Topic: THE BIG CHAT (Read 41150 times)

bk · « **on:** October 28, 2003, 12:22:49 AM »

Now that you've read the notes (and I do mean you), I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the topic o' the day. I love waking up in the morning and seeing a plethora of posts - it's like waking up with a smile.

George · « **Reply #1 on:** October 28, 2003, 12:31:47 AM »

Am I the first poster of this fine day?

George · « **Reply #2 on:** October 28, 2003, 12:39:50 AM »

First Post! Score!

Anyway, in my last post of yesterday (at about 11:05 p.m., Monday), I answered today's topic! I really like "Reno 911." It's a pseudo-mock-documentary sitcom about the stupidest bunch of police people in Reno. Talk about incompetent! But, if you like that kind of humor (I don’t usually, but somehow it grabbed me and wouldn’t let go), you’ll like this show. I also like the improvisational aspect of it. “Life With Bonnie” is the same way... improvised…and I’ve always liked Bonnie Hunt. And she can really sing! If she has the range, I think that she’d be a swell Sally Durant Plumber in Sondheim & Goldman’s Follies.

bk · « **Reply #3 on:** October 28, 2003, 12:42:30 AM »

We've been having so much fun sharing photos, that I took some last night - some of my art collection and a few other things. So, here's thing one - this is an original Li'l Abner panel drawn by Mr. Al Capp himself and published as a daily in the mid-forties. I've had three or four original Abner panels but this one has it all - Abner, the best Daisy Mae image ever, and the Sadie Hawkins day race. If we have lots and lots of posts, I'll share more pix as the day goes on.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 28, 2003, 03:02:47 AM »

Lovely chat last night.

I don't find a LOT to like in the television that I watch. I don't like a lot of new shows which may have new people in them, but have the same horrible writing! I think it used to be that terrible shows like Suddenly Susan or Just Shoot Me or Caroline in the City were exceptions - now all the shows are terrible just like them!

That said - I agree with George that Reno 911! is very funny with good work by a talented cast. I also like MadTV although it isn't new.

It's strange that CBS is touting its 75th Anniversary with clips from shows like The Jeffersons and The Carol Burnett Show since CBS was built on the backs of shows like I Love Lucy and The Beverly Hillbillies - cultural to the extreme they weren't. They did have Ed Sullivan and Playhouse 90 (I think) and The Twilight Zone. I hope ALL these shows get their due on the special!

Jrand74 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 28, 2003, 03:04:24 AM »

Does anyone know exactly how the tv in that picture worked?

It's a coffee table...it's a television....it's two pieces of furniture in one!

Danise · « **Reply #6 on:** October 28, 2003, 03:36:15 AM »

Good Morning all! I'm getting ready for work so I don't have much time.

One of my all time favorite TV shows was/is "Babylon 5". I'll go in to why when I get home tonight.

Have a happy and safe day!

D

Michael · « **Reply #7 on:** October 28, 2003, 03:52:31 AM »

Favorite new TV Shows?
There are none.

However favorite older shows: Law and Order, Will and Grace (most of the time)

Classics: The Prisoner, Bewitched, Are You Being Served, Mission Imposible (seasons 1 thru 5), Laverne and Shirley (Especially when there is Slapstick)

I have never seen the new TV series The Handler. but the premise sounds very much like Mission Impossible

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Michael · « **Reply #8 on:** October 28, 2003, 03:56:40 AM »

Here are some related icons from favorite shows and oh my gosh how can I have forgotten Babylon 5???

I tried to add more then one image at time. I guess we can't do that. I will try to post some more during the day and will add an image from my favorite shows to each of them.

Kerry · « **Reply #9 on:** October 28, 2003, 05:06:12 AM »

Hi Boys and Girls!
I'm not a TV snob, because I used to watch a lot of it, bit i haven't watched much in the last few years. I think Tom Welling is a doll, but I don't watch "Smallville." Seeing him in the bathtub on "Judging Amy" a couple of years ago stuck in my brain enough that I can skip his current series. So I haven't watched much TV regularly. I like "Judging Amy," and there's always some version (new or in reruns on 50 different channels) of "Law and Order," but I only see them occasionally. If I really like a show, it's a pretty safe bet it will be cancelled, so i don't even bother with the new shows.

Ben · « **Reply #10 on:** October 28, 2003, 05:11:34 AM »

I, like our esteemed leader BK, rarely watch television. I watch The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Sex in the City and not much else. I may turn the television on and surf but I rarely find anything that entices me to stay. I have tried some of the new shows this season and find them to be, if not outright awful, then just middling to bad. Certainly not Must See. Shows that I used to watch and enjoy have, IMHO, fallen far down the mark as well. I think Friends used to be funny. Now, in spite of the critics drumb beating about it having a resurgence, I think it has lost any charm it had and long overstayed its welcome.There are arguments on both sides but I think Will and Grace is, again, IMHO, embarrasing most of the time. The writing is wretched, the plot lines are unbelievable and the characters are nothing more than caricatures. I won't go into a long discourse about it, suffice it to say, I don't like it anymore. I also don't like It's All Relative, in spite of some excellent performers (John Benjamin Hickey, Christopher Siebert and Harriet Harrison). I don't like Whoopi and I don't like Happy Family (sorry Christine Baranski, I love you). And don't get me started on reality TV. I will agree with George, that the little I've seen of Life with Bonnie, especially the scenes on the set of her faux TV show are well done.

For the most part, give me the live theatre and the VCR for old movies and I'm happy. I'm such a curmudgeon. Oh, well. I'm just turning into my father

Don't mean to inject a note of negativity into our happy proceedings, especially so early in the posting day but, you asked

I will end on a bright note. Even though I left early, the chat last night was wonderful. As many have said, it was a zooming kind of night. You had to read and type fast (thank goodness for 10th grade summer school typing class in 1969). If you get a chance, drop in, the water's fine. A little Evelyn Wood won't hurt either (does anyone still remember Evelyn Wood?)

DearReaderLaura · « **Reply #11 on:** October 28, 2003, 05:53:45 AM »

The kids have tvs in their rooms, but the one in the family room blew about eight months ago. When my DH and I were on our trip, though, we watched tv in the motel room. We'd find the Discovery Channel and watch that. I think that's probably about all I'd watch if we had a tv, except that I'm too cheap to pay for cable.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 28, 2003, 05:58:08 AM »

Oh - the Premium Services series.

I liked OZ. Its last season last year was not its best, but it featured some good actors.

QAF is a mixed bag with some inconsistant and out of character plotting and writing, but at least it has some really bad actors to go along with it. Two of the major characters Brian (Gale Harrold) and Justin (Randy Harrison - who was a second choice for the role when the parents of the original actor requested that their son drop out) are particularly badly acted, but it's just television, after all. The producers-writers have admitted that much of their writing is motivated by "anger", and it shows. Sharon Gless is giving probably the best performance, but even she is sometimes defeated by the plots. QAF gets my Dark Shadows Award for Important Heavy Plot Points that come from nowhere and then are never EVER mentioned again EVER, or worse contradicted!!!

Another highlight of QAF is beautiful Thea Gill who plays Lindsay Peterson, the blonde lesbian. She is a great friend of a friend (Jeff Marshall, a casting agent in Toronto) and asked for a lot of Frances Farmer material, which I was glad to share with her, she was kind and thoughtful and wrote me a nice note when she got it. I think DR JMK has had some contact with her as well. Lindsay played FF in a play Saint Frances of Hollywood and may play her again.

Here is a link to her website.

http://www.theagill.com/

Jrand74 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 28, 2003, 05:58:30 AM »

Oh and Six Feet Under!

Ben · « **Reply #14 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:07:34 AM »

MDS, I'm sure you'll be glad to know that I now have the theme from Bewitched running through my head and it won't leave. I have to plug into something to get that out of my brain!

Dan-in-Toronto · « **Reply #15 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:14:44 AM »

I enjoy Alias, not only for its lightning pace and Jennifer Garner's stunts (and wigs), but also because it's one of the two shows that my partner, Gord, and I both like. (The other is Without a Trace. And if BK thinks Alias's music hits you over the head, then WaT's just about knocks you out.) But there are no have to see shows.

In the rerun department, I can never get too much Frasier or Mary Tyler Moore, which is a good thing in the case of the latter - since the same twenty or so shows seem to be on a lot. But I have a tradition going: when I'm working at home, I plunk myself and a bowl of vegetables in front of Mary, Lou, Rhoda, et al., and start slicing and dicing for the night's upcoming dinner.

Matt H. · « **Reply #16 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:17:06 AM »

Well, I am a TV junkie. I happen to think right now is a zenith in the history of TV drama. No, we don't have classy PLAYHOUSE 90 (yep, CBS) stuff any more with distinguished writing from great playwrights, but there are a host of absorbing TV dramas out there. Yes, HBO has two of the greatest ever: SIX FEEET UNDER and THE SOPRANOS, but there are wonderfully slick, commercial entertainments like CSI, all three LAW & ORDER shows, '24,' THE SHIELD, ALIAS, MONK, and WITHOUT A TRACE that I wouldn't think of missing. Added to this are comedies like FRIENDS, WILL & GRACE, and SCRUBS, and I DO a lot of TV watching.

Another thing. As a gay man, I waited most of my life to see gay people portrayed on television in a variety of stories, some realistic and some farcical. Straight folks might not understand why something like QUEER AS FOLK or IT'S ALL RELATIVE, both mediocre in quality, would be so appealing, but there haven't been many gay characters on TV during its formative years that either weren't thought diseased (MARCUS WELBY and MEDICAL CENTER episodes) or went straight or became neutered sexually (SOAP, DYNASTY). I am glad I lived long enough to see the gay characters on WILL AND GRACE, IT'S ALL RELATIVE, QUEER AS FOLK, and SIX FEET UNDER be gay in all different shapes and sizes. The shows they're on my seesaw greatly in quality, but I'm grateful for them, and you won't hear me knocking them ever.

td · « **Reply #17 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:17:22 AM »

Good morning one and all!

Consistently, I watch every NBC LAW & ORDER (original, SVU and CI); great writing and you can't beat the performances of Sam Waterston, Vincent D'Onoffrio and Chris Meloni. Jayne Mansfield's daughter has a certain charm, too.

SMALLVILLE suffers the same musical problem that BK expressed about ALIAS. . .but, the leads are quite cute, and it's usually super.

and then there's ANGEL. . .what a treasure! I haven't caught up on seasons 3 or 4, but, this season is a wow so far. . .

Noel · « **Reply #18 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:22:49 AM »

When my friends who work in television first heard about the premise for 24, they scoffed: What's that going to be like? Pictures of a man snoring? What about him on the toilet?

But the first season contained enough genuine surprises to make me wonder what would happen on the next episode. That's quite a feat.

It's nice to see shows produced by pals mentioned here, but so far no one's named Curb Your Enthusiasm...

Matt H. · « **Reply #19 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:28:35 AM »

Wow! Thanks for the super picture of David. I have been watching ANGEL this season just because I don't watch THE WEST WING, and I have an hour to kill between ENTERPRISE/SMALLVILLE and LAW & ORDER. I've enjoyed the shows thus far.

The thing is that one becomes invested in the characters in a weekly show like ALIAS. Yes, it's comic book quality storytelling, but it's addicting, and I look forward eagerly each week to see adorably nerdy Marshall explain his latest gizmo or see the on-going saga of Sydney and Vaughn's love affair play itself out surrounded by the unbelievable stunts and the classy production values (you KNOW they aren't going on location for all those shows, but the production design is so good it's convincing that they are.)

William E. Lurie · « **Reply #20 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:38:02 AM »

The best new television show of the season has already been cancelled: THE BROTHERHOOD OF POLAND NEW HAMPSHIRE. This was a typical quirky David E. Kelly show which was probably a little too strange for the average viewer. For example one of the characters had a Katie Couric fetish and TIVO'd her every day. His wife found out and then dressed as Katie to pep up their sex life. I also like HOPE AND FAITH. I was never much of a Kelly Ripa fan, but she is very funny here and the team of her and Faith Ford is almost as good as Cindy and Penny or Lucy and Vivian. Of the other new shows I sampled the worst is JOAN OF ARCADEA. Despite a good cast I found a high school student talking to God in the form of her cafeteria worker unintentionally funny, but not funny enough to be enjoyable. This show has already been renewed for the whole season.

I missed chat last night because I was at City Center to see "Gotta Dance". This was a benefit for "Career Traditions in Dancers" where there were four award presentations and a lot of great dancing. One award went to the late Donald O'Connor who knew he was going to get this before he died and had been quite touched. The others were for Cyd Charisse, Fayard Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers and Turner Classic Movies for preserving so much dance on film. Cyd looked beautiful as did Arlene Dahl, Marge Champion, Mary Tyler Moore and Jane Powell, all presenters. Based on audience reaction, the most popular presenter was Esther Williams. I did not realize that she had fallen down, broke several bones and was told she would never walk again. Last night she did walk (on the arms of 2 musclemen in skimpy swim suits - was the applause for them?) and although she had aged more than any of the other women she still looked good and had the same wonderful spunk and sense of humor as ever. [I hope Esther and Arlene were assigned different dressing rooms] Dance numbers included a drag tribute to Carmen Miranda, NYCB in "America" from WEST SIDE STORY (introduced by Russ Tamblyn and George Chakiris), part of THE RED SHOES ballet, Ann and Bebe leading "Hey Big Spender", 2 classic pas de deux, and a tap dance ensemble to "Hooray For Hollywood". Three intermissionless hours went by so fast that when I looked at my watch afterwards I was amazed it had been so long.

Matt H. · « **Reply #21 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:42:30 AM »

I forgot to mention RENO 911, DR td, but I love it, too. It is hysterical, and seemed to get even more so as its short season progressed. I was happy to see that Comedy Central has renewed it for a second set of episodes. I recorded all of them to DVD to watch again. Due to its improvisational nature, it wasn't as consistently hilariouos as the old POLICE SQUAD! TV show (that later morphed into THE NAKED GUN movies), but it was still very funny. Again, I looked forward to seeing what antics these inept cops would get into. I was never disappointed.

Matt H. · « **Reply #22 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:45:53 AM »

Thanks for the recap of the dance gala, WEL. Sounds like it would have made for a memorable night.

Did any of you in LA venture out to the Kander and Ebb tribute that featured Jason Graae and newly available Liza Minnelli?

td · « **Reply #23 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:50:03 AM »

Wow! Thanks for the super picture of David.

You are more than welcome! Another DR had sent it to me, so, it truly is a share file!

One of my faves, though is this one:

Matthew · « **Reply #24 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:51:29 AM »

Loved the few seconds I had in chat last night. Favorite series has got to be "The Nanny" followed closely by "The Golden Girls" and I always liked "Mr Belvedere" for several reasons, I liked the theme song a whole lot, and other reasons that I can't post here!

I'm going to see the recent non-equity tour of "Seussical" this eve and will report back tomorrow. I saw the Cathy Rigby tour (although I didn't see her) last January and loved it.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #25 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:55:41 AM »

I agree DR MattH, that it's nice to have some representation on television - ie QAF. And I know I was a bit hard on the show, but a pet peeve of mine has always been a producer/director/writer who uses a show to push an agenda. I just wish we could watch these characters behave as the people we have been told they are from week to week.

DR WEL thanks for the news about the show you saw! I am jealous that you saw so many of my favorites! And it sounds wonderful, what a great selection of songs and performers. Why don't they ever tape anything like THAT for television? Do you think it will be released for DVD? I suppose the rights and images fees would be astronomical!

Oh my, can you imagine Esther and Arlene in the same dressing room? Talk about a scene from The Opposite Sex! Wow!

Of course most of our younger DR's wouldn't know that Esther was married to a man who had once been married to Arlene....but now they do!

Matt H. · « **Reply #26 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:56:01 AM »

It is TOO early in the morning to be entertaining such lascivious thoughts, DR td. Stop!

Matt H. · « **Reply #27 on:** October 28, 2003, 06:57:42 AM »

And the man was the astoundingly handsome Fernando Lamas.

MBarnum · « **Reply #28 on:** October 28, 2003, 07:21:04 AM »

As a kid I watched a ton of television, but I just don't seem to have time to watch too much of it now-a-days.

But my current new favorites are MOST EXTREME ELIMINATION CHALLENGE...this show is so hilarious! SURVIVOR: PEARL ISLANDS is the only other show that I watch on a regular basis at this time. I have also enjoyed watching QUEER EYE FOR A STRAIGHT GUY. Occasionally I will tune in to EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND or KING OF QUEENS, but not on a regular basis (I couldn't even tell you what nights they are on!).

I used to watch WILL AND GRACE regularly, but for some reason I don't anymore.

Jrand74 · « **Reply #29 on:** October 28, 2003, 07:45:23 AM »

OMG - DRMBarnum - I forgot about Most Extreme Elimination Challenge!

http://What does this do?

News:

Author Topic: THE BIG CHAT (Read 41150 times)

Ben

Ben

MBarnum