Blergh

I saw that one,too, recently! My, what an utter PILL that kid was! Sue-Ann was the ONLY person there who even remotely came close to calling him on his 'tude (and it was good to see) while his guilt-ridden divorced dad treated him as though he could do no wrong but his mother's side worshipped him. BTW, playing his maternal grandmother was none other than Mabel Albertson (AKA Mrs. Phyllis Stevens on "Bewitched" who, at the time, was Cloris Leachman's mother-in-law. Oddly enough, Miss Leachman reaped high praise on her and even would care for her at the end of her life when the older woman struggled with Alzheimer's and this was after Miss Leachman's marriage had ended. What's especially ironic is that, regardless of her offscreen personality, Miss Albertson ALWAYS seemed to play pills (and it was EASY to see where Stevie got his personality from). Yes, I always found it funny that the last couple of years of "Bewitched" and the first two of "MTM", George Englund was the son and husband of performers who played annoying women named Phyllis.LOL

Thanks, NutMeg. I can't say I'm always in control of how or what I dream but I keep enjoying the ride and hoping to see if I can occasionally tip the balance in my fave! ;) riley, My job isn't markedly more stressful than usual. Though, oddly enough, my job in the store SEEMED very stressful at the time but, having done my current position for X number of years, now I look back and realize that it was comparatively easy peas-ey . Still, maybe you're right re nostalgia for similar and happier times. So far ,in my dreams, even those supposedly set in the present, NO ONE is carrying a Smartphone on them! LOL

I liked Sue Ann a great deal,too. However; I wish Mary had told Lou to stuff it instead of caving in after he spent an entire episode nagging/guilting Mary to hire Sue Ann in the newsroom despite Mary's major (and legit) misgivings. I always saw that as a 'two steps back' ep for Mary.

ari, Too bad your mother didn't just buy a Barbie doll to put in a glass case so she could have something that looked pristine, impressed others and never could talk back.

Maybe I'm different but I actually look forward to my dreams as I often return to see folks and places I hadn't seen in a long time and sometimes I delay waking up just so I can see how the dream turns out like a movie. Also, I can't recall not dreaming in color. Not to say every single dream of mine has been pleasant or had a happy ending but I think I'd feel deprived if I no longer dreamt anything at all. Oh, case in point, a few days ago I dreamed that this store I'd worked for decades ago until its closing had reopened for a single day and despite in the dream knowing I've had another job for a long time, I felt compelled to ask if I could have my old job back. What was weird was that everyone else looked like they'd had decades earlier but I looked like my current age!

Technically speaking, as in the case of all Queen Consorts upon their marriage to a King, Albert was alreadya British subject when he wed Victoria (though one may wonder what would have happened re citizenry had the wedding been called off after this had happened). Moreover, he became a 'Royal BRITISH Highness' when he wed her and the thing that would infuriate both of them was that there would have been NO question re precedence had it been the wife of a king- as queen consorts were expected to be bowed and curtsied to by all members of the royal family save only for the king himself but the other royals were so unaccustomed to the idea of a woman ruler that they were not to be so accomodating to the queen's husband.

Ironically, after the birth of her 4th child, and 2nd born son Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (and later Duke of Saxe-Coburg Gotha ) in 1844, the English pubs started having this song circulating about Victoria pleading with Albert called 'We'll DO It No More!' since this growing royal family and the public funds allotted to each new member was supposedly going to cause the nation to go bankrupt. It hadn't been that long since her grandfather George III's brood of 15 children had quite taxed the nation's coffers so, once the Queen was proven healthy (and fertile), the not so dim memories of having too much of a good thing re royal offspring got folks a bit antsy!

As I said in the show's thread, it was roughly two years later that Vic actually DID ride a train for the first time but she loved it from the start. It was Albert who was a bit more cautious and insisted that the engines would go no faster than 40 MPH! However; with rail companies outfitting special Royal Saloon cars for her comfort, they soon were using the rails whenever possible even though there was one time the Royal train incurred a fatality in 1855 when a railman was crushed when he attempted to lubricate an overheated axle while the train was in motion! serv

Although, I think it was two years earlier than the actual historic event, seeing Queen Victoria depicted riding on a train for the first time was quite amazing. It's lucky that Albert only got slightly sooty riding the engine itself as those coal-powered steam engines were notorious for belching sparks and cinders.

Actually, there WERE polite English terms for pregnancy! 'In the family way' and 'in that interesting condition' had been used for over a hundred years by Victoria's reign. Moreover, Albert being a Continental noble WOULD have known at least enough French to know 'enciente'. I mean the term was so widespread among the populace that when ' I Love Lucy' had Lucy Ricardo being pregnant, CBS insisted that Ethel Mertz use the French term instead. If CBS was confident that the 1950's US American viewing public would know what 'enciente' was AND find it believable that Ethel Mertz would also know it, why would this New Millennial British production think a thoroughly educated Continental noble would have been ignorant of it- or for that matter that Victoria herself would have been ignorant of the first two English euphemisms? Sakes!

Of course, in addition to being endlessly reminded of Princess Charlotte of Wale's fate, it should be noted that while Victoria was the 5th queen to indisputably rule in her own right, before the Princess Royal's birth NONE of the previous four queen regnants had actually successfully borne a child after succeeding to the throne. Tragically, the closest one to have done so was Queen Anne who, prior to having succeeded her brother-in-law William III had been pregnant no fewer than 19[yes NINETEEN] times but had had fifteen stillbirths, only four live births and only one of those four lived past infancy but William Duke of Gloucestershire suffered hydroencephilitus and would die when he was eleven. Anne herself died at age 49 so badly swollen by dropsy that she had to be buried in a square coffin! As for wetnurses? Yes, the job paid uneducated women quite well compared to their husbands. However; it wasn't entirely cushy as in the Royal household, they were expected to STAND at all times when nursing their charges so their charges would know from Day One that these were folks who were not their social equals.

Can I say that I'm sorry that Shay Carl Butler and his family appear to be going through a great deal of turmoil at this time ? Also, especially for the sakes of his wife and their five children, I hope they find their peace before too long -regardless of whether any of them ever appear on YouTube again. Why is so many folks seem to think they can play on You Tube without winding up scorched one way or another?

I think at best Victoria had mixed feelings re Princess Sophia- seeing her as a spy for Conroy (and ultimately her mother). Yes, she likely felt sorry for her aunt as she become very old and blind towards the end of her life and probably even softened up thanks to Albert's pleadings but that didn't erase how Victoria had had to deal with her earlier. It's interesting that, decades after everyone else's death, one of Conroy's widowed daughters-in-law in a vain attempt to rehabilitate his reputation, she wrote that the Duchess of Kent had been attracted to him, to which Victoria replied (in the margins) 'Sir John's OWN imagination and Princess Sophia's fearful falseness!' . Not surprisingly, Victoria dismissed this plea as ' a tissue of lies' (and I wonder how much of it the woman herself believed rather than simply parroting her late husband's family's spin) but I think Victoria's responses were how she viewed the situation. Also, it's funny how when Princess Sophia supposedly became pregnant, she allegedly told her father King George III that she had dropsy and after the birth told him she'd cured it by 'eating roast beef' (and her befuddled and virtually blind parent chose to believe her). Yes, I agree that the Hanoverians and Coburgs themselves had PLENTY of stuff that could have been depicted or even just mentioned as opposed to all these soapy dealings of fictionalized staff.

I like the Mercury Insurance one with the two agents evidently summoned to a Darth Vader-like darkened office in which they get 'interrogated' by the shadowy figure armed with lightning effects behind the desk yet remain completely unflappable even when he does a complete 180 with the lights on and becomes Mister Rogers's long lost twin at the end. LOL

This episode depicted the early friendship between Albert and his originally resented secretary Anson . Ironically, Albert's initial resentment became something of a humorous stance between the two of them. Sadly, though, Anson would die in 1849 at the even-then early age of 37- and Albert would mourn one of the few genuine friends he had made in England.

Ironically, the most realistic part of this episode had to do with Albert's secretary Anson giving him good advice on the Anti-Slavery speech. Yes, he'd originally been foisted on Albert against Albert's will but he DID early on prove to be a good ally (and a true friend) to Albert and it was good to see this depicted.

I understand Mr. Bradley was supposed to be comic relief as the perpetually befuddled male headmaster of this all-girls' school but I didn't get why he was supposed to be hanging out with them all the time. I mean, he was even shown watching TV with them in their own dorm. Didn't he have a TV in his own unseen quarters?

OK, saw it. Not bad but I have to admit I was downright creeped out by Elizabeth I's gown with dozens of eyes and ears sewn in to let everyone believe she saw and heard everything! Also, a bit amusing for Miss Worsley to dress up in replicas of royal attire (including male kings') but it did give her as close to a firsthand POV re what they had to go through in both wearing said attire as well even getting dressed. Not surprising that one poor lady-in-waiting in George II's court was recorded as having wet herself in front of the entire court when the queen refused to give her permission to excuse herself to go into another room and have her own attendants undress her to let her do her business until it was too late but what was surprising is that accidents didn't happen more frequently.

Gee, why didn't they just make a brand new show about a Gary Stu teen instead of trying to tie him to the old Riverdale deal. Miss Grundy was supposed to be somewhat of a joke but as per the strip eventually evolved into someone the students had a bit warmth towards in spite of her often being a cross, silly old woman. Doesn't sound like I'm missing anything here.

The one I think that got both Vic and Albert as close to the mark as possible was "Queen Victoria: Her Life and Times (Volume One)" by Cecil Woodham-Smith ( a woman with the given name of Cecil believe it not!). Anyway, she was given unprecedented access to the collections of the letters and journals at Windsor Castle and neither sentimentalizes nor excuses away any of the players but paints a very intriguing dual portrait. Alas, it only goes to Prince Albert's death due to Mrs. Woodham-Smith dying before she was able to compose Volume Two. Yes, due to Princess Charlotte's fate being endlessly mentioned, it's true that Victoria dreaded childbirth which she said was the ONE thing she was not looking forward to re marriage (and, years later she bemoaned not having taken a couple of years before she started having children -mainly due to not being able to gallivant with Prince Albert). Oh and considering that the Duke of Sussex (among other lesser ranked royals) had lived in Kensington Palace with the pre-Queen Victoria, his marital status as well as his wife's ID was very well-known to Vic. It's always odd the way most depictions of her act as though she, her mother, Lehzen and Conroy had the WHOLE Kensington Palace to themselves but it was actually a bit crowded by royal standards.

Wait, Archie 'sexed' Miss Grundy?! I hope not. In any case, it looks like it's going to join 'Sleepy Hollow', 'The Muppets' (2015) in the ash heap of 'if it ain't broke, fix it 'concept shows!

Ok, here's one that I started out liking but have gotten to the point of just being annoyed whenever she appears on TV: Oprah. Yes, I did indeed admire that she overcame SO much and did very well for herself but her ego just exploded to unpalatable proportions. The first sign of it came with the "Beloved" movie which she herself handpicked to produce and star in. First she bragged about how 'important' and 'great' the movie itself and every single performance was within and smugly predicted a box office smash capped with grand slams of awards. Then, when the public largely avoided it, she attempted to guilt-trip her viewers over how HARD she had worked to make this movie, how it was 'her child' and how authentic it was supposed to be. She just didn't seem to get that one cannot rely on guilt tripping and the public's pity to drive them in droves to see a movie they had no interest in watching. Then, of course, came all the 'staff makeovers' in which she ambushed some poor staffer and told them how they looked subpar but via a makeover they could look fantastic. Did she truly expect the employees to tell her they were content with their appearances to mind her own beez? Oh, and of course, it got to be a bit much that she seemed to believe she knew more about others' struggles than the people themselves who had actually gone through them. Lastly, it became a nonstop egofest in which everyone was expected to praise her, her 'gifts', etc. to the hilt -even when she was supposed to be honoring them including such notables as Coretta Scott King and Maya Angelou. Yep, the Weight Watchers deal and her hogging the CBS Mary Tyler Moore tribute were annoying but nothing surprising (and if Gayle King truly believes that she would be cut off if she dared to stand up to Oprah much less suggest to her to tone things down, Miss King isn't as much of a 'bestie' instead of a 'yes-woman' as she'd like to believe). As I said, I had originally liked and admired her but stunts like these just got me annoyed with her to the point that I hope she finds her peace but I no longer want to watch her.

On a somewhat different note, I can recall walking into my workplace immediately after I clocked in, and my then-manager asking me to discuss the contents of an email that they'd sent out ten minutes earlier. I mean, come on, did this person truly expect employees to seek out 'puter terminals to check on email just moments before we'd clocked in?

If it's any consolation, the product comes in a plastic wrapper so they can't claim to be kind/nice to the environment!

Lola, I recall that show. At the time, I liked it but when I saw one ep rerun as an adult, I was a bit discomfited how broadly they stereotyped all the in-laws -and despite the leading couple's then-strong chemical attraction to each other (though I know things ended badly for them despite them having three kids together), their characters were surprisingly bland and neither had any characteristics beyond 'Oh, I love him/her SO much even if they're a different faith from me!'. Yet, I actually liked each of the performers but thought the show simply did a disservice by not giving them better characters to play. Thankfully, future shows would do so for most of the regulars.