tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post9010649635641765039..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: I still can't get over what happened last nightBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-52130005178669632662013-02-05T10:12:07.259-08:002013-02-05T10:12:07.259-08:00I agree about Diana Rigg's departure being har...I agree about Diana Rigg's departure being hard to watch. The entire episode was filled with quick cuts of her that made the viewers' sense of loss even greater -- and it was a very difficult start for Linda Thorson as Tara King, whom I have grown to appreciate more in later years. Ra-boom-de-ay.<br /><br />Didn't know about Sybil's death, but now I'm worried about how my son will take it. If it's as horrendous as described, he may be stricken, the way he was when the cowboy died (temporarily) in "The Indian in the Cupboard." He, along with the rest of family, have become very fond of the Downton folks.<br /><br />I wasn't misty-eyed last year when Lane Price died on Mad Men, but I was in a terribly dark place, because of what a tragedy his life had become and how it seemed that he might have come out of it. Very tough TV to watch -- and very Hitchcockian touch of humor to break the tension.<br /><br />If any of you haven't watched the original Upstairs, Downstairs, it's definitely worth seeing. This was the Downton Abbey of its day; not as lavish and intricately edited, but still filled with great actors and superb writing. Greg Ehrbarhttp://mousetracksonline.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-57079735779895579762013-01-31T20:26:58.909-08:002013-01-31T20:26:58.909-08:00Whenever I see a movie in which I die, I cry like ...Whenever I see a movie in which <i><b>I</b></i> die, I cry like a baby and wail like a banshee. Other character's deaths, not so much. Though, when I see a prohibition-set movie where some evil governement agent takes an axe to a barrell of booze, I wail, keen, and lament like the Trojan Women.Tallulah Moreheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07416330735326405496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29655940538863362092013-01-31T20:21:29.774-08:002013-01-31T20:21:29.774-08:00DALLAS SPOILER ALERT
I must admit that watching t...<i><b>DALLAS SPOILER ALERT</b></i><br /><br />I must admit that watching the new season of <i>Dallas</i> knowing that sweet, crazy, funny Larry Hagman has died and that therefore they will be killing off master-villain JR Ewing, I'm going to be a wreck. I kept tearing up everytime JR came on camera in the premiere, so I know I will be a total wreck when JR dies. Now JR Ewing is about as far from Sybil Granthum as you can get except for the rich part, a total dastard whose crimes are beyond numbering. But we've been watching him for over 30 years, and loving to hate him, and hating to love him, and finally, just loving him, in part because he's really loveable old Larry Hagman.<br /><br />But it is different in his case and Phil Hartman's when you know the character has died because the wonderful person playing him has died. (And in Hartman's case, shockingly via a vile murder by a wretched woman he should never have married.) The death is real even though the character is not.<br /><br />But I'm glad I saw the Henry Blake's death epsiode the night it was first broadcast, with truly no warning. I assure you, I was a complete basket case, and I didn't even really like that character that much. Gary Burghoff's grief just killed me.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-1885014998870871912013-01-31T20:04:06.639-08:002013-01-31T20:04:06.639-08:00I wish I'd been totally unprepared, but severa...I wish I'd been totally unprepared, but several of my FB friends on the east coast (One of them my editor on <i>My Lush Life</i>) felt it necessary to post spoilers as soon as it finished airing on the east coast <i><b>TWO FULL HOURS BEFORE IT EVEN BEGAN AIRING ON THE WEST COAST!</b></i><br /><br />I spent Sunday evening watching the SAG Awards and then writing my blog review of it. Took all night, as it usually does. There was a lot on that night I wanted to see, including a Hitchcock movie on TCM that I had not seen before, and fresh Hitchcock experiences are rare these days. My DVR could not handle all of them so, knowing that <i>Downton Abbey</i> airs several times during the week on several PBS stations, I put it off until later in the week, and only just watched it an hour ago. But I watched it knowing what was going to happen before it did thanks to thoughtless blabbermouths. <br /><br />By the time I checked this blog the next morning to see if you'd done the SAG Awards, your headline, which combined with the photo at the columns top constituted a more-than-sufficient spoiler before my eyes got as far as your Spoiler Alert, it was already thorougly spoilt many hours before. (Even so, I waited until after I'd seen it to read this column.)<br /><br />There's no "Spoiler Alerts" when you scroll down your Facebook feed and see "Juilian Fellowes, how could you?" before you have any chance to not see it, and of course, can not unsee it.<br /><br />So I did not cry. I might have, if I'd been allowed to watch it in ignorance, but no, the east coast blabbermouths felt it necessary to post it before it aired on the west coast. There's really no excuse for that.<br /><br />The worst spoilers I ever encountered came the night that <i>The Empire Strikes Back</i> opened. I had to work until 1 AM at The Comedy Store that night, so I couldn't go to the first show, at Midnight at The Egyptian Theater. But when we got off work, several of us went to see the 2:30 AM showing (Which, I assure you, was packed.)<br /><br />So, we're standing outside the theater in line at 2 AM and the first show lets out. The folks come out, exhilarated and happy. Then three assholes from that audience ran up and down the line of us waiting to get in shouting "Luke's father is Darth Vader!" and giggling, over and over and over, making <i><b>sure</b></i> that they had spoiled the big plot twist for <i><b>everyone</b></i> who was so undedicated (or had lives or jobs) as to wait to see the second performance. I think if I had those guys in my clutches even now, 33 years later, I'd still kill them.<br /><br />And I so agree that the Bates-in-Prison plotline is a total drag on the proceedings.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-78106338785132236912013-01-29T18:34:31.297-08:002013-01-29T18:34:31.297-08:00I was completely unmoved, because I thought it tel...I was completely unmoved, because I thought it telegraphed. When the good guy family doctor is pushed aside for the arrogant big city doctor, it was obvious what was going to happen. Feh!Bob Clasterhttp://www.bobclaster.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-71011309383872124682013-01-29T15:34:51.570-08:002013-01-29T15:34:51.570-08:00We, too, were stunned and cried when Sybil died. b...We, too, were stunned and cried when Sybil died. but I have to say that her death scene, with the entire family in the room, was some of the finest acting I've ever seen on TV--which, of course, made it all even more heartbreaking. Coincidentally, Sybil died on the very night "Downton Abbey" won the SAG award for ensemble acting. Now we know why.Cynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10040220362362796682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4266544912561286292013-01-29T14:59:54.739-08:002013-01-29T14:59:54.739-08:00I totally agree. I cried like a baby and went to ...I totally agree. I cried like a baby and went to sleep with a box of kleenex clutched to my chest. <br /><br />I'm crushed that Sybil died, but can't wait to tune in again next Sunday. It is one of the highlights of my week.<br /><br />After Sundays episode, I received text messages from 3 different friends proclaiming their dismay and heartbreak. Unusual for me as I'm usually asleep before nine! We chatted via text for the next several minutes trying to process our sadness. <br /><br />What great TV!Ms Fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-10849649623397797702013-01-29T12:01:01.003-08:002013-01-29T12:01:01.003-08:00"And I love that a television show made me fe..."And I love that a television show made me feel this way."<br /><br />Me too. Becoming emotionally attached to a character makes it a pleasure to watch them - the price to pay is that it hurts like hell when they die or leave. Despite its foreshadowing, Sybil's death took me by surprise and earned some tears - it was riveting television.<br /><br />I still avoid watching Diana Rigg's final episode on The Avengers - though she didn't die, just seeing her drive off is too much for this faint heart.RCPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04251247613686669877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-74942572564746746372013-01-29T09:35:10.123-08:002013-01-29T09:35:10.123-08:00With regard to what YEKIMI wrote above: I wonder h...With regard to what YEKIMI wrote above: I wonder how the impact of Sybil's death might have differed, had the doctors <i>agreed</i> that everything would be OK and that there was no danger of eclampsia.<br /><br />The best thing about the death scene itself was the editing. So efficient and succinct. <br /><br />Did anyone here see the (pre)eclampsia death episode during <i>ER</i>'s first season, "Love's Labor Lost"? It was the same thing but in a hospital and at 10 times the length. Not that it didn't have an impact, even though the characters were strangers to the audience (Bradley Whitford was the bereaved widower and new father, although I'd never heard of him at the time).gottacooknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-59125409166809500022013-01-29T09:30:45.368-08:002013-01-29T09:30:45.368-08:00I had that problem with "Game Of Thrones"...I had that problem with "Game Of Thrones" (book and show). All the characters that I liked or had an emotional investment in were killed off.<br /><br />I stopped reading after the first 2 novels.<br />chuckcdnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-61839606595653346762013-01-29T09:14:31.034-08:002013-01-29T09:14:31.034-08:00Yeah, that was a heartbreaker. Mind you, I was mo...Yeah, that was a heartbreaker. Mind you, I was more broken up about William. But I figured either Sybil or Branson was going to get bumped off, anyway. Why else did they marry and move to Ireland? Clearly it was paving the way for one or both characters to be phased out. Actually, both Branson and Sybil were wearing thin for me. He was so anti-establishment he didn't want to dress to be in Mary's wedding - proving what? And Sybil was so darned earnest all the time. In a way, she was the character who has evolved the least. <br /><br />But I feel for Lord Grantham, I really do. First he loses his heir, then an unborn son, then his money, now his youngest daughter. Geeze. <br /><br />McAlvienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-26080364652123105452013-01-29T05:42:39.717-08:002013-01-29T05:42:39.717-08:00Buck the Dog's death of Married with Children ...Buck the Dog's death of Married with Children was a regular having an episode about his demisebasurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10580128565141263640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-15186577631616307562013-01-29T01:02:00.660-08:002013-01-29T01:02:00.660-08:00My poor husband doesn't watch DA, and hadn'...My poor husband doesn't watch DA, and hadn't been asleep very long when he heard a Klingon Death Howl from the living room. Half asleep, in just his shorts, no glasses, comes running out to find out what's wrong, and all I can give him is a weepy hiccupy "they-- killed-- Lady-- Syyyyyybill! WHY?! WHYYYY?! She had such a good heart, she was the kindest soul, WHY????" He heaved a great sigh, said "Oh jeez, it's just TV, woman" and went back to bed. I'm glad to know I wasn't alone in my sorrow. That was some out of the blue heartbreak bullshit the way ONLY British TV can serve it.<br /><br />When I first met my dear friend, science fiction legend George Clayton Johnson, I told him that I'd always wanted to meet him so I could thank him for his "Twilight Zone" episode, "Nothing in the Dark" (the one with a very young and gorgeous Robert Redford as Mister Death). I told him that I saw it as a child, right after my great-grandmother passed away, and that more than anything that anyone had tried to do or say to comfort me, that episode helped me understand death, and that she was somewhere that there was no more pain. Tears welled in his eyes, he took my face in his hands, kissed me on the cheek, and said "No, thank YOU so much, my dear. There is no greater honour or comfort to a writer than to know that something you've written has touched someone's heart and affected their life for the better." I just love that sweet, crazy old hippie to bits.<br /><br />@Matt: I still refuse to watch the last "Cowboy Bebop" when it comes on; I stop with the episode right before it, with Faye leaving to find herself and Edward reuniting with her weirdo father (and Ein's li'l face as he makes his choice, to go with Ed or stay with the guys). That way, Jet and Spike are still off having adventures together, and Ein and the girls will come back someday.<br /><br />Cheers, thanks a lot,<br /><br />StormStormnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-50729483595117037672013-01-29T00:44:16.403-08:002013-01-29T00:44:16.403-08:00Wait? Diane left Cheers? Where was the "(sp...Wait? Diane left Cheers? Where was the "(spoiler alert)"??????<br /><br />Seriously, one of the best plot twists I've ever encountered is at the end of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, just totally unexpected and untelegraphed. I've read the book about three times and seen the movie countless times and it never loses its freshness. I've been "spoiled" since the first time I read it, but it doesn't change (Dumbledore's death, on the other hand, was pretty heavily telegraphed from the first chapter of Half-Blood Prince). Breadbakernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-61483956774210770442013-01-28T19:01:58.813-08:002013-01-28T19:01:58.813-08:00You seem to be doing quite well, all things consid...You seem to be doing quite well, all things considered. 25 years on, and I still can't discuss Diane leaving Cheers.An (is my actual name)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07960251996565752991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-55325367711690302642013-01-28T18:34:05.490-08:002013-01-28T18:34:05.490-08:00Thank you! No one at work watches this show and I ...Thank you! No one at work watches this show and I needed an outlet. It was killing me. This did the trick. Kerrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09784642369957250699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-1326869807216700292013-01-28T17:06:43.788-08:002013-01-28T17:06:43.788-08:00On "Frasier," did the original Eddie mak... On "Frasier," did the original Eddie make it through the whole run or was a ringer brought in at some point? Sure I would have remembered if they wrote him out.<br /><br />I recall a few shows where beloved pets died or were killed off, but the pets in question had never been seen before. A bit like girls who were about to marry one of the Cartwrights on "Bonanza."DBensonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22607708151807762052013-01-28T16:56:38.500-08:002013-01-28T16:56:38.500-08:00As a Downton Abbey fan, I had wandered into inform...As a Downton Abbey fan, I had wandered into information and knew there would be a death and who, but not how, and it was powerfully done. Also, notice that the only two characters who REALLY as she died were the Irish husband and the American mother, and that the servants who reacted most were the one who might have been considered the lowliest and the outcast. The class breakdown was interesting (I know the others looked shocked and all that, but if you think about how it was presented ....). I'll just add, Carson pretty much maintained the stiff upper lip, and Carson is my favorite.<br /><br />Now, as a kid, I cried when Henry Blake died, but not now, possibly because I preferred Colonel Potter (that doesn't seem very nice of me). I cry every time I see the MASH episode with the tonteen (as the cast did), and the one about BJ's wedding anniversary, when the Korean boy plays "an harmonica." But every Christmas Eve at 10:50 p.m. or so, I put on "It's a Wonderful Life" and when Jimmy Stewart loses it, I start to, and when his brother toasts him, I'm gone. I'm welling up as I type about it.<br /><br />All superbly acted. All superbly written and directed.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01998867386294693956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22885389109887530732013-01-28T14:54:21.770-08:002013-01-28T14:54:21.770-08:00Nothing will ever have an impact like the death of...Nothing will ever have an impact like the death of Henry Blake (which I saw first-run, without forewarning, in spring 1975, and it floored me) because it changed the nature of what was until then primarily a comedy with a laugh track.gottacooknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-53707424322691692812013-01-28T13:41:02.056-08:002013-01-28T13:41:02.056-08:00In the final episode, Lord Bob Newhart wakes up in...In the final episode, Lord Bob Newhart wakes up in bed next to Sybil and they discover it was all just a dream.15-Secondshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13318674289313958974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-19879167233051773552013-01-28T13:10:10.507-08:002013-01-28T13:10:10.507-08:00I was astonished when they knocked off Mags Bennet...I was astonished when they knocked off Mags Bennet in Justified. Not because she was remotely likable, but she was a hugely charismatic character who drove a very strong plot strand. I thought that's either massive confidence in the forthcoming series or a huge mistake. From what I've read the new series is holding up extremely well.Macnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43246442470030819622013-01-28T12:54:00.237-08:002013-01-28T12:54:00.237-08:00Pamela, we were typing more or less the same messa...Pamela, we were typing more or less the same message at more or less the same time!cbmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08341157122141290094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-33886144675298436932013-01-28T12:53:02.351-08:002013-01-28T12:53:02.351-08:00Personally, I love how British TV is completely wi...Personally, I love how British TV is completely willing to kill off major characters. The show "Spooks" (aka MI-5) is a good example. They went through so many main characters that they must have used chalk for the names on the dressing room doors. It makes things seem more real to me. cbmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08341157122141290094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-34751443816461171922013-01-28T12:52:19.819-08:002013-01-28T12:52:19.819-08:00The Brits have no problem killing off main charact...The Brits have no problem killing off main characters. Watch MI-5 (Spooks) EVERYone ends up getting killed off. <br /><br />And I appreciate that. Because it's more realistic and creates unusual dynamics.<br /><br />And it's not always the American "feel-good" ending to every story.Pamela Athertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06482461216176753054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4305979387713472682013-01-28T12:05:42.041-08:002013-01-28T12:05:42.041-08:00Sybil's death was one of the most harrowing de...Sybil's death was one of the most harrowing death scenes I've ever seen on television. Kudos to all the actors. I had been spoiled about it (and other future events), but for once that foreknowledge did not lessen the power of the moment.<br /><br />Barbara C, I disagree re Michael Gambon vs. Richard Harris as Dumbledore. I was largely disappointed with RH in the first two movies. I found his performance perfunctory and lifeless. Also, Dumbledore began to lose his 'whimsy' in the third book, so I felt that the way MG portrayed him had more depth and resonance for me. Just my opinion!Sharon Jnoreply@blogger.com