This and That: You know you’re in the 60’s when

One of the characters who is pregnant, in labor, and in a hospital lights up a cigarette like it was nothing. A doctor actually shedding tears over losing a patient. Marvel when the Chief of Staff lights one up right outside the surgical wing.  Then there’s the woman who is getting ready to have a C-Section.  This is when they gas her up like she’s Barbara Graham. 

Dr. Kildare, Season 2, Episode 1: Gravida One

While Kildare assists in the case of a pregnant woman who shows a lack of enthusiasm and even hostility to the idea of giving birth to her first child, Gillespie is involved in the case of the hospital's original benefactor, who is suffering from a perforated ulcer.

The Return of Shane (1966)

 

When it comes to classic TV, you never know what show is going to hop out of the vault and make it onto DVD.  Or in some cases, whether a classic series is being left to waste away in the vault.  (I’m looking at you Disney and those classic shows from World of Color/Disney).   Some series you think should be released never are, and some you didn't think would ever see the light of day again,  end up in the marketplace. 

That’s how I would categorize this release.  Shane, based on the classic movie from 1953 that starred Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, and Brandon De Wilde.  It ran less than one full season (10 episodes), and starred the late David Carradine and the late Jill Ireland who was married to both David McCallum of NCIS and Charles Bronson.  Carradine would go on to star in the Wester/Martial Arts mix known as Kung Fu, a series that had a three season run in the seventies.(Don’t mistake it for the remake which also starred Carradine).

The only thing I can tell you is that at the time, I thought it was a really good show, although I have no memory of individual episodes.  I think its short run had more to do with some pretty heavy competition, and the fact that it was a more quiet story driven Western then the usual shoot ‘em up people were used to.  Unfortunately it also came at a time when the popularity of Westerns was just beginning to fade.

The series premiered in 1966, and holds a lofty 7.1 rating on the IMDB.  So obviously somebody besides me remembers it. 

While people continue to moan and groan about theatrical classics wasting away, there is hardly anything said about the many hundreds and hundreds of television series that are crumbling in some vault.  Many are gone forever.  These shows deserve better.  These shows tell as much about who we are and who we were as a nation at any given point in our history.  And for just about anybody, this stuff is all new material since you’ve never seen it before, and all of it is a million times better and more fulfilling then turning into the endless reality bullshit cranked out like so much waste products these days.

As for Shane, the price is hovering between $14 and $16.  That averages out to about $1.40 an episode.

These TV shows are heavy with guest appearances by well known actors and actresses, some who would go on to win many movie and TV awards.  For instance, guests appearing in Shane include Robert Duvall, Wayne Rogers, James Whitmore, Diane Ladd, Charles Grodin, J.D. Cannon, J. Pat O’Malley, Daniel J. Travanti, Constance Ford, Joseph Campanella and many more.

If you’re interested either click the picture or use the ad (turn off adblock).  I’ve already ordered mine and release date is in March.

Still Real After All These Years: The Real McCoys

 

I found out today that the final two seasons of The Real McCoys went on sale in August.  I also found out that they are sold out already.  Why did I just now find out about this Amazon, when you have a record of me buying the other four seasons?  Isn’t your “recommendations” supposed to be the best system on the internet?

So I just checked again, and they now say available in 5 to 11 days.  I guess that’s narrowing it down, right Mr. McFeely’s Speedy Delivery?

Season Six would be a curiosity piece at best since that was the year they killed off Kate and shipped the kids out, thus totally wrecking the show.  Even in the sixties TV Executives were a bunch of know-it-all dumbasses.  Decades later, and nothing has changed.  But I still want it, because I always like to complete a set of my Classic Series when possible. 

If you are unfamiliar with the series, as I’m sure many of you are Read On.

From Wikipedia, my favorite source of infallible information:

The Real McCoys revolves around the lives of a mountain family who originally hailed from fictional Smokey Corners, West Virginia. The McCoys moved to California and became dirt farmers.

The family consisted of Grandpa Amos McCoy (Walter Brennan); his grandson Luke (Richard Crenna), Luke's new bride Kate (Kathy Nolan), Luke's teenage sister Hassie (Lydia Reed), and his 11-year-old brother, Little Luke (Michael Winkelman).



The double-naming of the brothers was explained in the first episode by the elder Luke: Because their parents were so excited over the birth of the younger boy, "they forgot all about me!" Only Crenna was in every episode.



The McCoys' farm had previously been owned by an uncle, Ben McCoy, who died. The former West Virginians joined the Grange farm association and acquired a Mexican farm hand named Pepino Garcia, played by the Puerto Rican-born Tony Martinez.

In the episode which aired on January 8, 1962, Pepino becomes an American citizen and takes the surname name "McCoy".

The McMichaels, a brother and sister combination played by Andy Clyde and Madge Blake in twenty-nine and twenty-one episodes, respectively, lived on the hill not far from the McCoys. Amos McCoy and George MacMichael, both rather devious individuals, would sometimes quarrel, particularly over their games of checkers.



Kate was friendly with Flora McMichael, George's sister, and became involved with life in the community. Though still in her twenties, Kate served as a mother figure for Luke's younger siblings, Hassie and Little Luke, and one episode shows her bewilderment in trying to entice the children to take responsibility for their school studies.

Many episodes have a moral theme consistent with the conservative views of Walter Brennan, such as two 1957 segments entitled "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" with Joseph Kearns, later of Dennis the Menace, and "Gambling Is a Sin," in which Amos allows a casino to advertise on McCoy property before the ethics of the matter is brought to his attention.

Other such episodes are "Go Fight City Hall", "The Taxman Cometh," "You Can't Always Be a Hero", "You Never Get Too Old," "Where There's a Will", "Beware a Smart Woman", "Money in the Bank", "How to Win Friends," "You're As Young As You Feel", "Honesty Is the Best Policy", and "Never a Lender Be".

I must have them.  So hopefully they’ll still be around come next pay day.  Season Two, after having been out of print for a while is now available with the same waiting period.  Season One is still showing “not available.”  But I suspect they may finally reissue it because the price gougers who were charging over $100 and they are nowhere to be found.

I highly recommend the series because after watching the first four seasons, I found them to be much more entertaining then I remember from back when I was five or six or eight or whatever it was.  Meaning, I didn’t really remember a damn thing about them except for the “divining rod” episode which is mentioned in the Wikipedia article.

And if nothing else, it is my honest opinion that Kate McCoy (Kathleen Nolan) was the hottest farm wife to ever grace your TV screen and that’s reason enough to own this set.  I’m sure you’ll agree.



Of the original cast, only Kathy Nolan and Lydia Reed survive.  Brennan died in 1974 at the age of 80, Crenna passed away in 2003 at age 76, and Tony Martinez in 2002 in Las Vegas at age 82.  Michael Winkelman, who also served in Veitenam, would die at the age of 53 in Riverside, California.

Anyway, if you’re familiar or curious, you might invest in at least a season or two because don’t count on them coming back if they disappear this time.  I’ve been waiting about five years or so for these final seasons so that should give you a clue.  And you won’t be shortchanged.  Although the price may seem steep, remember there were 30 episodes or more in a season in those days.  Plenty of entertainment in that deal.  Use the picture of the DVD set at the top of the page for a link.

Will Greatest American Hero Rise From The Dead?

The Greatest American hero was a show that ran on ABC from 1981 to 1983. It was initially quite popular but its growth was stunted when the usual network meddling sealed its doom. 

ABC moved it around in the schedule so often during its final season that it should have had a travel Visa.

Now Fox is considering reviving it. And with the right cast members it just might work. But we'll take a wait and see attitude as to whether it even gets done.  This has been talked about before in one form or another and nothing ever came of it.

I love the original series myself and own it on DVD. You can now buy it at a much much lower price than what I paid for it on Amazon originally. Turn off your ad blocking use the inserted ad if you're interested.  I may make five or ten cents in the process, which would be the first commission I’ve made in months.

The show starred William Katt, whom you may remember as Carrie's doomed date at the prom.  He also costarred with his mother Barbara Hale as the son of Paul Drake in the Perry Mason movies. And besides Carrie, he costarred in the movie First Love with Susan Dey.  (Use the links to see what I had to say about those films.)

The show also starred Robert Culp and Connie Selleca.

From Variety:

“Hero” had a bumpy run starting as a midseason entry for ABC in March 1981.  But the show remains well-loved among TV buffs for its offbeat mix of comedy and fantasy. The original starred William Katt as a goofy high school teacher who has an alien encounter in the desert one night that leaves him in possession of a red jump suit that gives him superpowers including the ability to fly.

In short order, he loses the suit’s instruction manual and falls in with an FBI agent who persuades him to help fight crime despite his trouble in figuring out how to work the suit. Robert Culp nearly stole the show from Katt in the role of FBI agent Bill Maxwell in the original series — a character so out-there he would occasionally be seen eating dog biscuits straight from a Milkbone box, without generating any comment from other characters. Connie Sellecca, future co-star of ABC’s “Hotel,” played Katt’s sympathetic girlfriend.

“Hero” was known to have been one of the prolific Cannell’s favorite shows from his long run in TV. It marked the first series to get on the air after Cannell struck out as an independent producer following his long tenure at Universal Television, where he co-created the indelible “Rockford Files” and worked on many other shows. Fox took control of the Cannell Prods. library in 1997 with its purchase of New World Communications. (Cannell died in 2010.)

“Hero” yielded a hit record for singer Joey Scarbury with its theme song “Believe It or Not.” But as noted in “The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present,” the series had the misfortune of giving Katt’s character, Ralph Hinkley, the same last name as John Hinckley, the man who shot President Reagan just two weeks after “Hero’s” premiere. The character’s name was hastily shortened to “Mr. H” in the classroom.

At one time there was talk of a theatrical feature based on the series but that never came about. Let's hope something comes of this. Let's also hope it's done as well as the original if it gets done at all. You know how these things go.  And like I said if you can catch the original please do so. You will be entertained.

The Variety article also talks about a possible remake of The Twilight Zone (again) and Remington Steele the show that launched the career of Pierce Brosnan. My thoughts? No, we don't need another rehash of the Rod Serling classic when the original is just that perfect. No, I don't care if they do Remington Steele or not.  I didn’t watch it then, I probably won’t watch it now.


There's also been talk this week of reviving Full House. Gag me with a maggot.

Are You Going to Sit Through Two Nights of Houdini?

While I realize that this is only one review, Houdini starring Adrien Brody, in no way shape or form sounds like anything that I would like to sit through for two nights in a row. I don't know if you've ever seen the Hollywoodized version from 1953 starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh but I'll take it any day of the week over this mind-boggling heavy-handed psychobabble claptrap.

Yes, I know the Curtis version is highly fictionalized but when I watch a movie about a famous magician I want to be entertained. If I want to see someone psychoanalyzed, I watch The Sopranos.

And if I want to see Adrien Brody, I put in my Blu-ray of King Kong.

From Variety:

Brody represents a casting coup of sorts for the producers and History, but almost from the opening moments, there’s a grating aspect to the film, as if this were the first bio about an overachiever with mommy issues. Perhaps that’s because Houdini, in monotonous voiceover, insists on analyzing what motivated him: “Unlike other people, I don’t escape life; I escape.” (A veteran screenwriter, Meyer’s adaptation is based on a book published by his father, Bernard C. Meyer, in the 1970s.)

Nor is there much supporting help for Brody, with Kristen Connolly coming off as a nag playing Houdini’s perpetually concerned wife, Evan Jones as the architect behind his many tricks, and practically no one else registering.

Leaping about in time, the movie chronicles Harry Houdini’s upbringing as Ehrich Weiss, a Jewish immigrant from Budapest (where, incidentally, the miniseries was shot), parlaying his early love of magic into a stage act that eventually made him one of the most recognizable figures of his era. Along the way, the project takes detours to chronicle some of the other historical figures Houdini encountered, which included using that access to spy on behalf of the Americans and British before World War I.

The mini’s second half, meanwhile (after the most anticlimactic opening-night cliffhanger imaginable), focuses squarely on Houdini’s determination to contact his beloved and departed mother (Eszter Onodi), leading to the war on mediums he conducted, branding them psychics and frauds. That prompts an unexpected run-in with Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose wife claimed she could patch Houdini in to the great beyond.

Yes I do realize that there were two other versions of Houdini. One of them starred that Starsky fellow (Paul Michael Glaser) without Hutch and costarred Archie Bunker's daughter Gloria Stivic (Sally Struthers). But one of my exes was a devout Starsky and Hutch fan, and rammed it down my throat every chance she got.  So I cannot be objective in regards to Starsky's Hutchless Houdini. However, I might record it and watch Mr. Brody in the future sometime between now and the next decade.  If I’m not doing anything important.  You know, like living.

Update:  Here’s another opinion from Roger Ebert’s leftover movie review web site.  It’s not any better.

There’s just way too much filler between those moments of passion. Speaking of passion, Brody and Kristen Connolly, as his put-upon wife who was more of an assistant than a partner, have zero chemistry, although it’s not really the fault of the charming “House of Cards” star as much as the screenwriters who gave her no character with which to work. Again, it comes back to the writing. When Houdini and wife argue about how she's putting him in a box in their marriage and she says “You’re only happy in a box!,” even the most forgiving of melodrama fans will roll their eyes.

OUCH!

Cops Crew Member, Bryce Dion, Shot and Killed during taping of an episode in Omaha.

It's probably been years since I’ve watched an episode of Cops. Even in its heyday I was not a big fan of the show. Once you've seen two or three episodes you realize that the episode you're watching is just like the one you watched the week before and the week before that and the week before that etc. But that's the way it is with any reality show, whether it's American Idol, Survivor, The Bachelor, Honey-Boo-Boo, the Bigoted Dork Dynasty guys, or the latest episode of Fun in the Wilderness  brought to you by the Queen idiot of Alaska, Sarah Palin.  Reality shows? I'm just not that into you.

Cops has been on the air for over 20 years and has had its first fatality. No it wasn't one of the boys in blue, it was one of the crew members. As bad as this is when you remember that the show has been in production for that long and this is its first fatality, that's not a bad record.

There are a lot of dangerous professions in this country. I know this to be a fact from first-hand experience. Back in the days when I was working in convenience stores I was held up two different times. The fact that I'm here writing this means just one thing: that I and some of the people I were is working with during the second robbery were damn lucky. 

On the first robbery I was working by myself. Due to the stupidity of one of the thieves I accidentally caught a glimpse of his face. When they tied me up in the back room I thought for sure I was a goner.

It's amazing that people don't realize that many of these convenient store workers who get nothing but minimum wage are working one of the most dangerous jobs we have for very little money.
So was there some supreme being looking after me? No, it was just pure dumb luck that I survived. I could just as easily have been very dead.

What makes this even worse is that Mr. Dion was killed by friendly fire.   But once again you have to wonder, was 30 shots absolutely necessary?

From Deadline Hollywood:

Omaha police chief news conference: “This was a friendly-fire situation. It was an officer’s round that struck Mr. Dion,” Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said at a news conference that just wrapped, discussing the shooting death of Cops crew member Bryce Dion last night during police response to a robbery at a Wendy’s restaurant.

Cortez Washington, the robbery suspect, fired the first two shots and while his weapon was discovered to be an Airsoft pistol that does not fire bullets, Schmaderer said the shots produced a muzzle flash and sounded like actual gunshots to the police officers.

“Like I said earlier, his gun was an Airsoft gun and looked and sounded like it was real,” Schmaderer said. Schmaderer said the three officers who had entered the restaurant fired at Washington who ran out of the restaurant’s east door; Dion was in the east doorway and was hit. Dion was wearing a ballistic vest, but the bullet “came in under his left arm and slipped in between the vest, where there is an open area.”

Local media have reported 30 shots were fired by officers responding to the scene. Schmaderer declined to confirm that because, he said, “it is the subject of a grand jury investigation.” But he added the reporters “inference” is that the number of shots fired by the three police officers who went into the restaurant was excessive, “and I don’t believe it was.” He vehemently denied suggestions the hail of bullets suggests the police were showing off for the Cops camera.

“Any criticism is unmerited. The grand jury will see this video, and I’m confident they will come to same conclusion,” he said of the footage the Cops crew had shot at the scene, which he said has been turned over to authorities for the investigation. The three officers have been placed on paid administrative leave, Schmaderer said, adding that a grand jury has been convened with regard to the shooting.

Read the rest of the story by using the provided link.

Recapping Bates Motel Season 1

A few days before Season Two of Bates Motel debuts on A&E, I finally finished  watching Season One.  I’ve had the complete first season on my Dish Hopper since the show finished the first run of ten episodes last spring.  However, I opted for viewing on Netflix which was more seamless. 

Until a few weeks ago, I had only watched the first two episodes, not because I had no interest in continuing on, but life gets in the way sometimes.  So much to do so little time.  The question is, is the show really worth a second season?

Obviously A&E thinks so.  But then, A&E makes decisions that sometimes aren’t so hot and the fact that Norma, Norman, Dylan and the gang reside on that network is probably the worst thing about Bates. 

A&E is the Network that brought us the showcase for celebrating homophobia and racism known as Dork Dynasty.  The show that feeds into the brainless twats who love to hide their prejudices under the guise of religious freedom.

But Bates Motel is a scripted fictional show (so is Dork Dynasty, but they disguise it as reality) so no worries there unless one of the writers or stars do their own Gentleman’s Quarterly interview and say something  totally off the wall stupid like Phil “I Never Met a Black Man or Gay Man I Liked” Robertson.  I don’t see that happening though.  Once bitten, twice shy.

For those who may not have been watching, Bates Motel is a re-imagining of events that happened before Norman Bates sliced and diced Marion Crane in the Hitchcock classic Psycho.  By labeling it a re-imagining, and since it is fiction, the Producers, Directors, and it’s team of writers can do just about anything they damn well please with the whole she-bang, and that is exactly what they have done, purists and internet fan boys be damned.

In the very first episode, Norma and Norman take ownership of the now infamous Motel which has been relocated from Fairville, California to White Pine Bay, Oregon.  I guess it’s easier to make Canada where the series is filmed look more like Oregon than California.  Weather being the damn nuisance that it is.
The ownership of the Motel is a new start for the gruesome twosome after husband and father Sam Bates (David Cubitt) has been mysteriously killed in an accident that is not so accidental.  It’s a mystery that is cleared up halfway through the season, and one of the few that is.  Bates Motel asks a lot of questions, but like the series it’s modeled after, Twin Peaks, it answers damn little of them.  So take it any way you can get it.

Previous owner,  Keith Summers (W. Earl Brown) is none too happy about losing The Seafairer (the previous owners spelling, not mine) and the house overlooking it to a bank foreclosure and he wants it back.  And what better way is there to get the old homestead returned to the family fold than raping the new owner.  Yeah, it’s that kind of show, and from that extremely violent point on you can anticipate just about any plot manipulation possible and an outburst of bloody violence at any moment when you least expect it.

The Sheriff of White Pine, Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonelli), begins nosing around the Bates Motel along with deputy Zack Shelby (Mike Vogel).  There’s not much that goes on in Sheriff Alex’s town that he doesn’t know about.  And if by chance something escapes his attention, such as why Keith Summers parked his pickup truck in an unlikely place and just left it, Romero will find out why before gracing the windshield with a parking citation.  Deputy Dawg Zack does his own nosing around in his own special way as well, spending much of his time sniffing around Norma.  He’s much much friendlier towards her than Sheriff Romero is.  How much friendlier?  To put it bluntly, he goes in where Keith Summers has been except he doesn’t have to force entry to do so.  But he does have a secret tool that helps pry her pants off.  Shelby, just like practically everybody else has secrets of his own.Norman also meets his first real love interest in episode one, when Cystic Fibrosis stricken Emma Decody (Olivia Cooke) befriends him on his first day of school.  It’s pretty much a one way street on her part though as Norman only has eyes for Bradley Martin (Nicola Peltz) whose father is mysteriously murdered.  I guess you can just go ahead and attach the word “mysterious” to anything that goes on in this neighborhood.  And although Norman is there when Bradley needs a shoulder to cry on, there’s a difference between being a “thing” and “hooking up” as Emma tries to explains to Norman, who isn’t very open to that explanation.  At least not until Bradley’s real boyfriend explains it to him in the season finale.

By episode two, Norma’s other son, Dylan (Max Thierot) takes up residency at the creepy famous house on the hill.  This is not an example of the Prodigal Son returning home to the welcoming arms of mother and brother.  Norma and Norman would just as soon  he be on his way, but the producers having invested in putting Thierot’s name on the opening credits, we’re pretty sure he’s not going anywhere for a while.

Dylan gets a job being a security guard.  Well, sort of.  He’s hired to protect the local marijuana crop which is also the main source of income for practically all the residents of White Pine, as it was for the former residents who keep showing up slightly dead.  He takes to the life of crime like a duck to water, which means he’ll fit right into the town of White Pine Bay.

English Teacher Miss. Watson (Keegan Connor Tracy), takes a special interest in Norman.  But not the kind of interest that Miss Landers showed for Beaver Cleaver and his classmates.  No, Miss Watson’s seems to have kind of a creepy way too much for her own good  kind of attraction towards Norman.  Think of her as being sort of like Norma without the shrillness and actually being sympathetic.  That being said, it’s never really spelled out for sure exactly what her thing is, and by the end of Season One, it’s one of those plot points that we are left wondering if it will ever be cleared up. It’s sort of like the whole is there or isn’t there some kind of incestuous relationship between Norma and Norman.  It’s never spelled out one way or another. It’s hinted at on more than one occasion, but either it’s a line the network, the producers, and the writers don’t seem to want to cross openly, or it’s left to be resolved for certainty at a later date.  It may be the same reason that Mary Kay Letourneau double, Miss Watson, intentions are left for us to decipher because by the season finale, there’s a good possibility we may never know what was up with her and that would not be good.  Plot points left hanging are a very bad thing in series television.Midway through the season, the villainous Jake Abernathy takes up residency in Room 9.  He’s looking for something, thinks Norma has it, but she doesn’t.  We do find out what he is after, but this too just leads to more and more questions. 
Norman adopts stray dog.  Dog becomes Road Kill.  So Norman does what any kid in the U.S. would do when losing a pet.  He takes it to a taxidermist to have it stuff so he can keep it with him forever and ever.  Hey, don’t knock it.  At least he didn’t bury it in the Pet Semetary which would make this an entirely different show.
It is actually Emma’s dad Will (Ian Hart) who make his living doing taxidermy.  And no, he doesn’t stuff the animals with marijuana leaves which is probably why Will and his daughter are kind of out of place.  He decides to teach the trade to Norman, which does relate back to Hitchcock’s film where taxidermy was Norman’s hobby.  A hobby that would serve him well later on in life.  Besides the two main characters and the name of the Motel, it’s one of the few times the series actually acknowledges the original film.

It would be impossible for me to relate every sudden plot twist and turn that sometimes seem to come out of nowhere.  Bates Motel is not a series you can just drop in on and know what the hell is going on.  I’ve watched all ten episodes and even I’m not sure.  You would be best served going back to watch the first season on either Netflix, DVD or Blue Ray, or look for reruns on A&E before jumping in. 

It will hold your interest throughout, but whether it can keep up this pace for much longer is questionable.  There could be problems ahead.

Notably, on the one hand Vera Farmiga does a terrific job as Norma.  She’s overbearing, obnoxious, shrewish, creepy, annoying, and way over the top in everything she does.  And I guess that’s a necessity in explaining what happens with her sons.  On the other hand, a little of this goes a long long way and after a few episodes it begins to wear a bit thin.  You just wish there was something more to this woman than constant bitching.  More Norman and Dylan and less Norma would be a very good thing, and if she ever bites the dust I’m sure her demise won’t be looked upon with any regret.

Bates may also be running into the old too much of a good thing problem.  So many minor plot details are left hanging that you wonder if they’ll ever be resolved or just forgotten as if they didn’t exist.  This often happens in series that begin to think plot twists for the sake of plot twists and no sensible solution will get them by. 

This was part of the problem with Twin Peaks as time went on.  So many open ended plot elements and issues left open ended, you have to wonder if these writers have an end game in mind or is this another make it up as you go along and throw things in just for the hell  of it sort of thing. It’s one thing to play your audience like an instrument, but eventually you’re going to wear down and break those guitar strings and your audience will quickly disconnect.  As Twin Peaks went on, audiences were worn down and eventually tuned out.

Highmore as Norman is okay as far as it goes.  You just wish he was more animated.  We never know for sure what he is thinking, feeling, or what is real and what isn’t.  Maybe we’re not supposed to and that may work in a feature film, but I’m not sure that in a series it will hold up that well for a long length a time. 

Even Tony Perkins who played the adult Norman understood that you have to bring more to the table than appearing to sulk your way through ten episodes.  Most of the time we can even sympathize with Norman because of how he is treated by Norma, Bradley, and some others.  But his disconnect and treatment of Emma makes us just think he’s nothing more than a brain damaged spoiled little shit.  And frankly, the whole is it real or is it Normanized shtick will quickly get old under these circumstances.  Another gimmick that could quickly wear out its welcome.  Those who have watched, know what I mean.

Max Thierot is a revelation, and one of the best things about this show.  Despite his criminal tendencies, he's just about the only main character who lives in reality and sees things for what they are.  Back in 2007, he had the misfortune of playing Ned Nickerson in Emma Robert’s Nancy Drew movie.  About that I said:

This Ned is written as the exact opposite. He's not sure about anything and although he comes out to Hollywood to join Nancy, he isn't very helpful and is given little to do except sit around and mope, even to the point of worrying that Nancy is going to run off with thirteen year old Corky. By the time he heads back to River Heights, he had already overextended his welcome in my opinion. And if this Ned had popped up in the books, Nancy would have vanquished him by the end of Nancy's Mysterious Letter, the volume where he popped up in the first place.

You can forget that. Given the chance to actually act, he's much much better here and is one of the few things that helps keep this potpourri stirred.  But he’s six years older as well so maybe it’s the maturity.

While it doesn’t exactly have me on my feet giving it a standing ovation and clamoring for season two, Bates Motel has drawn me in enough to stay tuned.  There are  a lot of good things here, so lets hope the writers and producers make good use of them and unscrambles some of the plot mess they’ve made.  I mean, even the first season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer wasn’t really great, but by the second round it turned into one of the most memorable shows in Television History.

Speaking of round two, that starts up on A&E Monday March 3.  Check your satellite and cable listings for time.

How I Met Your Mother: “One Ticket to Farhampton, Please” Wrapping up Season 8 of How I Met Your Mother.

How do you feel about the Season 8 Finale of How I Met Your Mother. I wrote somewhere a few days back that if there wasn't at least a glimpse of Ted's future wife, I would be very disappointed.   I am not disappointed.  I am as far away from disappointment as one can be.

It had become obvious over the past week or so in the show previews and in the episodes leading up to the finale that Barney and Robin's wedding wasn't going to happen this season. It also meant that HIMYM was going to be deviating from their usual timeline.  This also meant that we would not witness Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor), meet the girl of his dreams this season. 

I have to admit that when I finally realized it wasn’t going to happen  I was disappointed.  If they delay the event out until the very end of Season 9, you’ll undoubtedly be on here reading about how pissed I am.  But I don’t think that’ going to happen.  Let’s hope not.  For now, all is well.

For the most part, much of Season 8 has been kind of just so-so cakes for me and didn’t really begin to find it’s way until The Time Travelers episode.  As I wrote several weeks ago, it was the first solid hint we just might meet the mysterious girl with the yellow umbrella.  Every story line since the end of that episode has been a set up for Something New.

As you’ll recall, in Romeward Bound, Lily was offered a job by The Captain to work for him in Rome for a year as an art advisor.  The Bro Mitzvah was Barney’s bachelor party which could be viewed as a throw away episode by some but not by me.   I’ll explain that momentarily.

In Something Old, Robin (Colby Smulders) was looking for a locket that she had buried in Central Park and Ted blew off an interview to help her search.  And by the end, it was obvious that Ted still hadn’t come to grips with the fact that his best friend was marrying a girl he still had strong feelings for. 

In the finale, all the plot points that happened in those episodes collided. 

When Lily (Alyson Hannigan) and Marshall (Jason Segal) had decided to move to Rome for a year, I surmised that before the season was over Marshall would be offered a judgeship.   He had interviewed it at the end of Episode 8, Twelve Horny Women.  Many times over the past 8 seasons, little incidents that happened at the end of certain episodes more often then not play a significant part in the season finale. Now the question is will Lily and Marshall go to Rome or will they stay in New York?  Or will Lily go to Rome while Marshall stays in New York and his mother comes to look after Marvin?  That’s a possibility, although I wouldn’t think that compromise is one that would last very long.

I have never felt that Barney and Robin could ever build a lasting relationship despite their impending marriage.  I’m not sure Barney can build a long term partnership with any woman.  But in the Bro Mitzvah, it became apparent that maybe Barney was right.  That Ted really doesn’t know Robin as well as he thinks he does.  I think Ted is so desirous of finding the right someone that he often sees Robin through rose colored glasses.   By that I mean, he see her the way he wants Robin to be, not the way she really is. 

It was Robin’s idea for the whole devious plan of making Barney’s bachelor party a complete disaster.   In Something New, the scenes between Barney and Robin trying to one up another couple, was the first time that I ever felt that this odd couple really might belong together. 


Consider this.  When Ted said that he would do anything to make Robin happy, that may be true.  Didn’t he blow off an important interview just to help her look for that locket? 

But let’s not confuse the willingness to always be there to do whatever you can to help someone you care about as being the same thing as knowing everything about that person or loving that person or even being compatible with that person.  Ted and Robin realized this years ago, in Season Three and although he now seems to regret it, it was probably the right choice for both of them.  But Robin was Ted’s first real love, and since each of his relationships since Robin have been disastrous, he’s trying desperately to recapture something that is undoubtedly gone forever.  But don’t blame Ted entirely.  Hasn’t Robin at times hinted that she was in love with Ted as well and when moments such as the one that took place in the park at the end of last week’s episode, Something Old, take place and she does little to discourage him?  The timing of these two has always been abysmal.

But I’ll go out on a limb and say that I don’t think Barney and Robin’s marriage will last if it does take place.  Despite their seeming compatibility they are also very much “me” type of people.   Everything is always more about themselves than what they can give each other.  Again we saw this last week when Barney continued to play laser tag and tuned himself out completely from Robin’s immediate needs.  And frankly, manipulation and practical jokes doe not exactly scream at me that either person will be there for the other during tough times.   And with marriage, there is always tough times ahead.  Barney is just too self-centered for a lasting relationship. 

So we didn’t get to the wedding, but how did I feel about the episode as a whole?  I loved it.  Each and every second of it.  Producers/Creators/Writers Carter Bays and Craig Thomas simply outdid themselves.  I can find absolutely not one thing wrong with the finale.  In fact, it ranks up there at the top as far as season finales I’ve seen of any series.

It is easily the best finale this show has ever had, even topping last year’s wedding surprise.   From the moment Ted said “I guess I’ll take the train” and we were instantly transported to the train station and “Farhampton” was spelled out on the departure/arrival board, I began to get chills down my spine.  As we saw the young girl’s boots traveling across the train station depot, you just knew this was going to be different.  And it was.

And in those brief seconds that she appeared on camera, you knew instantly that yes, this is the kind of girl Ted would want to live his life with.  And checking the internet and checking out other videos of actress Cristin Milioti, Carter/Bays may have pulled off one helluva casting coup for the 9th and final season.  Why don’t we just skip the summer and head right into September? 

Looking ahead, there are so many questions yet to be answered.  How will Lily/Marshall resolve the Rome/Judgeship dilemma.  It’s obvious Lily really wants to go to Rome.  But if Marshall doesn’t accept the judgeship, there’s a distinct possibility he may not get another chance.  And then again, maybe he will.   My prediction:  Look for Lily to find out at the last minute about Marshall’s job offer, but it won’t be from Marshall. 



We already know that Robin and Barney get cold feet on their wedding day.  Will they ever make it to the alter?  That’s a pretty big question still left unanswered.  It could go either way.  And will it be Ted playing the part of spoiler by giving the locket to Robin?   I’ll make my prediction with the caveat that I don’t feel very strongly about it but it’s what I came up with.. 

In order to get them down the altar, Ted will do what Ted always does and make a sacrifice.  He will either give the locket to Robin and tell her that it was Barney who helped locate it, or he will just give it to Barney to give to her.  So I guess they’ll tie the knot, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen.

And will just meeting this girl stop Ted’s trip to Chicago?  I don’t know.  It’s still possible he could leave and come back quickly. 

 

Another unanswered question is that in the episode “Farhampton” that started season eight, we see Ted at the train depot with an injured hand.  Some of the speculation is that he gives the locket to Robin and then gets in a fight with Ted.  The best foreshadowing of this event came in an episode when Ted tried to give advice to Barney regarding Robin, and Barney flat out told him that he might not know Robin as well as he thinks he does.  Maybe he grows tired of Ted’s inability to move on.  All this is a possibility but I’m not buying into it.



There’s a lot to look forward to in Season 9.  The only way it could be mucked up is if Carter/Bays uses the 56 hours before the wedding and stretches it into weeks and weeks till seasons end.  I hope they put that rumor to rest real quick.

I would hope that once Ted and the mother finally meet, that we get to be with them as their relationship grows and is resolved to its inevitable conclusion to end the series with perhaps a flash forward to the future to fill us quickly in on what happened in the ensuing years.  I mean, just because he meets the mother doesn’t mean the path to lifelong happiness with her will be an easy one.   Reading some prognostications elsewhere, has everybody already forgotten that The Mother already has a live in boyfriend?   See there.  With this show, small details are always important.

What I read on one site is that they may just go back and begin telling the story from the mother’s viewpoint.  I think that would be a huge mistake and at this stage very unnecessary.  But the foundation has been laid for what could turn out to be one of the greatest final seasons of any series.  The rest is up to Carter and Bays.  Is it September yet?   

  

Sylvia Browne–Dead Wrong (video)

A couple of days ago I placed a meme on my Facebook page that had originated on Reddit.  Sometimes I’m lucky if I get 10 views of anything I put up on my Clyde’s Stuff Facebook page (although the numbers are increasing steadily since I’ve gotten back to my blog).  As of today, this meme on my page now has well over 1,000 views.

The meme (seen below) was of Sylvia Browne, the psychic who has made a career for herself by going on TV (mainly the Montel Williams show), flipping a coin and telling family members if their missing loved ones were alive or dead.  I say flipping a coin because she probably would be just as accurate using that method as any pertaining to any mind reading ability she has. 


Some people swear by her abilities.  To me, anybody who claims to be psychic is blowing smoke up your butt.  I just think it’s all hooey, just as I think the whole business of ghosts, goblins, reincarnations, and entities from the other side is as Scrooge said, “more about gravy than of grave.”  As it says towards the end of this video, “Psychic wins lottery again says no one ever.”

I read a review of one of her books on Amazon.  Seems the reviewer was a bit disappointed that after having paid Browne $700 for an 18 minute reading, none of her predictions came true. 

You don’t say!  My advice:  If you’re going to pay that kind of cash to a psychic, put it in a slot machine or buy lottery tickets with it.  You’ll probably get more for your money than stuffing it in Browne’s purse, or donating it to someone like Pat Robertson who boldly told all that God had assured him Mitt Romney would win the election

Not only did God inform Robertson that “Romney will win” but that he will be a two-term president who presides over a huge economic boom. Robertson even told Romney to save him a ticket for the inauguration: “I told Mitt a long time ago, I called him and said listen, I’ve been in prayer and number one you’re going to win the nomination and number two you’re going to win the general election, he said ‘well what can I do for you,’ I said give me a seat on the platform during your inauguration, give me a ticket to your inauguration.” “The Lord said he’s going to have a second term, I told him there will be to be trillions of dollars coming into the economy when you’re elected,” Robertson continued, “the stock market ought to boom, everything ought to boom.” This all deeply reassured Hinn who said that Robertson was conveying “God’s voice.”.

Pat Robertson also told his mindless flock to beware of false prophets.  Now that may be the best advice he has ever given.

As for Sylvia Browne, she now has  the biggest screw up of her long seemingly endless phony career and I’m sure you’ve probably heard about it by now.  Browne told Louwanna Miller, the mother of Amanda Berry, one of the three women who escaped from her kidnapper in Cleveland after being held for ten years, that she was dead.  A year after that, Amanda’s mother was dead of pancreatitis, still unaware that her daughter was alive.  (Here is the original news story)

It’s easy to say that Amanda’s mother shouldn’t have put her faith in some publicity seeking talk show phony, but when you have loved ones disappear off the face of the earth with no clues left behind, I’m sure that you’ll try anything and leave no stone unturned in an effort to find that person, no matter how many flimsy straws you may be grabbing at.

But whenever anybody  has invoked the abilities of Sylvia Browne around me over the years, I usually end up laughing about it. 

But I shouldn’t have.  Phony psychics like Sylvia Browne are no laughing matter.  They cause more pain and more grief to people who are already suffering tremendous agony, and there’s nothing funny about that at all.  And those gullible masses who promote and make stars out of these charlatans, are every bit as guilty as Miss Browne, and let’s not forget that.

Here’s the video from CNN and ABC:

 

Something I hate reading in any review.

This is a pet peeve of mine, so I’m just going to go ahead and unload right now.  I just read this in a review of the classic TV series Eight is Enough, and it’s something that irritates me every time I read it  in any review of anything.

”Everyone can watch the show, and you don't have to worry about foul language or adult situations.”

Let me explain something to you.  I don’t give a damn.  That’s not why I bought the show.  I don’t think that’s why anybody should watch this show or any other show like it.  Just because someone doesn’t say damn or bare their butt isn’t what makes it special or worth watching or even not worth watching.  I’ve bought Eight is Enough, and I own a copy of Show Girls.  Your comment is just as stupid as if I said in a review, “Everybody should watch Showgirls because it has a lot of tits and ass so it’s a really great movie.  Give your children a lesson in female anatomy”

Hell, no show was any more clean pure family oriented than Full House  and that half hour of hell just plain flat out sucked.  What should I say, buy it even though it was a really sickeningly sweet piece of crap  because you don’t have to worry about D.J. giving Michelle the finger when she scribbles in her diary with a Crayola? 

I’ve seen some really pure as the driven snow shows that my kids watched and loved.  But there were just as many so called G rated fun for all shows that made them want to puke with boredom.  Shows like Full House.  Ugh!

If any adult with half a brain can’t figure out what certain members of their family may or may not be able to watch, then perhaps birth control should be on their agenda somewhere.  It’s just stupid to put it in a movie review.  It tells nothing about the show or movie.  Why not word it correctly?

”Hey look at me!  I’m pure!  I’m not watching any sex, nudity and violence.  I’m better than you are as a person.  My kids never hear dirty words in my house.  They just pick them up at school and on the street the same as I did when I was their age”

Give me a break.  I don’t know how old you are but if you’re my age, I hope I don’t know you.  You’re undoubtedly one of those people who sits in front of their TV 24 hours a day with your freakin’ notepad, writing down every damn, hell, or ass word so you can quickly pen a letter of complaint off to the FCC while one of the world’s top ten asshats, Tony Perkins, drools all over you.  I’m thinking that now, and only now, are you recovering from the stroke you had at the sight of Justin Timberlake exposing Janet Jackson’s breast for a millisecond at the Super Bowl.  And I bet if I scrolled through all the reviews there would be three or four people telling me how much better Eight is Enough is than something like The Shield, or Shameless, because it’s just good clean family fun.

If  you want to tell people something about the actual show, then please do so.  Sticking the label “Mr. & Mrs. Goody Two Shoes” on your forehead and broadcasting it as if the rest of us were morons just doesn’t fly.  I’m willing to bet that if you ever read my little commentary here, you’ll absolutely hate it.  I hope so.  Next time, tell us something about the show that might interest us, besides the fact that Nicholas didn’t say the fuck word.  We already know that.

 

Annette Funicello passes away at age 70

From Hollywood Reporter:

Annette Funicello, a Disney Mouseketeer on TV's The Mickey Mouse Club who went on to fame by co-starring in several beach movies with Frankie Avalon in the 1960s, has died. She was 70.

Funicello, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987 and became a spokeswoman for treatment of the disease, died Monday at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, the Walt Disney Co. announced.

Although single-names were not in vogue at the time, her popularity was so wide and her personality so familiar that she was “Annette.” No last name needed.

The quintessence of innocence, mixed with dark good looks and beguiling charm, she was a male ideal and a female role model. Wholesome in the best sense, Funicello was drive-ins, sock hops, beach parties and malted milks -- the personification of an innocent era.

I grew up with Annette having been around during her Mouse Club years, the Disney Films, and the Beach Party movies. I had always hoped to write about some of her films, and will still do so I'm sure. Annette (you seldom used her last name. She was always Annette to us.) was one of the great icons of the 50's and 60's, and her long struggle with M.S. is finally over. I'll have more to say about Annette later.

Frankie Avalon who was her lifelong friend and starred with her in the Bikini Beach movies was interviewed by TMZ.

Frankie Avalon on Annette Funicello's Death: I'm Devastated - Watch More Celebrity Videos or Subscribe

Opening scenes of Beach Blanket Bingo, with Annette, Frankie Avalone, and a cast of many.

Random Thoughts: How I Met Your Mother - Redemption

I became a fan of How I Met Your Mother about a year ago, somewhere in the middle of Season 7.  But I had never seen it in the regular time slot it inhabits on CBS.  Just like I have done with shows such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Roswell, my girlfriend and I decided to give it a try and we streamed it on Netflix.  It didn’t take long for us to become hooked and we finished off the first six seasons in record time. 

The problem we ran into was that the network broadcasts of the series was in the middle of Season 7 and wasn’t available on Netflix Streaming at that time (it is now).   So the only choices we had were to begin watching Season 7 in the middle and catch up with the early seasons later on, or find some other way.  I opted for an alternative which was to purchase the complete season from Amazon. 

Yes, it was a bit pricey (just under $40 for HD) when you consider that I could have waited and watched it as part of my Netflix subscription later down the road.  But as I suspected, Season 7 didn’t become available until after Season 8, the current season, had already begun.  So I would be no better off.

I also might have been able to watch over the internet at the CBS web site, but that would have meant watching from my computer (ugh) and I believe they only keep up about four episodes at a time.  Can’t have people tuning out and missing the commercials although the CBS stream is not exactly light in that department either.  (5 commercials during each break).

And besides, despite what I had heard in some quarters, season 7 was for me at least, very satisfying.  Sure there were some clunky episodes, but when you have 24 episodes to get on the air, there are going to be a few rhinestones tossed in there along with the rubies, diamonds, and emeralds.

It was originally thought that Season 8 would be the swan song for How I Met Your Mother and that we would finally get to meet the mystery lady.   There certainly have been enough hints thrown in as to where, when, and how Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) would finally meet the girl of his dreams.  But a funny thing happened on the way to the finale.  I was not the only one who had become hooked.  It seems that thanks to Netflix, many people like myself who had never seen the show became fans and the series experienced an unprecedented ratings boost unheard of for a show in it’s seventh season.  So negotiations were done, the actors signed on for one more round, and yes Virginia there will be a Season Nine.

However, not everything has been puppies and flowers.  The series and the premise began to look tired.  Unlike the previous seasons, there seem to be way more forgettable clunkers this season than memorable gems.  The first two episodes were certainly okay (Farhampton & The Prenup), but the two that followed were abysmal by comparison (Nannies and Who Wants To Be A Godparent). 

Honestly, I’ve found just about all the Mickey Aldrin (Chris Elliott) episodes to be more annoying than funny.  And it was becoming apparent that the episodes centering around Baby Marvin just weren’t cutting it either which is what happens sometimes when you have to introduce a kid into a series.  It gums up the works with baby poop jokes and sleepless parents.  Poor Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lilly (Alyson Hannigan). 

The Autumn of Breakups episode was fine, but hampered by Ted (Neil Patrick Harris) and his bro dog.  Or should I say Ted and his Bore Dog.  Splitsville would have been a terrific episode, but was dragged down again by the whole Marshall/Lilly/Marvin dilemma in which they were  unable to get some private time for sex.  Another episode dealt with Marvin having constipation.  Another episode had Ted witnessing Marvin’s first steps instead of Marshall and Lily.  What a drag. 

Then there was all the time spent getting to the mid-season finale The Final Page which included a guest appearance by Buffy alumni Seth Greene.  As usual, good guy Ted ends up with the short end of the stick.  And I’ll be honest.  I dearly love both Barney and Robin (Coby Smulders), but I’ve never really bought into the whole Barney/Robin  on again off again on again romance.  It just doesn’t work for me.  And the fact that Barney had to use every evil trick of deception in the book before proposing to her only added to my conviction.  But there is still a glimmer of hope that these two will never make it down the aisle together.  They just work better as separate entities.  Maybe something will change my mind although the possibility seems remote at this junction. But maybe the whole point is mute what with Season 9 wrapping things up next year.

Robin Sparkles did return, but the less said about that the better.  It was funny the first three times, but this is proof positive that too much is too much.  They should have learned that with the very disappointing reveal of Slutty Pumpkin in Season 7 which was nothing more than an excuse to find a way to use Katie Holmes.  After having heard about Slutty Pumpkin forever, that episode was a major disappointment, but not quite as bad as Robin Sparkles fourth time around.

Marshall’s mom Judy (Suzie Plakson) having sex with Mickey?  Even the thought was sickening.  It was also way out of character for everything we have come to understand about Marshall’s mom and his family in the few episodes she’s been mentioned in or made an appearance.

But the worst part of the whole season, and perhaps the low point of the series?  Ted’s overly obsessed and loony tunes girlfriend, Jeanette Peterson (Abby Elliott).  None of this relationship was remotely funny.  Not one single second of it.  Worse, it was downright painful to watch.  I wanted to throw something at the TV.

For anybody who has witnessed a basket case like Jeanette, or knows somebody who has been in a relationship with a bi-polar maniacal partner, they’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.  Worse yet, as destructive as this character was, Ted broke up and went back with her because despite everything she had done, the sex was good.  Give me a break.  My opinion is that the Jeanette story should never ever see the light of day again.  It’s one thing to make a funny over obsessed girl friend character, it’s quite another to turn her into a violent and dangerous felon with maniacal tendencies. 

“The Ashtray”, which brought back the Captain for no particularly good reason, “Weekend at Barney’s”, and “The Fortress” were not much better.  I was at the point where I didn’t even feel compelled to watch any episodes with the immediacy I once did.  If you’re going to bring back the Captain, wouldn’t you bring back his daughter Zoey?  Certainly that would have been far more interesting.  Okay, so maybe Jennifer Morrison, the actress who played Zoey, is busy on the set of Once Upon A Time.  Get another actress.  It’s been done before.

Then came this past Monday’s episode (3/25/2013), The Time Travelers.  This episode did not exactly start with a bang.  The whole premise centered around Ted and Barney being visited by their future selves to convince Ted to go to Wrestlers vs. Robots, with a silly sub plot added of Carl the Bartender naming a drink that Marshall had invented, calling it the “Robin Sherbatsky.”
For 3/4 of the running time, the episode not only seemed to be going nowhere, as they added Barney from 20 years in the future, Ted from 20 years into the future, 20 hours from now Barney, 20 hours from now Ted, and topped off with 20 minutes from now Barney, it appeared to be approaching total lunacy and not in a funny way.  I was ready to give up and turn in my How I Met Your Mother Fan Club membership.  But, in the last five minutes of the episode, the whole mess was brought together as if someone had shined a light from above and said enough with this b.s. 
What initially appeared to be another writing disaster, the hat check girl appears, the episode took a 180 degree turn, and I was reminded as to why I totally love this show and how the memorable moments, even the small ones, can wash away the bad taste of all the Jeanette episodes.


And in those five precious moments, we learned more about Ted’s future wife than we had in some entire seasons.

But even more, we found out how much he really will love her, forever and always.   And it is another great example of Josh Radnor’s talent, and why he is perfect as Ted.  He has never been given enough credit for his contributions.  In those five minutes, How I Met Your Mother had redeemed itself for the entire season.

If you haven’t seen the episode, I won’t spoil it for you but if you have given up as I almost did, try again.  By my calculations, there are about 4 episodes left until we get to the Ted and Robin’s wedding episode (or episodes if it’s a two part episode), where we might possibly get to meet the future Mrs. Ted Mosby for the very first time.  I hope so.  I’ll be sure to report back here with my thoughts on it when it happens or maybe even before that.