Blergh

Upthread, I and other folks compared Blue Lagoon (1980) to Paradise (1982) - the latter being a rip off and IMO was worse!

I saw Part Two of Melissa Sue Anderson's Interview on the 50th Anniversary LHOTP Podcast and one interesting reveal was that a mutual friend to both Miss Anderson. .and AA has been the French LHOTP zealot Patrick Loubatiere. I don't know claim to know what he might have said or done but I can't help but think it's likely that since he had encouraged AA to bring a new standup routine that they wrote in FRENCH to audiences in France and even LA despite AA's initial misgivings, I think it's possible that he may have worked to convince one or both that it might be worth getting to know each other as they currently are as people now that each are . ..at least in sight of their golden years instead of hanging onto to decades' old hurts and misunderstandings from their teens. Of course, I don't think Dean Butler and Miss Anderson had ever had any issues or misunderstandings but Mr. Butler may have been reticent to attempt an independent friendship (beyond being professionally civil) with her due to AA's and especially MG's open hostility towards her. I could be wrong about that. In any case, it's good to see that Miss Anderson and AA embarking on a warmer bond than in times past. I only hope that MG at least accepts if not likes these two having cordiality instead of having it sour her own longtime friendship with AA.

Along those lines, IMUO, that movie was a pretentious, self-important plastic dirge of a mess instead of being remotely close to being the ideal feminist empowerment production that its writers and cast wanted the viewers [and Oscar nominators/voters] to believe! Yeah, boo me!

Now you know why there were so MANY honeymoon babies born to newlyweds back then! To bring this back on topic, I wish there were more TV characters who'd successfully fend off those guilt-tripping kin/cronies who'd insist on them throwing/attending major blowout and/or destination weddings instead of the usual deal of the characters caving in and going broker than broke with everyone but the guilt-trippers being sorry for a long time thereafter!

While All in the Family had its share of dark episodes, its hard to top the one called 'Archie is Branded' (1973) in which a swastika gets painted on the Bunker front door and it appears that Archie is somehow the mistaken target of anti-Semites. Anyway, an activist Paul Benjamin (played by, of all performers, Gregory Sierra) shows up to urge Archie to fight fire with fire. It has some lighter moments such as when they think a mailed package possibly may be a bomb- only to soak it and find out that its contents had had been imported cigars intended for Archie AND that Edith with her kitchen egg timer inside her smock pocket had been standing too close to the package! Oh, and also Mr. Benjamin calls Archie 'Bubi' (which means 'baby' in German and often used as pet name in German-speaking households). However after Mr. Benjamin decamps the Bunker household (and immediately Archie and Edith have a comical routine about the meaning of shalom), a loud explosion heard. ..and the Four run to their front door to open it in shock with Archie exclaiming 'Holy Cheez! They blew up Paul in his CAR!' and THAT was the end of the episode. Yep not only was there nothing about anyone contacting the police etc. but, despite the man having been killed in his car that had been parked in front of Casa Bunker in broad daylight, no one mentioned what the entire neighborhood had to have witnessed having happened or any aftermath- EVER! It shook me up as a pre-teen seeing it broadcast for the first time (and it threw both my parents for a loop) and it still disturbs me over a half-century later recalling it!

Somewhat along these lines, the wealthy Walnut Grove storekeepers Nels and Harriet Oleson in LHOTP went belly up with the rest of their town at the beginning of Season Five and saw their late-19th century bordello style furnishings get confiscated so Harriet was humbled at having to sweep nothing but bare wooden plank floors before having to leave their once-prosperous store and home supposedly forever (which led to one of Harriet's most touching and vulnerable moments with Caroline trying to console her). OK, just a few episodes later, Nels somehow got VERY lucky at roulette while playing drunk in the big bad city of Winoka . This prompted Harriet eagerly to eagerly exclaim 'Look at all that MONEY! Oh, I LOVE you, Nels! Of course, I'll go back to Walnut Grove with you!' Yep,-not only did their poverty instantly erased and they resumed their spot at the top of the Walnut Grove food chain (with Harriet having learned nothing from this reversal of fortune) but they somehow got exactly the same garish furnishings BACK upon their return! LOL

I agree and I've also wondered what Bill Kurtis was thinking in agreeing to narrate that movie and its sequel. I hope he donated his salary to fund struggling journalists and/or a news archive.

OK, since this is a trivia thread, this would be as good a place as any to discuss the one who may be the least documented of US Presidential spouses, one Hannah Hoes Van Buren (1783-1819). She had been born in her future husband Martin's hometown of Kinderhook, New York on the Hudson River and, like her future husband, her first language was Dutch instead of English and was said to speak English with a strong Hudson Valley Dutch accent. Yes, in spite of the fact that the original Dutch colony had fallen to the English in 1660, many if not most of the descendants of the original colonists tenaciously maintained their ancestral homeland's mother tongue (and, in some cases would do so as late as the early 20th century before phonographs and radio somewhat overwhelmed the tradition). Anyway, Hannah also happened to be a maternal first cousin of Martin and evidently had been childhood sweethearts yet they would not marry until 1807 when Hannah was at the somewhat then-late age of 24. She would bear five children but only three sons would survive infancy and poor Hannah herself would die of tuberculosis at the age of 35 with her youngest surviving son not yet two years old. Despite his own loss of marital companionship and their young sons being motherless, her widower would never remarry before his own death 43 years later at age 79 in 1862. Their eldest son Abraham's 20-year-old wife Angelica Singleton Van Buren would serve as de facto First Lady from 1838-1841 after Martin had become the 8th President. Unlike his predecessor Thomas Jefferson (who endlessly memorialized his late wife Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson), Martin was rather private about his feelings towards Hannah- to the degree that he didn't mention her even ONCE in his 900 page autobiography ! Some say that he didn't want her to be scrutinized by future historians but who knows. I wonder how their sons felt about that!

Will someone clue me in WHY anyone would want to willingly be in the same hemisphere as him much less in any way patronize Mr. Brown after ALL his abuses of those who DID like him? NOT that this remotely justified ANY kind of alleged abuse on his part towards these folks who deserve justice after what he evidently did but I just don't see any benefit in having anything to do with him- regardless of whether they like his music.

Not the biggest fan in the world. However, I couldn't help but be moved by the French-Canadian iconic singer Celine Dion's powerful and triumphant performance in Friday night's Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics! Even if I had had no knowledge of how she's had very limited public appearances and performances in recent months due to her having to battle a neurological condition, it would have been quite a cathartic performance but since her recent health challenges ARE known, that makes it all the more vindicating! I can't imagine how she managed to appear SO healthy and invigorated last night after so many months of battling that condition but somehow, somehow she did it and even if she has more issues in the future from that condition NOTHING can take away from how she DID shine on the literal world stage- not even the constant rain that poured down and that's something she and her loved ones can draw strength from in the future!

In this age of so many conflicts happening, I think our Forum may take heart to hear about a longstanding rift FINALLY coming to an end. Namely, in the Little House 50 Podcast,they had none other than Melissa Sue Anderson guesting! Yep, Mary Ingalls herself! They ALL gave her a warm welcome with the hostess Pamela Bob saying she'd ALWAYS been on 'Team Mary' and thought she had been an excellent teen performer. MSA and Alison Arngrim confirmed that when they'd gotten together for the fan event in Monte Carlo, they took in the sights like 'two old lady tourists' and had fun- and cleared up 'old misunderstandings'. No, they didn't go into detail exactly what had been cleared up (and it's probably just as well since even mentioning them could have started needless speculations). And MSA was very diplomatic relaying what she thought of her fellow LHOTP cast members mostly just saying they were 'interestingly' but surprisingly saying that in her opinion, MG had had the most fun working! There was one moment when she completely broke up AA, Dean Butler and the hostess Pamela Bob. MSA said that after Mary had gone blind, she had gotten fan letters from viewers who'd thought that MSA had actually lost her sight AND that the scripts had been specially tailored JUST so MSA could keep working despite that' new challenge'! Yep, not only had they totally missed the memo that Book and RL Mary HAD gone blind but they totally defied logic in actually sending MSA support letters -inasmuch as if they sincerely believed MSA had gone blind, HOW did they expect her to READ the letters? LOL This was roughly the time when Ellen Corby had returned to The Waltons severely challenged by having had a devastating stroke- and the scripts had had her character of Esther 'Grandma' Walton also having to contend with that. So, perhaps those viewers that had gotten their wires crossed and believed that something similar had happened to MSA. Anyway, I thought this deserved a good mention in these parts!

OK, now that I brought up the late Ruth Gordon (1896-1985) elsewhere, I might as well add one of my fave one-shots she did was on Rhoda (1974-1978) as Carlton the [never seen] Doorman's Mother. Carlton's Mother [no other name given]was a flaky grifter of the first order who, even when pressing for Rhoda to get Carlton's job restored, never stopped trying to get the best of others (and likely contributed a great deal to Carlton's character). Oh, and she had one of the best lines ever: "You know who his father was!" Carlton's Mother. "No!"-Rhoda "Me neither!"-Carlton's Mother.

One of the only redeeming qualities he had was that his sneaky grandma was played by Ruth Gordon. She'd raised him wrong from early childhood and Kirk (and his new bride) wound up in jail thanks to her shenanigans. Yeah, she simultaneously brought the laughs AND somehow got the viewer to genuinely feel sorry for her framed grandson and granddaughter-in-law.

I'm not arguing with you on this (and somehow I don't think Rhea Perlman would either). However, Louie was the ONE sure-fire lemon in the batch for the Taxi lemonade. OTOH,IMO, Bobby Wheeler (the late Jeff Conaway) was annoying and arrogant and by no means the bestie he wanted the rest of the crew to think he was- and he was needlessly antagonist to Louie on those rare occasions when Louie attempted to muster civility to him. He kept rubbing it everyone's faces how he was an actor wasting his time driving cabs and would soon have his Big Break, be outta there & so long SUCKERS! That didn't happen and the audience was expected to throw him a pity party until he abruptly was gone. Frankly, I was relieved when Bobby was gone and thought the group seemed a great deal less tense thereafter.

I wasn't talking about [in itself bogus] EVOO. However if Miss Ray DOES use 'whatEV',etc. (actually needlessly shortening words and terms without re-translating them), then my stance re her being lazy as well as cute in doing so stands. P.S. All the above said though, I've tried very hard to avoid having to hear her for quite a few years (almost as much as Progressive Flo) so I don't claim to be an expert in her verbiage.

I remember Burger Chef- mainly because it had cheezy cartoon ads with the plumb middle aged calm protagonist of the same name with his frantic teen employee/sidekick Jeff (and called 'The Adventures of Burger Chef and Jeff'). Anyway Jeff had one of my fave early 1970's slang terms 'Increda-BURGER-ble!

IMO, Miss Ray et.al. are most likely attempting but failing to be cute but succeeding in being lazy!

Question: is the audience truly expected to believe that Jonathon had a more fun time with Alice than Nels did with Harriet?

Wouldn't it be less dicey to use a clothes pin on one's nose? And does anyone watching truly get the 'she smells as fresh as a daisy' vibe from that shill?

That's infuriating that these often literal life-and-death emergency services got messed up (in addition to the airlines,etc.)! I was very lucky in that all that happened re my workplace was that we were told to write down our clock in,lunch times,etc. because there was no access to the 'Net time clock for a few hours. However, by the time I clocked out, that had been resolved (and I'd written down the times prepared to email the supes with it). But how many times has some kind of essential 'Net service crashed, been hacked or otherwise failed- and there wound up having been no back up plan or alternative (much less any means to at least protect individual functions,etc, from being effected)? And yet instead of at least individual safeguards or alternates in place or being considered, the consumers from individuals to corporations to essential services are strongly encouraged to not consider using any option BUT the 'Net- regardless of how frequently these egg baskets get scrambled because WHY?!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I

Yeah, I thought 'zah' was a lame and lazy way to say 'pizza' but one of my college pals from Atlanta used it all the time in RL back in the 1980's but it seemed an almost unique usage in my circle . I have no idea if he still uses it in the post-Millennial 20's. FWIW, it's not as lame as 'what EV'- as if one can't bother to use the energy to invest in the 'er' when trying to communicate 'whatever'. What next? 'What-EH', perhaps?

Taking it to small talk. . .

To think Dr. Hartley outlived them all except for Jerry the Dentist!

I could actually believe Bernard the mouse was blushing while Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor) flirted with him- thanks to Mr. Newhart's hesitations and pauses in all the right spots! Yeah, they were an awesome team! Thanks for reminding me of the great cartoon chemistry and teamwork of Mr. Newhart and Miss Gabor!