Blergh

I wouldn't have minded occasional lightweight and/or humorous episodes but IMO, it was best in the first few years when there was still a sincere effort to depict the Ingallses as having to struggle and take serious risks just to survive instead of seeming to totally dump that gritty aspect for soapy stuff. All the above said, I actually agree with ML's call that it would have been too much for Miss Grassle to have worn prosthetic gunk to 'age' her hands- even though I know that pioneer women putting their hands through all kinds of tasks wouldn't have looked as though they had just popped in from the manicurist!

Perhaps, but one thing about Miss Brenda is the one can't say she ever had the most predictable career arc even for an entertainer. She was born Brenda Mae Tarpley December 11,1944 to a struggling family in rural Georgia but she loved to sing as far back as could remember. Her father Ruben died when she was just eight after a hammer fell on his head (?!) and she earnestly started singing for her family's supper! Thankfully, she has said that she never felt pressured or compelled to have done so but, instead WANTED to use her beloved singing to help out her struggling widowed mother Annie Grayce and her older siblings and felt proud to be able to do so. Yes, the promoters insisted she only use the last syllable of her original surname. She'd never grow an inch taller than 4 foot 9 inches but she proved to be a dynamo who'd tour the Americas, Europe and Asia from an early age and even had the Silver Beatles as her opening act before they hit it big and dropped the 'Silver'! She has said that when she was sixteen, she asked Judy Garland for advice and has never forgotten what her elder colleague told her- 'Don't ever let anyone take your childhood away!' In 1963, she wed the 19-year-old 6 foot 3 inches tall son of a Nashville city council member one Charles Ronald 'Ronnie' Shacklett who's been a successful construction contractor and they'd have two daughters (the elder born prematurely but saved by the neonatal pioneer physician Dr. Mildred Stahlman [born 1922 and still living] and have since had three grandchildren and a great-grandchild. .and even more amazingly have stayed married to each other sixty years despite the odds of teen marriage, tour separations,etc. Yep, in the new video of her performing 'Rockin' Around the Christmas' tree with her in a floor-length red choir robe, she may resemble a hand puppet but she and the rest of the performers (including Tanya Tucker and Trisha Yearwood) in that video sure look as though they're having fun!

The deal of them crossing the Ingallses crossing the flooded river in the wagon with Jack trying to swim with them is rather nail-biting in that the viewer isn't so sure that they'll be able to safely make it across and one is ready to mourn the faithful Jack (and understand WHY Laura and Pa's bond has gotten strained while their dog's fate is unknown) so when Jack DOES return, it's quite a cathartic scene. Alas, the show quickly ditched the whole 'pioneers struggling to provide their own basic necessities' deal very quickly on the series!

In 1957, the 13-year-old performer Brenda Lee recorded 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' (accompanied by excellent musicians including Boots Randolph on the sax). OK, it became a holiday standard within a few years and has remained so. However, this week (of December 4,2023), the 78-year-old performer has FINALLY gotten to see that song be the Number One song in the Billboard Hot 100! Better late than never, indeed!

I can't say I was surprised to hear the news of Mr. Lear's passing at age 101. However, it's still a shock because his shows were part of my life from early childhood so it's hard to imagine him not being in this world. On a lighter (and shallower note), though, once he lost most of his hair and the remainder turned white, he seemed to have not aged but looked 50 for the next fifty-one years! In any case, RIP, Mr. Lear!

Re the new Cracker Barrel commercial with Dolly Parton: Does anyone truly believe that even she could possibly ride a motorcyle wearing those sky-high stilletto boots? I'm not even sure how she's able to walk across the room in those things!

Maybe Mr. Caruso's dyeing to look like a hipper version of the late Winston Churchill. Still, it's puzzling that the article claims that this is his first photograph since 2017. If that's true, does this mean that he somehow has lived in a CCTV-free underground bunker for six years- or is it only the first time in six years that anyone from the rags bothered to snap his pic?

One of the recurring themes of the British comedy series Last of the Summer Wine (1973-2010) was that of the scuffy little old rogue Compo Simmonite (Bill Owen) taunting and chasing after the much larger, frumpy and disinterested upstairs neighbor Nora Batty (Kathy Staff) who would beat him back with her broom while he'd try to get her goat. This went on from the time she was still married to her overwhelmed husband Wally (who oddly enough didn't mind Compo chasing after his wife since this distracted Nora from bossing him around) through her widowhood until his own sudden death. Yes, after the performer Bill Owen (1914-1999) died, so did his character and, the next year in 2000, the show acknowledged it with a tribute episode mourning the character's passing. FWIW, via virtually all accounts, he was very much like his character offstage with the glaring exception of being a sharp dressed man offcamera who loathed the character's scruffy and ragged wardrobe to the point that he refused to wear it a moment more than possible outside the de rigeur filming and publicity. However, (here's the Hell Yes), Nora was the ONE voice of reason saying that Compo was an AWFUL and DESPICABLE person to her and his death didn't erase those facts- yet she WAS going to miss him! This had to be one of the healthiest expressions of grief I've ever seen depicted on a show- especially since it didn't fake that he'd been a saint or worthy person but that his intended victim somehow , somehow admitted that he'd be missed! BTW, the performer Kathy Staff (1928-2008) herself had had serious misgivings about continuing to play Nora after her antagonist's death but came around -possibly in part due to Nora's realistic but still compassionate reaction to the passing. FWIW, Mrs. Staff had been born Minnie Higginbottom but had changed her performing name to Kathy Staff after her 1951 marriage to a Mr. Staff.

If Charles was supposed to have had some kind of encounter with Diana's ghost, why not have also had encounters with the ghosts of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, or even his comparatively recently deceased parents? I'm sure any or all the above would have had something to say and would have been just as real and legit as any mumbo jumbo with Diana! I know The Crown wasn't supposed to have been a documentary but that whole deal with those two after her death significantly trashed its cred as being supposedly close to the ballpark re the behind the scenes lives of the Windsors.

Miss Huffman seemed to have joined Miss Margulies re just making things worse via not knowing when to set a watch on their lips and letting others be able to give the benefit of the doubt that they might have been fairminded and willing to accept ownership for their own bad choices instead of doubling down after the fact and blabbing too much about their shadowsides. Believe it or not, I actually had thought that when Miss Huffman got caught in the university admissions criminal actions , then quietly served her sentence and apologized for not believing in her daughter's abilities, I had believed she had been genuinely contrite. Not anymore! Now, not only did she bogusly attempt to throw a pity party for herself due to taking umbrage that the authorities would have actually arrested her for committing a crime that she admitted to (and needlessly spelled out her xenophobia towards folks not sharing her own pigmentation in the process) but Miss Huffman is now wants others to believe that committing a crime of having her daughter pushed ahead of worthy, qualified collegian applicants was 'being a good mother'! UGHH!!!! SO much wrong with that but now I feel even more sorry for the daughter who likely has had that 'sacrifice' thrown in her face by Miss Huffman to guilt trip her. And, of course, this totally ignores the ACTUAL sacrifices by those qualified applicants and their families had made over the course of their lives to work & study hard (and likely financially sacrificed a huge part of their funds to be ready to pay sky high tuitions) to get into prestigious universities that got trashed by Miss Huffman and other wanting to bump ahead their own less qualified offspring! Yeah, Miss Huffman, you had nearly convinced me that you were contrite over the crime and for having had no faith in your daughter's abilities but, now that you've opened your big fat mouth to throw that pity party and take umbrage for the consequences, you've truly BLOWN IT!

Not to mention, that the whole 'practical joke' of the other woman's clothes falling apart due to ONLY having been glued together and the glue coming apart via getting water dumped on them was bogus! I mean, unless the other woman had somehow not moved or stretched in any way from the time she put on said clothes over her drawers to the time she appeared at the circus, there's no way such flimsy attire wouldn't have previously fallen apart via sheer movement.

I agree but it doesn't come as a surprise to me considering not just her aloofness towards her onetime colleague Miss Punjabi but also her rather classless and tacky response to someone asking about it (and I'm strictly talking about the deliberate rudeness even without her adding any f-bombs). Sorry Miss Margulies but no one is obligated to like or identify with any other person or group. No. One. And you don't even seem to be willing to try to attempt civility towards anyone who doesn't worship you or your POV. BLEAHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One can't help but wonder if ML would have used Mr. Blocker to have played Isaiah Edwards had he still been in this world. . ..

I always liked the fact that while those brothers had very different personalities, they seemed to work together in tandem and definitely thought outside any box! RIP, Mr. Krofft and thanks for helping to make so many of kids' childhoods somewhat unpredictable via your creations!

Even though young Mr. Whitaker's character was NOT the primary focus of that episode, it was great of Mr. Blocker to not just remember his preteen colleague's birthday but to have gifted him those chaps and that cowboy hat (too bad Mr. Whitaker lost track of them). Of course, it needs to be mentioned that Mr. Blocker had four children of his own even though Hoss stayed single and childless to his character's death. To keep this ontopic, it's interesting that Mr. Whitaker recalls ML himself having visited the set during the three day shoot even though this storyline had zilch to do with any of the Cartwrights besides Hoss. I suppose he wanted to see for himself how his screenplay would be fleshed out by these performers (and having not just Mr. Blocker but the renowned Miss Harris and Mr. Ihnat as well as young Mr. Whitaker had to have been a big boon for ML).

Agree! As much as I like the performer Blake Clark in other things, his character Chet Hunter was such a rotten, manipulative character that it dragged down both Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World (though the latter show was already the pits)to have had had Mr. Clark revive the character as allegedly sainted/friendly ghost instead of actually having his son mourn Chet as he'd been instead of as he wished Chet had been!

Thanks for sharing the link of that Bonanza episode I don't recall seeing before 'A Dream to Dream' (Season Nine, Episode 26, 1968). While I immediately recognized the young redhead son's performer as Johnny Whitaker, the mother Sarah Carter seemed familiar but what a surprise to do research and find that she was played by none other than that marvelous prolific performer Julie Harris (1925-2013) who'd done a phenomenal job playing the tomboy Frankie in A Member of the Wedding on Broadway and the 1952 movie! Anyway, she wound up easily out-acting by circles Jenny Sullivan (born 1946) who played Leslie Harper in the LHOTP adaptation. I found conveyed she conveyed Sarah's anguish over her husband Josh's self-destruction as well as her desperate need (but not love) for Hoss to rescue her and her children from being dragged down by her wounded mate. BTW, Josh Carter was played by the prolific performer Steve Ihnat (1934-1972) who'd been born in what's now Slovakia but had fled with his parents to Canada just three days before the NAZIs closed his birthplace's borders and sadly died of a heart attack at age 38 just a month after his son's birth! Dan Blocker gave a tour-de-force performance here with Hoss being his usually fun big galoot but also himself believably somewhat falling for the anguished Sarah and her children but wanting to do right by ALL members of the family (even when fighting back Josh's hopeless attempt to beat HIM up). Yes, Hoss himself was single and would have had no impediments getting married to Sarah after she had gotten a divorce (and it was far more believable that loaded Ben Cartwright's middle son would have cash to spare to buy horses from the prosperous but anguished husband than Pa Ingalls). BTW, Dan Blocker (1928-1972) was far deeper than one might have imagined. I mean the Texas-born performer even went so far as to refuse to appear at an event in the segregated State Coliseum in Jackson, Mississippi in 1964 (though Canadian-born Lorne Greene and New Jersey born ML DID appear at this event). Oh, and Mr. Blocker himself also started the Bonanza/Ponderosa Steakhouse franchise in 1963! I also should add that Johnny Whitaker as young Timmy Carter gave an unexpectedly deep and believable performance as a young child who had no illusions about his parents' union but still cared enough about his wounded father to appeal to Hoss to see if he could give Josh one last chance to relearn to live again. P.S. The name of the Carters' lost eldest son was Michael (as in the LHOTP version) but, not surprising since ML had helped write both episodes! Still, it's interesting that either he and/or the Bonanza producers believed that Hoss/Mr. Blocker would be a better 'rescuer' than ML's Little Joe (whose lasting interest in any female usually meant a literal kiss of death for her). P.P.S. Though the episode ended with the Carters giving each other yet another chance, I have to wonder what the reactions of Ben and Little Joe would have been had they found out that Hoss had been willing to take on a miserably but still legally wed potential fiancee with children- to say nothing of him having done a LOT more than simply buy horses on this jaunt! Somehow I think they'd have been more surprised at that turn of events than Narrator Laura would with Charles's (even though there was no hint of a 'Baby Hoss/Eric' being born 'two years later' in the former episode).

One would think that since Mr. Hall is about eight inches taller than Mr. that he'd have had the height advantage but I guess Mr. Oates may have had other means to have possibly intimidated Mr. Hall if what he's claiming is true!

I agree! While Miss Arngrim has repeatedly said how Nellie saved from being overwhelmed via horrific abuse AND taught her how to stand up for herself so she's forever embraced the positive of the character, I can't recall Miss Balsam considering Nancy as anything more than a steady, regular role to play.

Something that needs to be said re Charles bringing the morphine-addicted Albert to Walnut Grove. Before the episode finished, Charles virtually spelled out that his original intention was to ABANDON Albert in Walnut Grove like a stray cat. Did Charles think that Half-Pint, Manly, Isaiah or even Harriet would have deserved to have had a rootless Albert lurking around raiding the sugar bins for a fix?

I don't disagree with Mr. Carvey's assessment of the rags but I don't recall hearing about said rags saying horrible slurs against his poor son. All the above said, what a horrific tragedy for all of the younger Mr. Carvey's loved ones! I hope they will be able to somehow unite and help each other because this is something that, at best, they will have to come to terms with but will never be able to 'get over'.

Or perhaps her yearning for Nora Coombs's widowed father who she hopes the bias toward his daughter will impress him enough dump his meter maid girlfriend then to meet her at the library while Mr. Watson's at the pool hall trying to vie for the title of Foosball Champion against Sam the Butcher!

Charles: What did you pay the Winoka pawn shop to get the violin back for Mary's birthday party? Caroline: Nothing. Charles:Nothing? Caroline: They refused to be believe it could be played with the bow a foot away from the strings! Maybe they're afraid he'll pay his bills in Monopoly money. . .

One of the most intriguing sites of the Pacific Ocean has to be the still mysterious temple-city complex of Nan Madol in Micronesia which consists of at least 92 artificial rock&coral islets with basalt buildings constructed directly on top of them with canals running between them. Archeologists believe they were constructed between the 8th and 12 centuries with several districts within exclusively for nobles and priests. It is also believed that food and water had to be imported from elsewhere to support the populace from the beginning. How they constructed many of these massive basalt buildings much less why remains somewhat of a mystery to say nothing of why the complex abandoned in the middle of the 17th century but the modern nation of Micronesia has designated the remains as a National Historic Landmark!

Maybe to heighten Jan's humiliation and/or to depict the actuality that there ARE some deliberately biased and mean teachers out there who openly broadcast their pets and whipping kids! Yeah, I know all the above is rather cynical but, yes, I did encounter rotten teachers like Mrs. Watson in my academic trek sometime between nursery school and college graduation.