he was prone to getting flustered around the girls and Mrs. G, and in the second half, post writer's strike, he was there to be a strawman MCP. Either way, he bugged. Time spent on the girls/Mrs. G telling him where to get off was time wasted when it could have been spent on the main story. Miss Mahoney is not worth mentioning, but since I just did, perhaps she was an early version of that '80s type: the prim factotum who'd love to be wild, and might get the chance, depending on the show. But that type was played much better in better shows. (Not knocking FOL as a series, just this first season. It's almost not the same show.) And I understand why they chose the core cast that they did. I like Nancy, but there just wouldn't have been anyone for her to play off of in that foursome. The others, meh, and that includes La Mol. I also remember watching the Big Deal Sex Ed episode when it was on. One bit stayed with me long afterwards. Sue Ann chirps that guys are supposed to be more experienced, and Blair swings around: "Who are they supposed to get experience with? Tinkerbell?" So I understood the concept of "double standard" before I heard the term.

I've been watching the first season on Netflix, and Matt and Dr. Z have a very different attitude in these episodes. Matt told this one couple, "You've got too many hobbies. You need to get a job." Dr. Z told a guy, "You don't need all these garden supplies. You're never gonna have a garden." At what point did it change to the wheedling and hand-holding of the later seasons? If anyone is familiar with "How Clean Is Your House?" (and if they like this show, they should check it out!), they know that one reason people tuned in was to see Kim and Aggie call the subjects on their BS. "You're a dirty beggar! Someone's telling porkies!" It made good TV, and so did the early Hoarders eps. Coddling and bargaining and "What's your anxiety level, on a scale of 1 to 10?" makes me just as aggravated at the so-called specialists as I am at the subjects.

It's the Aquarium movement from Carnival of the Animals, by Saint-Saens. I don't think there's any symbolism; it's a piece that gets used a lot just because it sounds otherworldly.

I have a question about Christopher Ryan's character; you know, the one of Edina's ex-husbands who is not Saffy's father. How is it that he's basically an invalid and has to have Mo Gaffney smash up his crisps for him?

Not only did my parents have the chip and dip set, but they had the little green ceramic spoon! Weiner's mom must have lost or broken her spoon somewhere along the line. And my mom had the set of four mixing bowls Betty has (largest one is yellow, then green, red and the smallest is blue).