What was the last TV show you watched?

[Doctor Strange]

The new four-part Starz/BBC miniseries adaptation of Howards End written by Kenneth Lonergan, starring Hayley Atwell. I waited until all the parts had aired so I could watch it in two sittings. And I recently watched the classic Merchant-Ivory film with Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins - which I'd hadn't seen since the nineties - to remind myself of the story so I could compare them.

I thought it was very good, with the added length allowing for a bit more subtlety and detail, and some of that post-Downton Abbey/The Crown opulent soap opera approach. Definitely a step up from the usual Masterpiece Theater level production. There are still a number of things about the story and characters that don't add up, but I suspect that goes back to the original novel (which I must shamefully admit I've never read). Atwell is, of course, outstanding as Margaret Schlegel... who's not so different from Peggy Carter: a woman ahead of her time, secure in her abilities and attitudes, navigating her way through a patriarchal society with sharp finesse. The rest of the cast is also very good, especially Julia Ormand as the first Mrs. Wilcox, and it was particularly nice to see Tracy Ullman in a straight dramatic performance. And of course, it all looks fabulous.

Where both adaptations run into trouble - and again, this is probably in Forster's novel - is in the schematic division to represent the very wealthy (but stodgy, conservative) Wilcoxes, the wealthy (but progressive, artistic) Schlegels, and working-poor Basts as representatives of the class divisions in Edwardian England. It seems closer to something from a George Bernard Shaw play - not that there's anything wrong with those! - where the characters are all arguing archetypes. And the romantic relationships depicted are superficial camouflage for access to security and privilege. Again, if that's the intention, okay. But it plays a bit oddly.

Definitely recommended if you dig period pieces based on literary classics (and Hayley Atwell). Just be prepared for an economic treatise barely disguised as a romance.

 

[Benzadmiral]

"All Our Yesterdays," the famous Season Three entry in the original Star Trek in which, on a planet about to be vaporized by a nova, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy find themselves trapped in two different eras in the world's past. Kirk is accused of witchcraft and jailed in a ca. 17th-century society, and Spock and McCoy wind up in an ice age, with political prisoner Zarabeth (Mariette Hartley). It's been some years since I've seen it; it works quite well as a time-running-out suspenser.

The usual complaint about it for almost 50 years has been with Spock's transformation into an emotional, "barbarian" Vulcan, with the well-taken point that just because your ancestors made a career out of rapine and pillage 5000 years ago, it doesn't follow that you'll do the same if you travel to that time. More fantasy than SF. But it does provide some needed interpersonal conflict, this time between Spock and McCoy. And Leonard Nimoy does a fine job suggesting the dangerous id-forces Spock usually keeps in total check (in part brought out, not surprisingly, by Zarabeth!). Remember, he's 5 times stronger than normal humans. You don't want him grabbing your neck when he's angry. . . .

 

[KY Gentleman]

I finished the new Lost In Space on Netflix. It’s only ten episodes long but it lays a good groundwork for more seasons.
They took some liberties with the cast and plot, but I enjoyed it and will watch any new episodes that may come.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

I too watched Howard's End. I enjoyed it, but it was odd. I also suspect that some of the choppy storytelling is found in the book, but I haven't read it either. It didn't strike me as consistent, and at times, just for moments, I wasn't sure I understood what was happening. It didn't take me long to figure it out, but that kind of jarring doesn't serve the experience well. Knocked me out of the moment, for a moment. Causing me to think and ponder is welcomed, but confusing me is not. I thought the whole cast was darn good with the exception of Mr.Wilcox, Matthew Macfadyen. Having not read the book, I could never fully believe his demeanor. I don't know why, but I kept thinking this sinister, bad person was going to be revealed. Maybe that is the book or an accurate depiction of a man of his status at the time? Is it me not being a good audience? Waiting for Wilcox to be exposed, I couldn't fully buy into his relationships, particularly with Margaret/Atwell.

The Terror. So much of this is done at such a high level. A special production, but not one making me thirst for the next episode. I'm not sure why that is.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Macfadyen played Wilcox as younger and more attractive than in the Merchant-Ivory film... but I think Anthony Hopkins did a much better job with the role. Admittedly, it's a tricky part because he has to be both an uber-conservative, Africa-exploiting captain of industry AND just sympathetic enough for you to believe Margaret could, if not fall in love with him, at least manage a satisfactory compromise marriage for the benefit of both families without being entirely miserable. Of course, the plot actually requires both of them to moderate their huge initial worldview differences and find a way to partner... But is it believable?

Having seen the earlier film, I wasn't viewing Wilcox as a villain who'd be "exposed" but rather as a limited philistine whose blinkered views would be tested.

One narrative cheap shot that marred an otherwise interesting narrative (again, apparently in Forster's novel) was the revelation of Wilcox's past with Jackie Bast. A contrived, Dickensian plot coincidence that doesn't belong in such an otherwise well crafted, character-based story.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Speaking of Bast, Wilcox, and Schlegel, did they earn Schlegel's commitment to Wilcox? Yes, they needed a new home. Yes, she was the matriarch. An opportunist? Mere convenience? But she seemed so even and satisfied being single and living her life. It was very sudden that she was "interested" in Wilcox. Was this how relationships happened then? I reckon so. There wasn't much in the way of substance in their courtship. And sure, the web of the 1st Mrs.Wilcox gave some assurance and reason, but...if this had played out in another time, would I have been so forgiving ? The setting and period are obviously important to context, but what is really happening here?

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

Last night, an Australian show about Charlie and Nicola, a husband and wife team of crime scene cleaners (Toxiclean: Your Mess is our Life) who also solve mysteries. The title only makes sense once you've watched the show: Mr. and Mrs. Murder. Light touch, with a good chemistry between the leads. From 2013, on Acorn.
Also, a documentary on the Venice Simplon Orient Express. Basically a luxury hotel on railroad tracks. Well-done look into a slice of opulence and fun. Again, on Acorn.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Julian, if Helen was already an "old maid", what did that make Margaret?

For all of her independence and strength, in the world of a hundred years ago, an offer of marriage from a mega-rich man she liked (if not loved) was pretty much an offer she couldn't refuse. Especially right at the moment when they had to leave their lifelong home. It wasn't lost on her that Ruth Wilcox had been the real power behind the throne in that family, and she was suddenly in a position to "manage" Henry too. Yes, it was a compromise after having been sole master of her fate... But Margaret, despite having the same first name and actress, isn't Agent Carter. She sacrificed some of her independence for the good of the families, a perfectly reasonable decision circa 1910. Let's not be too misled by today's definition of an independent woman!

 

[LizzieMaine]

The 9/20/59 broadcast of "What's My Line?," featuring an extraordinary performance by guest panelist Groucho Marx.

WML was an island of refined, witty tranquility in the sea of sluice that was Minow-era television -- a weekly gathering of a group of sophisticated New Yorkers who punned and kidded their way thru a simple parlor game -- but sometimes it did have a tendency to take itself a bit seriously. Enter the one man in show business whose business it was to disrupt all forms of refined witty tranquility, Mr. Julius H. Marx.

Groucho makes it his business from the moment he appears on screen to take the starch out of everyone's pants -- kidding Bennet Cerf for his tendency toward long-winded joke-telling, flirting shamelessly with Arlene Francis and Dorothy Kilgallen, and reducing John Charles Daly to hysterical, slumped-over-the-desk giggles. He refuses to take the game seriously, he freely insults the guests -- one of whom is a dead ringer for Nikita Khrushchev -- wears his mystery-guest blindfold over his nose instead of his eyes,, and over the course of half an hour completely disrupts the broadcast. It would be five years before they'd invite him back, because it took that long for John Daly to stop laughing. Enjoy:

 

[Fading Fast]

The 9/20/59 broadcast of "What's My Line?," featuring an extraordinary performance by guest panelist Groucho Marx.

WML was an island of refined, witty tranquility in the sea of sluice that was Minow-era television -- a weekly gathering of a group of sophisticated New Yorkers who punned and kidded their way thru a simple parlor game -- but sometimes it did have a tendency to take itself a bit seriously. Enter the one man in show business whose business it was to disrupt all forms of refined witty tranquility, Mr. Julius H. Marx.

Groucho makes it his business from the moment he appears on screen to take the starch out of everyone's pants -- kidding Bennet Cerf for his tendency toward long-winded joke-telling, flirting shamelessly with Arlene Francis and Dorothy Kilgallen, and reducing John Charles Daly to hysterical, slumped-over-the-desk giggles. He refuses to take the game seriously, he freely insults the guests -- one of whom is a dead ringer for Nikita Khrushchev -- wears his mystery-guest blindfold over his nose instead of his eyes,, and over the course of half an hour completely disrupts the broadcast. It would be five years before they'd invite him back, because it took that long for John Daly to stop laughing. Enjoy:

Most shocking: 26 minutes of show in a 30 minute time slot.

Amidst the kidding and general looseness, it's clear that Francis and Kilgallen are whip smart and took the game seriously. Cerf came off as a not-particularly smart windbag.

I love that Kellogg's included its location of Battle Creek in its advertising - that's such a great name that any smart company would find a way to get it in there

Man that was sloppy camera work - TV really was in its infancy. Stuff is so insanely slick today that you don't even recognize how precise and studied it's become until you see shows like this.

Now I have to get back to work and earn a living in my own line of work - fun diversion.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Dorothy Kilgallen is one of my favorite media personalities of the Era, even if she did work for Hearst. She might have looked like a delicate little flower -- and she deliberately cultivated that image -- but she had cast-iron guts, and was a fine investigative reporter alongside all the Broadway stuff. She also took "What's My Line" very very seriously, to the point where her fellow panelists often got exasperated with her. Which makes the way she completely falls apart in this show all the more hilarious. "Would you say that you deal with more sex..."

Arlene Francis was a national treasure. I used to listen to her radio show on WOR, as well as watching her on WML in the 70s, and she was the absolute ideal of what a talk-show personality ought to be, but alas, never will be again.

In watching this particular episode, I kept wondering what was going on in the control room. Groucho was pretty clearly off the rails, but rather than try to signal him to rein it in, note how the director kept calling for reaction shots of him instead staying on whoever was actually talking -- figuring, I imagine, that they'd better just let him go and hope for the best. You used to see a lot of that kind of loose technique on Berle's early shows, but this was ten years later and normally TV was much more tightly controlled. I imagine it was a rather cathartic evening for everybody.

 

[Fading Fast]

I, too, noticed that they all but seemed to be egging Groucho on which either was the intent or, as you note, a smart on-the-fly decision as the best way to handle it - which it was.

The "sex" comment and reaction says as much about the times as the person - today you need to be aggressively crude and vulgar to have anywhere near the same shock value / get the same level of response as she did from just, basically, stumbling a bit on the word or, really, just pausing at the wrong moment.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"You notice they didn't call him 'Niceo'." -- George Burns.

 

[Benzadmiral]

. . .

In watching this particular episode, I kept wondering what was going on in the control room. Groucho was pretty clearly off the rails, but rather than try to signal him to rein it in, note how the director kept calling for reaction shots of him instead staying on whoever was actually talking -- figuring, I imagine, that they'd better just let him go and hope for the best. You used to see a lot of that kind of loose technique on Berle's early shows, but this was ten years later and normally TV was much more tightly controlled. I imagine it was a rather cathartic evening for everybody.

I've downloaded it and will watch it this weekend. A similar kind of "Just when did we lose control of the program?" event, I suspect, happened one night on the old Merv Griffin Westinghouse talk show. Jimmy Dean -- yes, "Big Bad John" Jimmy Dean -- was subbing for Merv, and Jack Carter was a guest. Hilarity, to put it mildly, ensued.

ETA: I see there are quite a few clips from Merv's mid-'60s show on YouTube!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The "Spewey and Me" episode of Get a Life.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The "Spewey and Me" episode of Get a Life.

Gad, I loved that show. Chris Elliot was funny, but Bob Elliot was hilarious.

 

[Touchofevil]

Season 2 episode 1 of The Frankenstein Chronicles on Netflix. The series is well done and entertaining.

 

[Worf]

I was in Belize for a week and a half but they get pirated HBO down there. I caught the two-parter about Elvis... It was pretty good. I felt they should've mentioned the black songwriters that penned some of his early hits a bit more. Still the villain of the piece is clearly "Colonel" Tom Parker... what a basterd. Still if you'd like a pretty good primer on the "King" of Rock n' Roll then this is your meat.

Worf

 

[3fingers]

Besides being a ba***rd and probably here illegally, Colonel Parker wasn't nearly as smart as he thought he was. He supposedly had clipped Elvis for 100 million dollars during his life but died nearly broke. Shot it all away gambling.

 

[Fading Fast]

Besides being a ba***rd and probably here illegally, Colonel Parker wasn't nearly as smart as he thought he was. He supposedly had clipped Elvis for 100 million dollars during his life but died nearly broke. Shot it all away gambling.

Plan to watch the HBO docs soon, but - and I'm not proud of this - I've watched / read a lot on Elvis over the years. In addition to stealing from Elvis, I think Parker had a very short-term business management view and, as we would say today, hurt Elvis' long-term "brand" value by almost always going for the fast money.

Elvis, I think, could have had a Sinatra-like movie career - doing both fluffy musicals and serious acting in real movies - that would have increased the Elvis brand's value way more than the profitable but limiting "Elvis" movies that Parker forced on Elvis. And of course, the overseas tour money that Parker didn't allow would have been huge and increased the global Elvis brand.