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Author Topic: BANG  (Read 21820 times)

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George

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Re:BANG
« Reply #90 on: November 29, 2005, 11:57:33 AM »

And one for Mahler!
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Jrand73

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Re:BANG
« Reply #91 on: November 29, 2005, 12:07:03 PM »

Oh, I have to go for a bit.

Barbara Walters wants to interview me for her Ten Most Un-Interesting People in the World.

:)
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Jennifer

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Re:BANG
« Reply #92 on: November 29, 2005, 12:13:23 PM »

I just mailed off the biggest 30lb box up north!  And I would like to say that the post office people that work at the Bureau en Gros post office i go to are so nice.  For some reason if these boxes are 1cm more in any direction, it could end up costing $100 more.  So i had measured the box very carefully and knew this.  Well the woman who measured my box was 1cm different in one direction ($100 more). And i told her this, so she changed it.  The box still cost $71 plus taxes, and insurance and fuel surcharge ($86 total). But is all the kids christmas presents, plus my presents to them, plus my sister's presents to them). So when we split this 3 ways it should be fine.
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Jennifer

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Re:BANG
« Reply #93 on: November 29, 2005, 12:14:54 PM »

I don't know if i'll watch Barbara Walters. Today there is no Boston Legal and no Gilmore Girls. So all i have on is TAR.

I already know most of her Top 10. And i don't really care about tom cruise, or lance armstrong. Dakota fanning is cute, and i do like terri hatcher. But are they really the most interesting people?
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Dan (the Man)

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Re:BANG
« Reply #94 on: November 29, 2005, 12:30:38 PM »

I don't know if i'll watch Barbara Walters. Today there is no Boston Legal and no Gilmore Girls. So all i have on is TAR.

I already know most of her Top 10. And i don't really care about tom cruise, or lance armstrong. Dakota fanning is cute, and i do like terri hatcher. But are they really the most interesting people?

Yeah--where is that Christian woman who freaked out on TRADING SPOUSES?  I think she was certainly more interesting than Tom Cruise.
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elmore3003

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Re:BANG
« Reply #95 on: November 29, 2005, 12:36:12 PM »

DR Jason has reminded me of another role I would like:  Voltaire/Pangloss/etc in CANDIDE.

I read in the paper last night about a high school in Cherry Hill NJ that is putting on ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST. They are doing it with two different casts:  on is the show as it is traditionally played, and the other in which the characters' genders are switched.  Dale Wasserman actually gave the school's drama teacher permission to do such a production and was open to help out with any questions the teacher and his cast had.  This was a nice change of pace from the story of the high school that was doing GREASE that was closed down by Tams-Witmark just because the show was cast with all girls (who played the male roles as males.)  

No offense, DRD-t-M, but since GREASE is, to my knowledge, a Samuel French show, I can't see how Tams-Witmark gave a damn if it were cast with orangutans!

I'm back from the Met and from picking up more Mario Frangoulis charts!  The dress of AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY was interesting, and I liked about half the score.  I think Francesca Zambello is a good stage director but a lousy dramaturg, and I hated her first collaboration with the composer, EMMELINE, which PBS broadcast and which I saw at City Opera.  The handsome baritone Nathan Gunn is wonderful in the leading role of Clyde Griffiths (the Montgomery Clift role has a different namein A PLACE IN THE SUN), and the two ladies are nicely parted as well.  

A friend of mine in college wanted to write a musical version, IN A ROWBOAT WITH YOU, and yes, DRJRand55, the rowboat scene was included in a very strange set by Adrianne Lobel.
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Dan (the Man)

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Re:BANG
« Reply #96 on: November 29, 2005, 12:44:22 PM »

No offense, DRD-t-M, but since GREASE is, to my knowledge, a Samuel French show, I can't see how Tams-Witmark gave a damn if it were cast with orangutans!

Tams-Witmark?  Who said anything about Tams-Witmark?  I have no idea what you are talking about.   ;D
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Tomovoz

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Re:BANG
« Reply #97 on: November 29, 2005, 12:53:24 PM »

When I checked back it's all French to me too DR DtM ;)
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Jason

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Re:BANG
« Reply #98 on: November 29, 2005, 12:55:48 PM »

Technically speaking, Sam French shouldn't have cared how GREASE! was cast, either. Unless forbidden by the author(s) or their estate(s), theatre groups are welcome to cast females in male roles (and vice-versa) so long as the characters are played as written in the script with no change to the author's original intent. In other words, where the script says "he," it has to remain, "he," etc. And, obviously, the casting of a female in a male role must be necessitated by a lack of talented men who could play the role. In addition, the casting of men in women's roles and women in men's cannot turn into a drag show or tongue-in-cheek "bit" - the roles must be played legitimately. Otherwise, I suspect the cease & desist of GREASE! is most likely a high school urban legend.

Of course, I have heard nightmarish tales of Samuel French and our friends at Tams-Bitchmark...erm...Witmark. Many of our customers refuse to work with them.  :-\ There again, if you talk to a few of OUR customers, you might here some tales, too... None about me, of course, but tales nonetheless. ;)
« Last Edit: November 29, 2005, 01:06:23 PM by Jason »
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Ron Pulliam

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Re:BANG
« Reply #99 on: November 29, 2005, 01:07:29 PM »

Gosh, Frodo...I don't think we're in Gondor any more.
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Dan (the Man)

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Re:BANG
« Reply #100 on: November 29, 2005, 01:11:14 PM »

Technically speaking, Sam French shouldn't have cared how GREASE! was cast, either. Unless forbidden by the author(s) or their estate(s), theatre groups are welcome to cast females in male roles (and vice-versa) so long as the characters are played as written in the script with no change to the author's original intent. In other words, where the script says "he," it has to remain, "he," etc. And, obviously, the casting of a female in a male role must be necessitated by a lack of talented men who could play the role. In addition, the casting of men in women's roles and women in men's cannot turn into a drag show or tongue-in-cheek "bit" - the roles must be played legitimately. Otherwise, I suspect the cease & desist of GREASE! is most likely a high school urban legend.


Nope!  It's a true story ripped from yesterday's headlines! (Well, from May's headlines, anyway.  Here's a LINK to a story in a local city paper.  And it was a production mounted jointly by two acting companies, not a high school.)
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elmore3003

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Re:BANG
« Reply #101 on: November 29, 2005, 01:15:49 PM »

Technically speaking, Sam French shouldn't have cared how GREASE! was cast, either. Unless forbidden by the author(s) or their estate(s), theatre groups are welcome to cast females in male roles (and vice-versa) so long as the characters are played as written in the script with no change to the author's original intent. In other words, where the script says "he," it has to remain, "he," etc. And, obviously, the casting of a female in a male role must be necessitated by a lack of talented men who could play the role. In addition, the casting of men in women's roles and women in men's cannot turn into a drag show or tongue-in-cheek "bit" - the roles must be played legitimately. Otherwise, I suspect the cease & desist of GREASE! is most likely a high school urban legend.

Of course, I have heard nightmarish tales of Samuel French and our friends at Tams-Bitchmark...erm...Witmark. Many of our customers refuse to work with them.  :-\ There again, if you talk to a few of OUR customers, you might here some tales, too... None about me, of course, but tales nonetheless. ;)

DRJason, I have worked for Tams-Witmark on HIGH SOCIETY and GOOD NEW and worked with their cooperation on THE GOLDEN APPLE, several Kern shows, FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN, and BABES IN TOYLAND.  I'm sorry your customers have complaints, but I have always found the Aborn family of Tams-Witmark friendly, co-operative, and very honorable.  I can say the same about my relationships with MTI and Rodgers & Hammerstein.  Most customers don't like paying what they consider high fees and getting negative answers to their inquiries; I can understand their frustrations, but sometimes the answer is no, you cannot rewrite ther book to CAMELOT or no, you cannot have the Broadway orchestrations to the revival of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS.   Since I have worked with all the major leasing houses in the City except Samuel French, I have to say I suspect your complaining customers say the same things about MTI to the other rental companies.  Of course, I cannot prove it but I can speculate.
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Matt H.

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Re:BANG
« Reply #102 on: November 29, 2005, 01:17:07 PM »

The "a" in those CC listings means it's an anamorphic transfer (enhanced for widescreen TVs).
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elmore3003

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Re:BANG
« Reply #103 on: November 29, 2005, 01:19:45 PM »

Nope!  It's a true story ripped from yesterday's headlines! (Well, from May's headlines, anyway.  Here's a LINK to a story in a local city paper.  And it was a production mounted jointly by two acting companies, not a high school.)

In this case Samuel French was pressured by an unhappy author to threaten the production.  Considering the large income French makes on this show each year, it's smarter to fight for the author than to have an unhappy one yank the property and take it elsewhere.
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Dan (the Man)

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Re:BANG
« Reply #104 on: November 29, 2005, 01:22:12 PM »

If a production is hit with a cease and desist, do they get a full refund from the licensing company?
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Matt H.

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Re:BANG
« Reply #105 on: November 29, 2005, 01:24:21 PM »

MEDIUM spoiler


























DR Jennifer, I am no expert in the law, but I think if you're the driver in an accident that turns into a hit and run and you don't report it, call 911 or something, then you are guilty of (at the least) vehicular manslaughter. The girl might not have been instantly dead, and medics might have been able to save her life. Seems like the story left that open to speculation. The man left his wife to bleed out (just as he left the girl to die on the street - TWO deaths on his conscience, except he seemed to have no conscience. He was a monster.
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Jason

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Re:BANG
« Reply #106 on: November 29, 2005, 01:25:44 PM »

DRJason, I have worked for Tams-Witmark on HIGH SOCIETY and GOOD NEW and worked with their cooperation on THE GOLDEN APPLE, several Kern shows, FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN, and BABES IN TOYLAND.  I'm sorry your customers have complaints, but I have always found the Aborn family of Tams-Witmark friendly, co-operative, and very honorable.  I can say the same about my relationships with MTI and Rodgers & Hammerstein.  Most customers don't like paying what they consider high fees and getting negative answers to their inquiries; I can understand their frustrations, but sometimes the answer is no, you cannot rewrite ther book to CAMELOT or no, you cannot have the Broadway orchestrations to the revival of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS.   Since I have worked with all the major leasing houses in the City except Samuel French, I have to say I suspect your complaining customers say the same things about MTI to the other rental companies.  Of course, I cannot prove it but I can speculate.

DR Elmore: I'm sure they have many of the same complaints with all of the licensing houses. They hate so-and-so for not giving them the rights to such-and-such (when in reality, the customer either waited too late or there's a tour that's restricting the show) or so-and-so charges how much for six weeks of additional rental?!?! Unfortunately, the majority of the complaints I've heard about Tams (and this is purely based on what my customers have told me) are customer service complaints. Many of them complain that the customer service reps at Tams are rude. I don't know, though - I've never worked with them directly. It's all hearsay from the crazy people that call me when they want to do LES MISERABLES and RENT.

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Matt H.

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Re:BANG
« Reply #107 on: November 29, 2005, 01:26:53 PM »

I started my afternoon with last night's CSI: MIAMI. An excellent show last night with some surprising revelations about Delko and Calleigh returning to ballistics.

The lush, deeply saturated photography of this show continues to astound in high definition.
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Matt H.

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Re:BANG
« Reply #108 on: November 29, 2005, 01:32:13 PM »

Then, I watched MADAGASCAR. Clever animation, funny character voices, and a group of four penquins that absolutely steal the show (think Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough in THE GREAT ESCAPE).

I don't know what Dreamworks Animation would do if they couldn't draw on allusions to classic and not-so classic movies and television. I lost count of the paeans to classic films all over the film in both dialogue, music cues, and visuals that flash by one's eyes. They're funny, but they constitute too much of the adult-oriented humor that the film contains. Pixar's writers have it all over these guys in turning out truly humorous and original scripts.
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Ron Pulliam

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Re:BANG
« Reply #109 on: November 29, 2005, 01:32:38 PM »

MEDIUM spoiler


























DR Jennifer, I am no expert in the law, but I think if you're the driver in an accident that turns into a hit and run and you don't report it, call 911 or something, then you are guilty of (at the least) vehicular manslaughter. The girl might not have been instantly dead, and medics might have been able to save her life. Seems like the story left that open to speculation. The man left his wife to bleed out (just as he left the girl to die on the street - TWO deaths on his conscience, except he seemed to have no conscience. He was a monster.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Spoiler....





Jennifer:  If the ghost/spirit of the troubled wife in MEDIUM was wrong, then wasn't Bree also wrong in this past Sunday's episode?

Even though George technically murdered her husband and tried to eliminate her shrink, wasn't her allowing him to think she'd called an ambulance while she consciously decided to let him die was as horrible (you said that you LIKED IT and hoped we are rid of George) as you say you found the ghost's action in last night's MEDIUM?

Why condemen one, and not the other, when both actions are quite similar?
« Last Edit: November 29, 2005, 03:21:20 PM by Ron Pulliam »
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bk

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Re:BANG
« Reply #110 on: November 29, 2005, 01:33:15 PM »

I shall shortly be on my way to LACC.  After that, I have to meet with our special effects person, so I'm not sure when I'll be home this evening, hence the notes might go up late.  But, keep the home fries burning until my returning.
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Matt H.

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Re:BANG
« Reply #111 on: November 29, 2005, 01:37:18 PM »

Yesterday, I recorded off TCM THE LADY IN THE LAKE, a Philip Marlowe picture starring Robert Montgomery as Marlowe told from the first person point of view. We only see Montgomery in mirrors and other reflections and otherwise only see what he sees through his eyes.

An unusual experiment that I don't think was wildly successful, but the mystery itself is OK. I remember when I saw it the first time, I didn't guess the murderer's identity. This time, I'm dubbing it onto a DVD for my mystery collection.
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Jason

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Re:BANG
« Reply #112 on: November 29, 2005, 01:55:04 PM »

Sounds to me like the GREASE! thing was a fairly high-profile to-do if they were advertising around Philly with print ads and such. Philadelphia's a big market and, as DR Elmore pointed out, Sam French had the authors breathing down their neck about it. It's the licensing house's job to protect the intellectual property of an author, so if the author says "make them change it or shut it down," that's what we have to do as long as there's a legitimate reason for doing so.

The group in question didn't cast the show as an all-women's show because they couldn't find men who could play the roles - they were doing it to change it up...to set it up as an all-girl's school performing GREASE! In the world of intellectual property, they re-conceived the show. That was not the authors' original intent or vision, so the authors  wanted it changed or closed down. Similarly, the Bernstein estate has been very specific about WEST SIDE STORY - it is not to be played in a modern day setting, nor is it to be presented in concert. We also have very specific guidelines concerning song order for that show - you cannot rearrange the stage production to reflect what is presented in the film.

One can say the lines and sing the songs word for word, but there is a big grey area called "intent," and ultimately the author - the creator of the material - should have final say in how it is presented.

As to refunds and such for productions that have been C&D'ed - I dunno how that works. I personally have never handled a cease and desist - our lawyer would handle all of that stuff.

And just to cover my butt (in case anyone from any of the licensing houses reads this), I am speaking solely on my own behalf. I do not claim to be an official rep for my company or any other and I acknowledge that my views on these matters comes from my point of view. I don't know everything about the business - certainly not the legal aspect of it - but I am marginally able to speak about these things in generic terms. Does that exonerate me? ;)
« Last Edit: November 29, 2005, 02:16:40 PM by Jason »
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Ginny

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Re:BANG
« Reply #113 on: November 29, 2005, 01:57:17 PM »

Tuesday evening greetings!  I logged in this morning and then was unable to log out before having to leave for work.  Here I am reporting from work, but wonder if my home computer is still logged into HHW?

TOD - Molly Brown, Mame Dennis (in the play, not the musical), Kate in The Taming of the Shrew.  DR elmore once gave me the chance to play one of my dream roles, Lucy, but being able to sing it well is still a fantasy.
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elmore3003

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Re:BANG
« Reply #114 on: November 29, 2005, 02:06:01 PM »


And just to cover my butt (in case anyone from any of the licensing houses reads this), I am speaking solely on my own behalf. I do not claim to be an official rep for my company or any other and I acknowledge that my views on these matters comes from my point of view. I don't know everything about the business - certainly not the legal aspect of it - but I am marginally able to speak about these things in generic terms. Does that exhonorate me? ;)

DRJason, you're exonerated in my book!  I appreciated your insight here about "intent."  Rodgers & Hammerstein stopped an OKLAHOMA! several years ago in Atlanta, I believe, because the theatre's "intentions" had more to do with the director's reshaping OKLAHOMA into something the authors had never intended.  It's a murky area.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2005, 02:06:41 PM by elmore3003 »
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Jason

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Re:BANG
« Reply #115 on: November 29, 2005, 02:12:02 PM »

DRJason, you're exonerated in my book!  I appreciated your insight here about "intent."  Rodgers & Hammerstein stopped an OKLAHOMA! several years ago in Atlanta, I believe, because the theatre's "intentions" had more to do with the director's reshaping OKLAHOMA into something the authors had never intended.  It's a murky area.

I knew I had spelled exonerate incorrectly!

"Intent" is a very murky area, and we haven't even gotten into discussing "parody!" Sometimes I don't fully understand it, in fact, but I'm just a customer rep - I don't really have to deal with the legalities of it all. I'm sure you, BK, Pogue and the several other creative-types on this here board could give more insight into it than I could.

I'm curious to see AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY. Unfortunately, I've still not been called in to work at the Opera House, so I'm broke AND I can't see the show!

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Matt H.

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Re:BANG
« Reply #116 on: November 29, 2005, 02:15:15 PM »

I find the entire subject of licensing shows pretty fascinating actually. I know your job is tedious, DR Jason, but I think that it's SO great foir shows to be able to live on ad infinitum after their Broadway and road tours are completed.

Peter Filichia's book LET'S PUT ON A MUSICAL (of course badly in need of an update now) that gives title availability, instrumentation breakdown, etc. is a favorite book just for browsing.
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Jason

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Re:BANG
« Reply #117 on: November 29, 2005, 02:21:46 PM »

I find the entire subject of licensing shows pretty fascinating actually. I know your job is tedious, DR Jason, but I think that it's SO great foir shows to be able to live on ad infinitum after their Broadway and road tours are completed.

Peter Filichia's book LET'S PUT ON A MUSICAL (of course badly in need of an update now) that gives title availability, instrumentation breakdown, etc. is a favorite book just for browsing.

Another handy resource that very few people seem to know about is www.findaplay.com. It is most helpful in finding out which licensing house distributes rights to a show.
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Matt H.

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Re:BANG
« Reply #118 on: November 29, 2005, 02:27:31 PM »

Another handy resource that very few people seem to know about is www.findaplay.com. It is most helpful in finding out which licensing house distributes rights to a show.

Thanks for the info. You're right. I had never heard of this site.
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Matt H.

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Re:BANG
« Reply #119 on: November 29, 2005, 02:29:09 PM »

I'm now heading downstairs to clean the living room and then think about dubbing that MGM mystery.

(BTW, I read in the new TV GUIDE that Jesse Martin cleans his own apartment. I have a compatriot!)

WBBL.
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