samhexum

My mom cracked up at this one. She was watching HOLLYWOOD SQUARES and before the round started, the announcer told what the prize was for the 'secret square' and it included furniture from Levitz, and ended with their tag-line "You'll love it at Levitz." The first contestant picked Wally Cox, who wasn't the 'secret square', and after Peter Marshall asked the question, Cox said "I have a question... if you don't love it at Levitz, can you leave it?" I'm sure the sponsor was thrilled. Cox was the voice of Underdog. Although often cast as meek, he was actually quite athletic, as well as a military veteran. He married three times. Cox was also featured in the first episode of the television series Mission: Impossible.

I saw Waylon & Madam open for Paul Lynde (with my mother & sister, no less) at Westbury Music Fair and she (Madam, not Paul or Waylon ) said she was wearing her Penoit gown... she got it at JC Penoit.

I saw Waylon & Madam open for Paul Lynde (with my mother & sister, no less) at Westbury Music Fair and she (Madam, not Paul or Waylon ) said she was wearing her Penoit gown... she got it at JC Penoit.

Nah, she said Sunday. She's taking next week off to be with her family to grieve for her mom, whom she said died many, many, many weeks ago. Rehab, perhaps?

It's Sunday... as I'd previously posted (& only 15 minutes): https://www.companyofmen.org/threads/kfc-colonel-sanders-romance-novel-for-mothers-day.124020/#post-2025200

FX has renewed its beloved sitcom “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” for four more seasons — making the show the longest-running live-action comedy of all time. “Always Sunny” is breaking its previously set record in May 2020, when it was renewed through Season 15. The previous record holder was ABC’s “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” which ran for 14 seasons from 1952 through 1966. The announcement was made on Thursday by FX Chairman John Landgraf. It was tied to FX owner Disney’s Investor Day presentation, which also included major announcements for other Disney properties — including Marvel and “Star Wars” series. “Always Sunny” began airing on FX in 2005. The show was created by Rob McElhenney, who also stars in the show alongside Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito. The unconventional sitcom began as a pilot shot on a digital camcorder by McElhenney, who developed the series with Howerton while both were under-employed actors in Los Angeles. After the show was picked up by FX, Danny DeVito joined the cast for Season 2. “Always Sunny” has cultivated a loyal fanbase and continues to draw viewers through its later seasons. The show saw on average over 3 million viewers per episode during its 13th season, according to Variety. Season 15 of “Always Sunny” is scheduled to debut on FXX in 2021. Episodes will be available to stream on Hulu after they debut.

How do you take an old war-horse and make it the best show on TV in its 17th season? Have a global pandemic. GREY’s has been tremendous so far this season.

Horrible Hallmark movies have been torturing viewers for 20 years By Johnny Oleksinski It’s been 20 long, arduous years since Hallmark released its first original Christmas movie: “The Christmas Secret,” starring Beau Bridges and Richard Thomas. That forgotten piece of tinsel was about a professor who sets out to prove that reindeer can fly, and then meets Santa. Ugh. Some readers will think of that fateful day as the Big Bang of holiday cheer; a tiny spark unleashing two decades of Yuletide merriment. Bah humbug, I say! Dec. 17, 2000 was the K-T Extinction Event for enjoyable Christmas movies, and that little film starring John-Boy from “The Waltons” ushered in an era in which, as the weather gets colder, the American public gets dumber. Because they gorge themselves on Hallmark’s asinine Christ-mush. A whole month before shopping malls put Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” on repeat, Hallmark Channel is already showing its wintry movies around the clock — in freakin’ October. Even worse, the tasteless tradition has started spreading to streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, and has now grown out of control. Schlock has replaced decent Christmas movies as the main event. It’s the holidays, so allow me to wax nostalgic for a better, classier time. Recall when this cherished genre was packed with well-made films, including many enduring American classics: “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and “White Christmas.” More recent movies from the 1980s and ’90s, such as “Home Alone,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Gremlins,” are also worthy of praise and repeat viewings. And then came hungry, hungry Hallmark. The basic cable network, which is available in more than 80 million American homes, gained popularity in the aughts thanks to appalled audiences who decided TV was kicking good ol’ fashioned family values to the curb. With HBO having aired shows about super relatable mobsters and New York nymphomaniacs, I don’t know what they could possibly mean. The network found its niche with schmaltzy Christmas content. Since 2009, they’ve dubbed the monthslong event “Countdown to Christmas” (I picture Richard Dean Anderson diffusing a time bomb) and have gradually upped the ante. This year they are airing 40 originals, including “Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen” and “A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas,” which are all roughly the same film. The newbies join the well over 100 formulaic, cheap movies Hallmark has churned out using a rotating roster of popular-on-Hallmark stars such as Candace Cameron Bure, who has been dubbed the Queen of Christmas, Lacey Chabert and Lori Loughlin, who is currently serving two months in the clink for another crime. Back when these atrocities were consigned to the gated community of Hallmark, I couldn’t care less. But their competitors took notice, and the style is everywhere. Lifetime turned into another Christmas machine in the 2010s, and is releasing 30 films this year, while behemoth Netflix has hopped on the naughty list, too. This year the streaming service dropped seven originals including “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square” and “The Princess Switch: Switched Again.” Frank Capra is LOL’ing in his grave. Even for theatrically released seasonal movies, a sharp downturn in quality began shortly after Hallmark originals came on the scene. That’s when we got “Christmas With The Kranks” (2004), “Surviving Christmas” (2004) with Ben Affleck, “Deck The Halls” (2006), starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick, and “Fred Claus” with Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti (2007). Christmas films, which used to get the occasional Oscar nomination, have become synonymous with badness. This year, they’re gaining particular praise for adding some diversity to the mix. “Are Hallmark movies turning the corner on diversity?,” asked Forbes. “TV’s gay Christmas movies are as benign, charming and cliche as we always hoped they’d be,” cooed the Washington Post. Isn’t it wonderful that multiple groups can share in sub-par entertainment? There has always been an understandable appetite for crummy, campy movies. The Razzies is an awards show dedicated to them. What’s new here is the cynical corporatization of lousiness; how Hallmark, Lifetime and Netflix set out to make rubbish knowing full-well that millennials will cackle at it. And if you think they are legitimately good, well, you can now do therapy sessions conveniently on Zoom. I hope you’ve enjoyed Christmas with a crank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmMbBMFQbjc:928

Cracked up at Adrienne's story yesterday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmMbBMFQbjc:928

UGH! He'll be back on the next SVU episode (1/7?) only this time Barba will be the defense attorney.

DEAR ABBY: My fiancee, "Diane," and her two sons live in a nice home. I also have a nice home, newly constructed. It's located 1,200 miles away, near my parents, my son and my job. Diane currently has no job nor family within 500 miles of her town. Her boys' father (whom she shares custody with) lives within 50 miles of me. My job and the custody arrangement for my son preclude me from living where Diane does. Together, she and I would have three sons. The spacious five-bedroom house I own is more than adequate. Diane has made clear that if I sell my home and buy my neighbor's, which is a larger seven-bedroom manor, she will be on the next flight. If not, she won't leave. We could buy the manor with cash if I sell my home and she sold hers and put her savings into the purchase, but she doesn't want to use her savings. Diane is my everything, but it feels like I may just be chasing a dream. I worry that if I'm not enough, will I be enough when I own a manor? -- IT'S COMPLICATED DEAR IT'S COMPLICATED: I'm proud of you. You are seeing things clearly, which is unusual when emotions are involved. It appears your dream girl, the fair Diane, is attempting to blackmail you. If she can't be the "lady of the manor," she's not interested in uprooting her life. If you give in to her now, do not do it without an ironclad prenuptial agreement. Please stay strong, because if you don't, you may regret it for a long time. Dump the gold-digger and run for the hills!

This is the best I could do: Rose: How could you do this to me, Blanche? You knew I wanted to spend tonight alone. Blanche: Rose, nobody who says they want to be alone on New Year's Eve ever really means it. Rose: I did. Blanche: Well, you're a freak. Besides, it's bad luck if you don't get kissed at midnight. Why, my New Year's Eve kiss is the most important one of the whole year. It sets the tone for the next 365 days. One year, I didn't get kissed at midnight on New Year's Eve, I didn't get lucky till after the Orange Bowl.

Wasn't that from an earlier show? Wanna buy Adrienne's house? https://nypost.com/2020/12/09/the-real-host-lists-calabasas-home-months-after-buying-it/

Does anyone actually call it Target? ?

There was a lot of obvious real affection, like when Tam said she missed hugging Loni (or should I call her Yolanda?) even though Loni didn't like hugging her and Loni nodded in agreement... with a smile, and earlier in the episode when Loni said something and Jeannie laughed and said "You're so stupid!"

I thought Tamera looked beautiful. Loved her hair like that & her blouse was nice, too.

Widowed otters move in together after meeting on dating app After Asian short-clawed otter Harris, 10, lost his longtime best friend and romantic partner Apricot, who died at 16, he became a lonely bachelor otter, and his caretakers grew worried. In an effort to find him a new mate, those charged with his well-being at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall, England, configured an otters-only dating app called Fishing for Love, where he soon met Pumpkin, a lady otter from Yorkshire’s Sea Life Scarborough Sanctuary who was also seeking a new mate after losing her longtime lover. Now, the two are doing swimmingly — recently, they even took the big relationship step of moving in together. “Sea Life Scarborough otter has found love in time for Christmas,” the sanctuary wrote in a press release announcing the good news. Pumpkin’s carers answered an ad on the otter dating site after her elderly partner, Eric, passed away. “After searching the entire lonely-hearts section, and a few bad swipes later,” they discovered Harris’ profile and determined him to be a worthy “significant otter” for their beloved Pumpkin. “[it’s] best to introduce a new male into a female’s territory so that the male more easily submits to the female on first meeting,” the release explained. Following the pair’s initial meeting and romance at Sea Life, they’re officially shacking up there. “After an extremely sad period for both Pumpkin and the animal care team here at Scarborough, we are delighted to report that not only is Pumpkin happy once again, but Harris has settled in extremely well,” said Sea Life curator Todd German in the release, adding he sees no reason the lovers should not continue to exist in harmony and live happily otter after. Many male otters are not so lucky, however: A disturbing study published last month found that river otters’ penis bones are weakened by pollution and that toxic chemicals from Canada’s oil industry are causing the critters’ members to become less dense and more breakable.

What is it with crazy Californians (or is that redundant?) and cookies? Man pays for bizarre ‘Cookie Monster’ mural on building — that he doesn’t own An Illinois artist was left baffled after a man paid him to paint a mural of “Sesame Street’s” Cookie Monster on the side of a building — that he didn’t actually own. Joshua Hawkins said he recently got an angry phone call from the actual owner of the Peoria building, “asking why the hell I painted this ‘crazy sh-t’ on his building.” “Evidently the guy that hired me to paint the mural was NOT really the owner of the building!,” Hawkins wrote on Facebook. The artist said a man he knew only as “Nate” called him the day after Thanksgiving and asked him to paint a mural of the beloved puppet with a caption in Russian that roughly translates to “World, Peace, Cookies” on the side of his vacant building. Though he was hesitant to take the job because of the tight deadline, Hawkins said it was “one of the best paying commissions” he ever got — so he recruited some pals to help him finish the artwork in time. Hawkins was given half of the “good amount” of money up front in cash, and “Nate” paid him the rest upon completion two days later, he told the Peoria Journal Star. That was the last time Hawkins ever saw the mystery arts patron. Meanwhile, the real owner of the building, Nate Comte, was fuming when he got back from Thanksgiving vacation and spotted the massive mural on his property. “He threatened to call the police on me,” Hawkins said. “After that, it started to click.” Hawkins explained the backstory — but Comte didn’t believe him, telling the Journal Star that: “I don’t think anyone is that stupid.” While he believes the work to be graffiti, Comte said he won’t press vandalism charges. “I don’t hate art,” he said. “But don’t know what the hell that was.” He’s since painted over the mural. Looking back, the artist said he probably should have gotten more information from the person who commissioned the work. “It was definitely a weird situation from the beginning, and we should have asked more questions,” Hawkins said. His phone calls and text messages to the enigmatic “Nate” have gone unanswered. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. THIS IS INSANE,” Hawkins wrote on Facebook. “I do apologize to the owner of the building, and while this is stressful and confusing– the fact remains that we were paid by someone!?”

That's what they get for not wearing masks... Four lions test coronavirus-positive in Barcelona Zoo, third worldwide instance since Bronx Four lions have tested positive for coronavirus at a Barcelona zoo, most likely infected by an asymptomatic staffer, zoo officials said.