Notebooks of iThe Bear/i
They’re everywhere. I collected these from the show’s first three seasons.
One mini-series, three seasons, ten movies
The Bear and others.
The Bear
One series, eleven movies
Pre-Code Columbias and others.
Pre-Code Columbia
Work Scotch
From Detroiters.
Talking about contingency
From A Man on the Inside: “Every great thing in your life, when you look back on it, feels like a miracle.”
Leonardo, no
It’s far too busy: split screens, with art on one side, nature on the other; unidentified artworks, by any number of artists, split-screen or full-, appearing and disappearing rapidly; art historians speaking as music plays behind them, or over them. The presentation defies any contemplation of art.
Mystery actor
Who?
No TV news, then and now
it’s been ten days with no TV news, save for one episode of the NBC Nightly News, when the whale-cutter’s nomination drew me back. Did I learn anything more from that “half-hour” than I already knew from reading words? No.
Frankie & Johnny and Al’s
I knew I knew it: The Late Show opening bit last night borrowed the storefront of Frankie & Johnny, the now-defunct New Orleans furniture store whose television commercials became an Internets sensation.
Mystery actor
This actor is best known for a television role, reprised in film, playing a character with no known first name.
James Earl Jones (1931–2024)
Darth Vader? Mufasa? Sure. But I always think of him as Lear.
Mystery actor
Who?
Eleven movies, one mini-series
The Commandant’s Shadow and others.
Ten movies, two series
Olive Kitteridge and others.
TV as radio or children’s game
Listening or playing Guess Who?
OPEN [space] DOOR
From Murder, She Wrote.
“Leftist broadcasters” (Project 2025)
It’s extraordinarily dishonest to assert that NPR and PBS are noneducational or virtually noneducational, unless of course you’ve already restricted “educational” to programming for the very young. So Sesame Street is educational, but All Things Considered, American Masters, Finding Your Roots, and Frontline are not.
Eleven movies, one series
Inside Out 2 and others.
Crazy weather
“Grab them shades on the way out the door. Precip cast? Fuggedaboudit! I mean, we still need a tall drink of water. I just ain’t happening tonight nor tomorrow.”
Martin Mull (1943–2024)
The Fernwood 2 Night episode with Tom Waits is not to be missed.
Eleven movies, one series
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and others.
What is a “bottle episode”?
I asked those who would know if there’s a name for a television episode with two characters stuck in, say, an elevator or a basement, talking about whatever until they get free. There is, and Merriam-Webster has it.
“Mister”
NBC Nightly News: it’s galling to hear Michael Cohen called “Cohen” and Donald Trump called “Mister Trump,” every damn time. Too much deference.
One series, eleven movies
Where the Sidewalk Ends and others.
Pharm-speak
“Fainting can also happen.”
Joe Flaherty (1941–2024)
He was Guy Caballero, Count Floyd, Sammy Maudlin, and Slim Whitman, among others.
One series, eleven movies
American Fiction and others.
Mystery actor
Who is she?
No coincidence
“I don’t believe in coincidences”: a substitute MSNBC host, yesterday morning. “I don’t believe in coincidences”: Jessica Fletcher, last night.
Mystery actor
Who?