Blergh

Hooray that they have Mary Berry herself as one of the judges since with her expertise but warm support to the contestants never waivering, she's a breath of fresh air compared to virtually ALL other snarky but clueless 'reality' contests on network television. We could all use a smart grandma encouraging others to aim higher in baking (or whatever). Johnny's okay but nothing special. As for Nia and Ian as hosts? IMO, Ian seems to have all the personality of a turnip and, despite them being married, he and Nia seem to have all the chemistry of cream of wheat. Ironic that their British originators (Mel and Sue) have excellent chemistry and banter despite them not having any intimate bond between them. Maybe they will improve but I miss Mel and Sue.

Having seen (and loved ) the Christmas special a great deal over the years, I virtually had it memorized so had no need to see it again yesterday. Yes, I agree with everyone else how it was great seeing ALL these snotty acquaintances actually become NICE to Charlie Brown and even though we all know they went right BACK to being snotty as soon as Christmas was over, at least Wishy-Washy will always have THAT time in which he was done right by them. Anyway, for laughs and giggles, I saw the Thanksgiving special again yesterday- and I discovered to my foggy memory cells dismay that Charlie Brown's sister Sally WAS in it and even stayed around to go with the rest of them to go to Grandmother's condo. Oops! It was interesting how, in this special, Marcie definitely sounded like an authentic grade schooler more than any of the other performers yet convincingly sounded intelligent enough to present the flawless argument to Peppermint Patty re her rudeness citing Linus's historic (albeit sanitized) summation of Thanksgiving. Yes, sad that Chris Shea (the original Linus) died in 2010 but he did more than that as a performer. He was a neighbor kid whom Oscar and Felix would vent about the other to and seek as well as get advice from. Who'd have predicted that Jack Klugman would wind up outliving him!?

Here's a positive UO. I liked Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's Hercules movie! I know it bombed but I thought it was a fairly good interpretation of the myth (and I think it was a good touch to show that how bragging and tall tales about real events COULD have eventually become myths). Moreover, I thought Mr. Johnson did an excellent job playing a character trying to find out if he was destined to be more than a fraud/mercenary yet was haunted by his own horrible past atrocities. He put a great deal of cerebral and physical exertion into this role and I'm sorry the movie didn't do better or be considered more than a joke by most.

At least you actually like it. I DO NOT and have zero interest in ever seeing it and am not shy about it but I'm STILL nagged, cajoled and guilted by friends and others that I HAVE to see it. Nope, I don't and my life will go on perfectly fine if I never do so go work on your OWN lives instead of trying to live mine!

I cancelled "Lost" after they wasted the whole year on The Hatch and no amount of network hype and pals' pleading could get me back. Was I relieved to find out I had NOT wasted X more years of my life enduring something I had grown to hate when the 'reveal' happened at the very end and everyone else who'd fallen for the hype felt like kicking themselves.

Wendy, I stand corrected but I guess since Lucy was saying it so sarcastically, it didn't register as being her actually calling him his 'real' name-ddd as that sounds. I have to admire Sparky for insisting on prominent characters with extra long names (e.g. Peppermint Patty)being used in full despite the very limited spaces dialogue and thought bubbles had in comic strips. Back to this particular special, I wonder if Snoopy might have been more apt to have dressed up as a Massachussets Native American instead of a Pilgrim at the end tag.

Ironic that this was virtually the only special in which Franklin was in. Evidently, he was introed to show 'diversity' but once he'd been the conduit to present his friends Peppermint Patty and Marcie, he seemed to quietly make his exit. I agree that Peppermint Patty was at her worst here (and, ironically, she and Marcie were usually the most likable girl characters to Charlie Brown). At least Marcie stood up to Peppermint Patty and called her out on her rudeness after Peppermint Patty dissed Snoopy's attempt to put together a fake turkey with virtually no warning from popcorn and toast. However; why Marcie (and Franklin) went over to Charlie Brown's house for Thanksgiving instead of telling Peppermint Patty it was a bad idea and going to their own families' homes for Thanksgiving is unclear. Also, in addition to Charlie Brown's lament that his (unseen) grandmother lived in a condo, I always thought it funny how he referred to himself as 'Charlie Brown' and not 'Charlie' to his own grandmother but maybe the woman had more than one grandson named Charlie via different offspring. But, then again, NO ONE called him just 'Charlie'- not even his spacey sister Sally (where was she on Thanksgiving?).

Not a bad spot with Carly Simon. Interesting that she admit writing her autobio brought back her childhood stuttering and I could tell that she is STILL somewhat a shy person. Ironic, though, that her impromptu(?) duet with Colbert doing "Mockingbird" highlighted a much wider range of vocalization for her than the latter song she did with her grown kids which seemed rather narrow in scope and one could barely hear her daughter's contributions. While Colbert did a fairly good job with "Mockingbird", he was far from James Taylor and IMO it would have been better had her son Ben (who most folks would agree sounds a great deal like his father) had participated in that instead of the closing number.

I never thought I'd miss hearing the sound of rakes scraping against sidewalks- but that sound would be music to my ears compared to LEAF BLOWERS! Yet another reason why I'd like to apply for a transfer back to the previous millennium.

Or even better 'your old pal, Principal Hook!'

I wonder what marketing geniuses at Emirate Air actually thought that NOT being able to shower on a plane (and therefore not bumping into Miss Aniston) is the ONLY reason viewers at home were reluctant to spend zillions of bucks for first class trips to Dubai JUST so they shower on a plane and therefore would only take buses if they couldn't find flights to Peoria served by Emirate Air. Talk about living in bubbles (and that goes for Miss Aniston unless she REALLY was willing to hold her nose just to supplement those "Friends" residuals).

I'll dissent and say (as a one-time straight C math student) I LIKED the Math Cooking Prof and found her far more entertaining than Margaret Cho. Maybe the resulting pastries were more palatable than head lice. Dunno. Perhaps, I needed a perky skit with good food to pick me up after the rough off 'Net day I'd had. Anyway, I actually learned more in that skit than in decades of droning math teachers' courses so I won't be unhappy if she returns. Also, I had fun with Daniel Craig's James Bond Car Rental Skit with Mr. Colbert in the cheesy stache and Mr. Craig cracking up with pulling Mr. Colbert over the counter!

Not a bad show last night,IMO [though by no means the caliber of Vice- President Biden's appearance]. And just when I thought Margaret Cho might pleasantly surprise me with a fairly good singing voice in a country /folk vein, she showed her tacky via that head lice#. Oh well.

Would it be considered horrible for me to be saddened re Senator Thompson's agonizing death yet relieved in the knowledge that he will be making no more reverse mortgage commercials? Sorry but I hate ads that encourage the elderly and others to risk homelessness in their waning years for fast cash .

Maybe I have different standards than others but, apart from the man jumping in the pool and squirting water at the younger woman poolside, I find nothing that I'd consider potentially offensive or upsetting re what was depicted .Moreover, the ONLY reason I'd consider the first man jumping in the pool and squirting water at the younger woman to be obnoxious if the younger woman herself been upset or annoyed by the pool man. Since she seemed to laugh at these antics and happily joined him in the pool afterwards, I think that she was amused instead of annoyed. However; I DO find the commercial annoying for the sole reason of it being one of the zillions of commercials that pitch the idea that ALL it takes to have a happy, successful life is to bug your doctor to become a licensed Pez dispenser of a 'magic 'pill that will instantly transform your miserable existence - and,of course, be willing to buck the odds of all the bad stuff (which is often worse than what it's supposed to 'cure') happening that the disclaimers mention to cover themselves but that that they hope you'll ignore. As to who names their car? I had an older relative who named her white VW Beetle 'Pearl' and I thought it was apt . Otherwise, I think that's just flaky for no good reason. As for the GEICO Peter Pan? Yes, I think it would have been better had he not been just rubbing everyone's face in his youth (and their mortality) - perhaps having him be more sympathetic re having him recall being dissed for being too short and slight to make the football team but now was the class's best football player. At least they didn't have a middle aged woman in a pixie wig and pointed ears play the part. I NEVER thought that was a good plan. Can we hope the GEICO Peter Pan flies directly back to Neverland- taking Progressive's Flo with him and we never have to see either of them again?

"Nike" -Snow Day! OK, just because these mega- athletes CAN destroy their own homes and cars JUST to get to a vacant lot to play tackle football on a snowday doesn't mean that that's the BEST option for them and others should be shamed for preferring to stay inside their own warm homes instead. And what does any of this have to do with the shoes they're wearing? ETA- punctuation and a closing sentence-

Fair enough question. OK, I also dislike TMZ and have no use for it. However; IMO, it's marginally better than "ET" in that it never attempts to fake liking any of its targets or having any respect for its audience. IMO, both are toxic but at least TMZ doesn't try to saccharine-coat its toxic core.

What made it even more unreal was the fact that nwhen the audience first sees Aunt Sylvia in their apartment, she is chatting up with an older woman named Ethel whom she identifies as her mother (and Ethel was played by Ja'net Dubois -Willona of "Good Times") . Anyway, after making a few wisecracks at her son-in-law's expense, Ethel literally laughs herself out the door just seconds before Tootie and Natalie arrive- and none of them mention Ethel having missed her granddaughter's visit or Tootie bumping into her on their way in. What kind of grandmother wouldn't hang around even for a few more seconds to see their grandkid? Just unreal. edited due to server going berserk during my first attempt to post

I hate tabloid shows in general but I thoroughly detest "Entertainment Tonight" and am puzzled and very disappointed that they never seemed to have been called on by their targets or held accountable for the havoc they've wreaked. Case in point - the birth of Angelina Jolie's and Brad Pitts's twins. For weeks on end, not only did the media frenzy force this couple to have to stay holed up in their home with their already large number of offspring while awaiting the birth, but this entity led the pack in spreading the claim that the birth had ALREADY happened. Long-short is that when the dust finally settled and it was proven they "ET" had LIED about the birth date, I was hoping that Miss Jolie and/or Mr. Pitt would have REALLY called them out and forced "ET" to make an abject and consequential apology, but ALL that happened was that "ET" just shrugged their shoulders and said that they'd ' resolved their issues' with the couple. Although I admire Mr. Pitts and Miss Jolie's humanitarian ventures, I'm by no means a fan of their acting or even really like them as people. However; I don't think they or anyone else deserves being besieged this way and having a life-and-death milestone LIED about and I REALLY wish one or both of them would have done their best to make Mary Hart, etc. cry live on camera after being eviscerated by them - regardless of whether they worked for a Paramount related production again. reason for edit- spelling correction

Has anyone told JM how much of a class act she's proving herself to be? Talk about playing opposite one's personality. ..

So do the pizza makers truly believe there's an untapped market of women who are turned off seeing their husbands share playtime with their daughters? News to me. I wonder if they'll have any future commercials for women turned off seeing their husbands share playtime with their sons- or for that matter commercials for men turned off seeing their wives share playtime with their any of their kids. It sure sounds as though someone's got issues seeing parents actually having fun with their kids. Boo!

OK, here's my head scratcher re the 'gluten free engineer' one. He talks about how he's glad they've made the cereal gluten-free so he can have Cheerios with his gluten- sensative daughter-in-law any time. Okay, that's fine and dandy . However; since the commercial seems to also show a small boy playing in the background, and no sign of either the boy's father or any grandmother, does this mean that that these family members have died and this aged engineer is spending his twilight years helping his widowed daughter-in-law raise his late son's child? Yeah, it's none of my business since I don't know any of them but that's what crossed my mind.

OK, I'll throw this left-fielder out for laughs and giggles but. .. I like it more when Dr. Ruth talks about topics besides sex! I mean, she gets nice and explicit,etc. but IMO she's led a very interesting life and has had a far wider range of studies and human interactions besides sex alone but very few programs seem interested in hearing any other aspect of her life or POVs and it's too bad. Regardless of anything else, I find it intriguing that despite having had to leave her hometown of Frankfurt when she was only 10, living many places since then, and learning 3 new languages, Dr. Ruth has NEVER lost that German accent and I'm entertained by her giggle even if its not always for the right reasons on her part.

I know I'm also in the minority but, as far as I'm concerned, a momentary glance at the final game score for virtually any venue is all I need. I don't need to know who contributed to the score or how it happened. I'll even go so far as to say that I'm the same way re political conventions and elections. I read up on the issues then quietly go to the polls and vote- then just hope the majority follows suit and do my best to avoid media and blabbermouths until the final vote is counted. I see no point in borrowing needless trouble getting all angsty for many hours re each speech, poll and projection instead of just voting, seeing the final result- then learning to accept if not like the outcome once the news has hit.

Now, obviously I'm not going to recall my MOST embarrassing moment/s on a Forum that could go viral and wind up haunting me forever. However; I think I'll use this one to tell on myself I wouldn't mind getting repeated. Way back in college, I walked across campus around 'stupid o'clock' and chatted with someone for the very first time from 'Obscurity, No State'. The name of the town proved so memorable to me that the next day when I saw someone who said they were from 'Obscurity, No State', I replied ' Oh, do you know Jeb Watchmacallit? He's also from 'Obscurity, No State'. At which point, the person replied 'Blergh, that's ME!' Thankfully, he proved to be a fairly good college chum despite my initial name amnesia .