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The $100,000 Pyramid - General Discussion


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I didn't read her lips, but she may have simply said dick.

I'm glad both contestants won in the second half of the game. I always like when that happens. Both contestants won at least some money in the first half, too. It's a win win win win.

I was getting nervous, though, when the contestant was giving clues for People Who Kneel. I was worried she was going to get too descriptive and get buzzed.

Not that I thought of it at the time, but maybe jury is a good clue for things you pack. A biased jury? I get what the guy was going for with an empty vacation suitcase, but that seemed to leave Rosie thinking it was staying empty. Hard to get her mind away from that. Maybe just start with a suitcase or luggage or, as others said, your bags. Also, your lunchbox.

Rose O'Donnell was practically flawless, maybe simply flawless. Leslie Jones is good, but she had a couple of brain freezes.

I was surprised that saying London was too close to Wimbledon. I never thought of the "don" in Wimbledon as coming from LonDON.

I thought it was adorable when Leslie said she might need another kiss from Strahan, then her partner got up and kissed her on the cheek. Awwww.

Edited by peeayebee
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I love how calm O'Donnell is when she plays. She means business.

For head I was thinking lettuce at first after she said nail, but when that wasn't working I might've started naming characters with multiple heads to see if I could get her to say "heads". Like Cerberus, Zaphod Beeblbrox, a hydra. Technically this would be wrong because those are things with multiple heads rather than "a head"  but the judging on this show generally works by keyword so I suspect if she said "head" or "heads" either way it'd get counted.

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I was surprised that saying London was too close to Wimbledon. I never thought of the "don" in Wimbledon as coming from LonDON.

I thought he actually started to say "Wimbledon." 

Both Rosie and Leslie are both as serious as a heart attack when it comes to playing these games. But Anna Camp was pretty good too. She comes across a bit ditzy but you could tell she was really serious about trying her hardest.

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On 9/16/2019 at 4:15 PM, peeayebee said:

I was surprised that saying London was too close to Wimbledon. I never thought of the "don" in Wimbledon as coming from LonDON.

He started off saying "Wimble..." then caught himself.

I don't think Anna Camp should have been given "jellyfish." She said fish and a few secondd later managed to squeeze in jelly, but she didn't say jellyfish.

  • Love 1

So, sort of week celebs all the way around and not great players this week either. Katie Couric was not good. Neither was Hasan Minjaj. Both seemed like good sports but not great at this game. Didn't really try hard enough to guess right, just made one or two guesses then gave up. Birthday candles is the ideal clue for things you blow. Think! What else do you do with birthday candles!?! Bobby Moynihan is regularly bad but at least he seems like he's trying really hard.  

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Katie Couric was rough in the first round, and she clearly isn't someone who keeps up with Pop Culture, but she certainly did a lot better in the second round, and did well in the final round (pop culture question aside).

All in all it felt like a decent episode; not a great one, but far from horrible too. Felt bad for the contestants self-sabotaging themselves, especially the 7th clue in the Secret 7 category. I knew as soon as I saw "Crossing Guard" they were going to get dinged for saying "cross"

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57 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

I'm going to miss the show this summer.  It was renewed, but the scuttlebutt is that they didn't get taping done in time because of *gestures at everything*.  Perhaps we'll get lucky later in the year?

Is Pyramid the only one of their shows that tapes in New York?  (I assume it does since Strahan hosts it).

Looks like it’s mid-season for the return of the show.  It would’ve been nice to see it back by mid-November, but it’s a smart play for the show.

 

While I’m old-school and miss those tough tourneys to win $100,000 (complete with the studio-storm), I missed the show as well.  Even with some optimism that things may trend back to normal, it won't be even throughout next spring.  Maybe the journey back to a normal TV schedule starts next summer and from there a regular TV year for 2021-2022.  The good news is that a mid-show start results in less competition and conflict for the Pyramid

New season! Good players on the first episode. Not so much on the second. It appears that they were instructed not to hug because the guy who won the $50K just sat there opposite Nate Berkus. I get that they are under Covid restrictions but it seems kind of silly. Obviously they've all been tested, and they are sitting pretty close together and high fiving. I don't see where a hug is going to be the deal breaker. 

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I'm always glad to see this show come back.  The list of upcoming celebrities includes some great treats.  There are a few things I would tweak, but overall Pyramid still hits the spot, after all these years.

I definitely could have done without "things a dominatrix would say."  I'm no prude (he said while complaining about too much sex talk).  I just think that the edge of blue humor really adds nothing this show needed, and just makes one less thing suitable for the whole family.  I loved watching game shows as a kid, but the first time I asked my folks what a dominatrix is and why they might spit or oink, this one would have been off the list.  There have been other bits here and there since this revival started, but I think many of them would have gone over kids' heads, and I don't recall any of them being a whole category in this vein.  YMMV but I wish they would steer away from this.  There's a time and a place for everything.

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8 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I'm always glad to see this show come back.  The list of upcoming celebrities includes some great treats.  There are a few things I would tweak, but overall Pyramid still hits the spot, after all these years.

I definitely could have done without "things a dominatrix would say."  I'm no prude (he said while complaining about too much sex talk).  I just think that the edge of blue humor really adds nothing this show needed, and just makes one less thing suitable for the whole family.  I loved watching game shows as a kid, but the first time I asked my folks what a dominatrix is and why they might spit or oink, this one would have been off the list.  There have been other bits here and there since this revival started, but I think many of them would have gone over kids' heads, and I don't recall any of them being a whole category in this vein.  YMMV but I wish they would steer away from this.  There's a time and a place for everything.

Agree thought it was supposed to be a family show.

I just watched the ep on Hulu. Nice to have the show back.

I noticed the tables they sit at were a little bigger, for distancing.

I thought Michael's suggestion of "Colonel Sanders' chicken" for Things in a Bucket was really good. Not sure what I'd say for Parts of a Kangaroo. A pouch, two big back legs, a long heavy tail... Not sure what a key word would be.

I missed the last game of the second show. Who won?

I like Chris Redd on SNL but he is not good at this game. He said "things you lay on" for both sofa and hammock. Way too vague. Rachel Dratch, on the other hand, is very, very good at this.

Dr. Oz is a quack. He doesn't belong anywhere on TV. Why does everyone Oprah promote turn out to be a quack? His daughter was pretty good at this, though, I have to admit. She's also very pretty.

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1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Dr. Oz is a quack.

If he had stuck to his actual specialty that he is actually trained in, he'd probably be fine. From what I understand he was pretty respected as a heart surgeon. But Oprah had to go and give him a platform and now he's hawking BS "medicine" because it pays even better.

I know basically nothing about Daphne and I was glad she beat him.

I thought that was a pretty good episode!  Would this have been the first time all four contestants in the hour got to the top of the pyramid if the fourth had done it?  None of the contestants were too "on" and all the celebrities seemed fully engaged, even though Chris was not great on his own and totally outmatched by Rachel.  Doctor was not great either, although he and Daughter were less grating than I expected.  I loved her outfit.

I wondered whether the contestant who works as a singing waiter in New York was talking about Ellen's Stardust Diner.  I'm sure there is more than one place like that in Manhattan, but Ellen's is the "famous" one.  We enjoyed visiting there on the annual Broadway trip juniors and seniors in my high school theater program could earn.

I recalled how players would quake when one of the "name categories" came up in the 80s show.  They're certainly easier now that they usually want just the last name.  It would be more interesting, I thought, to watch them actually describe Alec Baldwin or Chevy Chase rather than just associate "Alec...Baldwin!" and "Chevy...Chase!" but the way gameplay is these days, maybe producers think that would be a mess.  I thought the Oprah gimmick in the third game was just plain stupid, but don't listen to the grumpus. ;)

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I missed the last game of the second show. Who won?

Daphne with the male contestant.  They missed boxes 4 and 5 but were not far off.  Another 10 seconds might have gotten them there.

For "Things You Donate" in that game, I thought of "Goodwill clothes" and "your deductible contributions," but since "contribution" is a synonym of "donation," bzzzz bzzzz!  For "Things On A River," how about "Tina Turner's rolling"?

  • Love 1
9 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I like Chris Redd on SNL but he is not good at this game. He said "things you lay on" for both sofa and hammock. Way too vague. 

ITA. I love Chris on SNL. He's hilarious. I wish he had done better here.

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Dr. Oz is a quack. He doesn't belong anywhere on TV.

Again, my thoughts exactly. Way in the early days I liked him. I even bought his book "You, An Owner's Manual," but I have no idea what happened to it.

 

5 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I recalled how players would quake when one of the "name categories" came up in the 80s show.  They're certainly easier now that they usually want just the last name.  It would be more interesting, I thought, to watch them actually describe Alec Baldwin or Chevy Chase rather than just associate "Alec...Baldwin!"

Yeah, generally it's way too easy to be able to just say the first or last name in order to get your partner to say the last or first name, respectively. However, I will say I was surprised and impressed when the one contestant came up with 'Kerrigan' to prompt her partner to say 'Nancy.'

 

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I thought the Oprah gimmick in the third game was just plain stupid, but don't listen to the grumpus. ;)

I gotta agree. It was pretty pointless, but I suppose it was harmless, too.

 

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For "Things You Donate" in that game, I thought of "Goodwill clothes" and "your deductible contributions," but since "contribution" is a synonym of "donation," bzzzz bzzzz!  For "Things On A River," how about "Tina Turner's rolling"?

I don't think a synonym would get you buzzed. After all, that's a basic strategy for getting your partner to say the word. 

I don't know about "Tina Turner's rolling." I think it might get buzzed because it kinda doesn't make any sense. I was thinking Huckleberry Finn's raft.

Lindsey's clue of "Blanks and animals" was surprisingly bad. I mean, "plants and animals" isn't even an expression or common phrase. Maybe something more like, "These are green. You grow these inside. House..."

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On 6/3/2021 at 6:30 PM, 128survivor said:

Lindsey is a broadway actress. Wonder if they told her not to say that as her career. 

I doubt it was "told her not to" so much as she was likely on this show in order to promote her new gig, so that's why the intro mentioned that.

Things on a river: proud mary, floating casinos, Disneyland's Mark Twain. That'd be my angle, anything to make 'em think "riverboat".

On 6/3/2021 at 7:20 PM, peeayebee said:

I don't think a synonym would get you buzzed. After all, that's a basic strategy for getting your partner to say the word. 

It’s entirely possible that I’m confusing my games, or recalling how the rules used to be applied or described when that doesn’t apply anymore.  But for instance, the contestant who said “a joey” for “parts of a kangaroo” was buzzed, and the explanation given was that “joey” and “kangaroo” are synonyms.  I’m not sure I agree that they are, but they didn’t ask me.  (I thought the reason was going to be that a joey is not strictly speaking a part of a kangaroo, marsupial-ness aside, but  they don’t seem to judge for factual accuracy: you can say “Ben Franklin” for “US Presidents” or “Czechoslovenia” for “European Countries.”)  I wish I could think of another example, more relevant to the clue I suggested, to indicate that if you use a synonym of the answer in your clue, you are at risk of being disqualified, at least in the more tightly judged categories where you’re just supposed to give a list, rather than the more freeform ones like “what a _____ says.”  I swear it’s happened!  But then I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday, so perhaps I’m not a trustworthy source.

On 6/3/2021 at 7:20 PM, peeayebee said:

I don't know about "Tina Turner's rolling." I think it might get buzzed because it kinda doesn't make any sense. I was thinking Huckleberry Finn's raft.

I think clues like that are risky because, while there’s a chance it will just click with your partner and get them there instantly, there’s at least an equal chance that it will confuse them because, as you say, it really doesn’t make any sense. ;)  I would argue that “rolling” is indeed a “thing on a river,” albeit intangible, and I don’t think there’s any argument about fleshing out a noun as long as you don’t use a preposition, so I would expect the clue to fly with the judges.  But whether it would help the contestant at all, who knows?  “Huck Finn’s raft” is much better.

 

Am I overthinking all this?  Very likely.  Is it fun (for me and hopefully for y’all)?  Yes.  Does it beat tidying the house up like I was thinking of doing?  You bet!

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You're certainly right about not knowing how the judges will judge. "Joey" being buzzed because it was another name for a kangaroo? That was weird to me. Like you said, it seemed to have been buzzed because it's not part of a kangaroo, as the subject asked. But a contestant doesn't get buzzed for simply being wrong, like if she'd said, "A bucket" for a part of kangaroo. I don't think she'd get buzzed; she'd just get funny looks. 

It's tricky. Joey is not a part of a kangaroo, so that's wrong, but not disqualifying, imo. However, giving a wrong clue that also gives a hint to the correct answer is disqualifying. Does that make sense? 

On 6/5/2021 at 9:02 PM, peeayebee said:

It's tricky. Joey is not a part of a kangaroo, so that's wrong, but not disqualifying, imo. However, giving a wrong clue that also gives a hint to the correct answer is disqualifying. Does that make sense? 

I'm guessing it's because technically, a joey is a kangaroo. It's just what we call them when they're babies.

(edited)

(Alex Moffat vs. Michelle Collins and Dominique Jackson vs. Indya Moore)

I don't know any of these celebrities tonight...the name Alex Moffat is vaguely familiar and Indya Moore was on the Daily Show recently (with almost no hair so I didn't recognize them at first) but that's all I got.

I don't understand why they sometimes try to act out every clue. Do they forget that they're allowed to talk or are they just trying to be cute? Use your words, people. This isn't Charades.

Um, no, Florida's capital is not Orlando....

Edited by ams1001

Alex Moffat and Michelle Collins were both very, very good players, as were the contestants in that game. I'd never heard of Collins before but she was great. I can't believe Moffat got "diverse" in that last subject in the winner's circle. That's a really hard word to get to. I don't know what else you'd say for "things  you pull off." Maybe a price tag or an impressive fete. 

Never heard of Dominique or Indya either. They were good a receiving (Dominique slightly more so) but not very good at giving (she should have passed on "spank"). Oy - for "shower" Indya said "what you do in the morning." That could be dozens of things. She was bad a zeroing in on things like "children." 

They were pretty lax about the answers in the winner's circle too, with Indya just giving one word answers, One of the subjects was "water sports" and all she said was "water." You'd think she'd have to say "sports." 

Can't believe that guy managed to win the mystery 7 either, the clues were weak. 

  • Love 3
(edited)

The first game was just excellent.  My only complaint is that this version's tiebreaker is even more flaccid than usual after a 21-21 tie.  In the 80s, they just played an extra round, with the second player having as much time of the 30secs as the first took.  It seldom took 60 to play.  Maybe 75 or 90 all told, once they explained it.  They can't find that time anywhere in the hour?  The one who broke a 21-21 tie also had their high level gameplay rewarded with a $5K bonus (worth about $12.5K in today's money).

The second game was certainly enthusiastic.  I knew Dominique and Indya were from "Pose," the FX series about queer and especially trans drag balls held in Black and Latino communities in NYC in the 80s (think "Paris is Burning," if you know that documentary).  I think the contestant who did so well was just on their wavelength.  Michael didn't seem to know what "read for filth" means.  To read someone is to insult them, wittily (hopefully) and perhaps playfully (but sometimes not).  To read them for, or sometimes to, filth is likely less playful.  One might read a friend, and read his hated ex for filth.  Not that I have any firsthand knowledge, of course.  I never have an unkind word for anyone. ;)

"Caress" was one of the most impressive gets for me in any of the main games.  I forget who it was giving the clues then, but they knew just when to skip it and how to shift gears when they came back.  I know what is to caress someone, but I sure couldn't think how to express it in some share of 30secs.  The only thing that came to mind was Alexis Carrington's sister on "Dynasty," played by fabulous Kate O'Mara.  The character was Caress Morell.  Hey, if I was going to take my chances on a partner having seen and remembered "Dynasty," this show was probably one of the better times.

On 6/5/2021 at 6:02 PM, peeayebee said:

Does that make sense? 

At least as much as the novel I troubled y'all with.  So thank you very much!

13 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I don't know what else you'd say for "things you pull off." Maybe a price tag or an impressive fete.

I came up with "a successful bank robbery," "an old fashioned soda can tab," and "a used post-it note."  Under the lights, though?  I don't know either.

Edited by 853fisher
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On 6/17/2021 at 11:53 AM, iMonrey said:

Alex Moffat and Michelle Collins were both very, very good players, as were the contestants in that game. I'd never heard of Collins before but she was great. I can't believe Moffat got "diverse" in that last subject in the winner's circle. That's a really hard word to get to. I don't know what else you'd say for "things  you pull off." Maybe a price tag or an impressive fete. 

Yeah. I was impressed he got "diverse." The only thing I could think of would be "equity groups."  "Inclusion groups." With the hope he'd pick up what I was dropping. 

It was fun to see Indya and Dominique outside of their pose characters but it's so frustrating when clue givers resort to charades when they can use words and actions to direct the clue recipient. 

(edited)
On 6/16/2021 at 8:20 PM, ams1001 said:

I don't understand why they sometimes try to act out every clue. Do they forget that they're allowed to talk or are they just trying to be cute? Use your words, people. This isn't Charades.

It's so frustrating when that happens. I think that the clue-giver starts off with an appropriate mime and then just gets in a rhythm of miming, forgetting s/he can speak.

On 6/17/2021 at 10:53 AM, iMonrey said:

I don't know what else you'd say for "things  you pull off." Maybe a price tag or an impressive fete. 

The first thing that came to mind was "a heist." This was a tough one, esp in the heat of the moment.

On 6/17/2021 at 9:03 PM, 853fisher said:

Michael didn't seem to know what "read for filth" means.  To read someone is to insult them, wittily (hopefully) and perhaps playfully (but sometimes not).  To read them for, or sometimes to, filth is likely less playful.  One might read a friend, and read his hated ex for filth.  

Thanks for the explanation. I had never heard of that. I assume Dominique had a feeling Nathan would get her clues. If I had been the contestant, I would be lost. But heck, why not just say, "This is what you do with a book," while miming holding and reading a book? I was annoyed at other clues Dominique gave, like the ones for spank. Just say, "Some parents do this to a disobedient child," and then mime spanking.

I'm also bugged when the clues are SOOOO easy, esp in succession. "Not cold but--" "Hot." "Not love but--" "Hate." "Not big but--" "Small."

I'm glad Alex Moffat did well because I enjoy him on SNL. His Eric Trump impression is hilarious.

Edited by peeayebee
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(edited)
On 6/22/2021 at 2:17 PM, DB in CMH said:

I wonder when these were filmed?

Wikipedia says season five resumed production in August 2020.

Ali Wentworth vs Sara Haines / Kal Penn vs Michelle Buteau

I liked how the camera went to Kal just after the category with "bongs" in it was revealed. 😄

Edited by ams1001

Ali Wentworth was just not good at this. "Blow. Kiss. Kiss. Blowing." Um, duh! Geez. Was disappointed in Kal Penn too. I seem to recall being disappointed in him the last time he was on this show too.

Has anyone else noticed they never have any older contestants on this show? I don't think I've ever seen anyone over 40 as a contestant. They are all objectively attractive young players.

  • Love 2
5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Ali Wentworth was just not good at this. "Blow. Kiss. Kiss. Blowing." Um, duh! Geez. Was disappointed in Kal Penn too. I seem to recall being disappointed in him the last time he was on this show too.

She was driving me nuts! I was glad Sara won both matches.

I usually like her well enough, on Match Game at least, and she was on Alec Baldwin's podcast recently, but this game was bad.

  • Love 1

Both Kal Penn and Ali Wentworth were so frustrating. I don't have the best memory, but I thought they had both done well before.

For 'People With Long Hair,' I would have said Cher and Rapunzel.

'Absurd' is a tough word. 

I thought 'Things That Are Instant' was a hard category. I'm not sure if this would have clicked, but clues that occurred to me were recall and replay.

I hate not getting puns, but can someone explain "The Great Test of E's" to me?

I liked seeing Sara do so well.  I guess she played before, but I didn't remember her.  Now I know her from "The Chase."  I did think she looked different somehow.  Perhaps just different lighting and/or stylists?  This set seems much brighter than "Chase."

13 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Both Kal Penn and Ali Wentworth were so frustrating. I don't have the best memory, but I thought they had both done well before.

I don't now about Kal, but I also thought Ali had done very well before.  Maybe I was thinking about someone else.  They really weren't on it.

13 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I thought 'Things That Are Instant' was a hard category. I'm not sure if this would have clicked, but clues that occurred to me were recall and replay.

I had "microwaveable rice" and "Sanka coffee."  They'd love me on "Supermarket Sweep."

On 6/24/2021 at 9:22 AM, iMonrey said:

Has anyone else noticed they never have any older contestants on this show? I don't think I've ever seen anyone over 40 as a contestant. They are all objectively attractive young players.

This is IMO true about most of the recent crop of network game shows, but some are worse offenders than others.  "Pyramid" is pretty bad, and it does annoy me.  I don't know why the bookers seem to prize youth and aesthetics so highly.  The celebrity partners also tend much younger on average than they used to.

  • Love 1
Quote

I thought 'Things That Are Instant' was a hard category. I'm not sure if this would have clicked, but clues that occurred to me were recall and replay.

I thought Taster's Choice Coffee, but you have to be old enough to remember it! Instant coffee is about the only thing I associated with the word "instant." It's a pretty hard word to get to, and it's not widely used in advertising anymore. 

 

  • Love 1

I can't watch this show all the way through. That players can do or say anything to get a response staggers me. No limit on words (like 25 Words or Less) or miming ... someone has to be really dense not to be able to give or act out clues. It's more than I can take. And some categories, like Give The Second Name and the clues were Obama and Winfrey ... geesh. Come on show, you are killing my brain cells.

  • Love 4
(edited)
26 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

someone has to be really dense not to be able to give or act out clues

and yet...🙄

I have to do something else while I watch or I will get too annoyed. But it's still better than some of the other revived game shows. I watched the first episode of Press Your Luck (which I loved as a kid) and there was so much yelling and screaming I didn't even make it through one game. I don't know if it's worse in this iteration or if I just had more tolerance for that kind of thing when I was little (I do remember lots of yelling in the original, too).

Last week (or the week before) there was one celeb who was trying to act out every clue even though there was no reason to, and this time Rosie O. had a category that was explicitly things you can act out with your fingers but she wasted time trying to use words to get the guy to say "plus" instead of just making a plus sign with her fingers (she eventually did and that's how he got it).

Edited by ams1001
  • Love 3

This was strange. Lorraine Bracco gave the clues twice in a row, in rounds 2 and 3, in the first game, but not in the second. Then Rosie O'Donnell did the same thing in the second game - was the giver twice in a row. 

Now, in the original (Dick Clark) version, the celeb gave in round one, the contestant gave in round 2, and then they got to choose to who gave in round three. But in this version, up until now, it's been a consistent trade-off, with the contestant giving first and third. If they have changed it to allow them to choose in round three, they are editing it out. So it's confusing.

Oy, Paige Davis's hair. Not a great look, honey. 

Lorraine Bracco. Is it just me or does she not seem very bright? I kind of get the feeling she has made a career out of playing herself, she's just kind of a cartoon. And she sounds like she's losing her voice.

I can't believe Rosie O'Donnell couldn't get Dopey from Snow White.

For things with a zipper I would have said "Your fly."

  • Love 3

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