#He becomes the Gordon Ramsey of Reports

[nekorinnie]

Commander Evorurt getting irritated enough with bad grammer and spelling and formating and so on that he ends up editing/correcting his people's reports like a highly disappointed teacher and telling them to fix the Report when he gives it back after reading and marking corrections

[syntia13treeman]

Case files 10.01

what I think happened in:

Case 10.01, the case of "Cursed Pygmalion" or "How I stopped worrying and started fearing for my life instead"

In 1994 Channel Six hired Niger Dickerson to host night variety show, nicknamed "Nigel’s SOS," (short for "Nigel Dickerson presents Saturdays on Six,"), where Nigel was 'held prisoner' by mysterious off-screen "Mr. Six", and played pranks on his guests. The prank always concluded with the guests being informed that they "got berried" and receiving a raspberry trophy.

In 1996, as part of the prank, a character of Mr. Bonzo was created (Nigel designed the look, nobody can really remember who came up with that name*)

The first guest confronted with Mr. Bonzo, chef Gordon Ramsey Gotard Rimbaeu was so freaked out, he broke the actors arm with a frying pan (allegedly**).

After that the actors (allegedly**) wearing Bonzo's suit would change frequently. Playing the role has become sort of rite of passage for the newbies on set.

Bonzo's role also changed overtime. From a jumpscare he went to become the show's mascot, to eventually replace Mr. Six as Nigel's 'jailer'. He was a hit with target audience, the merch was selling, they even started building a themepark… and then everything changed, when Terrance Menki attacked got caught.

Who is Terrance Menki? Apparently a serial killer, whose gimmick was killing in cosplay, presumably different one each time, as he had a whole wardrobe of costumes. Just bad luck that when he got caught with his 11th victim, he was wearing a knock-off Bonzo suit. (It wasn't even a good knock-off, all the colours were backwards!)

Alas, the press immediately dubbed him the "Bonzo Butcher", the public ate it up, and Mr. Bonzo's public image was ruined. Shortly afterwards, on 3rd March 2000 the Bonzoland was closed (ARG exclusive information), "Nigel's SOS" was cancelled, and Nigel was left to deal with hate-mail and death threats, despite having nothing to do with the whole mess (allegedly).

That would be the end of the story, except… between 2016 and 2021 there were at least 3 murders where Mr. Bonzo was (allegedly) seen at the scene.

When asked about in an interview conducted by Geraldine in August 2021, Nigel Dickerson categoricity denied it refused to comment on any potential Bonzo involvement in any crime.

Considering that he'd been living in Mr. Bonzo's house for the past [number unknown] years, his claims of ignorance and innocence fall rather flat.

The most recent Bonzo sighting was not reported on Saturday night, 09th of March 2024, when Gwendolym Bouchard, acting on behalf of OIAR, handed over an envelope containing (reportedly***) a name and address. Mr. Bonzo graciously accepted and chewed said envelope in his NOT SOFT teeth and lumbered into the night.

More news next Thursday at 5pm. For now let's speculate a bit:

*If Nigel didn't come up with Bonzo's name, and his producer Rich didn't come up with the name… then who did? I won't say it's impossible that it was just some random intern that Nigel couldn't be bothered to remember, but… Names are important. Names have power. Maybe something was trying to manifest itself, and started with giving itself a name?

**Where there ever actually any actors inside Bonzo suit? There are a few possibilities: a) it's been all Bonzo all along – it would go well with Bonzo naming himself, but otherwise I think it's unlikely. It's possible that: b) there only ever was one, very unlucky actor. When the Britain's snootiest chef attacked him with a pan, he did more than just break the poor man's arm. The actor died in the costume, and stayed in the costume, and just… kept going in the costume. This is macabre enough origin story to be plausible, but I'm gonna say nah. I think that: c) SOS really had their little ritual, where a stream of very tired, minimal wage studio workers had to run around in the suit until the next loser was hired. This is too easily verifiable for Nigel to lie about. I bet there were little 'behind the scenes' documentaries during the show's golden era, where Jack the stagehand and Joe the janitor bitched in polite British about how much of a pain in the neck it was.

So at what point did the actors become unnecessary? When and how was current day Mr. Bonzo born? I think it was a process that started with the name, but ended shortly after his show was cancelled. Over the years of popularity, as more and more people thought of Bonzo as a character (or a person) more than a funny suit, Bonzo was becoming less and less of just a funny suit. When the costume no longer had actors to animate it, it decided to animate itself. And because at that time the Bonzo-mania turned to Bonzo-hate, instead of chaotic but largely harmless creature he could have been, he became… well. Something that a shady government organization apparently uses as a hitman.

And here I need to ask an important question: What the fuck was up with that? Joking. (Though I wish to know how do you even discover you can do that). (***and did the envelope really contain name and address? Did Gwen check? Does she remember the name?)

The question is: who is the unlucky person, about to receive a lethal blast of the 90s nostalgia? Will we ever even know? (Will we know tomorrow, 11.04.2024, when Celia clicks on the newest case and hears an emergency call from someone fleeing for their life from a 'guy in a weird costume?')

Other question: how long has Nigel been held hostage in his own house (sorry – Bonzo's house) and just how sorry should I feel for him? He seemed pretty unconcerned about the actor with broken arm, and about Bonzo running off into the night to do murder, but I imagine that living in constant shadow of Mr Bonzo is pretty stressful and doesn't leave much room for empathy, so… I don't know. I'm gonna wait and see.

[charming-mage]

Exposed by the Media Prompts Part 2

I didn’t expect that much Exposed by the Media prompts. I thought the well was dry. I was wrong. Should’ve known not to underestimate the internet and reality TV shows.

Exposed by the Media Prompts Part 1

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Lies in the Media is a Different Beast: Adrien grew up in the media spotlight. He knows it’s usually not a good idea to confront the rumors in the tabloids. It gives the rumors some credibility. When he sees Lila confront a rumor that bothers her a bit too much, he doesn’t stop her. Confronting a lie in the media needs a different method than someone lying in your personal life. Just because he’s doing the high road doesn’t mean he’s going to stop her from committing a crucial mistake.

Civilian Friends Are Okay Now: It’s well known Ladybug won’t make friends in her hero persona. She’ll be friendly and kind, but with a polite distance. People accepted it after a while. This changes after Lila’s interview on the Ladyblog. People assume Ladybug changed her mind about it since there’s no retraction article.  Civilians become more pushy and want to have more personal relations. From regular people to higher ranking citizens. (ex. No more formality, more personal rapport, friendship, or even the start of an epic romance.) A few uncomfortable situations and angry citizens forces Ladybug to address this.

Total Drama Island: The Miraculous users find out one of the prizes in a new season of the Total Drama Island reality TV show is an important Miraculous artifact. It could be anything from a Miraculous to a secret Guardian book. The heroes and villains are forced to participate as none of them found the item in time. Marinette and Adrien go in their civilian selves while Hawkmoth sends in Lila. Lila tries hard to hide her true self, but the contestants do find out.

Forgot to Log Out: Lila forgets to log out of her social media accounts in the school library. She gets distracted by something and clicks on minimize instead of the close tab on her browser. Since Lila didn’t log out of her session and the next person who gets the computer didn’t bother to do so either, her tabs are still there. The person is a noisy gossip and scrolls through them. They are intrigued by what they find. They decide to take screenshots and uploads them to the school website forum page. For the drama of course. (This is based on my experience when I was in high school and the library in my city. It was common to just close the browser and not bother to log out. The next person only logged out if they needed something from their own account. It’s not worth it to log in and out just for some internet searching.)

Dear Abby: Marinette, needing advice from a third party about Lila’s lying, sends an email to the Dear Abby column. (Or France’s equivalent.) She figures since Abby has no connection to either her or Lila, the writer can give her unbiased advice. She does her best to make the details as vague as possible so everyone in her life (including Lila) can have privacy. Her message is replied to and included in an article weeks later. Her request and Abby’s reply becomes popular amongst readers. Marinette did make a mistake, though. One of the examples she gives about “Lemon” is unique enough that someone eventually finds an interview on the Ladybug suspiciously similar to the lie. Marinette stopped watching new Lila interviews because it enraged her too much. She doesn’t want to deal with Lila after school hours as well. So she’s not aware Lila also mentioned it in an interview. Dear Abby readers dig through the interviews and discover nothing but lies. The Dear Abby column and the Ladybug drama gets big enough to be covered by the media.

Real Life Works Differently Than Fiction : A few classmates end up in a situation like Lila tells in her stories. Believing in Lila, they do what Lila claimed she did thinking it would work out the same. It doesn’t turn out so well. They get scolded by involved parties not to do that again. A reporter on the scene interviews them. It comes out why they did it. Lila’s lies are exposed as the fiction they are.

Tsurugi Influence: Kagami’s status as Adrien’s girlfriend makes Lila switch targets. Marinette is in the back burner until Lila deals with her new love rival. Her plans to deal with Kagami backfires and brings media attention. Lila was too used to love rivals not doing any major action towards her. The wrath of the Tsurugi family is brought upon her. She realizes afterwards how influential and powerful the family is.

Adrien’s Phone is Stolen Again: And this time the phone thief is caught. Lila steals Adrien’s phone to post social media posts an hour later gushing about Lila/or talking about in her a positive light. By the time Adrien finds out, he can’t take back what “he” said without controversy. Which Mr. Agreste would not like. That’s Lila’s plan anyway. The problem is that Lila makes these posts while Adrien is on a surprise live interview. (Which she is unaware of.) The interviewer asks Adrien about the new posts while Adrien is clearly not on his phone/laptop. On a hunch, a quick search by Adrien leads to the discovery that his phone was stolen. The model confirms it’s his personal account and not a media team behind it. The content of the posts make Lila the main suspect.

You Can’t Delete Me Now : Lila gets in a controversy. She starts deleting comments and defending herself. Gabriel is busy in a meeting and doesn’t find out in time to stop her. Commenters get so mad at her, one of them gets the bright idea to hold up signs resembling post/comment/ or tweet. Somewhere in their message includes a line saying, “You can’t delete me now.” The idea catches on and it becomes a trend to walk around in public or near photo shoots holding signs with their comments. Everyone includes the now famous phrase in their sign.

Lila’s Wild Ride: Lila manages to steal the monkey miraculous. However, she learns the hard way why the Guardian needs to think carefully when matching someone with a miraculous. (Lila is not good at using the monkey miraculous’ power. At all.) Xuppu easily figures out what happened and makes sure to give Lila a very memorable time. The wilder it is the better. A live news crew captures footage of Ladybug furious “that lying Lila Rossi” stole a miraculous. Chat Noir is worried they’ll see a new Hawkmoth ally soon. There’s more chaos as the criminal underworld, opportunistic people, and die hard Ladybug fans enter the scene. Meanwhile, the French government is not pleased with the Italian government. An Italian diplomat’s daughter stealing a Miraculous from Ladybug herself looks very bad for relations. Looks like a secret operation that got exposed to the more paranoid members.

Hell’s Kitchen: Gordon Ramsey hosts an amateur cooking competition. An older Lila Rossi is one of the competitors. Ramsey doesn’t like her food. (or the drama she starts. And sabotaging the other competitor’s food.) Sadly for him, her cooking is barely better than the worst ones so she is able to scrap on to the next round. The execs love her for the drama. When the season airs, the contestants notice the footage was edited to make Lila look innocent. They get hate from Hell’s Kitchen fans about their meanness and most of them do what they can to defend themselves. People become interested in what Lila is like in real life. The only requirement for the prompt is for Lila to be an adult. Ramsey would not let lose on a minor.

Collaboration Gone Wrong: The Gabriel brand does a collaboration with a brand outside the fashion industry. It could be anything as long as it gets the other brand to be on the same set as Gabriel staff. Gabriel decides to give Lila bigger roles starting with this. Lila is beyond happy. A bump in the road appears when an intern around her age pulls her aside and asks her to stop lying. Lila doesn’t of course and secretly does her best to ruin the credibility of the intern before they get the idea to tell someone else. Unbeknownst to the Gabriel model, the intern is a close relative of the collaboration company’s CEO. The intern just doesn’t advertise that fact. Doesn’t want special treatment. Heads start rolling when the CEO finds out what Gabriel’s muse has done to their beloved family member. Permanently damaging a profitable business relationship is the least of Gabriel’s worries when the media gets wind of the scandal.

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

photos by Frank Ockenfels

The Long Journey and Intense Urgency of Aaron Sorkin's 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'

by Rebecca Keegan September 23, 2020, 6:00  am PDT

The director of the Netflix film, which stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Redmayne and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, reveals why it took nearly 20 years to get the project about the politically motivated prosecution of protestors made and why it couldn't be more timely: "I never imagined today would go so much like 1968."

In October 2019, hundreds of protesters marched down Chicago’s Michigan Avenue toward the Hilton, chanting phrases like "No justice, no peace!" and "A people united will never be defeated!" as police in riot gear descended on the crowd with billy clubs and tear gas. Earnest and energized, clad in 1960s period costumes and flanked by vintage police vehicles, this group thought they were acting out the past, staging a scene from Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7. As it turned out, they were performing the future, too.

Sorkin’s film, which opens in select theaters Sept. 25 and hits Netflix on Oct.  16, tells the story of the riots at the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention and the circus-like trial of political activists that followed the next year. Thanks to Hollywood development hell, the movie is arriving 14  years after Steven Spielberg first mentioned the idea to Sorkin but just as its themes and plot points — civil unrest, a self-proclaimed "law and order" president’s vilification of protesters (Nixon then, Trump now), the police’s excessive use of force, tensions within the Democratic Party over how far left to move — have become bracingly current."I never wanted the film to be about 1968," Sorkin says in an interview over Zoom from his house in the Hollywood Hills on Labor Day weekend. "I never wanted it to be an exercise in nostalgia or a history lesson. I wanted it to be about today. But I never imagined that today would get so much like 1968."For only the second time in a career spanning nine films as a screenwriter, Sorkin serves as director with Chicago 7, helming a sprawling ensemble cast that includes Eddie Redmayne as anti-war activist Tom Hayden, Sacha Baron Cohen as Youth International Party (Yippie) provocateur Abbie Hoffman, Succession’s Jeremy Strong as counterculture figure Jerry Rubin and Watchmen’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Panther party co-founder Bobby Seale. There are undeniable parallels not only between the film and the present political moment but also between the performance-art activism of the actors and the men they’re playing, most vividly Cohen, who, like Hoffman, has made a career of political self-expression through comedic stunts, including crashing a far-right rally in Olympia, Washington, this summer while pretending to be a racist country singer. (Cohen, who shoots most of his satirical projects incognito, impishly calls reports of his appearance at the rally  "fake news.")Eight months after Sorkin filmed the protest scenes in Chicago, Abdul-Mateen was marching in Black Lives Matter protests in West Hollywood, as was Strong in Brooklyn. "There’s power when a lot of people come together to protest out of anger, out of frustration," Abdul-Mateen says. "Everybody has a role in the revolution; this film shows that.

"Though the movie feels crafted for this political moment, it was born of another. At Sorkin’s first meeting with Spielberg, "I remember him saying, 'It would be great if we could have this out before the election,'" Sorkin says. The election Spielberg was talking about was 2008’s, when Barack Obama and Joe Biden faced John McCain and Sarah Palin.The film hit multiple roadblocks, beginning with the 2007-08 writers strike and continuing as financing faltered repeatedly, a fate illustrated by the more than 30 producers who can claim some sort of credit on Chicago 7. It took another unscheduled detour this summer after Sorkin finished it as the pandemic worsened, and the odds of original distributor Paramount mounting a successful theatrical release before the Nov. 3 election seemed increasingly slim. For some involved with the film, there is a question about the ethics of Hollywood inviting audiences to return to theaters before a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available. "

There’s a moral quandary that we, the motion picture business, have to be careful that we don’t become the tobacco industry, where we’re encouraging people to do something we know is potentially lethal," says Cohen.Before his visit to Spielberg’s Pacific Palisades home to discuss the project on a Saturday afternoon in 2006, Sorkin knew next to nothing about the Chicago 7. The federal government had charged seven defendants — Hoffman, Rubin, Hayden, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, John Froines and Lee Weiner — with conspiracy for their participation in the protests against the Vietnam War outside the Democratic National Convention. (Originally the men were known as the Chicago 8 and included Seale, who asked to have his trial separated from that of the others and postponed so that he could be represented by his preferred lawyer, who was ill; that trial never took place.)

When Spielberg proposed a movie about the riots and the trial that followed, Sorkin, who was 7 in 1968, said, "'You know, that sounds great. Count me in.' As soon as I left his house, I called my father and said, 'Dad, do you know anything about a riot that happened in 1968 or a crazy conspiracy trial that followed?' I was just saying yes to Steven."Despite his ignorance, Sorkin was a logical choice to write the project: Having penned Broadway’s A Few Good Men and its 1992 film adaptation as well as the long-running NBC series West Wing, he’d shown a flair for dramatizing courtroom procedures and liberal politics, and he turned in his first draft of the Chicago 7 script in 2007. Originally, Spielberg planned to direct the project himself, but by the time the writers strike was over, he had moved on and a number of other potential directors circled, including Paul Greengrass, Ben Stiller, Peter Berg and Gary Ross, though none was able to get it off the ground. "There was just a feeling that, 'Look, this isn’t an Avengers film,'" Sorkin says of the studios' move away from midbudget dramas and toward action tentpoles in the 2010s. "This isn’t an easy sell at the box office. And there are big scenes, riots, crowd scenes. How can this movie be done for the budget that makes sense for what the expectation is at the box office?"As the project languished, Sorkin tried writing it as a play, ultimately spending 18 months on a fruitless effort to fashion a stage treatment. "What I didn’t like was having a script in my drawer," he says. "I was just thinking, 'Jeez, this is a good movie and it feels like it’s stillborn.'"It was the confluence of two events that ultimately revived the film with Sorkin in the director’s chair in 2018 — the 2016 election of Donald Trump and the 2017 release of Sorkin’s well-received directorial debut, Molly’s Game, which doubled its production budget at the box office. "This is before George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and police protests or confrontations," Sorkin says. "This is just when Donald Trump was musing nostalgically about the old days when they used to carry that guy [a protester] out of here on a stretcher and punch the crap out of him."With Trump’s throwback rhetoric lending the subject matter a new timeliness and Sorkin’s directing chops confirmed in Spielberg’s eyes, the movie moved forward with its screenwriter at the helm.

Cross Creek Pictures came in to finance, and Paramount bought the domestic rights. But all those years in development had left an expensive imprint on the project — a jaw-dropping $11  million had been spent on casting costs, producing fees and the optioning of Brett Morgen’s 2007 documentary about the event, Chicago 10, leaving just $24  million for the actual 36-day production.

One way Sorkin attempts to achieve a sense  of scope despite that budget is by intercutting real black-and-white news footage with his dramatized protests. He rounded out his large cast with a deep bench of experienced and award-winning actors including Oscar winner Mark Rylance as defense attorney William Kunstler, Oscar nominee Frank Langella as Judge Julius Hoffman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as prosecutor Richard Schultzand, Oscar nominee Michael Keaton as former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark — with the filmmaker and many of his actors working for scale. (Abdul-Mateen and Strong both became first-time Emmy winners Sept.  20.)Sorkin shot the protest scenes on location in Chicago and built a courtroom set in an old church sanctuary in Paterson, New Jersey, because none of the available courtroom locations in the Garden State conveyed the scope he wanted. "If we’re saying the whole world is watching, I want a packed courtroom for six months full of press and spectators," Sorkin says. "I wanted the big, cavernous feeling of the federal government and its power coming down on these people."

Julian Wasser/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images           "The movie is tribute to the bravery of the protesters of 1968 [pictured] and today in Belarus, on the streets of America, in Portland," says Cohen.            

Among the vestiges of Spielberg’s original plan was the casting of Cohen as Hoffman, which required the London native to affect a Boston accent and return to a subject he had studied as an undergraduate at Christ’s College in Cambridge, where he wrote a thesis paper about Jewish activists during the civil rights movement. At 19, Cohen had interviewed Bob Moses, the leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which Hoffman was involved in before he founded the anti-war Yippie movement. "Honestly, I was very proud of the fact that Jews were involved in the Black civil rights movement in the '60s, and there wasn’t much written about it," Cohen says, explaining his youthful scholarship.

There’s a clear line to draw between Hoffman’s 1960s theatrics — which included throwing fistfuls of money into the gallery of the New York Stock Exchange and vowing to levitate the Pentagon — and Cohen’s contemporary TV and film pranks. Perhaps among Cohen’s most memorable and pointed gags was getting Vice President Dick Cheney to gleefully autograph a waterboard kit, which the comic did while posing as an admiring Israeli anti-terror expert for a 2018 episode of Who Is America?, his Showtime series. “What I wanted to do was to show that he was proud of torturing," Cohen says. "I could not believe how happy Cheney was to be sitting next to an uber-fan. So, yes. Ultimately in the shows and the movies that I do, I’m trying to be funny, but yeah, I’m trying to get out the anger that I have within me."

Cohen sees Hoffman’s unorthodox protest methods as pragmatic. "The Yippies were underfunded, and he was using theatricality to gain attention for his aims," Cohen says. "He wanted to stop the war. And how do you do that? You use stunts and absurdist humor to try to effect change." The actor estimates that, after researching Hoffman, he pitched Sorkin hundreds of lines the activist had really delivered. "As an annoying person with a lot of chutzpah, I was emailing Aaron every other night until morning, 'What about this line? What about this line?'" Cohen says. The writer-director, known for his exacting prose, politely tolerated the suggestions while largely sticking to his own script.

As Rubin, Strong is playing Hoffman’s conscientious jester sidekick, a role wildly different from the tragic, wealthy approval seeker he portrays on Succession. Strong added some of his own dramatic flourishes, including painting words on his chest for one courtroom scene and bringing a remote-controlled fart machine to disrupt Langella’s imperious judge. "I wanted to channel as much as possible that spirit of the merry prankster and of joyous dissent," Strong says. Hoffman and Rubin’s real-life personae were so large that Sorkin at times asked his actors to dial down their faithful portrayals, requesting, after one particularly jubilant take, "less cowbell."

Sorkin’s script draws a sharp contrast between Hoffman and Rubin’s campy methods and Hayden’s more reserved approach to the anti-war movement, with the tensions between Hoffman and Hayden supplying the film’s key relationship in a kind of begrudging brotherhood of the peace movement. To learn more about Hayden, Redmayne studied remarks that Jane Fonda, who was married to the activist and politician from 1973 to 1990, made upon his death in 2016. In his own life, Redmayne is cautious when it comes to discussing the role that he, as an actor at the center of a huge studio franchise (Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts) might have in political life. "I find it endlessly challenging," Redmayne says of navigating his public activism. "There’s the elitist thing. It’s speaking up on climate change but being conscious that you’re traveling a lot. One has to be aware of one’s own hypocrisies, because they can be detrimental to something you believe in. So sometimes I find that I have to live my life and speak to my advocacy in a way in that it’s around friends, family and people I know rather than making something public."

Abdul-Mateen has begun his acting career largely associated with fantastical roles, like Dr. Manhattan on HBO’s Watchmen, Black Manta in Aquaman and Candyman in the upcoming Jordan Peele-produced remake of the slasher film. Playing Seale represented a chance to do more grounded work and to depict a man who had loomed large during Abdul-Mateen’s childhood in Oakland, where Seale co-founded the Black Panthers in 1966 and later ran for mayor. Seale’s inclusion in the original Chicago riots indictment was controversial and strange — prosecutors accused him of conspiring with men he’d never met after visiting Chicago that week for only a few hours to deliver a speech. For the prosecution, Seale functioned largely as a prop to tap into the fears of white jurors and white Americans watching the news coverage, and during the trial he had no attorney. "I wanted to key in on, how did Bobby Seale survive this trial?" Abdul-Mateen says. "How did he survive the gross mistreatment by the United States government, and how did he go through that with his head high and not be broken? It was an exercise in finding my pride, finding my dignity."

In one scene, Seale is brought into the courtroom bound and gagged, and throughout the trial he is kept separate from the white defendants. "Although it was meant to be a humiliating act, I walked out with my chest high, with my head high. Bound and gagged and everything else. It would be very dangerous for a Black man in that time, even sometimes today, to show the proof of the wear and tear that oppression can take on a person, because that can be seen as a sign of weakness, and a sign of weakness is an open door that it’s working." For the moments of lightness that Cohen and Strong bring to the movie, Abdul-Mateen supplies ballast. "It’s important for the right reasons and at the right time to make art that makes people uncomfortable," he says.

Niko Tavernise/NETFLIX. On the set, from left, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Rylance, Ben Shenkman, Aaron Sorkin and Eddie Redmayne

Spielberg has remained involved in the film "in an emeritus role," Sorkin says, "from giving me good script notes to casting to notes on early cuts of the film." He also showed up to the New Jersey courtroom set. "When you have to direct a scene in front of Steven Spielberg, you’re not at your most relaxed necessarily," Sorkin says. Spielberg did not, however, take an executive producing credit on the film and declined to be interviewed about it.

The decision to switch to a streaming release came after an early summer marketing strategy call between Sorkin, Paramount chief Jim Gianopulos, other Paramount execs and some of the film’s producers. "At the end of the call, Jim said, 'Listen, we don’t know what the theater business is going to look like in the fall. We have troubling data telling us that the first people back in movie theaters are going to be the people who think that the coronavirus is a hoax,'" Sorkin says. This was clearly not the intended audience for a movie whose heroes are liberal activists. "I said, 'I don’t think the Idaho militia are going to be the first people coming to this movie,'" Sorkin says.

The group agreed to explore alternatives and gave Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Hulu 24 hours to watch the film. After a bidding war, Chicago 7 landed at Netflix in a $56  million deal against its $35  million production budget, with a robust marketing campaign and promise of a theatrical release. "We knew we didn’t have the option of 'Let’s wait a year,'" Sorkin says. "This is what we’re thinking about and what we’re talking about right now, and it just would have been a real shame to not release it now."

After Chicago 7 opens in limited release, Netflix will add more theaters in the U.S. and abroad throughout October, expanding upon the film’s premiere on the service, a strategy akin to what it provided Oscar best picture nominees The Irishman and Roma, albeit in a wildly different theatrical environment.

As Hollywood opens up to more production, Sorkin, and many of the Chicago 7 actors, have begun returning to work. Abdul-Mateen has been in Berlin for The Matrix 4 and Redmayne in London for Fantastic Beasts 3, while Sorkin is shooting a West Wing reunion special at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A. that will premiere on HBO Max in October as a fundraiser for When We All Vote and include video appearances by Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton and Lin-Manuel Miranda

For the real-life Chicago 7, the denouement consisted of ultimately being acquitted of conspiracy. Judge Hoffman sentenced Seale to four years in prison for contempt of court, one of the longest sentences ever handed down for that offense in the U.S., but those charges were overturned on appeal. Just three of the original eight defendants — Seale, Froines and Weiner — are still alive, but the legacy of the case lives on in contemporary protest movements. "The movie is tribute to the bravery of the protesters of 1968 and the protesters of today in Belarus, on the streets of America, in Portland," Cohen says. "These people now are risking their lives, and they’ll continue risking them."

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/the-trial-of-the-chicago-7-aaron-sorkin-and-stars-on-films-timeliness-to-election-and-why-everybody-has-a-role-in-the-revolution

[feel199x]

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙* cloud nine ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ chapter V

god!au, god!lee minho, street racer!au, street racer!lee minho

I  II  III  IV V VI   masterlist a/n: O O F  :(( enjoy!!

warnings: none i think?

              ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙* ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙* ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊  ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙* ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊  

You absolutely did not want to go. Okay, you did but this was Minho, like the Minho that street races- the same Minho that literally zoomed off when he heard the sirens. It didn’t matter to you that he was a good or whatever, someone would think that existing for thousands of years meant he’d be more experienced. And Chan, whoever he was, probably had the best of intentions when he dropped Minho and wouldn’t let him back until he “learned his lesson” but you weren’t too fond of the idea of having to fix someone, especially if that someone was Minho. The concept of loving and nurturing men so that they would treat you like an actual feeling, human being was outdated, and frankly kind of sexist.

You liked Minho, you did, but something about him didn’t scream “serious relationship” material. But you wanted him to be, you really did- but you didn’t want to be a lesson. If he was just going to leave as soon as he said something like, “I love you..”

You cut yourself off, embarrassed even though there wasn’t anyone in the room- no one that could’ve possibly heard you, much less know what you were thinking. God, you were whipped weren’t you? You wanted this to work, you wanted this to work so bad. The problem was, you just didn’t completely trust Minho. He was already unpredictable, a sort of a wild card, but after Minho letting you get arrested- you realized that he put self-preservation first. Which was weird, since he was supposed to be a god or something- what was a couple of cops to a god? Putting two and two together, you figured it was because Minho was supposed to be on good behavior or something like that. It was one thing to do something illegal, but it was another thing to be caught. Maybe you were still bitter, still angry. But it was justified, you thought, you don’t just take someone to a street race and then leave them behind. But that wasn’t the only problem, you wanted it to happen again. Even though you weren’t racing, even though you could’ve died, it was a thrill you’d never experienced in your monotonous life.

You sighed. It’s official, you were whipped like cream for the boy.

You were zoning out on your bed, sprawled out with your legs hanging over the edge of the bed with your shoes hanging just above the floor when Minho let himself in.

“Get up.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“We have a reservation. Get up.”

“Make me.”

You felt the weight shift in your bed but continued to stare at the ceiling even when his face was directly above yours, hands on each side of your head.

“Is that supposed to make me embarrassed?”

“It seems to be working.”

“Wrong.”

“Then look at me.”

You hesitated for a moment, swallowing slightly hard and looking back up at Minho, glaring. He smirked, his face getting closer to yours, and in a panic, you threw him off.

“We’re going to be late.”

“You look really good, by the way.”

“Ditto.”

“Ditto? You mean, divine? Ethereal?”

“I don’t have to go. I’m sure you’d have more fun propping up a mirror in my seat.”

He grabbed your hand, swinging it as you both walked. “No, it wouldn’t. I like your company best.” You were flustered to say the very least, because whenever Minho was sweet- which was once in a blue moon- it made your chest hurt from your heart beating so hard. You approached his motorcycle and put your hands on your hips. “Minho.”

“What?”

You gestured to your body, specifically your outfit. Minho groaned his face in his hands. “You’re wearing a dress. And heels. And I brought my bike.” You smiled, a stupidly big grin spreading across your face. Seeing him mess up, stressed and flustered over a simple mistake was kind of endearing. It felt a lot more human, and finally, you felt like you were seeing a side of Minho that felt a lot more genuine. It wasn’t like he put on a persona necessarily- Minho is flirty, he is bold, and he is a street racer. But this was a side of him you knew probably didn’t come out often.

“Stop smiling, you sadist.”

“I’m not a sadist, you’re just being cute.”

“So are you-”

“I take it back you troll.”

“Too hot to be a troll.”

“I double take it back.”

“That’s not a thing!”

“It is now.”

Minho sighed but smiled. “I’m calling a cab before you get back in your apartment.” The truth was, you weren’t even considering going back home, even if it was only a couple feet away. You’d been on your fair share of bad dates, and this wasn’t even close to the worst. But it was endearing, it was sweet to see Minho worry and stress, and you could feel yourself blush. But it was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable. It felt nice to dress up, but unnatural. Minho always looked polished, like he’d come straight from a photoshoot or the red carpet. But even now, he looked extra good. But whatever, that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that you still didn’t trust Minho, and you weren’t sure if he understood that.

“...so, yeah, then I made out with the pope?”

“What?”

“You weren’t listening to anything I was saying, were you?”

“I think I’m glad I wasn’t.”

Minho gave you a look, but the cab came to a halt, and he helped you step inside. The cab ride was smooth, the driver polite and Minho kept telling you his street racing stories, but your mind couldn’t help but drift off. You didn’t mean to be rude, but Minho had no problem with you just listening anyway. As the car got deeper into the wealthier parts of the city, you started to feel more and more out of place- like you were the one putting up a facade. Even as Minho stepped out, helping you so you wouldn’t stumble, something just felt incredibly wrong.

The restaurant was high class, the kind that Gordon Ramsey would cook at.

“This is…”

“Super nice? Extravagant? Or is this where you confess you’re in love with me?”

“Do you think the cab already left?”

“Alright okay,” Minho grabbed your hand and planted a kiss on the back of it, “I can be romantic, I’ll show you. But quit it with the sarcastic remarks, cool?” You bit your lip, trying to control both your smile and the sarcastic remark he was condemning.

“It would be nice to see a romantic Minho.”

“I’m always romantic with you.”

“If by romantic you mean h-”

“Alright!”

“Embarrassed?”

“Never.”

As you entered, the restaurant was the nicest you’ve ever been. It was the dim, romantic candle-lit dinner that you’d always see in those k-dramas. Sure, you baked but as you looked around you saw desserts with names you couldn’t pronounce- some of them you weren’t sure you’d ever seen before. The pressing feeling of something just not being quite right, the pressure of something about to go wrong began weighing down on you. A nice enough waiter, whose name you didn’t catch, led you to the table. She was nice enough, and you would’ve been able to ignore Minho’s flirty remarks. Red flags raising in your mind. You could put up with it, you would've put up with it.

If it only happened once.

To your surprise, you didn’t have that much trouble navigating the menu just settling on something you recongized.

“Minho, do you come here often?”

There was a pause, “Only a couple times. Have I asked you what major you are?”

“Law.”

Minho choked on his drink. “You’re a law major? And you never thought to mention this? Why do you work in a bakery?”

“You never asked,” you shrugged, “And I like to bake. There aren’t any internships open at any law firms.”

“Why didn’t you report me, or like arrest me?”

“Impersonating an officer of the law is a crime, Minho.”

“Well, I guess. But why didn’t you tell the officer about me?”

“Because..” your voice trailed off as Minho turned his attention to the waiter, winking at her as she laughed and lingered around. You crossed your arms, shooting her a sharp look as she excused herself.

Because I like you.

“Minho, are we on a date?”

“Yes, why?”

“Then why are you flirting with the waiter, on said date?”

“I was-”

“Why did you leave me behind last night?”

“I already told y-”

“Are you really going to leave once you ‘learn your lesson,’ like immediately?”

“Obviously,” he scoffed, “Why would I stay here? I’m a god. What is this all about?”

You could feel the yelling become bottled in your throat, your chest becoming tight and heavy as you tried to control your breathing and temperament. You tried getting out of the chair quietly, but your chair squeaked as you got up, earning some looks from the surrounding couples.

Because I like you.

You pulled off your heels as you walked out of the restaurant, unsure of where you were going. Angry at Minho and angrier that he wasn’t coming after you.

Because I like you.

You found yourself barefoot at the bus stop, checking your phone for messages, but your phone clear of any notifications.

 Because I like you.

[businessguide12-blog]

Gordon Ramsay: The Unhealthy Son Chef From Hell%u2019s Cooking area Teaches Very good Company

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Gordon Ramsay: The Unhealthy Son Chef From Hell%u2019s Cooking area Teaches Very good Company

It got quite some time for Cook Gordon Ramsay to come to my consideration. With minimal t . v . viewing time offered caused by a hectic function plan, I usually view a choose band of cord funnel applications which have with consideration been waiting around in my electronic digital recorder. When summertime arrives and my first run faves are inaccessible, I have bold and from time to time go slumming amongst the broadcast channels. In the middle of that rubbish heap, I found the Cook from Hell.

There seemed to be something in regards to a gentleman using a overseas emphasize yelling at a lot of odd seeking folks cook outfits that appealed if you ask me, despite the fact that i don%u2019t determine what made me view. It reminded me of exploring the carnivals while in my younger times. I experienced a similar attraction to Hell%u2019s Kitchen area that I managed for the Clyde and Bonnie Passing away Auto demonstrate or perhaps the Reefer Madness motion picture movie theater inside the shows area of the carnival.

Seeing Hell%u2019s Kitchen the first time concerned me. I dislike actuality tv shows. My wife and i also discuss an office inside our residence by using a t . v . set up that may be on quite often. Inside the attention of relationship happiness, I from time to time observed Determine Judy or Jerry Springer. After expanding fed up in the antics on individuals programs, my partner discovered Big Brother. Though easier on my small ears, that demonstrate do absolutely nothing in my opinion. I would have felt exactly the same about Hell%u2019s Home.

With my finger strongly planted about the route-changing switch of my far off, I had been willing to retreat back for the sanity from the increased double and triple digit route phone numbers on my small cord container. In spite of my best efforts, I was able to not change the funnel. I needed to observe every single BLEEPING minute of Ramsey%u2019s Tirades. I believed out why, at the end from the episode.

In spite of my aversion to reality shows, I watch The Apprentice. Anybody considering company possibly does. As soon as you work through all of the personalities, contestant chitchat and also other crap chucked into satisfy the regular fact television set method, it%u2019s a show about organization done efficiently. When industry is completed improper, the bad participant is fired. That%u2019s about as true because it receives. That is certainly even the appeal of the items one among my teenage kids cell phone calls %u201Cthe Imply Chef display.%u201D Imply? I beg to be different. It%u2019s about kitchen and preparing food administration done efficiently.

Those who have ever been offered a one or two hundred or so $ food that tasted like day outdated junk food can connect with Ramsay%u2019s Specifications along with his adoration for providing the best meals in the most imaginative way possible. Although I am just a delayed comer to Hell%u2019s Kitchen area, I have become an ardent supporter. So much in fact that we in fact journeyed towards the BBC America cord funnel to get out much more of Ramsay. A Few Things I found was great.

Even though I haven%u2019t actually viewed Great britain television set inside a critical way considering that Benny Hillside, I got a possibility with Ramsay%u2019s Cooking area Nightmares and earned major. I came across the series to become engaging and also helpful. In one day as soon as the overall educational procedure is dumbed-lower to the point of becoming nearly pointless and fairly illegitimate in real life, it can be relaxing to find out how Ramsay is able to attain out and status the obvious for the unaware. This is something that men and women planning to attempt their hand on the bistro organization can study from.

It has been my uncomfortable encounter to have to explain to folks why their ideas suck, being an the occasional company venture director and specialist. That%u2019s the reason I rarely do this operate any longer. When going through a broad-eyed customer who is able to house loan a residence, borrow from relatives or max out bank cards to open up a goal company, I often must be the main one to spell out why they need to not. It%u2019s hard to tell men and women what most economic, mortgage, visa or mastercard and professional property businesses will not. All those organizations stand to profit from a small venture malfunction up to successful.

Individuals who fail at organization usually wind up back again at the office for one more 2 decades spending money on a goal that transformed into a problem. Lenders know they%u2019ll do anything whatsoever in order to save their property, so that they get money. Companies looking to dispose of above-valued retail shows and over-stocked general items would like to produce a sale. The strip mall landlord with unfilled stores plus a bad place is delighted to have as little as a couple of months rent of the Sam Walton wannabe so he or she will pay a few of their own personal bills.

Ramsay%u2019s Kitchen Nightmares shows things i phone Logic%u2019s Poor Course: Business Owners can do nearly anything they need, if they practice it correctly. Doesn%u2019t suggest you ought to available a skating extras store, because you cherish skating. Think again before you decide to option the farm on that formula, though your Grandmother may cook up a imply set of oat meal cookies. Ramsay knows what works and what doesn%u2019t, although he could have a potty jaws. Possibly that%u2019s because he experienced their own tough classes as you go along.

Brought into this world in 1966, the near future Scottish Celeb Chief cook seen his daddy consider numerous professions and businesses. The family unit continuously moved, because of several breakdowns. Ramsay most likely thought he handed down his father%u2019s knack for awful fortune as well as his initially title. Soon after vibrant successes in football (football), the longer term chef would be authorized from the Rangers. A number of injuries averted that. As opposed to signal with a decrease league crew, Gordon enrolled at the nearby university to examine accommodation administration and food catering. He was only nineteen years old.

After doing work in relatively modest the kitchen and managing resort cusine bedrooms, he relocated to London. Ramsay%u2019s gig at Harvey%u2019s positioned him less than Cook Marco Pierre White colored. Carries a well known temper and tyrannical home administration fashion, though white-colored is regarded as the godfather of recent English food preparation and food. During his heyday, Chef White colored regularly ejected people that reported about his cuisine and allegedly misused his staff in one method or another. Ramsay kept Harvey%u2019s right after virtually three years and later stated he was fed up with the %u201Cthe rages and the bullying and assault.%u201D

Cook Ramsay made a decision to further more his excellence of your French Cuisine by using benefit Albert Roux at Le Gavroche in Mayfair. It had been there that he fulfilled Jean-Claude Breton, his Hell%u2019s Cooking area Maître D’ and actual life Expert of your Hallway at Ramsay%u2019s Royal Hospital Streets bistro. After subsequent Albert Roux towards the French Alps to be effective as his second, Ramsay moved to Paris to do business with Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon. Savoy%u2019s style of kitchen area management was oppressive. Three years of your both mental and physical anxiety found in French Cooking areas was sufficient for Ramsay. He put in each year employed as a Chef on the Idlewild, a private yacht that cruised from Bermuda.

Chief cook Ramsay returned to England in 1993 and worked well as Go Cook at Los angeles Tante Claire. Despite their philosophical dissimilarities, Cook Marco Pierre White colored presented Ramsay a job as Mind Chief cook and 25Per cent of your diner in the future called Aubergine. Ramsay continued to be there until finally 1997 when a question more than operation of the diner triggered him to go out of. Chief cook Ramsay established his own restaurant, Gordon Ramsay at Noble Medical facility Road, in 1998. Noble Hospital Streets was awarded a third Michelin legend in Ramsay and 2001 took over as the initially Scot to accomplish this recognize.

The Chef from Hell was on his way, yet not every little thing will be clean sailing. In 2001, Ramsay launched Amaryllis in Glasgow, Scotland, the metropolis of his birth. The cafe was first productive, but substantial rent, light week day company, snippy workers plus an inability to keep the food list reasonably priced were important elements in their breakdown. Ramsay misplaced a lot more than the cafe. His protégé, David Dempsey, passed away in 2003.

Amaryllis ended up being to have been a vehicle for Dempsey to ascertain themselves as a well known Chef. As he was there, the restaurant attained the respect from the only diner in Glasgow to acquire a Michelin Celebrity. When it shut, Ramsay brought Dempsey to London to operate as Head Cook at his Medical facility Street diner.

After only a few weeks back United kingdom, Dempsey was found looking to burglary into a property based in Elm Playground Backyards, just off of the Kings Streets in Chelsea. The owner in the flat struggled with him and Dempsey fell to his death from your 2nd narrative windowpane. Dempsey allegedly enjoyed a medicine issue. Ramsay%u2019s brother is surely an addict as well as the Chief cook is fiercely contra–medicine.

All Chefs are subject to company chaos, bottom collections, food items charges, personnel difficulties along with the always-altering tastes from the public. Chief cook Ramsay has dealt with all those difficulties much better than most. His love for a culinary task effectively completed, ability to make alterations as needed and admit breakdowns after they arise will be the characteristics that will make him a fantastic someone and mentor worthy of seeing. By 2006, Chief cook Ramsay has grown to be fairly of the conglomerate with restaurants, food and bars specialist obligations all over the world.

It%u2019s tough to say how much of Ramsay%u2019s bistro achievement is a result of his television reputation. When it comes to culinary arts stardom, the preparing food and dishes most-often have the Chef. Nevertheless, if it%u2019s also about title acknowledgement and being a bigger than existence press body, Cook Ramsay very easily fits into individuals tasks at the same time.

British t . v . audiences found Ramsay%u2019s crazy ways in 1998 with Boiling Stage. Ramsay%u2019s rants continuing in 2000 with Past Cooking Position and got with a change in 2004 when Ramsay%u2019s Cooking area Nightmares success the airwaves. The method of Chef Ramsay spending a week attempting to rehabilitate an ailing eatery during every single episode worked effectively. Your Kitchen Nightmares show remains proceeding solid following 3 periods on Great britain tv. An American variation is due within the fall of 2007.

The top of Hell%u2019s Kitchen in 2004 adopted Ramsay%u2019s Kitchen area Nightmares and launched British viewers to the very best of the most severe of Gordon Ramsay. As he will need to have learned some of those temperamental tirades from cooks White colored and Savoy, Ramsay has perfected them. So, much so, that Fox Tv helped bring the potty-mouthed specialist of pugnacious platitudes to American citizen people in 2005. Hell%u2019s Cooking area captured on swiftly in the us and may have established the door for just one of Ramsay%u2019s mouthy mentors to get his picture at U.S. t . v . audiences.

Whilst Ramsay is hectic looking to save American dining places requiring rehab with Ramsay%u2019s Kitchen area Nightmares, a new version of Hell%u2019s Kitchen area presenting Chief cook White colored is rumored to be growth for your Fox Network. People like seeing chefs explode and act a bit ridiculous as verified by the latest modifications on the different preparing food and food items cable television stations. cooks, Hosts and chefs are becoming a lot more impolite and intense.

If imitation is the sincerest kind of flattery, visualize a mouthy Martha Stewart spitting out expletives, kicking her dearest pets because they sampled the The apple company Pan Doughty or organizing food items about when guests point out her stop at Group Given. As they may be able to imitate his style, couple of self-designed foods specialists, cooks, chefs or restaurateurs have reached Chief cook Ramsay%u2019s height of fame and influence.

Don%u2019t wait for rerun time of year to have the Chef from Heck. If it%u2019s anything such as the UK edition airing on BBC The united states, Ramsay%u2019s Kitchen Nightmares on Fox will certainly be a have to-see for business people, buyers and anybody wanting some leisure that educates and also it entertains.

Continue reading at http: //daily life.BillKnell.com

[junker-town]

The NFL’s top trade candidates, broken down into 4 groups

Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

It could be a busy trade market ahead of the Oct. 29 deadline and we’ve got a list of players who could be on the move.

Not all trades are the same.

Cornerback Jalen Ramsey was traded to the Rams because he was fed up with playing for the Jaguars. Emmanuel Sanders was sent to the 49ers because the Broncos knew the 32-year-old receiver was going to leave in free agency anyway. The Falcons shipped receiver Mohamed Sanu to the Patriots so they could start to dig their way out of a tricky salary cap situation.

With the trade deadline coming on Oct. 29, more deals are undoubtedly on the way.

Some teams need to get younger, others need to save money, and there are a few that just want value for players who won’t be on the team much longer.

Here are a couple dozen players who could be on a different roster when November begins:

Players headed for free agency

The trade deadline comes right around the midway point of the NFL season. For players on the final year of their contract, that leaves them less than 10 games away from becoming a free agent.

For some, it’s inevitable. Last year, Golden Tate was on the final season of his contract with the Lions and an extension looked unlikely. His 31st birthday was on the horizon and the younger duo of Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay was filling the rest of the depth chart. It made sense for Detroit to send Tate to the Eagles for a third-round pick rather than wait for him to leave in the offseason.

Here’s a list of players set to hit free agency in March, who might not be in the long-term plans of their current team:

Robby Anderson, WR, Jets

New York’s inconsistent deep threat has been tough to figure out so far in his career. Now, he’s averaging just 2.8 receptions per game in 2019. That lack of production may push the Jets to move on from Anderson. The booming market for receivers makes now a good time to do it.

Vic Beasley, DE, Falcons

In 2016, Beasley was an All-Pro with 15.5 sacks. In the 37 games since, he has 11.5 sacks. He’s set to hit free agency in the offseason, but the Falcons are mostly trying to trade Beasley because he just hasn’t been very good. Perhaps another team can convince itself that the 2016 version of Beasley can return.

Kenyan Drake, RB, Dolphins

Miami is ditching players left and right, so it wouldn’t be surprising if it decided to do the same with Drake. He’ll be a free agent in 2020, and hasn’t scored a single touchdown in 2019. He finished 2018 with 1,012 yards from scrimmage and nine total touchdowns. If the Dolphins don’t plan on re-signing him, he should be another tank casualty.

Melvin Gordon, RB, Chargers

A long holdout that began in the summer didn’t end until Gordon reported to the team in the last week of September. Prior to that, Gordon was allowed to pursue a trade, but couldn’t find a viable option. Now that he’s averaging 2.3 yards per carry, the Chargers may be more willing to play ball with a team interested in acquiring the two-time Pro Bowl running back.

Chris Harris, CB, Broncos

Harris could fit in a few different categories here, but the No. 1 reason the Broncos should part with the 30-year-old cornerback is that he’s probably leaving after the 2019 season anyway. Harris even seemed to say as much to reporters earlier this year. A lot of teams could use secondary help, and the Broncos aren’t contending for a Super Bowl this year anyway.

Yannick Ngakoue, DE, Jaguars

Joey Bosa and Ngakoue are the only two players from the 2016 draft class with more than 30 career sacks. Ngakoue held out for a contract extension in the offseason and didn’t get one. He later told reporters “[the Jaguars] had a chance to sign me for a long-term deal but it didn’t get done.” With his contract expiring in March, Jacksonville could add even more draft capital by trading the 24-year-old pass rusher for a king’s ransom.

Leonard Williams, DE, Jets

Quinnen Williams is the future of the Jets defensive line and that makes a big extension for Leonard Williams unlikely — especially when he has zero sacks through six games. The 1-5 Jets could look to get what they can get for the former top-10 draft pick.

Players who are too expensive

It’s always smart to see the big picture. Spending to acquire or keep talented players is usually a good idea, but eventually the money runs out. Even if a team isn’t near the salary cap limit, it still makes sense to cut down on expenses whenever possible.

For teams that are especially strapped for cash — or maybe just ones that are thinking about the long haul — the trade deadline can be a good way to get rid of their most cumbersome contracts.

Geno Atkins, DT, Bengals

Atkins has been to the Pro Bowl seven out of the last eight years, so the Bengals probably don’t want to see him leave Cincinnati. But the defensive tackle will also be 32 in March and he’s due to count $14.2 million, $14.8 million, and $16.05 million against the salary cap in the next three seasons. A rebuild is on the way for the Bengals and getting value for a great player while ditching his contract could be a starting point.

Le’Veon Bell, RB, Jets

New Jets general manager Joe Douglas wasn’t the one who thought a four-year, $52.5 million deal for Bell was a good idea. That was Mike Maccagnan, who was fired as GM in May. Jets coach Adam Gase reportedly didn’t like the price tag of Bell. That’s why it wouldn’t be that weird if the Jets shipped away their prized free agent after only a handful of games.

Jamison Crowder, WR, Jets

Crowder was another Maccagnan acquisition earlier in 2019 on a three-year, $28.5 million deal. That’s a lot for a receiver with a career-worst 9.3 yards per reception and still no touchdown receptions. Considering the return Emmanuel Sanders and Mohamed Sanu got on the trade market, the Jets could be better off sending Crowder’s contract somewhere else.

Devonta Freeman, RB, Falcons

Only four running backs have a higher average salary than Freeman, he’s not playing up to that price tag. Freeman’s averaging 3.5 yards per carry and hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rushing season since 2016. With salary cap hell coming soon for the Falcons, it’d be a win for the team if it could find a team willing to take a chance on Freeman.

Von Miller, LB, Broncos

Denver would be wise to burn things down and start over. It already traded Sanders, but the real swing for the fences would be dealing away Miller. He’s due to count more than $25 million against the cap next season and $22.125 million in 2021. Miller turns 31 in March and only has 2.5 sacks so far in 2019. If a team comes with a lofty offer for the Super Bowl 50 MVP, the Broncos could really kick start their rebuild.

Trumaine Johnson, CB, Jets

The third Jets player in this section is the hardest to trade. Johnson got a five-year, $72.5 million deal fr in 2018, but now he has a tenuous grasp on a starting role in New York. If the Jets can convince a team to take on Johnson’s salary, they’d likely take peanuts in return just to ditch the contract.

Josh Norman, CB, Washington

The days when Norman was considered one of the premier shutdown cornerbacks in the NFL are long gone. Now he struggles to stop anyone and is costing Washington points. He’s due to count $15.5 million against the team’s cap in 2020, but will likely be cut before he ever sees that salary. Washington would love if it could get another team to take on that problem instead.

Desmond Trufant, CB, Falcons

Another solution to the Falcons’ aforementioned upcoming salary cap disaster would be to trade Trufant. Unlike Freeman, the veteran cornerback is still playing pretty well. He’s just not playing well enough to warrant eating cap hits between $14.15 million and $16.15 million in the next three seasons. Plenty of other teams would be capable and willing to pay that price, though.

Players who are too old

It always feels awkward calling someone old when they’re only around 30, but the sports world is a weird place.

You: "I'm only 35, I have my whole life ahead of me." Sports Broadcaster: "Here comes the oldest player in the league. He's 32. A miracle."

— Troy Johnson (@_troyjohnson) December 6, 2016

For many teams — especially ones that know they have rebuilding to do — the trade deadline can be the right time to offload aging veterans and see what their young replacements can do.

Carlos Dunlap, DE, Bengals

Spoiler alert: Here’s the first of three consecutive Bengals on this list. The team’s Super Bowl window is 100 percent closed, and there are a few older players on the roster who could fetch value on the trade market. Dunlap, who turns 31 in February, is one of those players after six straight seasons with at least 7.5 sacks. He’s not going to make the Bengals a contender, but a team already set up for a playoff run could use his help.

Tyler Eifert, TE, Bengals

While he’s only 29, the 2015 Pro Bowler is about 38 in football years. Eifert missed 15 games in 2014 due to an elbow dislocation, six games in 2016 with an ankle injury, four more games in 2016 due to back injuries, 14 games due to another back surgery in 2017, and 12 games in 2018 with an ankle fracture. He’s been healthy in 2019, but not very productive. The Bengals would be fine moving on with C.J. Uzomah and Drew Sample at tight end.

A.J. Green, WR, Bengals

The last of the Bengals trio is the one they insist isn’t for sale. Green doesn’t quite have Eifert’s injury history, but he’s now missed 20 games (and counting) since the beginning of the 2016 season. Green turned 31 in July and is probably the most valuable asset on the Bengals roster. If Cincinnati decides it’s rebuild time, trading Green makes sense.

Reshad Jones, S, Dolphins

The only other player on the Dolphins roster with at least 10 seasons under his belt is Ryan Fitzpatrick. Miami is tanking and there’s not much logic in keeping around aging veterans. There aren’t many tradable players left for the Dolphins, but Jones is one. Dumping his $15.63 million and $14.55 million cap hits in the next two seasons is just a bonus.

Patrick Peterson, CB, Cardinals

Around this time last year, Peterson requested a trade out of Arizona. He has since apologized and the Cardinals have turned away callers interested in trading for the eight-time Pro Bowler. Calling him old is a stretch, considering he’s 29 and has never missed a game due to injury, but getting younger would be the only reason for the Cardinals to move on from Peterson. He’s still a great player and a relatively affordable one too.

Players who just don’t fit

Sometimes a player just doesn’t work on a certain roster. A scheme change could make someone a square peg trying to fit in a round hole, and a crowded depth chart could force a player out of town.

The Patriots didn’t really want to trade Jimmy Garoppolo in 2017, but Tom Brady wasn’t going anywhere, so eventually their hands were tied.

Here are a few players who just don’t fit into the plans of their current team and would be better off somewhere else:

O.J. Howard, TE, Buccaneers

The 2017 first-round pick looks like the odd man out of the Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich offense in Tampa Bay. After scoring 11 touchdowns in his first two seasons and recording 56.5 yards per game in 2018, Howard’s numbers have tanked in 2019. He’s only averaging 29.3 yards this season and hasn’t caught a single touchdown. The Buccaneers would benefit from sending Howard to an offense that actually uses tight ends.

Josh Rosen, QB, Dolphins

Miami gave up a second-round pick during the 2019 NFL Draft to see if Rosen could develop into its quarterback of the future. It’s hard to imagine the Dolphins still think that’s a possibility. They’re careening toward the top pick of the 2020 NFL Draft (or at very least, close to the top) and will probably take a quarterback there. While Rosen’s value is hurt by his 52.0 passer rating in 2019, there are certainly teams that wouldn’t mind seeing what they can get out of a top 10 pick who’s still just 22.

Solomon Thomas, DE, 49ers

The San Francisco defensive line is really freakin’ good and it’s not because of Thomas. The No. 3 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft is just a rotational player with DeForest Buckner, Arik Armstead, Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, and Ronald Blair all outplaying him. Thomas is expendable and could have a bigger role in a defense that isn’t so stacked up front.

Trent Williams, OT, Washington

Washington doesn’t really want to trade Williams, but it doesn’t have much of a choice. The left tackle appears content to sit out for as long as it takes for the team to send him elsewhere. Washington isn’t in a rush to get a deal done, but sooner is better than later.

[investmart007]

SAN FRANCISCO | Tesla CEO drops latest bombshell with $72B buyout proposal

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SAN FRANCISCO | Tesla CEO drops latest bombshell with $72B buyout proposal

SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla CEO Elon Musk is gearing up to lead a buyout of the electric car maker in a stunning move that would end the maverick company’s eight-year history trading on the stock market.

In his typically unorthodox fashion, the eccentric Musk dropped his bombshell on his Twitter account, which he has used as a platform for pranks, vitriol and now for a proposal to pull off one of the biggest buyouts in U.S. history.

Musk got the ball rolling Tuesday after the stock market had already been open more than three hours with a tweet announcing he had secured funding to buy all of Tesla’s stock at $420 per share with no further details.

At that price, the buyout would cost nearly $72 billion, based on Tesla’s outstanding stock as of July 27, but it’s unlikely the deal would cost that much because Musk owns a roughly 20 percent stake in the Palo Alto, California, company. He also said he intends to give Tesla’s existing shareholders the option of retaining a stake in the company through a special fund, if they want.

“Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,” Musk wrote in his first tweet, following up with “good morning” and a smiley emoji. He later tweeted that the only uncertainty about completing the deal is whether he can gain shareholder approval.

The first tweet came hours after the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund had built a significant stake in Tesla Inc., but it was unclear if that was the funding Musk was referring to. The Financial Times, citing unnamed people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had built a stake of between 3 and 5 percent of Telsa’s shares.

Musk’s announcement was initially met with widespread skepticism, with many people connecting the proposed price to 420 being a common slang term for marijuana.

Musk also previously used his Twitter account to joke that Tesla was going bankrupt in an April Fool’s Day tweet and his stability was called into question last month after he called a British diver who helped rescue children from a Thailand cave a pedophile. That baseless tweet was quickly deleted and Musk apologized to the diver.

The confusion caused by Musk’s Tuesday announcement via Twitter also prompted regulators of the Nasdaq stock market to temporarily suspend trading in Tesla’s stock. Although it’s unusual for a CEO to make such a major announcement over social media, it does not appear to be improper.

“It’s very unusual for any CEO other than Elon Musk. This is not how you do it and it makes you wonder how seriously to take it,” said Erik Gordon, a business and law professor at the University of Michigan. Musk probably wasn’t violating any regulations by simply announcing that he was considering taking the company private, Gordon said, but his assertion that the funding already has been locked up could “expose him to at least potential legal risk” if it turns out that the financing is on shaky footing.

Musk later brought some clarity to the situation in an email to Tesla employees that was also posted on Tesla’s blog. Trading in Tesla’s stock resumed shortly after the letter’s release, and the stock climbed 11 percent to close at $379.57. Musk’s offer is 9 percent higher than Tesla’s peak closing price of $385 reached nearly a year ago.

By taking Tesla private, Musk believes that the company will be able to sharpen its long-term focus of revolutionizing an automobile industry dominated by fuel-combustion vehicles without having to cater to investors’ fixation on how the business is faring from one quarter to the next.

Making money has proven elusive for Tesla while it has been investing in electric car technology and ramping up production of its vehicles, including a sedan with a starting price of $35,000 to appeal to a broader audience.

The company has only posted a quarterly profit twice in its history and has never made money during an entire calendar year, something that Musk has been trying to change by cutting costs, including recent mass layoffs that trimmed Tesla’s workforce by 9 percent. Tesla lost another $717.5 million in its most recent quarter.

Musk “has been running Tesla like a private company with publicly traded stock anyway so this deal makes some sense,” Gartner analyst Mike Ramsey said.

Tesla completed an initial public offering of stock in 2010, largely because Wall Street provided a convenient vehicle to raise billions of dollars to finance its expansion. By going private, Tesla will lose that convenient source of financing, something that could cause massive headaches if the company continues to burn through cash as much as it has in recent years, Ramsey said.

Despite its challenges, Tesla has remained a favorite among many investors, partly because of their faith in Musk, who made his initial fortune as a co-founder of PayPal and also is the CEO of a trail-blazing aerospace company, SpaceX, that’s already private.

But another substantial segment of investors are convinced Tesla is doomed to fail and are betting on the company’s eventual demise by becoming “short sellers” of its stock. Short sellers borrow shares from other investors and then immediately sell them on the premise that they will be able to buy them back at a lower price later to replace they stock they borrowed.

Musk has long raged against short sellers and mentioned his desire to be rid of them as one of his reasons for taking Tesla private. “Being public means that there are large numbers of people who have the incentive to attack the company,” he wrote.

If Musk decides against going private, Gordon said his credibility could take another hit, though one he could weather.

“If he doesn’t go forward with it, it will end up be another Elon Musk big mouth faux pas,” Gordon said. “He will live to see another day. People will shake their heads and say, ‘that’s Elon.'”

By Associated Press ____

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY AND ALADDIN’S LAMP

S3;E21 ~ February 1, 1971

Directed by Charles Walters ~ Written by Frank Gill Jr. and Vin Bogert

Synopsis

When Lucy holds a garage sale, she discovers an old lamp. When wishes start to become reality Lucy believes the lamp may posses magic, until she loses it hiding it from Harry.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter), Desi Arnaz Jr. (Craig Carter) 

Guest Cast

Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane) played Betty Ramsey during season six of “I Love Lucy.” She also played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) and Evelyn Bigsby in “Return Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26). She played Audrey Simmons on “The Lucy Show” but when Lucy Carmichael moved to California, she played Mary Jane Lewis, the actor’s married name and the same one she uses on all 31 of her episodes of “Here’s Lucy. Her final acting credit was playing Midge Bowser on “Lucy Calls the President” (1977). She died in 1999 at the age of 83. 

George Niese (Mr. Frost) previously appeared in “Lucy Becomes a Father” (TLS S3;E9). This is his only episode of “Here’s Lucy.”   

Robert Foulk (Janitor) played the policeman on the Brooklyn subway platform in “Lucy and the Loving Cup” (ILL S6;E12) and a Los Angeles Detective in “Lucy Goes To A Hollywood Premiere” (TLS S4;E20). This is the third of his six characters on “Here’s Lucy.”

This is Foulk's third episode in a row on the series.  

William Lanteau (Mr. Minkle) first appeared with Lucille Ball in The Facts of Life (1960). In addition to an episode of “The Lucy Show,” Lanteau did four episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” He is best remembered for playing Charlie the Mailman in the play and the film On Golden Pond (1981).

Mr. Minkle is the superintendent of the office building where Harry and Lucy work.

The Telegram Delivery Boy is uncredited and has no lines.

Some reports say this episode was filmed on April 6, 1970, ten months before its initial air date. However, that is a Monday, and most all episodes were filmed on Thursday or Friday after four days rehearsal, so this is unlikely. 

This is the second of only two episodes directed by 1954 Oscar-winner Charles Walters. The previous entry was “Lucy’s House Guest, Harry” (S3;E20). He went on to direct two of the Lucille Ball Specials: “What Now, Catherine Curtis?” (1976) and “Three for Two” (1975). From 1942 to 1945, Walters served as dance director on six films starring Lucille Ball. This episode is mentioned in the biography Charles Walters: The Director Who Made Hollywood Dance by Brent Phillips.   

Likewise, this was the second and final episode written by 1955 Emmy-winner Vin Bogert. The first was “Lucy Stops a Marriage” (S3;E16), which he also co-wrote with Frank Gill Jr.  It was a posthumous credit for Gill, who died six months earlier. It was the penultimate screenwriting credit for Bogert, who died in 1978. 

The title refers to the Middle Eastern folk tale of the boy Aladdin and a genie that comes from a lamp to grant him three wishes. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights ("The Arabian Nights"), and one of the best known - although it was not part of the original Arabic text, but was added in the 18th century by Frenchman Antoine Galland. The story has been the basis for many screen and stage re-tellings, including the current Disney musical Aladdin.

Another television sitcom was based on the legend of Aladdin: “I Dream of Jeannie” (1965-70), which had just ended its long run on NBC. It starred Barbara Eden as the genie named Jeannie, who lived in a bottle rather than a lamp. Barbara Eden made her TV debut on “I Love Lucy.” Hayden Rorke, who played the long-suffering Dr. Bellows on the series, also did an episode of “I Love Lucy” and recently appeared on “Here’s Lucy” as a Judge. 

In the first scene, Craig is wearing a top hat with a flower in it. The other actors (Mary Jane Croft and George Niese) seem a bit taken aback by it. 

MARY JANE: “Oh! I like your hat. (under her breath) Bless your heart.”

MR. FROST: (Points at the hat, surprised) “Oh!  Oh ho ho ho.” 

Perhaps it is something Desi Jr. saw in the props pulled for the scene and took a liking to? It also many have some sentimental significance to the actor, but for such a visual statement, it does not figure into the plot, which is unusual. 

At the start of the episode, Kim is holding a heart-shaped throw cushion that may be a tribute to the opening credits of “I Love Lucy.”

Lucy gets a Western Union telegram from the (fictional) Murphy Soup Company to tell her she’s won a contest.

Lucy's prize-winning soup jingle is to the tune of “Jingle Bells,” a song that was heard many times on “I Love Lucy.” 

Aside from Ann-Margret, Craig would wish for two tickets to the sold-our Rams Football game. After a dramatic thunder clap, Craig gets a call from his friend Alan who offers him a ticket. Craig says “How sweet it is!” Sex symbol and singing sensation Ann-Margret charmed Craig in a season 2 episode of “Here's Lucy.”  The Los Angeles Rams would have been the Carters' hometown football team. “How sweet it is” was the catch phrase of actor / comedian Jackie Gleason (“The Honeymooners”), who made a cameo appearance in the second episode of the series.  

Craig reads the October 1968 issue of McCall's with English actress Samantha Eggar on the cover. In  “Ricky Has Labor Pains” (ILL S2;E14), pregnant Lucy Ricardo is reading the January 1953 McCall’s, which clearly has a cover that says “Why I Love Lucy” by Desi Arnaz. 

Kim wishes for Jamoca Almond Fudge Ice Cream, her favorite. After a dramatic thunder clap, Uncle Harry promptly arrives at the door to deliver it!  Jamoca Almond Fudge is a signature flavor of Baskin-Robbins, who first marketed it in 1959. It is made by combining Jamoca coffee ice cream with roasted almonds and a chocolate ribbon. The bag Harry is holding, however, is not branded with their logo: pink and brown polka dots encircling a large number 31, the number of flavors they offer. 

The second scene opens with Harry and Lucy coming to work with a happy Harry (dreaming of great wealth if he got access to the lamp) paraphrasing Robert Browning’s verse drama Pippa Passes (1841). The original goes:

The lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn: God's in his heaven - All's right with the world! — from Act I: Morning

Harry’s version replaces mention of larks and snails with “The sun is shining; the birds are singing” and omits any reference to the Deity altogether. 

When Lucy won’t let Harry make any monetary wishes on her lamp, he storms off pouting and Lucy calls him Attila the Hun. Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. During his reign, he was one of the most feared enemies of the Roman Empire.

Mary Jane tells Lucy that there's a sale on Italian knits at Morton's Department Store. Morton is Lucille Ball's married name since her marriage to Gary Morton (nee Goldaper) in 1961. Gary Morton is also a producer on “Here’s Lucy.” The fictional Morton’s Department Store joins Morton’s Service Station, Morton Pictures, and a number of other businesses named Morton on the series! 

The janitor comes to empty the waste paper baskets idly singing “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” The song was written by Chauncey Olcott, George Graff Jr., and Ernest Ball in 1912. It was sung by William Frawley (Fred Mertz) in the 1936 film It's A Great Life! and was heard on “I Love Lucy” in “The Star Upstairs” (ILL S4;E25). 

Harry says the Unique Employment Agency is located in office #1506. This implies that they are on the 15th floor.

Finally finding the bottle in a dumpster, there is just one thing preventing Lucy from getting it back: a glass bottle! Preparing himself for Lucy to hit his finger with a hammer to get a bottle off it, he says “If John Wayne can do it, so can I.”  John Wayne appeared with Lucille Ball as himself on “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.”  Both episodes were titled “Lucy Meets John Wayne.”

At the end of the episode, Craig reveals that the lamp is just a novelty store item manufactured in Pittsburgh. A disappointed Lucy corrects him. 

The Mexican border city was the location of “Lucy and Viv Visit Tijuana” (S2;E19) aired a year earlier.

It wouldn’t be “Here’s Lucy” if Gale Gordon didn’t get wet! 

Garage Sale Treasures! 

Hanging above the steamer trunk is Lucy Ricardo's iconic blue polka dot dress from “I Love Lucy.” It was designed by Elois Jensen and was seen in many episodes of the series.  

Next to the blue dress is an art deco poster of Sarah Bernhardt by Alphonse Mucha (1897). The poster was previously seen in the dorm room in “Lucy, the Co-Ed” (S3;E6) and in the studio of the knife thrower in “Lucy, the Cement Worker” (S2;E10). 

The zebra lamp with the red shade was on the tables of the Red Devil nightclub “Lucy and Ma Parker” (S3;E15, left). Unboxing items for the garage sale, Lucie finds her favorite doll, Clarabelle. Clarabelle made an appearance in “Lucy, the Part-Time Wife” (S3;14), although she now has on a new frock. 

Lucy pulls out a fur-lined jacket she says was worn by Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce. The 1945 film won Crawford an Academy Award. Joan Crawford guest starred on “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy and the Lost Star” (TLS S6;E22). Craig says that judging by the shoulder pads she could have worn it in The Spirit of Notre Dame. Craig is referring to a 1931 football-themed movie starring Lew Ayres.  

Search through the building’s trash for the lamp instantly brings to mind when the Ricardo’s and Mertz’s searched through the trash of 623 East 68th Street to find the pieces of Lucy’s torn-up roman a clef in “Lucy Writes a Novel” (ILL S3;E24). 

Lucy and Harry were also up to their necks in trash in “Lucy the Process Server” (S1;E3) - this time in a department store basement - searching for an envelope of cash.

Leaky ceilings in need of plastering was also a plot point in two episodes of “The Lucy Show”: “Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower” (TLS ) and “A Loophole in the Lease” (TLS S2;E12). Both times the leaks were caused by overflowing tubs and showers, but here the cause is the continual rainfall. 

Sound vibrations and not water was the cause of the ceiling collapse that ended  “Breaking the Lease” (ILL S1;E18).

Flashing way back to 1813, prolific novelist Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) penned a children’s book titled Harry and Lucy. In it, they marvel at the power of steam bursting through a kettle spout, comparing it to the magic of Aladdin’s Lamp. Not only did Edgeworth foresee the era of the steam-powered engine, she may have foretold “Here’s Lucy” as well!  

Do You Live in a Barn? His arm in a sling, carrying an umbrella, and taking off his hat, Gale Gordon is unable to properly shut the front door, despite the fact it is pouring rain outside. Lucille Ball’s eyes dart over at it, doubtless wondering if she had time to close it without spoiling the take. She doesn’t - and it stays open for the rest of the scene. 

Where the Floor Ends!  When the hole in the ceiling breaks open, the camera is back too far and viewers can see where the carpet ends and the stage floor begins. 

Sitcom Logic Alert! Only Lucy would find a miraculous lamp that grants wishes and hide it in a trash can in order to go on a shopping trip for discount sweaters! 

“Lucy and Aladdin’s Lamp” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5

A fun episode that straddles the reality / fantasy line effectively. The Easter eggs in the garage sale scene are a treat for Lucy lovers! 

[njawaidofficial]

DC TV Watch: Comic-Con Announcements Explained

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DC TV Watch: Comic-Con Announcements Explained

Welcome to The Hollywood Reporter‘s weekly DC TV Watch, a rundown of all things DC Comics on TV. Every Friday, we round up the major twists, epic fights, new mysteries and anything else that goes down on The CW’s Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Black Lightning and Fox’s Gotham. Note: Gotham, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow are on hiatus until the new seasons return in the fall, and Black Lightning will premiere midseason. This week, we’re breaking down all the news that came out of Comic-Con and what it all means.

Gotham 

Prodigal daughter returns | Teen Wolf alum Crystal Reed joins season four as Don Falcone’s (John Doman) daughter Sofia Falcone, who has been running the mob family business in the south for the past decade. Described as strong, intelligent and calculating, she’s brought back to Gotham to help Gordon (Ben McKenzie) take down Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor). 

Arrival of the real Scarecrow | The trailer released during Comic-Con revealed the arrival of DC Comics villain Scarecrow with the tagline, “Gotham will know fear.” Viewers remember that the Scarecrow’s father Gerald Crane (Julian Sands) was introduced on the show back in season one with his teenage son Jonathan (who comic book fans know is the real Scarecrow), but there’s no word yet on who is underneath the hood just yet. Will the true Scarecrow finally debut, or is this another red herring?

Babs’ resurrection | As we predicted, Babs (Erin Richards) did not die in the season three finale. Or, she did die, but will come back in season four … as someone different. Her hardcore, subdued new look in the trailer teases a kind of transformation for the formerly maniacal villain. Does this mean she isn’t the proto-Harley Quinn she was rumored to be last season?

Check out the sizzle reel from last season, including about one minute of new footage for season four, below:

Supergirl

A new suit | Adrian Pasdar’s casting got the biggest cheers during the Comic-Con panel, and he’ll be playing villain Morgan Edge, a “ruthless real estate developer.” Comic book fans know Edge as the owner of a media corporation with holdings like the Daily Planet, where he often comes into contact with Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin). Now that The CW has changed Edge’s backstory, how will he interact with Kara (Melissa Benoist)? Will he just serve as an antagonist to Supergirl, or will he somehow come into Kara’s orbit as well? It’s also interesting to note that one version of Edge in the comics is African-American, but Supergirl did not go that route onscreen.

Potential new crossover | Psi’s (Yael Grogblas) debut on Supergirl presents an interesting potential for crossovers with another Arrow-verse series, as the DC Comics villain shared some time with The Thinker (aka The Flash‘s new villain) on the Suicide Squad. It’s more likely that Supergirl will just tell the story of Psi believing that Supergirl is the villain “Decay,” before realizing she’s the villain herself, and has been listening to her own fears all along.

Relationship updates | While it was established in the season three trailer that Kara will be focusing on herself and not getting a new love interest, the fact that Chris Wood, who plays Mon-El, was on the panel means her Daxamite boyfriend will be back at some point. Will Kara be able to open her heart again when he returns, or will she go full dark by then? As for “Sanvers,” it was heartening to hear new showrunners Jessica Queller and Robert Rovner promise that although Floriana Lima has a diminished role this season, Maggie and Alex (Chyler Leigh) “have an amazing beautiful story to tell that really honors the love between these two women.” Many were worried that Lima’s demotion from series regular to recurring meant their relationship was doomed, but as one of the few LGBTQ relationships told responsibly onscreen, that would be a mistake for the series to break them up. And James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) will be getting a new love interest, the first since he and Kara broke up in the season two premiere.

The Flash

Heartbreak ahead | Casting news spells trouble for both Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and Cisco (Carlos Valdes). Tom Felton, who plays Caitlin’s love interest Julian, will not be back as a series regular in season four. The Harry Potter alum did not attend Comic-Con with the cast, has not booked a return to the show and isn’t seen at all in the trailer for the new season, so it’s unclear whether or not he’ll be back at all. EW first reported this news. As for Cisco’s love interest Gypsy (Jessica Camacho), despite her father Breacher (played by Danny Trejo) debuting this season, Camacho has just joined NBC’s Taken as a series regular in season two, meaning her time on The CW series is limited. TVLine first reported this news. 

Caitllin … Frost? | Getting a big cheers during the panel, the appearance of Killer Frost in the trailer was a huge hit. But Panabaker revealed that she’s playing a combination of Caitlin Snow and Killer Frost this season, the metahuman version of herself who isn’t a villain. She’ll be a part of Team Flash, but there’s no telling how she’ll get along (or fight) her former friends moving forward. It’s a relief to finally see the series address the narrative plot hole of why other metahumans like Barry (Grant Gustin) are still the same person they were before the particle accelerator explosion, unlike Caitlin who turned into a murderer immediately.

Running as fast as she can | But it was Iris (Candice Patton) who got the biggest cheers during the trailer debut, as it was revealed that she is taking Barry’s request to keep running without him there to heart. She’s now the de facto leader of Team Flash and while she misses her fiance, she’s looking forward. She isn’t wallowing on the couch, she’s fighting crime. She’s truly the strongest person on the team and keeping everyone afloat during Barry’s absence. This is the Iris we deserve.

Arrow

Fallout from Lian Yu | Thanks to the season six trailer, some spoilers about who survived and who didn’t survive the Lian Yu explosion have been revealed. It looks like William (Jack Moore) will move in with Oliver (Stephen Amell) after what happens on the island, so it’s likely his mother Samantha (Anna Hopkins) is one of the casualties of Prometheus’ (Josh Segarra) final plan. Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) will also be back for a two-episode arc exploring his origin story, meaning he survived the island explosion. Other possible survivors: Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and Diggle (David Ramsey), who are seen running away from the explosion, potentially to safety.

Mystery villain | Michael Emerson’s casting was met with a ton of enthusiasm during the Comic-Con panel, but the Arrow showrunners didn’t reveal who he’s playing, other than that he’s part of a “villainous cabal,” a found family of baddies. That sounds a lot like hacker group Helix, who was reunited with its leader Cayden James last season without ever showing the man’s face. The showrunners also revealed that DC Comics character Richard Dragon will show up, which is interesting because in the comics, he used to be a good guy, training many students in martial arts before The New 52 relaunch recreated him as a villain. 

Legends of Tomorrow

Surprising crossover | One of the villains for this season of Legends comes from CW Seed’s animated series Vixen. Kuasa (Quantico‘s Tracy Ifeachor) is Mari McCabe’s (Megalyn E.K.) older sister who wants her Tantu Totem, the mystical object that gives her the power of animals. She’ll be making the jump from animated to live action, and will come into conflict with her grandmother Amaya (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) this season. 

More meta commentary | After all the hilarious winks and nods to Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller’s time on Prison Break, Legends is getting even more obviously meta with Martin Stein (Victor Garber). In the trailer alone, he makes a comment about never stepping foot on the Titanic, because “whoever build that ship ought to be shot.” In Titanic, Garber’s character built the ship. Amazing.

Black Lightning

More comic additions | The CW’s latest superhero offering doesn’t premiere until 2018 and hasn’t even shot a full pilot, but it still had its own panel at Comic-Con. Not much was announced that fans didn’t already know, but the showrunners did reveal two characters from the comic books would show up on the series. James Remar joins as a series regular, playing Peter Gambi, the oldest friend of Jefferson Pierce (series star Cress Williams). Gambi is Jefferson’s father figure, mentor and “tailor.” His history with Jefferson goes back farther and deeper than anyone knows, and Gambi’s role in Jefferson’s life will become a painful window into the past that will affect the future of their relationship forever. Series regular Damon Gupton will play Inspector Henderson, a veteran officer of the law who is now the highest-ranking detective on the force. His role in the community puts him at odds with Black Lightning but they soon become unlikely allies.

What do you think of all the shocking twists and reveals from the DC Comics series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Gotham returns for season four on Fox in the fall; Supergirl will return for season three on The CW in the fall; The Flash will return for season four on The CW in the fall; Arrow will return for season six on The CW in the fall; Legends of Tomorrow will return for season three on The CW in the fall; and Black Lightning will premiere midseason on The CW.

Arrow The Flash Gotham

#Announcements #BlackCelebrityNews #CelebrityBabyNews #CelebrityNewsUsa #ComicCon #DC #Explained #HollywoodGossipScandals #LatestShowbizNewsInHollywood #NigerianCelebrityNews #TV #Watch

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY’S PUNCTURED ROMANCE

S4;E22 ~ February 7, 1972

Directed by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Fred S. Fox and Seaman Jacobs

Synopsis

Lucy takes an interest in a new man (Robert Cummings), but the milkman tips off Kim that he may be a womanizing alcoholic. To protect her mother, Kim and Harry scheme to make him think the family is crazy, hoping he'll run for the hills.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter)

Guest Cast

Robert Cummings (Bob Collins) was born in 1910 in Joplin, Missouri. His godfather was the aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright, so naturally he got his pilot’s license and studied aeronautical engineering. After the stock market crash of 1929, he gave flying up to study drama in New York City, making his Broadway debut in 1931. In 1934 he moved to Hollywood and started making films. During World War II he was a captain in the Air Force Reserves. His television career kicked off in 1952, winning an Emmy for his role in the series “My Hero.” Starting in 1955, Cummings starred on a successful NBC sitcom, "The Bob Cummings Show” (aka “Love That Bob”), in which he played Bob Collins (the same character name he uses in this episode of “Here's Lucy”), an ex–World War II pilot who became a successful photographer. The show ended in July 1959, just a few months prior to filming “The Ricardos Go To Japan” the penultimate episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” Cummings returned to “Here's Lucy” for an episode in season 5. Cummings was married five times and fathered seven children. He died in 1990 at the age of 80.

Bob Collins graduated from Carnegie Tech and is a field representative for a cosmetics company. He enjoys dancing.

Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) played Betty Ramsey during season six of “I Love Lucy. ” She also played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) and Evelyn Bigsby in “Return Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26). She played Audrey Simmons on “The Lucy Show” but when Lucy Carmichael moved to California, she played Mary Jane Lewis, the actor’s married name and the same one she uses on all 31 of her episodes of “Here’s Lucy. Her final acting credit was playing Midge Bowser on “Lucy Calls the President” (1977). She died in 1999 at the age of 83.  

Billy Sands (Mr. Larson, the Milkman) returns to the role of Lucy's Milkman from “Lucy's Lucky Day” (S4;E15). Sands began his professional acting career in 1946 when he appeared on Broadway with Spencer Tracy in Robert Sherwood’s Rugged Path, but he eventually became a television character actor who appeared regularly as Dino Papparelli on “The Phil Silvers Show” and as  ‘Tinker’ Bell on “McHale’s Navy.” He will make one more appearance on “Here’s Lucy” (but not as the milkman).

Larry J. Blake (Fire Chief, left) first appeared as a Native American Medicine Man in “Lucy the Rain Goddess” (TLS S4;E15). He was an ex-vaudevillian making the sixth of his eight “Here’s Lucy” appearances.

Orwin C. Harvey (Fireman, center) was an actor and stuntman who played one of the singing and dancing teamsters in “Lucy Helps Ken Berry” (TLS S6;E21). This is one of his six appearances on “Here’s Lucy.”

Sid Gould (Fireman, right) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” and nearly as many on “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton.

The script for this episode was dated October 6, 1971.  It was filmed on October 28, 1971. 

The title may have been inspired by the Charlie Chaplin silent film “Tillie’s Punctured Romance” (1914), remade in 1928 with W.C. Fields. It may have also inspired “Fester’s Punctured Romance,” a 1964 episode of “The Addams Family.” 

In his book I Had A Ball: My Friendship with Lucille Ball, Michael Z. Stern recounts when he attended the filming of this episode in 1972.

The date this episode was originally aired, film director Walter Lang died at age 75.  He had directed Lucille Ball (who was uncredited) in two films in 1935: Carnival and Hooray for Love. In 1957 Lang was nominated for an Oscar for directing The King and I.

As the episode opens, Mary Jane is sitting on the living room sofa reading the November 1968 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. In “Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment” (ILL S3;E8), Lucy Ricardo says she got the idea to hold a painting party from reading Better Homes and Gardens. The magazine got plenty of airtime because the writers felt bad after making a ‘Better Homes and Garbage’ joke in “Men Are Messy” (ILL S1;E8).

In the Carter living room, the large gold-framed mirror on the landing has temporarily been replaced by an ornate cuckoo clock in order to make the final gag pay off. If the clock looks familiar, it was formerly in a home of “The Munsters” (1964-66) at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. The raven has been replaced by a cardinal, but it is otherwise identical.  Both “Here’s Lucy” and “The Munsters” were filmed at Universal Studios. [Thanks to Lucy fan Bill Graff for spotting this!]  In 1957, the same clock was seen on “Those Whiting Girls” - a Desilu production.

Also, just for this episode, the French doors in the living room can only be opened by banging on the wall above the fireplace mantle.

Lucille Ball’s ‘showgirl style’ entrance down the stairs gets a round of applause from the studio audience. Mary Jane admires her new outfit. Lucy and Bob (her new boyfriend) ‘met cute’ in the supermarket when she dropped her knockwurst and he dropped his sauerkraut. 

The studio audience is very enthusiastic, also bursting into spontaneous applause for Bob’s entrance, Mary Jane’s exit, and the end of scene 1. 

MILKMAN: “Cross my heart and hope to die. May my sweet cream curdle if I tell a lie.” 

Mr. Larson the milkman reports that the Wilsons down the street are splitting up. Larson says his wife calls him her “homogenized Walter Winchell.” Walter Winchell (1897-1972) was a journalist and radio host who was the narrator of “The Untouchables.” His voice was heard (uncredited) in the 1949 Lucille Ball film Sorrowful Jones and “Lucy the Gun Moll” (TLS S4;E25). His name was in the lyrics of the Desi Arnaz song “We're Having A Baby” sung on “Lucy is Enceinte” (ILL S2;E10). Winchell died just two weeks after this episode first aired.  

Mr. Larson awkwardly used the ‘modern lingo’ with Kim:

Pad (apartment)

Swinger (wolf)

Splitsville (break up)

Kim calls Bob a “Cut-Rate Casanova”.  Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (1725-1798) was an Italian adventurer and memoirist who’s name became synonymous with a man who seduces multiple women. Coincidentally, in "The Gossip” (ILL S1;E24), the milkman was labeled a “cottage cheese Casanova”! 

In order to convince Bob Collins that the Carters are crazy, Kim and Harry do the following:

Convince Lucy that Collins is partially deaf, reads lips and has a hearing aid in his cuff links.

Pretend that Lucy has been married six times by prominently placing her wedding gown in the hall closet.

Having Kim make inappropriate advances on Collins while sitting on his lap.

Spiking Collins' hors d'oeuvres with a concoction of Tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper, hot mustard and chili pepper.  

“Lucy is just a deaf alcoholic who's been married six times!”

Even after they confess their deceit, things get even crazier when Mary Jane shows up dressed as a chicken, Lucy banging on the wall to open the doors sets off the phonograph and the cuckoo clock, and Lucy burns the roast causing the fire department to smash the front door glass.  

A flustered Mary Jane makes it clear to Bob that she is unmarried by stressing that she is MISS Lewis. Miss Lewis was also the name of a single lady who lived at 623 East 68th Street, played by Bea Benadaret in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15).

Lucy says that Bob Collins tangos better than Rudolph Valentino. The dance was responsible for the longest laugh in “I Love Lucy” history in “Lucy Does the Tango” (ILL S6;E20). Heartthrob actor of the silent era Rudolph Valentino was also mentioned in that episode. Valentino was one of Mrs. McGillicuddy's favorite screen stars and was mentioned in “The Hedda Hopper Story” (ILL S4;E20) and “The Homecoming” (ILL S5;E6).  

This is the first time that Lucy has had a boyfriend since Tony Rivera (Cesar Romero) in “A Date for Lucy” (S1;E19). Lucille Ball had no plans for Lucy Carter (or Lucy Carmichael) to have a serious relationship.

Robert Cummings played himself in a 1959 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” set in Japan.  

A cuckoo clock played an integral role in “The Kleptomaniac” (ILL S1;E27). Lucy hid the clock under her coat - but the ‘cuckoo’ nearly gave her away!  

A milkman (Bobby Jellison) was the conveyor of "The Gossip” (ILL S1;E24) about the marriage of the Ricardo’s neighbors Grace and Bill Foster.

Trying to make her mother out to be undesirable, Kim says that Lucy has always married men who’s last name begins with ‘C’ so she doesn’t have to change the monogram on her luggage!  Is this a reference to “The Lucy Show”’s widow, Mrs. Carmichael?  Other folks named Collins in the Lucy-verse include:

Kitty Collins - Lucille Ball’s character in the 1936 film Follow The Fleet

Sylvia Collins - an unseen character on “I Love Lucy”

Dr. Collins - Mr. Mooney’s eye doctor on “The Lucy Show”

Mr. Collins - Manager of Stacey’s Department Store on “The Lucy Show”

Eddie Collins - Viv’s boyfriend on “The Lucy Show”

Pat Collins - the ‘hip’ hypnotist on “The Lucy Show”

FAST FORWARD

Lucy would finally become Lucy Collins in a 1975 special titled “Lucy Gets Lucky” co-starring Dean Martin and set in Las Vegas. 

Character Consistency! Two episodes earlier Kim moved out of the house into a garage apartment nearby.  But in this episode she is apparently still living at home.

Fur Blur!  When Lucy comes from the closet after retrieving her stole, the camera momentarily goes out of focus. 

Props! On the bookshelves behind Lucy's head, a small ceramic vase has been tipped over by some books.  This was probably caused when the finale with Lucy banging on the wall and the picture frames falling was rehearsed before filming.  

No Stove Is A Floating Island! In the kitchen, the counter top island has been awkwardly moved out of the way to make room for Lucy’s tango and give better sight lines of the refrigerator. This island also holds the cook top range, so it would be technically impossible for it to be un-grounded by electric wires or a gas hookup!  

Cap Redact!  The first letter of the name of the milkman’s dairy (mostly illegible) is covered with white tape. This was likely done to avoid any legal action by a company with the same name. 

Let Yourself Out?  When Kim marches into the living room to have a heart-to-heart talk with her mother about Bob, she leaves the milkman alone in the kitchen!  

Wardrobe!  Kim’s picnic table skirt does not have pockets, so there is a conspicuous pouch sewn to her waist in a slightly different pattern in order to hold the small bottle of spices she intends to use to spice up Bob’s hors d'oeuvres. 

Plot Loops! Mr. Larson thinks Bob Collins is a wolf because girls are seen coming and going from his home and he orders five quarts of orange juice daily. He reasons some people mix orange juice with liquor for wild parties. At the end of the episode, the girls are explained by his being a cosmetics distributor but the orange juice surplus is never explained. He may not be a wolf, but he might be a lush!

“Lucy’s Punctured Romance” rates 3 Paper Hearts out of 5

In this episode, the roles of mother and daughter are reversed, giving Lucie Arnaz a larger and more commanding role. This fits in with plans for her to launch a spin-off series after the end of season 4. Lots of sight gags in this episode. The living room runs amok in a very visual (but not very character-driven) finale. Mary Jane in a chicken suit.