1 vs 100 and Mob Mentality a Winning Mix for a Change
1 vs 100 and Mob Mentality a Winning Mix for a Change by Roxanne McDonald
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They use the mob, they compete against the mob, and they appeal to the mob of viewers…rare in this day of dying game shows as we know them. |
I hate to harp on it, but “Deal or No Deal” is just dull—save for the ever charismatic but wasted comedy of Howie Mandel. And is “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” even on anymore? Okay. So that leaves a fairly entertaining “Identity” and this other neo-traditional game show, “1 vs. 100”.
“1 vs. 100” is hosted by the once adorable and now seemingly just worn-down Danny Tanner—I mean Bob Saget. It consists, too, of one contestant and a “mob” of 100 individuals—some personalities, occasionally a celebrity. (When I saw my first installment, Danny Bonaduce was the featured mobster, though he didn’t last long.)
A multiple choice question is posed and posted, prompting the contestant to answer by locking his or her answer. At the same time, the 100 “opponents” lock in their answers. Then the main contestant can choose to take a hike (or, wait, he may have to do this before he locks in), taking with him/her the monies won thus far. If he/she stays, the right answer is lighted up, and then Saget announces the number of pwople in the mob who got it wrong. (read more…)
Identity the Hottest New Game Show Despite Lukewarm Reviews
Identity the Hottest New Game Show Despite Lukewarm Reviews by Roxanne McDonald
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While the traditional game show is all but lost, “Identity” has some interesting elements and moments. But can it sustain our interest? |
Just when we thought the traditional question and answer or guessing game TV show was going the way of the obsolete, along with the once-great “What’s My Line,” for instance, “Identity” catches our interest.
Hosted by Penn Jillette, whom we can see is just barely restraining his opinion when a contestant can’t, for
instance, figure out who the child star (Jerry Mathers) is or cannot read how number 11 (Bruce Jenner) is the Olympic Gold medalist, “Identity” is quick and clean. And challenging enough that the contestant turnover is high. Hell, in the second episode, three contestants played in the one-hour space.
The contestant is faced with 12 strangers and a kind of leader board list of identities—rodeo wrangler; Vegas stripper; rocket scientist; cancer survivor…. And he or she must guess correctly all 12 identities. There are three forms of help: ask the experts; one mistaken identity forgiven; and ask your support group (friends or family members who come along and stay downstage for the duration of the contestant’s stay.
I found it a fun and watchable show, and couldn’t help but muse that it would be a great exercise for critical thinking students—as one needs to use what “Identity” producers say are perception and instinct combined. So, for instance, while one player was quite smart about inferring that the hand model was the stranger who was hiding her hands, he was also a bit silly (or too young) for assuming that because Bruce Jenner was in a tux he was the ventriloquist.
One More Bit about A Christmas Story—the Un-PC Element
One More Bit about A Christmas Story—the Un-PC Element by Roxanne McDonald
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Interesting to note is how humor has changed in the last twenty years. |
While A Christmas Story still has many, many moments that contemporary viewers can laugh at without feeling socially inappropriate and therefore guilty, it is interesting to note the many un-pc moments in the movie that comic writers today would certainly never be able to pull off—or get away with:
Consider, for example, when the father (Darren McGavin) is haggling over a Christmas tree. The adult Ralphy narrates, saying that his dad “loved bargaining as much as an Arab trader.” Oooph.
Then there’s the implied evil element, known in Ralph’s imagination as Black Bart (though he is white), who is such a bad pillager and plunderer that Ralph has to save his family by shooting the man with his Fisher Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Air Rifle (which is still at this point in the movie a coveted item).
Finally, there is the ridiculous depiction of the Chinese restaurant workers who stand around the family at the Christmas Eve dinner singing “Deck the halls with bows of horry…far ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra.” Even after their manager tries to give them accent reduction lessons on the spot, they cannot render an American version, and therefore sent back to the kitchen.
There is today such a fine line between culturally sensitivity and really funny entertainment, that I couldn’t help but consider A Christmas Story…though other shows, thankfully, still play the race humor angle and –like Scrubs, for instance, directly and indirectly incorporating the issues in the episodes—get away with it.
Top 10 TV Comedies of 2006—Like I Know; Oh, Like You Do…
Top 10 TV Comedies of 2006—Like I Know; Oh, Like You Do… by Roxanne McDonald
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Which TV comedies make for the best collectors’ sets and gifts? |
While it is the cusp of the new year; while I just finished making gift lists and purchases for friends who are as fanatical about TV as I; and while fantasizing about TV comedy DVD collections I would like to own, I decided to investigate the top sellers—the most popular TV comedies.
In some cases, the comedies are mixed in with the rankings of other TV programming—reality, crime, drama, and nonfiction/educational programming. So, for instance, on TV.com (which I think might have a younger demographic and a bent toward certain broadcast channels over others), Scrubs did make it into the catch-all top ten (ranking number 10), The Office is ranked 24, Seinfeld is all the way down at number 41, and My Name is Earl is at 42.
But on other lists, where comedy is ranked separately, the reigning funny men and women get a better shot. Mike Durrett at About.com suggests such DVD collections as The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus (which I gave my friend last Xmas), Absolutely Fabulous (which I am
watching in marathon as I write this, New Year’s Eve, 2006), and The Simpsons first season.
Buddy TV finds the top ten comedies on TV right now (and therefore not always or yet available on DVD—dammit) are as follows:
#1 The Office
#2 South Park
#3 Curb Your Enthusiasm
#4 How I Met Your Mother
#5 Family Guy
#6 Scrubs
#7 My Name is Earl
#8 The Simpsons
#9 30 Rock
#10 Two and a Half Men
As the writers at BuddyTV and others of course concede, comedy (and the tastes for it) is subjective. So I propose my own list of top ten TV comedies for 2006:
Top 20: Most Popular TV of 2006
Top 20: Most Popular TV of 2006 by Roxanne McDonald
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The mental manipulators meet reigning reality TV and comedies. |
The scores are in at TV.com, for the 100 most popular TV shows of 2006. Surprisingly, the most popular are rarely reality TV shows, and still fewer are comedies
(though with the real-life drama enticing our primal sides and the mystery genre involving our grey stuff, maybe it is not so surprising).
Ranked on a scale of 1-10, here are the top twenty:
Smallville ranked number 1, with a mean score of 9.0.
Prison Break was number 2, with a rank of 9.3.
Lost, in third place, received a 9.2.
4th: The O.C. — 8.6.
5th: One Tree Hill — 9.0.
6th: Heroes — 9.4.
7th: Grey’s Anatomy 2005 - 9.2.
Tied at 8th and 9th are House and 24, both ranking 9.3.
10th: Scrubs — 9.3
11th: CSI — 9.2
12th: Gilmore Girls — 9.1
13th: Family Guy — 9.2
14th: Avatar: The Last Airbender — 9.3
15th: Desperate Housewives — 8.7
16th: South Park — 9.2
17th: Naruto — 9.3
18th: Charmed — 8.9
19th: Supernatural — 9.2
20th: The Simpsons — 9.2
Vid-Technology Enticed, Seduced, Amused, and Informed: Most-watched Pieces of 2006
Vid-Technology Enticed, Seduced, Amused, and Informed: Most-watched Pieces of 2006 by Roxanne McDonald
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Phone games and talking cars were almost nothing by the end of 2006, when we could not only e-text and e-navigate but e-watch e-xecutions. |
It is well known that a majority of the population receive the world visually, or are visual learners, if you will (as opposed to kinesthetic, auditory, etc.)
The Trivia for Popularity of Video/PC Technology not so Trivial:
Video sharing was made accessible to anyone with a computer: YouTube, for instance, enables users to upload, download, and get his or her voyeurism kicks. Created by
Steven Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, YouTube started with a video of Steven’s dog—and is now reportedly up for Google grab, for an eye-catching 1.65 billion (according to Entertainment Magazine and Wikipedia.com).
Artists got good with the short e-film and comics were caught re-heckling. But one comic—er, performer—made us do a double-take with his five-minute clip called “Evolution of Dance.” In fact, we did more than double-takes. We made Judson Laipply’s piece the most viewed video of 2006 (according to LBN and Break.com)—by sharing it, I suppose
Big Brother Winners: Where are They Now?
Big Brother Winners: Where are They Now? by Roxanne McDonald
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They won the big money and some even won our hearts (or our hatred). But are they [still] living in winning ways? |
Eddie McGee, the first U.S. Big Brother winner, was the one we loved for his strategy, his continued stamina (after having lost a leg in childhood to cancer), and his sizzling tongue (which the bold and blunt New Yorker used to speak the truth and to establish Big Brother gaming technique as of yet unmatched).
According to writers at Wikipedia, Eddie was in the band Fozzy’s video, “Enemy”; and had a small speaking part on the “Profiteer” episode of “Law and Order.”
According to writers at IMDB, after his 2000 win, Eddie also went into other TV and movie roles, such as that of Jason in Drop Dead Roses; Sal in Parnassus; Mal in episode 1 of “Mutant X”; Pimp Diddy (or Daddy?) in Rose Woes and Joes; Justin in Mattie Fresno and the Holoflux Universe; Jimmy in The Signs of the Cross; Crawford in Eddie Monroe; Sgt. Hayes in a 2006 episode of “Law and Order;” and as Hal in an episode of “The Guiding Light.”
Besides working on the film crew of The Magdalene Sisters, and according to BigBTV, during the filming of such films as Drop Dead Roses (2001), Eddie did a naked bathtub interview with u8tv, a visit experience which was so “horrible that Eddie wrote on a wall and got in an
arguement [sic] with everyone… which turned his visit into a disaster, and a gaurantee [sic] that he [wouldn’t] be back.”Besides all the drama, though, the Big Brother winner to make history sticks to loving his life, his [at that time] new car, an ‘87 black Grand National with a t-top, and continues to get acclaim through such sites as the q&a fansite, “Eddie’s Angels.”
Will Kirby, a.k.a. Dr. Evil, continues to be the antithesis of who he was in the BB house 2, which he won (and 7), working, according to writers at Wikipedia, as a successful (and likely more well-known) dermatologist, investing in Mike “Boogie” Malin’s Dolce Group restaurants, clubs, and bars; and also issuing a line of Big Brother-themed clothing.
Will has made a few minor TV appearances, including, according to writers at IMDB, a host gig on “Love Shack” in 2002; the role of Dr. Will Kirby on a 2004 episode of “Cold Turkey;” another Will Kirby role in one episode of “The Young and the Restless;” and an appearance as presenter (and winner) at the 2006 Reality Remix Awards ceremony.
According to IMDB fans, however, the bigger news is that Will was seen sitting with Janelle at the VH1 Big in 2006 Awards; and according to BigBTV, the evil reality star really has a loving family, a loving spirit, and a subliminal desire to be more than a doc in Miami and move to L.A…where he can continue his hamming and jamming.
Lisa Donahue, a former bartender who won the third season of Big Brother, has, according to writers at Wikipedia and IMDB, taken to acting, as well. Besides taking a small part as Lauren in the 2004 version of Jekyll, Lisa did repeat performances on the acclaimed HBO series, Entourage, as Vince’s Girl, as well as a guest spot as Sondra in Dr. Vegas.
To show her seriousness, Lisa has also gone into producing…co-producing, for instance, the 2005 Reality Unleashed video. And while we didn’t have the luxury of Lisa the second time around—in the Big Brother Allstars season (7)—the quiet one who “didn’t play the game,” says BigBTV, did a stringent campaign to get back on TV for BB7, making pleas and appearances over national Television, in Rochester, NY, over the radio waves, and online in chat rooms.
Jun Song was the winner of Big Brother 4, the season wherein the exes were pitted against one another as contestants. Despite what BigBTV and others remind us was a “freak out” in response to learning her ex, Jee, would be playing against her, Jun, a shrewd player with clear ideas on strategy, came in as an investment banking manager, according to writers at Wikipedia, but afterwards also made appearances on awards and other television shows such as the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards and “Yes, Dear,” appearing in both as “herself”, according to writers at IMDB.
Rockstar Supernova Runners-up: Where are They Now?
Rockstar Supernova Runners-up: Where are They Now? by Roxanne McDonald
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We know Lukas the genius is frontin’ the band, but what’s going on with the other equally fine performers? |
We have been blessed with utterly awesome rock, by way of two seasons of “Rock Star…”—“Rock Star INXS” and “Rock Star Supernova”. But we might then lose track of those laying great tracks after the show is over. If we search (and it doesn’t take much, we can find info on the other “Rock Star Supernova” favorites:
According to such info sites as the blog Cuzoogle (don’t know if there is an affiliation, there) and contributors, Wikipedia contributors (who typically give us the most thorough of details and data), and other official and unofficial fan sites, the runners-up of “Rockstar
Supernova” have resounded their resilience:
Storm Large, the sassy super songstress who kept Tommy Lee’s tongue in his mouth, has appeared a number of times on FOX Reality TV; is touring the club circuit; was originally slated to open for Rockstar Supernova but—according to Wiki—was dropped due to “financial reasons”—and has produced such singles as “Ladylike”, which made it to # 5 on the “Hot Sexy Singles” billboard chart.
Dilana Robichaux, another dynamo who almost made it into the lead role for Rockstar Supernova, has taken her musical talent to a debut album, Wonderfool; has done (also according to Wiki) four music videos, five singles, and performed more than 200 gigs; has sung the title tracks for two movies; and performed at a Belgium festival with Joe Cocker, Heather Nova, and K’s Choice–where a crowd of 100,000+ rocked to her throaty brilliance.
Rock Star INXS Runners-up: Where are They Now?
Rock Star INXS Runners-up: Where are They Now? by Roxanne McDonald
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We know JD is rockin’ the band as front man, but what happened to the other equally fine performers from “Rockstar INXS”? |
We have had the sheer delight of two seasons of “Rock Star…”—“Rock Star INXS” and “Rock Star Supernova”. And we then lose track of those laying great tracks—on CD, in person, and in the name of . Unless we search:
According to fans at IMDB, the super performers who did not land the lead for INXS are progressing nicely: Marty Casey took his band Lovehammers on the road, opening for INXS during their “Switch” tour; released an album in January of 2006; and has evidently played a gig here and there in Toronto—to lukewarm reception/reviews.
According to a most thorough contributor at Wikipedia, Mig Ayesa has acted on kids’ television, in a show called “The Ferals;” played a small part in Queen of the Damned; cut the single “Baby, I Love Your Way” (which he made popular again on “Rockstar…”), which he performs with Frampton; and has delivered his debut album titled, CD MIG, which features cover, contemporary, and classic works such as Bowie’s “Life on Mars,” Seal’s “Kiss From a Rose,” Sting’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy”, and the Rolling Stones’ “Angie”, among others.
Smokey Jordis Unga, whom many were rooting for during her competing on “Rock Star INXS,” and who was invited to perform at the Grand Opening Gala of the Muhammad Ali Center for the Advancement of Humanity Worldwide in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2005; and has done numerous gigs, unplugged, across the country; has signed with Sony; and was supposed to release her debut in “early 2006.”
Methinks “My Bare Lady” Doth Provide too Much…Bad Entertainment
Methinks “My Bare Lady” Doth Provide too Much…Bad Entertainment by Roxanne McDonald
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What a ridiculous show is “My Bare Lady.” [And as soon as I say this, I will likely get hooked and have to watch every silicone-filled, dry-hump focused episode. Groan.] |
I have intentionally ignored the listings for “My Bare Lady” when I do my TV line-up for the day, and evidently, for good reason. Today, the day before New Year’s Eve, as I sought out the marathons—“Seinfeld” on TBS; “AbFab” [“Absolutely Fabulous”] on BBC; and of course “The Twilight Zone” on the SCIFI channel—I again skipped over “My Bare Lady”, inferring it could only be carnal exploitation at its dullest.
Well, as FOX Reality was airing “Corkscrewed,” and as
Fox Reality tends to do mini marathons while slipping in a single show of something else in between, I clicked my alternate channel button on the remote from “Scrubs” (during the commercial) and found that “Corkscrewed” had ended and “My Bare Lady” had intruded my air space.
First, I caught a horrendous tryout session of a number of scantily clad women simulating orgasm. Then, in the same episode, each of those same “ladies”—who are former porn stars—doing a reading for Juliet. Of course they butchered and bastardized the bard’s words, and of course had no clue that “wherefore art thou, Romeo?” does NOT mean where is my teen lover but why does he have to be a Montague.
Survivor Favorites: Where are They Now?
Survivor Favorites: Where are They Now? by Roxanne McDonald
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Where are Rupert and Jenna and Rob—and what are they doing now? Some of us would love to know. |
The most evil, the most foul, or the most well-behaved and therefore most well-deserving are often the ones who get the most air (and press) time. But the most popular, the fan favorites, and my personal favorite are the ones I would like to look into and inquire about.
According to AOL’s TV Guide report, IMDB, and other informational sites, the evil ones are where they deserve to be: Richard Hatch was a bit too manipulative for his own
good, but got what he deserved when he landed in jail for tax evasion. Jon “Johnny Fairplay” Dalton, the ass who lied that his grandmother had just died so he could get an edge up in the Survivor: Pearl Islands competition, is so nasty a personality that he can’t even keep a job. And loathesome Jerri Manthey, of “Survivor: The Australian Outback,” who was so vile a personality that we booed at home and audiences booed at the reunion (driving her to do a stage exit-pdq), has gone into acting only to appear in marginal productions….
But favorite Survivors, often brought back for such inclusive events as all-star episodes and seasons, are the ones who deserve more acclaim than they might get.
My favorite survivors include Rupert Boneham, who was a contestant on “Survivor: Pearl Islands” (making his first claim to fame when he absconded in pirate style some pillaged pile of stuff—they were all directed to do to begin with), who was also the favorite of all voting television viewers. Boneham paid off debts with his winnings, and then went on to do the next most admirable thing one can do with great wads of cash: found a helping organization—which in this case was a center for troubled teens.
Former Survivors: Is it Surprising to Learn Where They are Now?
Former Survivors: Is it Surprising to Learn Where They are Now? by Roxanne McDonald
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How many of the “Survivor” contestants and winners have exacted self-fulfilling prophecy of a sort? |
AOL TV Guide, RealityReel.com, and other sites have compiled info on the survivors past, and if you are anything like me—always seeking out the former reality TV show contestants or band members or television show characters, to see what they are up to—you will be interested to know about some of these “characters”.
Richard Hatch, the first “Survivor” winner, is in jail for tax evasion. I thought this guy was a lawyer?! Wouldn’t he know better than to fail to pay? Hell, even I know the details on taxes, though I am so broke that I am still behind for one year (and sure could use some—a very small part of, actually—that million, Rich).
Kelly Wigglesworth, runner-up to Richard Hatch and the one who took the most severe tongue-lashing in the history of Survivor, is a white-water rafting instructor and was (or is?) a host of E!’s “Celebrity Adventures.”
Susan Hawk, the one who bestowed upon Wigglesworth the wrath of the sore losers, in that at-first funny then just disgustingly obnoxious Midwestern dialect, not only runs a juice bar in Las Vegas but is evidently a host on the TV Guide Channel (in that little insert window when the cable goes out and we wait for it to lock in again? Where?)….
Tina Wesson, first woman in Survivor (The Australian Outback) history to win, bought a ranch in the mountains where she moved with her family; participated in Survivor: All-Stars (but was voted out in week one); and had her house re-modeled on the HGTV-sponsored “Designer’s Challenge.” More notably, however, Wesson is a spokesperson for the National Arthritis Foundation, and continues to compete—in golf and racquetball tournaments.
Winner of Survivor: Africa, Ethan Zohn founded Grassroots Soccer, which helps spread the word about AIDS in Africa; and contributes consistently to such movements and organizations as Kick AIDS, the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric Aids organization, YouthAids, the Colon Cancer Alliance, and American Scores, for which he is a spokesperson. For many of his charitable efforts, Zohn has won awards; and continues to participate in television and other charity and other challenges—such as Reality TV Star Fear Factor and Eco-challenge.
(read more…)
Classy versus Class Division–The Social Experiment that was Survivor: Cook Islands Tested Well in the End
Classy versus Class Division–The Social Experiment that was Survivor: Cook Islands Tested Well in the End by Roxanne McDonald
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The survivors show more class than class (and race) divisiveness. |
Critics screamed at first that Survivor: Cook Islands was nothing more than another sponsored exploitation of minorities, but the survivors proved otherwise.
The comics panned the “social experiment” that was this season’s Survivor: on Mad TV, for instance, the different tribes (of different races) were given fire-making supplies—one race getting a single match; one race getting water; and the white race getting a full flint, matches, firewood, and fuel kit.
The critics bust Mark Burnett’s chops.
And the biggest sponsors—GM and Coke—back out.
But you know, the actual participants on the show displayed remarkable class and dignity, as well as unconscious and conscious solidarity.
I noticed this in the finale, for instance, when the jury members approached the final three with the intention of asking questions of each to help them decide their final voting.
First, though, consider how the two final men—Ozzy and Yul—decided on the final third: Rather than choose between Becky and Sundra, the men each vote for one woman, so that a tiebreaker will decide the final third survivor. (This may be a cop-out move, but then again, it can also be seen as a most diplomatic way of determining the Final Three.)
The Commerce of A Christmas Story
The Commerce of A Christmas Story by Roxanne McDonald
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The Fisher Red Ryder 200-shot Action Carbine Air Rifle [bb gun] aside, the commercialism is wryly displayed, discussed, and used as a harbinger of disappointment in A Christmas Story, reminding us that even in the forties, commerce was a cruel king. |
The adult narrator of A Christmas Story may be the informed one informing us of a more mature disappointment in commercialism at Christmas, but one underlying theme of the film does point to the pain of
being a powerless kid in a world gone money-mad. Here are some such moments, I suggest:
The tree lot salesman: “This is a TREE.” “This aint a tree; THIS is a TREE. Then, “I’ll knock off two bucks cause I can see you’re a man who knows his trees.” Then, when Mother asks if it is one where all the needles fall off, he says “No, that’s them Balsams.”
The irony of the elves yelling at the kids waiting for Santa and Santa being jolly out loud but muttering to “get [the kid] off [his] lap,” muttering that he isn’t staying one minute past closing, and doing such hostile kid-unfriendly things as shoving Ralphy down the slide with the toe of his boot on Ralphy’s forehead
And, of course, the most obvious anticipation of using kids to sell product is in the cipher Ralphy cracks after waiting weeks for his special decoder ring (which was advertised on a radio program sponsored by Ovaltine)—“BE SURE TO DRINK MORE OVALTINE”
Another Way A Christmas Story Delights Us with Every Viewing: the Cliches
Another Way A Christmas Story Delights Us with Every Viewing: the Cliches by Roxanne McDonald
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“You’ll shoot your eye out” is number one, but adults do say the darndest things—comments that get passed on to kids who grow up to repeat them, dread turning into their parents because of them, and laugh hysterically whenever hearing them in the context of one of the best Christmas movies of all time. |
One of the reasons we are so drawn to and repeatedly watch A Christmas Story is in the cliches adults speak to their kids and those picked up by kids after years of conditioning comments.
As Dad admires his Oldsmobile, the grown up Ralphy narrates how “the old man always saw himself at the Indianapolis Speedway.” This race track was the one
most often mentioned when we were growing up—whenever an analogy for cars, driving [too fast] and doing things quickly came up.
When Father is bitching about work or war or something at dinnertime, Mother warns, “little pitchers…” The saying went that “Little pitchers have big ears,” whatever that meant.
“You know better” is also, in variation, a most convenient comment for lectures and discipline. Mother uses it on Ralphy just as our parents used it on us.
The fallacious admonishment that “people are starving in China” was often used on finicky eaters, as it is on Randy, who will only eat when his mother tricks him into emulating a pig and showing her how a piggy eats (which was not a strategy for the rest of us).
Another oft-repeated line is the one Mother says to Ralphy after she punishes him is the “Don’t you give me that look” snap.
And of course, “You’ll shoot your eye out” is in there with the “Don’t run with scissors” warnings and threats—one which is so common that Cingular has adopted and adapted it for its 2006 Christmas season commercials, denying kids the bad choices for cellular service by telling them they will “run the bill up.” It kinda works—but not as well as the harping original we have all heard too many times not to laugh now.
The Pun in Punishment: Great Moments in A Christmas Story
The Pun in Punishment: Great Moments in A Christmas Story by Roxanne McDonald
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While it may be too close to home for many of us who actually had to eat soap for sassing or swearing or had to go to bed without dinner or dessert for one truancy or another, many moments in A Christmas Story send us right back to childhood—punishments and frustrations alike bringing continued joy. |
Whether it is the familiarity of punitive gestures or comments on our behavior or whether it is the coo-coo father or the silly brother or crazy rabbit-sleeper-sewing aunt, we identify at some level with many of the moments
in A Christmas Story. Here are some of my favorites:
Randy’s constant laughing
THE BOASTING
The father getting such esteem from the leg lamp, which he considers a “major award”
THE BEATING
When Ralphy beats the bull out of the bully [and when Mother coddles him and covers for him afterward, soothing him with warm water and distracting his father with talk of football itineraries, etc.]
THE SCREAMING
When in the Chinese restaurant, the family is served a duck with the head still on, and Mother screams
When Ralphy’s mother calls Schwartz’ mother and tells her the swear word Ralphy used came from Schwartz and the mother does this cartoon scream over the phone, “WHATTT?! WHATTT?! WHATT?!”
The grumpy phony Santa and impatient elves, jerking the kids into lap position as many little ones wail and scream
The overloaded electrical outlets and the inevitable blackouts whereby Father would tell everybody to stay put, not move, while he replaced the fuse, which the adult narrating Ralphy says, “The old man could replace fuses quicker than a jackrabbit on a date….”
Mother getting Randy to eat like a “piggy”—to get him to eat at all
Dad coaching Ralphy as he loads the toy rifle
And the many other disappointments and debacles and dogs, of course, make A Christmas Story the classic that it is and always will be.
Another Nod to A Christmas Story: Great Lines
Another Nod to A Christmas Story: Great Lines by Roxanne McDonald
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“You’ll shoot your eye out” is the classic line, but others are up there in the greatest lines category. |
When it works, effective repetition makes for great hilarity. This is most obvious in the “you’ll shoot your eye out” line that is repeated so much that even the viewer begins to feel like a kid being admonished for wanting a cherished Fisher Red Ryder 200-shot Action Carbine Air Rifle.
But the Christmas classic that certain channels [TBS, for one] show in marathon format for twenty-four hours every year in
December also contains other great lines and snippets of dialogue:
That the oversized plastic leg is a “major award”…
That “frageelay” must be Italian, when Mother corrects that it is the word “fragile”…
That the leg is a “statue” to which Ralphy agrees, open-mouthed and gaping, “Yeah, a sta-tue…” and to which the voiceover speaker says that “only one thing could pull [him] away from the electric sex in the window”—his nightly radio show.
And then when that quiz show prize, that “major award” gets broken when Mother is cleaning, Father yells that she “was always jealous” of that lamp…
Other critics have called the dialogue of A Christmas Story “tedious”, hackneyed, and boring in its repetitiveness. But with each scene, whether it be the scene where Ralphy presents the perfunctory teacher gift that dwarfs all the others and says he thought maybe she would enjoy something different or whether it be little brother Randy rifling through the gifts on Christmas morning and yelling “Mine!” and “That’s mine!” over and again, the timely dialogue never gets too old for the rest of us—who appreciate the contribution to character development and to what was once most original Christmas story-telling.
In Memoriam: Everybody Loved Peter Boyle
In Memoriam: Everybody Loved Peter Boyle by Roxanne McDonald
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The adorable curmudgeon on “Everybody Loves Raymond”, Emmy-award winning Peter Boyle dies at 71. |
He was one of the most respected in the business. He was the curmudgeonly, irreverent, and iconoclastic Frank Barone on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” who is so rude and rambunctious in a golf cart at the Florida retirement home that he and wife Marie are evicted, who is so surly and self-centered that Deborah has to shoo him away on countless occasions, who is so nasty and naughty that even his wife wants to boot him for a trade-in model.
But he was also so fine a performer, so convincing a character, that no one would have wished him out of the business or out of their lives.
Sadly, unfortunately for all of us, Peter Boyle passed away on December 12, 2006, under the duress of complications of multiple myeloma and heart disease.Boyle was not only the perfect pessimist, Frank Barone, a role for which he had been nominated for Emmys seven times. One Emmy-win came for him for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series–for guest spot performances on “The X Files.”
Survivor Parvati’s Sex Appeal Lets Her Down
Survivor Parvati’s Sex Appeal Lets Her Down by Roxanne McDonald
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The others were jealous or mistrustful of her throughout the game, but it appears Parvati didn’t have the sexual power she boasted she had to make it to the top three. |
Okay, we should give her some sympathy for having the last name “Shallow”, but Pavarti really was. The female boxer and cocktail waitress from Hollywood California set herself up for a most tragic fall—by boasting she would win with her looks and her feminine wiles.
As girls are allowed to be girls, Pavarti brought on her pretty self from the get-go, and showed her weakness for the hot young cuties in the competition. But mistake number one was when Pavarti confided how she was “absolutely gonna flirt with them, get on their good side,” for, she boasted, “It’s what I do best!”
Whether she was pretending or really weakly “drawn to” Nate, he became her first victim—or so she likely was
thinking. She then had to step up her attitude when the guys were getting all carried away with ruling the camp; and with much self-satisfaction, is so cocky about how the men of the tribe suddenly started acting on their best [male] behavior after bossy J.P. was the fall guy. Pavarti was heard to say how the men were then acting “more manly,” and how “The guys [had] really stepped it up since J.P. [was voted off].”
By about day twenty-eight, Parvati is considered one of Adam’s “harem girls” and is pulling the primadonna act when Sundra teaches her to gut fish by responding with exaggerated girly faces and comments like “eeewwww….” [This, from a boxer?]
Biggest Loser Viewers Got What We Wanted and More—or Less
Biggest Loser Viewers Got What We Wanted and More—or Less by Roxanne McDonald
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“The Biggest Loser” finale brought back the fifty states—minus over two tons of fat. |
Days before the final episode of “The Biggest Loser,” we fans of the show were predicting grand winners (or losers) and anticipating such special appearances as those made by each of the fifty state “representatives”.
We were greatly satisfied, then, when every single one of the original contestants not only showed up, but did so in leaner conditions and in collective success.
One of the goals put to the whole group at the start of “The Biggest Loser” series this season was for all of them to weigh in on one massive scale (the biggest in all of the history of television?) and then to return to do the same on the finale—having lost two tons. In the middle of the finale episode, all fifty players stepped on the mammoth contraption. At the start of the season their collective
weight was 14, 384 pounds; at the last weigh-in, their combined weight was 10, 103 pounds, making for a successful reduction of 4,281 pounds—281 over the two-ton goal. Yee hahs were heard throughout the theatre, signifying, as Caroline Rhea noted, a great moment for the United States of America!Also representing the ambitious goals and successful results were those who had made it to compete on the show. Even after being voted out and doing their own reduction and exercise regimes on their own, the players showed amazing changes:
Jennifer, Tiffany, Nelson (who was awesome!), Melinda, Amy, Ken, Pam, Brian, Bobby, Marty, Adrian, and Jaron all reduced dramatically, while Brian Starkey, Representing California, won the $100,000 “Winner of the Losers” prize by losing 156 pounds—50.65% of his total body weight to start.
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