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Celebrating 1,000 NCIS-franchise episodes

S01.E06: Hagsploitation

Drogo

By Drogo
in Feud [V]

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TigerLynx

TigerLynx

7 minutes ago, qtpye said:

As much as I felt for Joan this episode, throwing flowers at Mamcita's head and calling her "just a servant" annoyed the shit out of me.  Particularly, as we have that awful video of that poor maid falling from a balcony, as her employer videoed the whole thing.

What if Mamacita had not ducked fast enough?  It seems like Ryan is saying that drunk Joan is physically and verbally abusive, which is not far off from Mommy Dearest.

It's not far off from what a lot of drunks are like.  There are people who can have one or two drinks and be fine.  There are others who can't control their drinking or themselves, and are horrible monsters.

The scene with the hotel clerk was rumored to have been something Bette set up to annoy Joan, but there was never any actual proof.  There are things Bette and Joan admit to doing, things people saw them do, and then there is also a lot of speculation and unfounded gossip.  The truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.

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vb68

vb68

4 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

 

I think that the reason the show focuses on Joan is because Bette didn't give much to work with. She was a vital woman who kept her sense of humor and chin up her whole life. Doesn't mean she didn't have issues but she did have a confidence and sense of self-worth. Her ungrateful daughter's book notwithstanding,

 

I kinda assumed that  even if Ryan Murphy is a huge Bette fan,  Ryan and co are more use to and like working with Jessica Lange, so they naturally tailor more for her to do. They might not even realize it.  It just happens when you have prior experience working together. 

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Growsonwalls

Growsonwalls

1 hour ago, qtpye said:

As much as I felt for Joan this episode, throwing flowers at Mamcita's head and calling her "just a servant" annoyed the shit out of me.  Particularly, as we have that awful video of that poor maid falling from a balcony, as her employer videoed the whole thing.

What if Mamacita had not ducked fast enough?  It seems like Ryan is saying that drunk Joan is physically and verbally abusive, which is not far off from Mommy Dearest.

I agree that Joan was appalling in that moment. HOWEVER I think in that era Hollywoods' personal assistants/maids were subject to a lot of abuse and it was accepted within the community. Doesn't make it right but I have heard stories of how some personal assistants were treated and it was hair-curling. 

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tennisgurl

tennisgurl

Were those kind of movies seriously called Hagsploitation? I've heard of the "psycho biddy" name for those "What ever Happened to Baby Jane?" knock offs, but I never heard that one. Psycho biddy probably isn't much better, but hagspoitation is just mean.

I think the show focuses more on Joan both because Joan had more drama at the time (drunk, depressed, crazy family), and because Ryan and company love working with Jessica Lange, and are more comfortable writing for her. Its too bad, because there's a lot you can do with Bette, she had so much presence and intensity. As others have said, from what I've heard, she could be an asshole (which we have seen sometimes here, but not as much as Joan) just like Joan, just in different ways. From what I've heard of her, however, she does seem like she would be more fun to hang out with, and I tend to be more on her side then Joan's, if I have to pick sides. Bette could be vicious, but she also had a sense of humor about herself, and she seemed like she was the kind of person who could tell someone to fuck off one day, and give them tough love life advice the next. I just couldn't deal with Joan and her constant need to be seen as a princess, and her passive aggressiveness.

Screw you Warner! I don't think I've ever liked Bob more then when he screwed him over and found his balls again! Bobs wife certainly has good reasons to divorce him, but I still felt bad for him. I like his friendship with Bette (aside from ill advised sex that one time), I think she seems like she would be a good person to have in your corner. I wouldn't want her to be my enemy though.

Joan's brother is a real piece of shit. All he can do to get money is blackmail his own sister? Joan is a pain, but I do feel bad for her. Her family situation was just awful, and she's already got Expiration Date on her forehead, which is a real problem for an actress whos whole brand is Move Star. Bette could get away with being older a bit more because she was always more of a high class character actress who didn't mind looking like crap, even when she was young. Joan needs to be the beauty queen, and she's now being treated as some kind of ancient crone. Which is ridiculous, but its how it went down.

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enoughcats

enoughcats

(edited)
23 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Bette could get away with being older a bit more because she was always more of a high class character actress who didn't mind looking like crap, even when she was young

In the Hurrell picture book there are some glamorous shots of Bette, and she said page 250 

  • Quote

    "I don't want some glamour girl stuff. "

    "I want to be known as a serious actress, nothing else."

    She dismissed Hurrell's photos of Joan Crawford who she called "that mannequin from Metro" and said "I don't want to look like a piece of shiny wax fruit."

    Further on she said after Hurrell called her "the most glamorous gal in pictures", she responded "Go easy on the glamour, George, I'm not the type."

     

    Here is the photo from page 251 of the Hurrell book.  Breathtaking, in the best way.

  • b6ccf8d5bdd4af28b144ed8b582aecd2.jpg

Edited by enoughcats
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TaurusRose

TaurusRose

(edited)

Bette Davis has always been my favorite.  I'm sure she could be a hard ass, but she was always far more watchable and interesting to me than Joan Crawford.  Feud hasn't changed that.  Warner is a pig and Bob's wife leaving him is no more than he deserved.  Hedda Hopper is the "c" word, calling her a bitch would be too good for her.  And finally, Mamacita is still killing it.

Edited by taurusrose
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Josette

Josette

Quote

But Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. appeared to have been a fairly stand up guy and I can't see why he would lie about "Billie" telling him about one.  So I really don't know.  It does seem like if one existed, someone would sell it or release it.

He may have honestly misremembered it.   Perhaps she told him about the rumors or would-be blackmailers and he created a memory where she confessed about dancing in a film.  It sounds strange, but it does happen.  For  example, getting nominated for your first Oscar is a big deal and very memorable.  So, why did Shelley Winters think she was nominated for A Double Life in 1948 when she got her first nomination in 1952 for A Place in the Sun?  

I agree that if the film(s) really existed, then they should be out there to view.  Joan Crawford has been dead for decades and the Internet makes it easy to disseminate.

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Pepper Mostly

Pepper Mostly

23 hours ago, Florinaldo said:

Skinny waif John Waters as burly William Castle? Stunt casting at its most absurd just for the sake of some commentary on a supposed parallel between the two directors. And JW did not even bother to shave his mustache.

 

 

17 hours ago, Dev F said:

 

I dunno, I think it was more about evoking the feeling of what it was like to watch Castle do his thing. If a viewer has any idea who John Waters is, just seeing him conveys the point pretty brilliantly. And the point could've been blunted if they went to a bunch of trouble to make Waters look like Castle and he was no longer immediately recognizable as himself.

I squee'd out loud when I recognized John Waters! I thought is was a nice compliment to him to ask him to play Castle. He's a huge fan and must have jumped at the chance. Ever read his book Crackpot?  One of the essays is "Whatever Happened to Showmanship?", where he waxes eloquent about the over the top antics of Castle in promoting his movies. Here it is:

http://www.dmmserver.com/DialABook/978/074/324/9780743246279.html

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txhorns79

txhorns79

(edited)
Quote

I agree that if the film(s) really existed, then they should be out there to view.  Joan Crawford has been dead for decades and the Internet makes it easy to disseminate.

Film stock from the time period when those films would have been made (1920s) was highly flammable, and fell apart relatively easily when it wasn't stored under appropriate conditions.   Given that hundreds of mainstream movies from the time period are now considered "lost," due to those factors, I think it's entirely possible that a "blue" film from the period did not survive into the modern era.  This isn't to say that Joan actually made the film, but the fact it hasn't turned up is not really evidence as to whether it existed.    

Edited by txhorns79
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ennui

ennui

On 4/10/2017 at 7:53 AM, Blakeston said:

I can buy that someone wouldn't recognize Crawford, though.

Lots of celebrities aren't recognized. Hence the infamous "Don't you know who I am?" that crops up all the time.

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JohnnyGilda

JohnnyGilda

2 hours ago, qtpye said:

Tom and Lorenzo did a side by side comparison of the Lange and Crawford scenes in Strait Jacket.  Is it me or does Crawford actually look a lot more youthful then Lange (she was actually a good bit younger then Lange's real age).

http://tomandlorenzo.com/2017/04/strait-jacket-v-feud-bette-joan-joan-crawford-fx-side-by-side-comparison-recreation/

My main takeaway from the side by side is that they really aren't doing Crawford's lipstick and eyebrows justice on this show. 

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iMonrey

iMonrey

Quote

My main takeaway from the side by side is that they really aren't doing Crawford's lipstick and eyebrows justice on this show. 

They aren't doing Lange's eyes right either - that's the main difference. Crawford had bigger, darker and more expressive eyes. They should be making up Lange's eyes more IMO. It's the smaller eyes that make her look older.

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MyPeopleAreNordic

MyPeopleAreNordic

(edited)

The thing that irked me the most was the Baton Rouge hotel clerk's accent. The south Louisiana accents are not such strong "Southern" accents. In southwest Louisiana, they're Cajun accents. But from Baton Rouge to the New Orleans area, people neither have that thick Southern drawl nor a Cajun accent (I similarly get upset when shows set in New Orleans have locals speaking with a Cajun accent.) South Louisiana is very differently linguistically, culturally, and religiously than most of the rest of "The South."

source: born and raised in south Louisiana & lived in Baton Rouge for almost a decade

Edited by MyPeopleAreNordic
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enoughcats

enoughcats

2 hours ago, MyPeopleAreNordic said:

 

The thing that irked me the most was the Baton Rouge hotel clerk's accent.

 

I shut my eyes and listened to the so-called southern accents.  That part of the episode could have been called battle of the faux south accents.  It sounded like a casting call somewhere up north for 'southern talkers' none of whom had ever lived in the same place.  

Not that we aren't used to it.  (It's not just us ( me:nine years in NOLA and born and reared in Virginia) because the family I lived with in college in Bavaria refused to listen to Deutsche Fernsehen if the actors spoke with Prussian accents.)

Maybe they could have let Joan Crawford go back to her Texas roots.

13 hours ago, Pepper Mostly said:

I squee'd out loud when I recognized John Waters! I thought is was a nice compliment to him to ask him to play Castle. He's a huge fan and must have jumped at the chance. Ever read his book Crackpot?  One of the essays is "Whatever Happened to Showmanship?", where he waxes eloquent about the over the top antics of Castle in promoting his movies. Here it is:

http://www.dmmserver.com/DialABook/978/074/324/9780743246279.html

Thank you for the great read.  I'm embarassed to admit that I'd only heard of maybe three of the gimics.

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Growsonwalls

Growsonwalls

1 hour ago, ChicagoChris said:

I love when Bette calls JC by her given name, Lucille. Does anyone know if she really did that, or if it's just in the show ?

Idk if that was something she did but I do know that many Hollywood stars called each other by their given names. Marilyn was called "Norma" by her close friends, Lauren Bacall was called "Betty," Cary Grant called himself "Archie." Don't think it was necessarily a put down, just an inside-joke kind of thing because so many old movie stars had to change their names to whatever the hell the studio execs wanted their names to be.

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darkestboy

darkestboy

Another strong episode. Very Joan focused but the subplots involving her promoting Strait Jacket, her brother and that faux sex tape and Mamacita were all strong enough to watch.

I almost felt bad for her at the end when she heard Bette and Aldrich having drinks together as well.

The read through for Sweet Charlotte was interesting along with the bits of filming that we saw.

Warner was awful but he was right about Bette and Joan's careers being on the down slide though.

Hagsploitation or Psycho Biddy, not the most flattering of genre names, huh? 8/10

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Inquisitionist

Inquisitionist

18 hours ago, qtpye said:

Tom and Lorenzo did a side by side comparison of the Lange and Crawford scenes in Strait Jacket.  Is it me or does Crawford actually look a lot more youthful then Lange (she was actually a good bit younger then Lange's real age).

I won't say it's just you, but I don't agree with that assessment. 

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qtpye

qtpye

6 minutes ago, Inquisitionist said:
19 hours ago, qtpye said:

Tom and Lorenzo did a side by side comparison of the Lange and Crawford scenes in Strait Jacket.  Is it me or does Crawford actually look a lot more youthful then Lange (she was actually a good bit younger then Lange's real age).

I won't say it's just you, but I don't agree with that assessment. 

Maybe more youthful is not the right word.  It is jarring how different they look and this was probably Murphy's decision, to deviate from Faye's performance in Mommie Dearest.  I just would never know Lange is even playing Crawford, if someone had not told me.  YMMV

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enoughcats

enoughcats

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

 

Quote

My main takeaway from the side by side is that they really aren't doing Crawford's lipstick and eyebrows justice on this show. 

They aren't doing Lange's eyes right either - that's the main difference. Crawford had bigger, darker and more expressive eyes. They should be making up Lange's eyes more IMO. It's the smaller eyes that make her look older.

 

The wig is terrible, and I wonder if it's intentionally terrible.  I know wigs can be lifeless, but that doesn't try to look like silky hair. 

Seeing how bad it is, I wonder if the lack of expressiveness on the face with it was intentional?

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Arynm

Arynm

13 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

Idk if that was something she did but I do know that many Hollywood stars called each other by their given names. Marilyn was called "Norma" by her close friends, Lauren Bacall was called "Betty," Cary Grant called himself "Archie." Don't think it was necessarily a put down, just an inside-joke kind of thing because so many old movie stars had to change their names to whatever the hell the studio execs wanted their names to be.

From what I read Joan actually liked to be called "Billie." That's what her brother called her and what her first husband Douglas Fairbanks Jr. called her. She also didn't really like Joan when it was picked for her and preferred that people pronounce it Jo-anne. I think she got over that fairly quickly

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Florinaldo

Florinaldo

Quote

I dunno, I think it was more about evoking the feeling of what it was like to watch Castle do his thing. If a viewer has any idea who John Waters is, just seeing him conveys the point pretty brilliantly.

I am not expecting total mimesis when this show (or other productions) portrays people who really existed. But they should make an effort to at least get the broad strokes right. Tucci and Warner have very different faces, but the actor provides a good physical approximation of the man, and then he fashions a real character out of it by his performance. Same with Burgess as Victor Buono.  Another example would be Cuba Gooding as OJ; the latter was taller and much more athletic. They may not look precisely like the originals, but at least they create something credible. John Waters as WC was simply John Waters in looks and behaviour, which I thought distracted from the story and worked against it for a moment. The stunt displaced the character.

In the article posted by Pepper Mostly, it says that the hatchets handed out to the Strait-Jacket audience were cardboard instead of the plastic which I thought they looked like in the episode; it makes sense if only to keep costs down (some theater owners did not implement WC's gimmicks because they were too expensive).  In the movie Matinee the character modeled on Castle goes way overboard and uses 4 or 5 gimmicks for one single release, which would probably have been prohibitive; but it impresses the theater chain owner ("Showmanship!" he declares).

On 2017-04-11 at 0:44 PM, ennui said:

Lots of celebrities aren't recognized. Hence the infamous "Don't you know who I am?" that crops up all the time.

When celebrities go out dressed very casually to look like "ordinary" people, sometimes in clothes nearly in tatters , it's no surprise they do not get recognized. But JC was always dressed to the nines and completely made up, in full "Crawford drag" one could say; it makes it difficult to believe that while Baby Jane was doing great box office and would be covered extensively in the press, the hotel clerk would not recognize her. Although the show did not make it explicit, we may be expected to conclude that this was a prank concocted by BD.

On 2017-04-11 at 3:50 PM, qtpye said:

Tom and Lorenzo did a side by side comparison of the Lange and Crawford scenes in Strait Jacket.  Is it me or does Crawford actually look a lot more youthful then Lange (she was actually a good bit younger then Lange's real age).

JC certainly looks and acts more alive than JL, whose face barely moves; as enoughcats noted, she might as well be wearing a Noh mask (although not quite to an Onibaba level).

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Jan Spears

Jan Spears

7 hours ago, Arynm said:

From what I read Joan actually liked to be called "Billie." That's what her brother called her and what her first husband Douglas Fairbanks Jr. called her. She also didn't really like Joan when it was picked for her and preferred that people pronounce it Jo-anne. I think she got over that fairly quickly

Her father-in-law, Doug Sr., also referred to her affectionately as "Billie".

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CraftyHazel

CraftyHazel

1 hour ago, Florinaldo said:

 

When celebrities go out dressed very casually to look like "ordinary" people, sometimes in clothes nearly in tatters , it's no surprise they do not get recognized. But JC was always dressed to the nines and completely made up, in full "Crawford drag" one could say; it makes it difficult to believe that while Baby Jane was doing great box office and would be covered extensively in the press, the hotel clerk would not recognize her. Although the show did not make it explicit, we may be expected to conclude that this was a prank concocted by BD.

 

Personally, I think seeing someone outside of where you expect to see them can really throw you off, too.  I realize it's on a far smaller scale, but when I was working retail in Little Rock, a man came in to our store and spent an hour or so shopping.  I recognized his face and even his voice, but couldn't place him at all.  I just knew I knew him from somewhere, but until he checked out and I saw his credit card, I didn't realize it was the weatherman I watched on TV every single night.

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spaceghostess

spaceghostess

(edited)
On 4/10/2017 at 0:06 AM, DasFlavorPup said:

Speaking of "Strait-Jacket", here's a brief scene, which I REALLY hope was ad-libbed just for what Joan does at the end -  the "VWOOP" sound never fails to make me laugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX2CfU9iD0A

Excellent! Joan looks in fantastic shape, aside from the fact that the over-the-top eyebrows and shoulders are in full swing. I wish my arms were that toned-looking now, and I'm twenty years younger than she was there.  Murphy and co. did a shot-by-shot recreation* of the Strait-Jacket trailer; it must have been a (painstaking) hoot putting that together.

*Whoops--just realized qtpye got there first w/Tom & Lorenzo shot-by-shot comparison!

On 4/10/2017 at 7:53 AM, qtpye said:

Tucci's Warner is an amazing snake bastard and he should be nominated for an Emmy.

Absolutely. This character in anyone else's hands would be impossible for me to stomach. The Tooch's portrayal is so mesmerizing, I actually watch Warner's scenes twice! Molina is another one who's just so, so good. I love Molina and The Tooch together. ("Molina & The Tooch" = '90s B movie that tried and failed to capitalize on the box-office success of Turner & Hooch).

Edited by spaceghostess
copping to redundancy
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NutMeg

NutMeg

More and more, I think having Jessica Lange play Joan Crawford was a big mistake.  Sure, Jessica Lange is a great actress. But she has none of the physical characteristics that we all associate withJoan Crawford. Everything is wrong there: wide vs. narrow face. small eyes vs. big, big bones vs. small, etc, etc. everything in te visual is just wrong. The Straight Jacket comparison was particularly enlightening in that regard. I think I would have liked it better if Jessica Lange and Judy Davis had traded places.  

Susan Sarandon though is bringing it as Bette Davis and therefore is sorely missed when she's hardly showed in this episode.  

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Arynm

Arynm

I watched Dead Ringer last night and I kept thinking about Sarandon while watching. She is really doing a great job. She has the voice and the mannerisms down very well. I am very impressed. Jessica Lange is not. I see nothing of Joan Crawford and I have to remind myself while watching who she is.

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Phoebe70

Phoebe70

How was Joan able to keep that house?  In every episode she whines about how she has no money and can barely afford "to keep the lights on."  She's got that huge house with a pool, plus has to pay Mamacita.  

 

I wish John Waters' wasn't cast in this show.  He is overrated IMO and I can't stand him.  Other than that, great episode.

2 hours ago, NutMeg said:

More and more, I think having Jessica Lange play Joan Crawford was a big mistake.  Sure, Jessica Lange is a great actress. But she has none of the physical characteristics that we all associate withJoan Crawford. Everything is wrong there: wide vs. narrow face. small eyes vs. big, big bones vs. small, etc, etc. everything in te visual is just wrong. The Straight Jacket comparison was particularly enlightening in that regard. I think I would have liked it better if Jessica Lange and Judy Davis had traded places.  

Susan Sarandon though is bringing it as Bette Davis and therefore is sorely missed when she's hardly showed in this episode.  

For me it's the opposite!  I think Jessica Lange very much resembles Joan Crawford, both in appearance and mannerisms.  Susan Sarandon, IMO, looks nothing like Bette Davis and half the time she loses her accent.  It's like she forgets to speak with an accent.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's Bette and not Susan as the character.

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txhorns79

txhorns79

Quote

How was Joan able to keep that house?  In every episode she whines about how she has no money and can barely afford "to keep the lights on."  She's got that huge house with a pool, plus has to pay Mamacita.  

In reality, she sold the house in the mid-50s, so the entire setting is just invented for the series.  But yeah, it seems kind of ridiculous for someone to be constantly complaining about money while living in their luxurious Beverly Hills mansion.  Even a movie star knows how to economize.   

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Cementhead

Cementhead

(edited)

Anyone else madly in love with Jack Warner's office?  From the architectural features of the ceiling to the beautiful windows to the perfect symmetry of the paintings over his desk and the matching pair of couches placed facing each other .... oh my .... total house porn (or in this case, office porn) for me.   I want to move in and live there forever.  Okay, maybe not live there, but start conducting some sort of business from there during office hours.  So beautiful!

Edited by Cementhead
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A Boston Gal

A Boston Gal

I am so freaking torn about Jessica Lange in this project. The first time I saw her, it was in "Tootsie" and I despised her; only later did I figure out it was her character I couldn't stand. Later, when I saw her in other projects, like Grey Gardens or Cousin Bette, I thought she was amazing, and wondered how I could've judged her talent so incorrectly. Now, I'm right back to not caring for her an actress, and this time it has nothing to do with whether or not I'm rooting for Joan Crawford.

Just stop it, Jessica - you're hurting my brain trying to figure this out.

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Jan Spears

Jan Spears

On ‎4‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 2:24 PM, txhorns79 said:

In reality, she sold the house in the mid-50s, so the entire setting is just invented for the series.  But yeah, it seems kind of ridiculous for someone to be constantly complaining about money while living in their luxurious Beverly Hills mansion.  Even a movie star knows how to economize.   

I think the secondary story about the house serves a purpose even though the timeline is off. (Crawford had sold the Brentwood house by the time Baby Jane started filming.) For someone like Crawford, who worked her entire adult life to be the 'Ultimate Movie Star', making any concessions to financial reality in terms of downsizing or economizing would have been seen (by her) an admission of weakness and defeat. Whether it was intentional or not, this part of the story drives home the point that Crawford was always 'Joan Crawford' and 'Joan Crawford' always presented an image of how a movie star should live -- even if she couldn't afford it.

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Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

(edited)
On 4/9/2017 at 10:11 PM, Growsonwalls said:

High points: Jack Warner is an asshole but dammit he made me laugh with the "If it's twilight for us it's midnight for them" episode.

It's ironic that I should feel this way in a show that tries to make me care for the travails of unempowered women, but Tucci's Jack Warner is the absolute best thing about Feud for me. His treatment of the two underlings was also priceless. Would be divine (if perverse) justice if Tucci were to win an Emmy and neither Lange nor Sarandon did.

Edited by Milburn Stone
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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

 I laughed SO HARD at that corny trailer for Strait Jacket at the beginning of the episode.

Arlo Givens and John Waters in the same episode? High five for the casting in this episode!

I loved when Joan and Bette were trying to out-polite each other in front of the studio with the "After you"/"No, after you" until Mamacita just walked between them and went in first.

Good for Harriet for figuring out that their marriage sucks and getting the hell out. Too many people stay in unhappy marriages and resign themselves to being miserable for the rest of their lives.

On 4/10/2017 at 9:09 AM, psychoticstate said:

hile I don't think Joan had to work for financial reasons, I think she had to work for her own personal and emotional reasons.  She enjoyed working and she wanted to remain relevant.  She knew some of these films were trash but maybe she hoped to rise above that or that they would lead to something better.

I think that another factor is that it's common for people who grow up poor to be terrified of having to go back to being poor. Even when they have money in the bank, that fear of returning to poverty is enough to drive them to keep working even when they don't have to. I think that for Joan, remaining in the public eye was important to her and that was another reason why she wanted to continue working. Once you aren't visible, people forget about you and move onto other celebrities. She knew that in order to stay relevant, she had to keep doing movies, even if they weren't A-list/Oscar worthy movies.

On 4/12/2017 at 5:37 PM, Marmiarmo said:

Personally, I think seeing someone outside of where you expect to see them can really throw you off, too.  I realize it's on a far smaller scale, but when I was working retail in Little Rock, a man came in to our store and spent an hour or so shopping.  I recognized his face and even his voice, but couldn't place him at all.  I just knew I knew him from somewhere, but until he checked out and I saw his credit card, I didn't realize it was the weatherman I watched on TV every single night.

I had a similar experience when I was on vacation in Monterey. We were driving very slowly toward a four way stop and as we passed a car that was parked on the street, the first thing I thought was, "Wow, that is a cool looking car!" (I am terrible with makes and models but I know a cute little speedster when I see one). The second thing I thought was, "The guy standing next to that car looks familiar," but I had no idea why. It turned out it was Ian Ziering who played Steven Sanders on 90210. And this happened in the early 90s when the show was at the height of its popularity. You'd think I would have recognized him immediately, but seeing him out of the context of the show, he just looked familiar to me!

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