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[EllieH]

If 13-year-old me was answering this, I'd have to go with Ellen Morgan, on the sitcom Ellen, played by Ellen DeGeneres**. The infamous "Puppy Episode" occurred when I was in middle school and middle school kids can be downright cruel.

These days, the only Ellen I can think of on recent tv was Ellen Parsons on Damages, and I am okay sharing my name with her. We've even both got former boyfriend's named David!

**Not judging her, I think she's a lovely person.

[formerlyfreedom]

Did I mishear how many episodes of The Honeymooners there were? I could swear Dave said 195, but it was only 39. Or maybe I misheard the show?

 

I actually did pretty decently on Game Time for a change; I'm pretty good with remembering how many seasons a show had, and that older shows (like Gunsmoke) were back in the day when they did 26 or more episodes a season. I would have had a harder time with the daily type shows, like Oprah. And I surely would have used the +1 cheat more then a few times!

[yeswedo]

KIM BAUER! 

 

@Maria maybe that is a British thing although I'm pretty sure Felicia's grandmother was not British. Charlotte Lucas' sister in Pride and Prejudice is Maria and the movie versions I've seen pronounce it Mariah. 

[EricJ]

I'm not sure which is worse - Eric Cartman or Eric Forman.

[April Bloodgate]

I'm pretty sure the closest thing on TV to my name is Daenerys, and she's apparently a badass. :) Unless there have been any shows about Greek mythology that featured Danae (the traditional spelling of my name). She was Perseus' mother, so maybe...

[Cranberry]

All Amys are all right -- Amy Pond, Amy Farrah Fowler, Amy Raudenfeld from Faking It, and even the Sailor Moon and Futurama characters are fine. I guess Amy Madison from BTVS is probably the worst. She does get Willow hooked on black magic, after all.

[Marco D]

I recently took a trip to Quebec for the first time, with some friends, and when we were there we were asked a couple of times where we were from and one time we said New York and the other time I decided to experiment and was like "We're from....Regina." Everyone bought it! Thanks for giving me a location in Canada to cite as I only can name like 10 Canadian cities! I still couldn't name a single Prime Minister. We joked when we were there that all of us on the trip could've been PM and no one would've noticed. Thanks EHG!!

[Primetimer]

Face Off returns, and Monty Ashley joins us to talk about it!

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[David T. Cole]

Sorry about the sound in spots on this week's EHG. As you know we were dealing with tech issues a plenty and an 11th hour shit storm threw a poopy monkey wrench in things to boot. I'm trying to mix all the metaphors I can here.

[Misanthrope]

Oh man, the moment I heard the name "Scott Tenorman" I knew it was going to be an interesting Canon submission.

Boldly played, Mr. Ashley.

[YoSaffBridge]

Tara, Olivia is the cutest damn little thing in the world! I very much look forward to her continuing commentary on the show.

[Maria]

Seriously, guest correspondent Liv might be my favorite guest ever. She's very insightful and confident in her opinions. I can't wait to hear more from her!

[Kat]

Olivia for President, er, Prime Minister!

[Portia]

Liv is the bomb, and Tara is very cute with her. I like it when people don't talk down to children.

[Tara Ariano]

Olivia will be even better as the season goes on. She is really good at remembering everyone's names (once there aren't a million of them) and always stans hard for the female contestants.

[swimmyfish]

That was maybe the most dramatically satisfying entrance into the Canon ever.

[smrou]

"Scott Tenorman Must Die" was actually the first episode of South Park I ever saw (I'd never had cable, but that summer I was doing an REU and there was cable in the dorm) and I remember watching it with my friends and we were having a good time and laughing a lot and then the end happened...and I recall we all pretty much reacted with, "What the fuck did we just watch?"  Which I think means I'm with Tara on this one.  But I wonder how I would have felt if I'd seen the show before.  I knew of it, of course, but that was just miles beyond anything I thought might happen.

[April Bloodgate]

So much to love about this episode, besides just the fact that you're back. Olivia was awesome. So smart and well-spoken for 6. The dog poo triumph was great. Sarah and Monty, I too watched Work of Art and really enjoyed it. Dave, I thought your "Yeaaaahhhh" clue was good; I picked up on it right away. 

[EllieH]

Tara, your niece sounds adorable and is so well spoken! You'll have to bring her back for some future Face Off commentary.

This week was extra fun for me, as "Back to School" was my game time submission. Too bad Sarah didn't get to play it (darn you TWC!).

[Endeavour]

I haven't finished listening to the entire podcast yet, but I found the dog poop tiny triumph hysterical. That had me laughing for a long while. Good for you.

[jellysalmon]

I'm establishing myself as the first Truther in regards to Olivia. No way that girl is 6. She seems to have a better grasp on things than I did when I was like 10. I'll be needing long form birth certificates and whatnot by the morning.

 

Dave: Kudos for standing up to dogshit litterer. I was thinking you were going to have your dog poop in a bag and put it on his lawn, but your response was more fair and less escalatory. Don't want to start a dog poop war.

[Monty]

Dave: Kudos for standing up to dogshit litterer. I was thinking you were going to have your dog poop in a bag and put it on his lawn, but your response was more fair and less escalatory. Don't want to start a dog poop war.

Have you seen the size of Dave's dog? I think he wins that war.

[Primetimer]

Stahp.

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[Qoass]

TV stealth cars that somehow do not buzz when you open the door while the keys are in the ignition and have no ceiling lights that come on when you open the door.  I guess it's a good thing all television characters drive and park in beautifully lit areas so they don't need additional illumination when they gaze meaningfully at each other over the gearshift or leave the vehicle during a sooper-seekrit-stakeout.

[swimmyfish]

I don't know if this counts as a trope or not, but I'd love it if everyone on tv would stop carrying around to-go coffee cups UNLESS they can convincingly pretend that the cup actually has some amount of liquid in it.

[David T. Cole]

@swimmyfish Totally! We did an all I Am Not A Crackpot episode of these a couple years ago and that was my contribution.<br /><br />Bonus point if you identified my line reading of "terrible" as Verl from Frisky Dingo.

[Tara Ariano]

That was not yours, it was a user contribution we all agreed with but NICE TRY DAVE.

[tita]

My sister once gave me a gift in a fake tv gift box that she made. I thought it was so funny, I've kept it for years.

[David T. Cole]

I like credit!

[David T. Cole]

Poozilla.

[Louise]

My husband and I dislike how rude everyone is on the phone on TV. Unless you're mad at the person you're talking to, who just hangs up the phone without saying goodbye?

[jojolemon]

Had to create an account just so I could say that the handcuff thing happened to me when I was about 8. My father was a newly minted fed. We were visiting my mother's parents who worked on a cattle ranch in a fairly remote part of NM. My father started playing "tag" (actually some variation of such) with us kids. He caught me and handcuffed my hands together around a bar on a brass bed so I couldn't "escape" and went in search of someone else. When he went to remove the handcuffs, he could not find the key. It was back at home. So, they had to use a hacksaw to cut me out of the bed. (Which pleased my grandmother no end.) Then we drove to town to try to find someone with keys to the cuffs. The keys the local police had would not work. They got on the horn and found a state cop who was nearby. Luckily, he had a key that worked. And, I was freed of the cuffs after being in them for a couple of hours. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. My father learned a valuable lesson about his handcuffs, though. Real life. This was more than 40 years ago, btw.

[smrou]

The thing about the handcuff trope (which I actually am not sure I've personally seen a lot of, though of course My So-Called Life used it memorably) is that of course anyone who's ever watched TV ought to know to check for the key before putting on the cuffs.  But then, TV characters don't watch TV.  Also, this wouldn't apply to actual police handcuffs, but don't cuffs sold for recreational purposes usually have a release lever so you don't even need a key?  [At this point I think it is fair to say I've thought too much about this.]

 

Dave's example of the whispering trope is a great choice because it's so common and so annoying.  Hey, if we just walk two feet to the left, NOBODY CAN HEAR US ANYMORE!  So convenient.  Along the same lines, it seems like on TV even shouted arguments can't be heard through doors...except of course when the plot requires that they be.

 

 

 

My father learned a valuable lesson about his handcuffs, though.

I find myself wondering if he got an official reprimand for using his handcuffs on his family.  Makes a good story, though.

Edited July 31, 2014 by smrou

[jojolemon]

I find myself wondering if he got an official reprimand for using his handcuffs on his family. Makes a good story, though.

 

 

I'm sure nobody of consequence at his job ever learned about the handcuff event and nothing came of it other than, as speculated, a good story for him to tell later on.

Edited July 31, 2014 by stacey
Fixed quote

[Cranberry]

My husband and I dislike how rude everyone is on the phone on TV. Unless you're mad at the person you're talking to, who just hangs up the phone without saying goodbye?

 

Haha, my dad totally does that. He hates the phone, so conversations with him are always brief and end with, "Okay. *click*"

[torontomeridith]

My sister once gave me a gift in a fake tv gift box that she made. I thought it was so funny, I've kept it for years.

I was about to post nearly the same story but change co-worker for sister. I still have mine and keep Christmas wrapping items in it. I don't know what was IN the box, but the box itself is alive and kicking.

[Primetimer]

Identifying TV's most- and least-staffed workplaces.

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[Solid Muldoon]

The Magic Sling: I've been watching old episodes of Gunsmoke. (It's the best "Hey, it's that guy!" show out there.) I've lost track of how many times Marshall Dillon has been shot in the shoulder. It has to be at least once every four or five episodes. Of course, at the end of the episode he has his arm in a sling and he and his pals are laughing. Next week? He's right as rain. The show ran for decades. His arms would have been turned to jelly! Or fallen off!

I got shot in the upper thigh 32 years ago. Just a "flesh wound." No broken bone or arterial damage. I limp a little to this day.

[David T. Cole]

Slightly less than Solid Muldoon!

[Primetimer]

Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of off-season TV programming.

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[Trip]

I am in the exact same boat on "Doctor, Doctor": my memory is that it was awesome, but I have no idea how much to trust my memory. (It looks like it lasted two seasons, by the way.)

[David T. Cole]

Ha ha, that is awesome!

[Monty]

I remember two or three specific jokes that still make me laugh. That's pretty good for a show I haven't seen in 25 years!

[formerlyfreedom]

Well played, Dave. Well played. 

[Misanthrope]

Please.

Hannibal would kill BA if he ever cheated on him.

[Primetimer]

Wishing joy to the TV couples we're 'shipping hardest.

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[KayJayNZ]

I raise my glass and toast Root & Shaw from "Person of Interest".

[MaryPatShelby]

I could listen to a whole show structured around TV tropes.

 

In addition to the whispering thing, there's also the "X, can I see you in the kitchen?" And the kitchen is always open to the room where everyone is gathered, yet we're supposed to believe that the conversation in the kitchen, which is probably about someone in the other room, can't be overheard. I don't think there's ever been a sitcom that didn't use this.

[lottiedottie]

Please have Olivia give more commentary on anything at all. I could listen to her adorableness all day long.

 

Also, Dave--I felt your rage re: the dog poop issue. You were remarkably restrained, I would have tacked the jerk and mashed it in his face for what he did. But I might have issues and maybe my reaction wouldn't be considered normal.

Edited August 4, 2014 by lottiedottie

[radishcake]

I was the fourth viewer of Work of Art and YES. I went to art school and that shit is a SKILL. Liv was ADORABLE and I look forward to her further commentary. I agree with Leah that Project Runway is too ridiculous with the fighting. I did let my daughter watch seasons 1 - 4 (marathons) with me and we did lots of fast forwarding. She was a lot like you @Sarah D. Bunting - can't they just show us how they do the SEWING?? (actual comment from the then 7 year old)