Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Find someone who loves you the way trump and maga love traitors.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

We do not need to pander to people who do not like what we stand for.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

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Reader Interactions

139Comments

  1. 1.

    the Conster

    Yup. Shirley McLaine is going to be awesome as Cora’s mother this season to match wits with her too. Talk about scenery chewing! Can’t.wait.

  2. 2.

    RedKitten

    Huh…well, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to check it out, but you and I DO have startlingly similar tastes in TV shows, so I may have to give it a second look.

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Isn’t she wonderful!?

    And just wait until next year (Season 3) when she locks horns with Shirley MacLaine. There won’t be an unchewed piece of scenery within a 10-mile radius!

  9. 9.

    EJ

    Season 1 is just about perfect TV. Normally this isn’t the sort of thing I watch, but I absolutely love it.

    Season 2 is, well… it depends a lot on your tolerance for absurdly plotted melodrama. I like it but I hope they take the widespread criticism to heart for Season 3.

  13. 13.

    lamh35

    Speaking of UK, I see FLOTUS Olympics schedule is out. In includes a state dinner hosted by Queen Elizabeth for all the visiting Olympic “dignitaries”. Who wanna bet Mittens and Ms Ann are trying their damndest to get into that state dinner with the Queen. I’m just betting they are right bout now trying to convince some stupid dowager count/coutness to let them be their their +1.

    Wouldn’t surpise me none.

  14. 14.

    rikyrah

    I know I’m late, but I just finished watching the end of Eureka. I’m satisfied with it. I loved this show, and will miss it. I’m glad they knew they were being cancelled and planned appropriately.

  15. 15.

    burnspbesq

    What the hell? Ichiro a Yankee?

    That does it. Nuke Seattle from orbit. The kid can find a different college.

  17. 17.

    Nicole

    @EJ: Me too. I loved Season One and hated Season Two. Though the Downton Abbey Paper Dolls on vulture.com almost made up for it.

  19. 19.

    James E. Powell

    My favorite Dowager Countess moment:

    Lady Grantham: You are quite wonderful the way you see room for improvement wherever you look. I never knew such reforming zeal.

    Mrs. Crawley: I take that as a compliment.

    Lady Grantham: I must’ve said it wrong.

  20. 20.

    JenJen

    @burnspbesq: Nooooo!! Seriously?

    Shit. You’re serious.

    And Rick Nash became a New York Ranger today. It’s not a good day for sports (or sports threads). Unless maybe you’re a New Yorker!

  21. 21.

    jl

    @lamh35: If Rafalca wins a medal, is it an ‘Olympic dignitary’ and be at this posh feed? If so, I think Romneys should be there too. Call me bipartisan and overly even handed.

    Edit: just thought that in that case Romneys will have to sit behind Rafalca? Well, they can figure it out.

  22. 22.

    Nicole

    @lamh35: The Queen does love horses. Maybe she’ll invite Rafalca, who would likely make for a better guest.

    JL- I feel a little better knowing I’m not the only one who actually knows the horse’s name.

  27. 27.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    Ron Christie is such an asshole!!! God forbid that gun violence does not visit you or own, you douche!

  29. 29.

    Joshua Norton

    Season 2 gets bogged down in the more soapy elements of the story, but the Christmas episode at the end kind of makes up for all the melodrama you had to go through to get there.

  30. 30.

    martha

    We were slobbery Americans and visited Highclere (where it is filmed) a few weeks ago when we were on vacation. The house is gorgeous on the outside and surprisingly moderately sized on the inside, compared with other estates. The setting is beautiful. Saw the infamous red bedroom from Season 1…many of you know what I’m referring to, not sure if John is there yet :)

    The main room is really breathtaking. I really really really hoped to run into the Dowager Countess, but no luck. Everyone was disappointed that the “downstairs” parts are filmed on a soundstage because those parts of the house are now a museum. The 7th Earl financed the discovery of King Tuts tomb…

  31. 31.

    burnspbesq

    @JenJen:

    How about we do it together? It’ll be easier to clean up.

    (I’m a Mets fan, and they are going into the toilet, losing 8 of 9 since the All-Star break).

  32. 32.

    The Dangerman

    @JenJen:

    Shit. You’re serious.

    I second the shit.

    Ichiro is in the twilight of his career, but his bat has some pop when he wants; for some reason, he’s been happy going for average instead of HR’s, but with that short fence in right which, I think, the new Yankee stadium has also, well, he could put up some nice numbers.

    Shit.

  33. 33.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jl:

    Edit: just thought that in that case Romneys will have to sit behind Rafalca?

    So does that mean …? Nah, too easy.

  34. 34.

    RossinDetroit

    Bah. It’s 100 degrees here. I want a tub of ice cream, a fan and a stack of DVDs of anything to point my eyes at.
    Downton sounds interesting but after a while costume historical dramas start to look awkward to me. I dunno why. Maybe the setting, clothes and unfamiliar language get in the way of the affinity that develops for the characters in the best dramas.
    But I have that problem with Spongebob as well.

  35. 35.

    phantomist

    Ann Romney or Dowager Countess Of Grantham

    “I forbid it! To have strange men prodding and prying around the house. To say nothing of pocketing the spoons. It’s out of the question.”

    “Don’t be defeatist dear, it’s terribly middle class.”

  36. 36.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @The Dangerman: Well I guess I will head to Tacoma to watch the AAA, at least it is cheaper to watch them than the AAA team that plays at the Safe. Seahawk training camp starts in a week!

  37. 37.

    thruppence

    Speaking of TV, Comcast has bought out Microsoft’s share of MSNBC. When I now look at the channel lineups offered in my area, MSNBC is not on any lineup (nor Current, for that matter). And yet I’m watching MSNBC on Comcast right now. Anyone have any insight into this?

  38. 38.

    JenJen

    @The Dangerman: I like to think Rick Nash’s best years are behind him, too, but this double-gut-punch of two of my favorite athletes going to New York in THE SAME GODDAMNED DAY is just too much for me.

    @burnspbesq: Deal. Let’s drink first to induce further. #OccupyKnobCreek

    @phantomist: Perfect!

  40. 40.

    debbie

    @ James E. Powell:

    Yes! That was the Dowager’s best remark among many. This role is the one Maggie Smith was born to play.

  41. 41.

    The Dangerman

    @Mr Stagger Lee:

    Well I guess I will head to Tacoma to watch the AAA…

    During my time in Seattle, I liked going to Rainiers games and wondering if it was humanly possible to hit a HR to dead center there (probably not, unless it’s changed dimensions).

  49. 49.

    Joshua Norton

    Mrs Crawley: “What should we call each other?”

    Lady Grantham: “Well, we could always start with Mrs Crawley and Lady Grantham.”

    ============================

    “What is a weekend?”

    ===========================

    “Last night! He looked so well. Of course it would happen to a foreigner. No Englishman would dream of dying in someone else’s house.”

    That line still slays me.

  50. 50.

    gogol's wife

    @HyperIon:

    I assume you mean the original, and not the fairly mediocre recent version that was on about the same time in USA as Season 1 of Downton.

  52. 52.

    Todd

    I’ve gone through all the Sherlock episodes, and am hooked on Foyle’s War. It is set in Sussex in 1940, and there are a pile of murky issues about whether arrests for various crimes impede or advance the war effort.

    The acting is solid and the mood is intense.

  55. 55.

    JenJen

    @Yutsano: I’m telling you, New York hates me today, x2. New York only hates you x1. I WIN. Drink ’em up!

    @tam:

    I legit love the idea of John Cole squeeing over Downton.

    I’m squeeing over the squee. It’s just delicious (despite the forthcoming Season 2 letdown)!

  56. 56.

    Mary

    I ordered Season 1 and 2 from MPT around Feb or March 2012. I have probably watched about 5 or 6 times straight thru. I am obsessed. I know, I know -I am escaping-but I can only take so much horror and disgust in the real world.

    But there is a lesson-one where the symbiotic relationship between masters and servants has each questioning their existence and the relative freedom therein, as well as the rationale for war.

  57. 57.

    NotMax

    @rikyrah

    If you’ve never watched, it, run, do not walk, to watch the only season of Wonderfalls.

    The actor who portrays Fargo in Eureka has the role of ‘the Mouthbreather’ and plays it to the hilt.

    The series as a whole is a highly enjoyable romp into humorous surrealism and an example of an ensemble cast firing on all cylinders.

  60. 60.

    MikeJ

    @rikyrah: What’s ridiculous? That’s one poll every two weeks. I wish they had polled more often from back in Ike’s day onward, but there’s nothing evil about having more info.

    If you’d like to complain about 600 out of every 1000 going to landlines, I’ll agree that’s stupid. Of course when Nixon was in it was 100% landlines.

    Times change and there’s nothing wrong with that.

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @rikyrah: Well, Gallup’s not polling for their health. Someone is paying handsomely for ::choke:: 88 Obama polls.

  65. 65.

    tam

    @JenJen: I am okay with Season 2 because of THE CHRISTMAS EPISODE!!!!

    But really @Cole: When are you going to start your fan tumblr and what are you going to name it? Downton Tabby must be taken by now.

  66. 66.

    thruppence

    @MikeJ:MSNBC.com is becoming NBCNews.com, but the MSNBC television channel is (so far) supposed to be retaining that name.

  68. 68.

    JPL

    @Joshua Norton: Maggie Smith should win an emmy for that episode. Her quips had me in stitches.

    Cole, Watch Sherlock, too. Benedict Cumberbatch is amazing in the role of Sherlock.

  69. 69.

    Gravenstone

    @JenJen:

    They’re still calling it MSNBC in the chyron and in DirecTV’s listings. But I’ve been wondering the same; will MSNBC go with NBC News Network, or what?

    As I understand it, the cable channel will retain the MSNBC name and brand, while the website, as has been previously noted, will become NBCNews.com and is expected to take on a less sensationalist focus (well, at least as much as any modern new agency fails to sensationalize).

  71. 71.

    Punchy

    @JenJen: Just started Itchy-Ro in fantasy this week due to crippling injuries to (both!) Votto and Bautista. This bodes well for his numbers since the Yankees are so…..offensive.

    By the way….anyone know why he goes by Ichiro Suzuki, but has his first name (Ichiro) on his jersey, ‘steada his last like everyone else? kthxbuy

  72. 72.

    jl

    @gogol’s wife:

    Thanks. Great parody of those BBC historical soaps.

    The penultimate scene nailed it:

    “Is everyone done with their ‘looks’?”

    Please post the next installment, I want to know how the scratch on the spoon caper (Edit: I meant, scandal) comes out.

  73. 73.

    suzanne

    LOVE the Dowager Countess. LOVE. Maggie Smith was fabulous in Gosford Park, too.

    She and Helen Mirren are totally hot. I hope I look half that good at that age. Hell, I hope I look half that good now.

  74. 74.

    Tehanu

    @HyperIon:

    I never could stand Jean Marsh. If only the great Eileen Atkins had played her part and Jean had stayed offstage, instead of the other way around. And although I love Downton Abbey, the original Forsyte Saga (Eric Porter, Margaret Tyzack, Kenneth More, Nyree Dawn Porter, Susan Hampshire, etc.) has both of ’em beat.

  76. 76.

    var

    I was totally sucked into this by Netflix. I was loving it and then about 2/3 of the way through season 2, I said out loud “wow, this is a soap opera!” My wife laughed and said “you didn’t know that?”

    Still good TV, though.

  78. 78.

    Yutsano

    @JenJen: If you wanna feel better, Google Maxim Lapierre. Forward for the Canucks. Now THAT is a nice exanmple of a Quebecois male!!

  80. 80.

    trollhattan

    @Punchy:

    I think it’s several things. Japanese are a little like Brazilians in that they like one-name stars, e.g., Akebono in sumo. Japanese surnames for commoners are a relatively recent development and Suzuki is something like the second most common in Japan. Their “Smith.”

    Ichiro was a star when recruited to the Mariners and IIRC they got approval from the league to let him play under the name.

  81. 81.

    jl

    @tam:

    I want to see the Cole version of a BBC hysterical soap. Featuring Lady Lily and Mlle Rosie of Tunchdown Estates. Goats, generators, happy tenants toiling away in he ramp and ginseng fields. Drama.

    No butlers, so I guess Cole will have to be the local handy man, explaining to Lady Lily that Mlle Rosie ‘tore it sumping fierce, I dunno if I ken fixit.”

    Except, it will be very high class. Lots of ‘looks’ shots, especially of Tunch, the mysterious character, which will be epic.

    Edit: Forgot that if you got the name “tunchdown” in there, you can work in some notable Stillers seasons, for historical context.

  83. 83.

    MikeJ

    How long until the sushi stand at Safeco stops selling Ichi-rolls? Do they have sushi stands at Yankee Stadium?

  84. 84.

    NotMax

    @trollhattan

    Sumo names are a limited, approved roster, and sort of honorifics bestowed by the stable master. They can be re-used and also retired.

    Regardless, Akebono (daybreak) is more lilting and evocative than is Chad Rowan. :)

  85. 85.

    slag

    @rikyrah: I’m with you on both, esp Sherlock.

    Also, I just watched EJ Dionne on TDS, and DougJ’s going to strike me down for this, but I think he acquitted himself fairly well on that show. Esp in the web section of the interview. JS was trying really hard to get him to be a mealy mouthed liberal, and he wasn’t having it. Personally, I was pleasantly shocked.

  86. 86.

    PurpleGirl

    I would love it if the reshowed The Forsyte Saga. At one time I had the whole book series.

    Does anyone remember another multigenerational family tale — Flambards? I load the book it came from to my sister and she threw it out when she finished reading it.

  87. 87.

    master c

    Yes!! was looking around for people at work who had seen it…..binged on season 1 this weekend…..Loved it!

  88. 88.

    S. cerevisiae

    Sobering talk from Bill McKibben:

    …at today’s market value, those 2,795 gigatons of carbon emissions are worth about $27 trillion. Which is to say, if you paid attention to the scientists and kept 80 percent of it underground, you’d be writing off $20 trillion in assets. The numbers aren’t exact, of course, but that carbon bubble makes the housing bubble look small by comparison. It won’t necessarily burst – we might well burn all that carbon, in which case investors will do fine. But if we do, the planet will crater. You can have a healthy fossil-fuel balance sheet, or a relatively healthy planet – but now that we know the numbers, it looks like you can’t have both. Do the math: 2,795 is five times 565. That’s how the story ends.

    from: rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719?page=3

  90. 90.

    seaboogie

    As a high school student in Toronto we always studied whatever Shakespeare plays were appearing that season in nearby Stratford and then would have a field trip to see them. Got to see Maggie Smith play Rosalind in As You Like It, and she was as awesome as you would imagine and inspired a love of theatre at a pretty tender age.

  91. 91.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Tehanu: Yup yup yup to Forsyte Saga. Pretty much anything with Susan Hampshire is worth a look, but FS is the matrix for period drama.

  92. 92.

    JPL

    @PurpleGirl: Recently I was trying to remember the name of the series, thank you.
    Flambards is available on DVD through Amazon and I just added it my wish list.

  94. 94.

    MaryRC

    @JenJen: The DC would sweep the floor with Ann Romney!

    [some git]: I’ll be leaving in the morning, Lady Violet. I doubt we’ll meet again.

    The DC: Do you promise?

  95. 95.

    JenJen

    @Cassidy: Are you confusing Cincinnati with Cleveland or something? Really, it’s not that bad. You were serious when you said you don’t follow baseball anymore, weren’t you?

    @Yutsano: Purrrrr. Loved him when he was a Hab, too.

  96. 96.

    PurpleGirl

    @seaboogie: There is a repetorie theatre in Stratford, CT. Many years ago the junior high school I attended had that same kind of project. All the English classes read the same Shakespeare play and then we all went to the theatre in Stratford to see it. I didn’t see anyone famous but I saw Julius Ceasar, King Lear, and Taming of the Shrew. It was great because the theater had been built has a copy of The Globe. And the grounds had picnic tables. A very good day trip.

  97. 97.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @seaboogie: Also saw Megan Followes (aka Anne of Green Gables) as Juliet, but I think that may have bee a few seasons later.

    Best Stratford experience? There are two. One was seeing (1976 or so?) The Tempest in matinee and The Importance of Being Earnest in the evening, with essentially identical casts. Nicholas Pennell was Ariel and Algy. Richard Monette was Caliban and Jack. Martha Henry was Miranda and Gwendolyn. And the great William Hutt was Prospero and Lady Bracknell. LOL, I will never forget his intonation of “a handbag” as long as I live!

    The other great experience was seeing (1992?) an adaptation of Robertson Davies’ “World of Wonders,” again starring Nicky Pennell but, world of wonders, with Robertson Davies himself in the audience, one row in front of me and three seats over. He died not too long thereafter, and I was always thrilled to have been so close to one of my favourite authors ever.

    But all that said, I have never had a bad experience at Stratford. With the possible exception of Measure for Measure. I don’t like that play.

  98. 98.

    burnspbesq

    The Die Fucking Yankee Scum play in seattle tonight. Will be intersting to see the reception that Ichiro gets.

  99. 99.

    Steeplejack

    @burnspbesq:

    Yeah, I know. I am unutterably depressed. I love Ichiro and always felt sad that his prospects of going to the World Series were almost nil. Now I am conflicted, to say the least. I would love for him to cap his career with a World Series ring, but with the FTFY?! No! This is tearing me apart already.

  101. 101.

    Raven

    @var: Yup, when none of them knew you couldn’t have kids when you were paralyzed that was it for me. As the World Turns.

  104. 104.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @suzanne: My fantasy is a BBC miniseries starring Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, and Judi Dench. And Glenda Jackson if she’s still acting.

  108. 108.

    dogwood

    I’m looking for a good streaming series to watch on Netflix or Amazon. I loved Downton, Doc Martin, Foyle, MI5, Luther, Sherlock etc. I left the country for almost 6 weeks in April and May and didn’t watch or read a lick of news during that period. It was really good for me. When I came home instead of getting back into the election drama, I watched Doc Martin and Friday Night Lights and stayed very calm and happy. I’m really not an overly-hysterical type, but the last two presidential elections have proved that I can be pretty obsessive about politics. I’ve decided to try and just ignore the election until it’s over and am looking for distraction. Unfortunately, I don’t care for zombies or the supernatural, so that eliminates a lot of stuff. I am willing to be convinced, however.

  110. 110.

    jl

    How long do we have to wait for the BBC historical soaps on Benny Hill and Monty Python? Too soon?

  114. 114.

    burnspbesq

    Mets bullpen has cwushed my widdle spiwit yet again. Six in the tenth. 1-9 since the break.

    Le sigh.

  118. 118.

    lamh35

    Wow, so Romney has not even left American soil yet and he’s already pissed off a foreign dignitary. Wow, I strongly suspect that Romney is so gonna do something stupid overseas. It’s just like with NAACP speech, everyone was like there is no way Romney will do something stupid at NAACP and of course he did, even if it was something he wanted to do, it was still stupid.

    So what’s anyone’s guess on when/what country R-Money will misstep in due to either his own arrogance or his usual tone-deafnessness?

    Is That Your Final Answer, Mr. Romney?

    It’s looking more and more improbable that Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr really confided to Mitt Romney that he was pining for Mitt to get into the White House and use his business know-how to set America back on the straight and narrow…

  119. 119.

    Joel

    By the way, the Lackey-Lester-Beckett-Valentine Sox are as unlikable as anything since the Hobson era.

  121. 121.

    NotMax

    @dogwood

    No idea if any of these are offered on the streaming services, and will keep it to a short selection of recommendations.

    The above-mentioned Wonderfalls (1 season only)
    Wild Boys (Australian TV western-genre series, 1 season only)

    Classsics:

    I, Claudius
    Brideshead Revisited

    Fluff (but well-crafted fluff):

    Little Mosque on the Prairie (Canadian TV series, multiple seasons)

    And shall mention it even though it is of the supernatural genre, as the first 2 seasons were such finely honed TV:

    Being Human (the British series, NOT the American one)

  124. 124.

    Anne Laurie

    @dogwood: KINGDOM. Stephen Fry.

    THE UNUSUALS was a (tragically short-lived) cop drama, relying far less on procedure (much less crime) than the human condition. Most of one episode, for example, concerned a detective’s trying to understand Vonnegut’s CAT’S CRADLE as it applied to a “dead” hospice patient gone walkabout.

    NEW TRICKS is also, theoretically, a cop show, but it’s really four excellent British actors doing 45-minute puzzles. There are social issues, but no “politics” in the idiot horse-race sense you’re avoiding.

  125. 125.

    Allen

    I liked Season 1 of Downton, Season 2 not so much, anxiously waiting for Season 3. I like Foyle’s War, Doc Martin and Outnumbered. Oh, and the new Sherlock. If it wasn’t public TV here in Oregon my TV watching would drop to negative zero.

  128. 128.

    freelancer

    @dogwood:

    I’m looking for a good streaming series to watch on Netflix or Amazon. I loved Downton, Doc Martin, Foyle, MI5, Luther, Sherlock etc. I left the country for almost 6 weeks in April and May and didn’t watch or read a lick of news during that period. It was really good for me. When I came home instead of getting back into the election drama, I watched Doc Martin and Friday Night Lights and stayed very calm and happy. I’m really not an overly-hysterical type, but the last two presidential elections have proved that I can be pretty obsessive about politics. I’ve decided to try and just ignore the election until it’s over and am looking for distraction. Unfortunately, I don’t care for zombies or the supernatural, so that eliminates a lot of stuff. I am willing to be convinced, however.

    USA show Psych is brilliant and too funny. I just started White Collar and it’s entertaining too.

  130. 130.

    TooManyJens

    @dogwood: Leverage! Which is both fabulously entertaining and created by the guy who brought you the Crazification Factor (well, whose friend Tyrone brought you the Crazification Factor, but it was John Rogers’ blog).

  131. 131.

    Ruthless

    I’ve been thoroughly sucked into Season 1 of Downton Abbey. I just love the Dowager Countess.

    Did we really need more evidence that John Cole is an old woman? I think we did not.

    You need to start a fight club or something.

  133. 133.

    Beauzeaux

    @Todd: Michael Kitchen was born to play Foyle. And he’s brilliant for all five seasons. (Of course, British TV series can range from 3 episodes to 13.)

  134. 134.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    My girlfriend got me hooked on Downton. I’ve only seen season 2 and look forward to checking out the first.

    I tried Sherlock, but find the main character insufferable. Smug, arrogant, assholish…I know he’s supposed to be the awkward-genius type, but I find nothing even remotely likable about him which makes it pretty tough to watch. I seem to be in the minority on that, but just wanted to give a heads-up, in case you It’s a bummer, because it looks like an otherwise, really well-done show.

    Boardwalk Empire season 2 is currently blowing me away while I wait for the next season of Game of Thrones.

  135. 135.

    seaboogie

    @SiubhanDuinne: I think I was about 16, and developed a huge crush on Jack Weatherall, and saw him in a little play in T.O. in a rough space, my girlfriend and I felt so “worldly” going to see it…googled him, and he hasn’t aged as well as Maggie Smith…and Brian Bedford…mercy!

  136. 136.

    Gretchen

    @seaboogie: Thanks for reminding me. When I was a high school student in Detroit they’d take us on a bus trip to Stratford, Ontario to see a play we’d read. That was before a passport was needed, and we could cross the border at will. For some reason we thought the bars in Windsor were more entertaining than those in Detroit.

  137. 137.

    seaboogie

    @SiubhanDuinne: What a distinctly, quirky and unusual place Stratford, Ontario is…as you drive into town you see the usual Lions Club, Kiwanis, et al logos, and then there is a sign proclaiming it the home of the “Ontario Pork Producers and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival” (both given equal measure) – my parents live quite near and my best friend lives there…a few years back we had a girls’ weekend and saw the same married couple of actors appear in The Three Penny Opera one day and The Scarlet Pimpernel the next. Kid about 12 was sitting next to us for the Scarlet Pimpernel, and thought that it totally rawked. At the time I thought that it was kind of like Batman in its day (except for the context today, which is something that cannot be truly named)

  138. 138.

    Amanda

    Someone up thread commented on The Forsyte Saga — agreed it is excellent — it’s also available @ Netflix streaming right now

    Maggie Smith is excellent, love the Dowager Countess. MS with Shirley McL is going to be a sight. Season 2 did get a little plodding/silly in parts, but there were also some real high points throughout, I thought. And the finale — what’s not to love? Can’t wait for Season 3!

    Recommendations for shows to watch @ Netfliz streaming or on disc:

    * Life
    * Sherlock
    * Parenthood
    * Firefly
    * Mad Men
    * State of Play (the British miniseries)
    * Page Eight, Masterpiece Theater Contemporary

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