I am pretty good on Reagan and the Soviet believed that he was capable of a first strike. They did not think he was merely an ideologue or a cowboy. They were genuinely frightened of him. Which seems odd because his eventual policy of disarmament was contrary to his advisors and conservative commentators.

This song and Hold Me are my two favorites. Perhaps it was because I was in band. I don't know.

Populism is what gave us direct election of senators and income tax, it does not give us mediocre movies.

Twice in a week, props have been given to Ishtar by the A.V. Club. Mazel tov.

By the way, I couldn't stand Tom Sloane. I was so angry when they introduced him. The voicework was banal and he was so boring. I guess that was the point, but still.

I watch it on Amazon Prime. Actually, when MTV released the DVD series, I got it. I even had a bootleg DVD series. That had some of the original music but most of the episodes were from The N, which edited them.

God, I still love that show. Though I never enjoyed it more than with bong hits and no responsibilities.

I read in the UK that Maggie Smith is returning for Season Four. Since the Christmas Special takes place in 1921, the Dowager Countess is hitting eighty (she was born in the 1840s). So they cannot go too far into the future with the characters.

Well, I did say it would be louche. And banging the mechanic is the second most common gay fantasy (UPS/ pizza delivery being first). Matthew is too middle-class to be bothered. Alfred is not attractive. Carson gets out of the shower to pee. So Branson.

This is the 1920s, not House. This is a world which still uses 19th century medicine. There are few mechanisms for imaging or detection. Treatments are basically comfort, poison, or cutting. There are no antibiotics. About the only advance in medicine at the time is the widespread use of disinfectants.

I have to admit, my Downton sanity was quelled starting in Season Two when I used a UK proxy server to get the ITV feed. I read the UK newspapers in keeping with my affectations and pretenses and I didn't like having Season One spoiled.

I am so hot for Thomas and am glad someone else share my shameful prurience. You nailed it when you said Byronic. Nothing ever works out for him. Whilst he is scheming, there is an odd sympathetic streak in him. He wants to sell black market goods, but ends up bankrupt. He liked a soldier and the guy commits suicide.…

I'd like to go on record that a kidney pie is delicious. It has minced meats, cheese, and Espagnol inside and it is baked and served with mushroom gravy and it is wonderful. It also is about 7,000 calories per serving and goes down best with beer. Lots and lots of beer. I cannot emphasize this enough. Beer.

You nailed it.

Aww, the 80s. This was a Cinemax staple. I remember my friend and I were in the Greg Brady basement, all baked, and my father came down. It was innocent. It was late and he couldn't sleep and we were laughing, probably at Friday Night Videos. So we told him we were going to watch Re-Animator. And we all watched it.…

We had a Gong Show in sixth grade. Our teacher said one year a kid simply wore antlers and a red nose and sang Rudolph FTW.

La Cage aux Folles doesn't date IMHO.

I am glad you gave props to Ishtar. I grew up with the typical view: the movie had to suck, right? Everyone said so. It was a movie everyone had an opinion about but no one actually saw. I didn't watch it on HBO. And I am not sure but it wasn't widely available on home video.

I hear you. One thing I have noticed in my travels is the lack of regional accents on local news in large cities. Television more than anything else, I think, is causing the homogenization.

I love me a good Godfather parody, even though it is done to death. (I especially like the one in the cute UK show Spy.) And kudos to the show for really running with it. Also, it provided the only real laugh I had this season. Maybe last one also.