Browncoat

For FJ tonight, my first thought was Daniel Day Lewis as well, but I knew Lincoln was too recent. The only other Brit I could think of who even played a U.S. president was Anthony Hopkins, so I kind of lucked into it. I suspect, had I been on the show, I would have gone with my first instinct and been wrong with all the other contestants. If Justin couldn't continue, and I am sad that he lost, I'm glad Shadi won. Middle guy bugged me. And that was some weird editing with the correction of his response of Burnsides. No one else got a chance to respond, even. I was surprised Virginia Reel was a TS, but then again, I am from Virginia, and we learned the damned thing in elementary school. I also got Lovin' Spoonful, mayflower, and overpopulation.

I first saw The Birds in the Autumn when I was a little kid, and when all the birds were gathering in the trees to migrate south. I was terrified for weeks.

Justin made me love him just a little bit more with his "On Wednesdays, we wear pink" rule. Glad he won again, and I am enjoying his technicolor shirts. No idea for FJ tonight. I can't be bothered with Hemingway. I did get Saturday Night Fever, nerves, S.E. Hinton (that as a TS made me sad), Book of Mormon, and A Chorus Line.

Hi, @Netfoot -- I mostly lurk here, but I wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying your blog and photos. Scotland, especially the Highlands, is one of my very favorite places (I'm in the States), and it's nice to revisit through someone else's eyes.

I always forget about Andorra! Like @CarpeDiem54, I figured Switzerland was too obvious, and also said Luxembourg. Great minds think alike, even if we're both incorrect. :) TS I managed to get were Irving Berlin, Aristotle, Georgie Porgie, and Nevada. I got Nevada because of the airport name -- I have no idea who that is or why he's important to the state. And I was shouting Irving Berlin repeatedly at my TV -- I can't believe none of them heard me! Sloths have only three toes, not six, which is why I thought it was a hilarious answer.

So glad Shannon and her large jacket didn't win. I would have been good with Emily or Justin winning, but MIT was just not a smart answer. FJ seemed obvious to me -- almost too obvious and I tried to second-guess myself, but stuck with my instaget answer. Sloth?!?!?!? I am still laughing about that one, and I'm also sad that Aaron Sorkin was a TS. Other TS I got were The Daily Prophet, Meredith Wilson, clogs, the Clevelands (I probably would have said President Cleveland and his wife, whose name escapes me), and A Bronx Tale. Perhaps one day I will read Animal Farm. I was mostly lost during that category, although some things (like sheep) have seeped into everyday culture enough that I was able to make educated guesses. And sometimes I was even correct (like sheep).

That's the British pronunciation, too. I'd almost forgotten he was from Canada until he said that.

Kinda sucks for middle guy, who was from Canada, for the FJ category to be Americana. OTOH, I didn't get it, either. I just couldn't get my brain going in the right direction, I guess. Nice change of pace from the instagets, though. I was really glad that they got to and through the Biology category! I was going to be mad if they didn't. However, I did wonder if they would have accepted serum instead of plasma. They are both the liquid component of blood, but one comes from blood that has been allowed to clot, and the other comes from unclotted blood. The only TS I got were The Sound and The Fury and rhinestone. Congrats to Justin!

Well, yes, because Colin Firth.

Agreed. It was another instaget for me. I would like to thank School House Rock for my getting the TS of pronoun and interjection. And now I have the Interjection! song in my head. I also got fiery furnace, Cole Porter, par avion, and First Day of Issue (because in my wayward youth, I collected stamps, and still will keep them if I really like them). Congrats, new champ! I kind of felt bad for the guy on the end, but at least he was a good sport and didn't get all stank face about being so far behind.

Once upon a time, I really wanted a Thing. And I still think they're kinda cool, in an extremely nerdy way.

Yay, Deborah! Although I wouldn't have minded if middle woman won. Glad end guy lost. Like Deborah, I managed to come up with Bahrain, but couldn't for the life of me think of Bhutan for her missed DD. TS I got include Toyota, VW (would they have accepted VW?), AMC, and Greyfriar's Bobby. I've been to that kirkyard in Edinburgh, and just outside it, there is a statue to the dog. I also got the missed DD of Delaware. FJ should have been an instaget, but even after doing the math, I just took a wild guess at London, without really thinking it was right. Dates of historical events usually escape me. I knew there was a giant fire in London, but I couldn't have told you when it was. And Alex got to say "genre" again! LOL

It looked to me like he recognized her (and she recognized him) when she requested "I Ran" at the pool party.

I completely forgot about Bewitched the movie -- and apparently so did everyone else! I did, however, get Reader's Digest, rock, Alps, adult children and Alaska. FJ was almost an instaget -- had to work a second to pull the name out of the deep recesses of my brain. Also, genre makes an appearance! If I ever need to say that word (rarely), I always try to do my best Alex Trebek impersonation.

Agreed.

I was torn between jellies (they aren't really fish) and octopus -- the blue-ringed octopus is pretty darned venomous -- but ended up with jellies, thinking of the tiny box jelly found near Australia. I also got monomers, maiden, otoscope, Hey Joe, and stabilizers. I liked the Jimi Hendrix category! I also like the new champ.

I was torn about a movie even being made of this book, which I love, but I'm kind of looking forward to it now. My only concern based on the trailer is that Charles Wallace looks a bit robust, but that's a nitpick.

I think so. An hour is just too long -- and I'm DVRing it and skipping commercials. In a word (or two words), Dueling Banjos. After your post, I was compelled to watch the most recent one, and I agree on the Scottish guys -- they were great. Tommy Smothers was a better yo-yo guy, though, and the fire skater really just had the one thing. The butt singers were a nice gimmick, but I didn't think they were nearly as good as the cloggers. I do wish they'd been able to gong the hot dogs and applesauce guy, though.

Wasn't it Mortimer Snerd?

Agreed with all of you about the BMS for McCarthy, although I was mostly rooting for Vicky. Mostly because I'm over Gavin, but also I couldn't fully support her, a children's book reviewer, when she missed the DD of jumping. If nothing else, "jumping to conclusions" is a fairly common phrase! But I love that book for all the fun wordplay like that. If someone yells, "Wait!" at me, I always shout (an approximation, adjusted downward, of course), my weight. That said, FJ was an instaget for me, including the first name. I also got display -- and by the way, ladies, if "dance" is in the clue, it's not going to be the answer, and if mating dance is wrong, just dance isn't likely to be correct, either -- and Cuervo. My buddy, Jose....

That is my favorite part of the whole episode.

But was it excruciating? :)

I wear glasses and I was so distracted by that stupid flower that I could barely concentrate on the game. I have no idea how she could see anything -- I can't imagine walking around with something purposely affixed to my specs. Gavin still bugs me. I hoped that cute guy in the middle (tm @Spunkygal) would win, but alas, he had some boneheaded guesses near the end. Like crucifixion instead of excruciating. I got that, along with peeled/pealed, Walter Cronkite and bioterrorism. I guess they couldn't hear me shouting Walter Cronkite at my TV. FJ was not an instaget, but I came up with it in time to write it down.

Okay, I've watched about 2.5 episodes, and I think I'm done. It seems like it's trying too hard to be wacky and zany like the original. And yes, the original was wacky and zany, but it seemed more naturally so. Mike Meyers appears to be channeling Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire with a bit of Benny Hill thrown in the mix. Granted, Chuck was likely completely wasted for every episode, but he at least had a bit of variety to his shtick. Mike Meyers is a bit of a one-trick-pony. The acts themselves are pretty typical Gong Show, but just as we didn't have Gene Gene or the Unknown Comic on every single episode, we don't need the Shaving Cream song every episode, especially since they leave out my favorite verse! (The baby fell out of the window. We thought that his head would be split. But good luck was with us that morning, he fell in a barrel of shaving cream...) I did love the Zombie Ballet, and I really liked the bagpipe playing, unicycle riding gorilla. I liked the bug guys, too -- I guess I haven't gotten to the eventual winner yet. ETA: It would be about 1000% better if they could keep the cameras on the acts more and less on Mike and the judges (and the audience for that matter). I'd much rather see the acts than all of their facial expressions.

Hey, Gavin, you really don't need to spread out over all three podiums, you know. I have to say I was rooting for either of the women instead of him, but he did play a good game. FJ wasn't quite an instaget -- I had to think for about four seconds before it came to me -- but it was fairly easy for me. I also got Civil Disobedience, Bob Schieffer (though I had to look up the spelling), game reserve, Three Wise Men At Work (which cracked me up), and steel. Surprised that Sara Jane didn't know Pittsburgh = steel.