Random Question: Itchy & Scratchy

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

We have not had a Random Question in AGES! My apologies, I hadn't realized it had been so long! We have a good one for you today, though.  

What's your favorite "Itchy & Scratchy" sketch from The Simpsons?

After all, this show-within-a-show has been around since the beginning The Simpsons, now in its twenty-third season. I was actually a fan of the short-lived "Poochie" character, so I might call his introduction my favorite. On the whole, "Itchy & Scratchy" is too violent for me. So violent, in fact, that even when I learned about a 48-minute compilation of the cartoons, I couldn't bring myself to watch the entire thing. Not that I want the cartoon censored like Marge did, mind you. I just personally am not a fan. Buuuuut, I'm betting you might be, so comment below about your favorite sketch. I've included the video below to get you thinking.

Random Question: Who's Your Favorite Sesame Street Muppet?

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

This morning I had my photo taken with none other than Elmo. The real Elmo, puppeteered by Kevin Clash. Immediately following, I sat in on a panel where critics asked Clash an assortment of questions, causing me to deepen my appreciation for him and his work.

Last night I saw the PBS documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey, which brought me to tears three or four times. It was a heart-warming story and included some great archival footage of the late Jim Henson, among others. 

I'm older than many of the folks who love Elmo, and younger than many of the parents whose children were/are Elmo fanatics. This puts me in a special position. Although I grew up as big a Sesame Street fan as the next kid (and maybe quite a bit more, let's not lie...), Elmo wasn't a big Muppet for me. I was more of a Cookie Monster and Snuffy kind of kid, though Big Bird thoroughly fascinated me until I was old enough to understand how full-body puppets worked. I had a surprising number of Grover-themed items, but I personally attribute that to the fact that I was a youngster in the 80s, when SuperGrover was young and cool and had a few of those books that you followed along to the sound of Grover on cassette tape.

A couple of years ago I went to the Popular Culture Association Conference, where I was thrilled to win a Bert & Ernie shirt in a raffle, and witnessed for the first time a live muppeteering, with Fran Brill performing Prairie Dawn and Zoe. I was giddy at the time, so you might imagine my excitement when Elmo talked directly to me this morning, using my name, and putting his arm around me. 

Photo: Rahoul Ghose/PBS

Tell me about who your favorite Muppet from Sesame Street is!

Comic-Con: What Are You Excited About??

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

If you know me in real life, you know that I've been looking forward to going to Comic-Con since my friend and fellow television critic, Kelly, decided to go last fall. With someone to split a room with and enjoy some of the craziness, it didn't take me too long to agree! This will be my first Comic-Con, and I've done more research than a person should possibly consider doing for a four-day event centered around pop culture madness!

The schedule just became available last week, and I was wondering what panels and events YOU'D go to if you were going to be there. I've carefully constructed my own dream schedule, along with back-up plans galore! This isn't the first time I've toyed with wanting to be at multiple panels and events at once, but it is only the second time where I've feared sheer capacity will be my downfall!

Monday's normal spotlight (still on game shows) will be canceled this upcoming week to showcase my own schedule and what I'm dreaming of seeing & doing those four days in San Diego. In the meantime, tell me what you'd see if you were there!

A Dramaturg on Television?

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I don't usually watch Law & Order, of any variety. But, when I heard that there was a dramaturg character on a recent episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, I set out to discover how they portrayed the character. Especially since I'm unaware of other instances of a dramaturg on a television episode - do you know of other cases?

Although I write about television here, my roots are in writing in a theatrical capacity. Plus, I've been having a great time connecting with others and their ideas over the past four days at the annual Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas conference, which concluded this afternoon. Yeah, I know. the what??!? Well, I'm not going to give my own explanation of the profession today (though you can read a bit here), but I wanted to take a quick look at how the aforementioned episode portrayed the dramaturg. In a nutshell, an actor of a forever-in-previews show has a fatal accident onstage, and it's ultimately determined that the dramaturg (conspiring with the director) is the guilty party.

- Roger Porter, the dramaturg for Icarus (a new work), is also referred to as "the director's assistant" throughout the episode. I'm not a huge fan of this terminology, as non-theatrical folks tend to merge that into "assistant director," which is not traditionally the same.

- When he first met the investigators, Roger described his job as the following: "I help Amanda [the director] shape her creative vision in all aspects of the production." I'll take it. I like it, even. It was a pretty succinct way of talking about his role. But, at the same time, I was disappointed that there were no other mentions of his work on the episode. No real examples or talk of his interaction with anyone else besides the director.

- Roger tweets about his work and/or the show's process. I particularly liked this as several conversations took place over the weekend about using Twitter (and other social media) from the dramaturgical standpoint, in rehearsal, etc. Also, the fact that the investigators have some concern over whether Roger's tweets might have enticed someone to harm Mark serves as a reminder that what we put out on the internet isn't private.

- The investigators question Roger about the relationship between the lead actor and the director. He's also the one that lets them know that the lead actor was having an affair of sorts, and that he had two separate living quarters in NYC. And he talks about Amanda's drinking. In short, he's got all the gossip. I don't know that I feel that we (dramaturgs) are privy to the secret lives of the cast and crew, but we are observant. So, in a way, I liked that he had these bits of knowledge - it demonstrated that he pays attention and applies what he knows to situations as needed.  

- Roger goes behind Amanda's back to make sure the lead actor makes it to the theater. This is the first instance we see of his sneaky and underhanded ways. As the fingers begin to point in Roger's direction, I'm just glad that he's not made out to be a villain all along. Dramaturgs are good people to work with, folks!

- Just before he's arrested, Roger reveals to the investigators and the producer that, because he wanted to make sure he did everything right, he had recorded all of his conversations with the producer. I love this. I feel that it can be a meticulous process to make certain that dramaturgs are doing what is needed and desired by others working on the show. I have never personally recorded a conversation, but I take a crazy amount of notes!

- - -

If you're interested, my entire play-by-play recap of the episode is below. This is Law & Order: Criminal Intent's "Icarus" (S10E07): 

We start with an actor arriving to star in a Broadway preview of Icarus. He's a little late and almost doesn't get to go on, as the understudy is dressed to go. The director isn't thrilled with the actor, either. While he's flying there's an accident and he falls to the stage - broken neck from falling 30 feet.

It's a crime scene, as it was determined to be sabotage. The rigging was secure at the safety check. [The wings alone took three months to complete!] We find out that the show has been plagued with safety issues. Roger Porter arrives, the dramaturg, or director's assistant as he described himself. "I help Amanda [the director] shape her creative vision in all aspects of the production." He's questioned about Amanda and Mark's [the dead actor] relationship. It's mentioned that rehearsals and previews were going on for two years!

The investigators feel that perhaps Mark's tweets enticed someone. Meanwhile, turns out that the aerial rigger was paid to tamper with things several times to make them look like accidents, in order to get publicity. The producer wanted the first two problems, but didn't hire him to tamper with Mark's wings. The producer denied any wrongdoing.

The understudy, Bryce, sent Mark flowers with peacock feathers, which are a bad luck omen. Bryce went to a favorite bar after he didn't get to go on, and the investigators talk to a cocktail waitress there. They then find out that a critic was at that preview and they talk to him about a possible cast change of Mark to Bryce, but the critic guesses that the director was overruled and Mark got to go on anyway.

L-R: Dramaturg, Director, Producer, Composer

The composer wasn't aware that the critic was in the audience that night, and also mentions that the director constantly complained about Mark's performance. The composer also says that it was the producer who wouldn't let the cast change happen, as Mark had a huge fan base [he was formerly a sitcom star]. The composer also says that the director is on a downward spiral, and has nothing in life outside of her job. Plus, Amanda has been in AA for 20 years, but the composer noticed alcohol on her breath the night of the incident. She's also drunk at the memorial service.

The dramaturg tells the investigators that Mark was sleeping with someone, and stayed in two different NY locations. Turns out, the composer was having an affair with Mark. Mark initially wanted to get the composer on his side against Amanda.

The composer rode with Mark to the theater the night he was late - Amanda had made a deal with the chauffeur so that he'd make sure Mark was late. But, "the director's assistant" (which, in this case they mean dramaturg) called to ask the chauffeur to bring Mark to the theater after all. Amanda didn't know about this call.

After all this, the producer is closing the show, and Amanda is packing up her office. Turns out, in the contracts for Icarus, there's a full pay-out for the investors if the lead actor dies or is incapacitated. The dramaturg is now the lead suspect, as he was worried about Amanda and her drinking. But the investigators deduce that the producer told the dramaturg to do it. The dramaturg recorded all the conversations because he wanted to make sure he did everything right. They're both arrested as the episode ends.

Random Question: Do You Know How Melissa & Joey Films?

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Did you realize that Melissa & Joey is back in action starting this Wednesday? They're going to be the first show in the ABCFamily New Comedy Wednesday, at 8pm Eastern, 7pm Central. In preparation for the show's second season, I wanted to share the basics about how Melissa & Joey films, which I heard about directly from Melissa Joan Hart last week. Stay tuned Wednesday for a second post about things I learned from her regarding not just Melissa & Joey but also her other projects and a bit about her personal life as well!

“As with most sitcoms, we work a five-day week. We do a five-day episode. We start on Mondays with a table read where we all get together and read it with the network and everybody sitting there so they can all hear it out loud. Then the writers will go and rewrite it while we go and rehearse and we’ll do our wardrobe fittings usually that day so we can figure out what we’re going to wear for the week.

Then Tuesdays we come in and we rehearse the new script. We’ll rehearse, rehearse, rehearse and we’ll put the show on. We’ll do the whole show once through, called the run-though for the producers. The writers and producers will come down and watch a run-through and then they’ll go back and that night they’ll work on their changes.

Wednesday, we’ll do the exact same thing where we work the new script through all the way. Then we put on a network run-through where the network comes and listens to it and they see it. Then they make their notes on it and the writers go away again and rewrite it.

Thursday, we come in and we block the whole show for the cameras. We basically go through the whole show scene-by-scene so the cameras can figure out where they go, where we go. We put tape on the floor and literally mark every piece of blocking we have and the cameras do the same. Then we get in hair and makeup and shoot a few scenes that the audience needs to see for the next day. They’re usually on swing sets, so they’re somewhere where the audience can’t see them or they’re big costume changes or something like that, so we can knock those out of the way.

Then Friday we come in again and do the camera blocking in the morning and then get ready for the live show. We eat dinner all together at 3pm, 4pm we’re in hair and makeup doing the speed-through of the script with the cast while they’re getting their hair and makeup touched up. Then 5pm we go live on the show and we usually wrap by 9pm.”

I didn't really know how standard of a schedule this is, but it appears that it is a great schedule, at least for Melissa Joan Hart. She gave a little more detail about some of the interesting parts about shooting the show as well.

"We’re not shooting until 11 or 12 or 2am like some episodics, and we’re not doing 9-day weeks. Sabrina the Teenage Witch worked 12-15 hours every day, since it was a single camera and no audience. With an audience, the pressure is on, but the schedule is nice all week where you’re hanging out in a t-shirt and jeans."

Mondays they really only work about three hours. Tuesday is about five, and it gets longer every day. Fridays end up being 12-hour days, but “that’s not bad at all in this business.” Thursday night you "memorize the crap out of the script" for 2-3 hours and then the next day there might be changes. They might do one take for the audience the way it’s written and there will need to be changes in 3, 4, 5 lines in a scene, so they do it again with those changes. There’s a balance to keeping your brain locked down but at the same time leaving space for “alts” which are alterations that happen. Then they have several different options to run. For instance, in an episode last fall, Mel spits wine across the room in a take they used for a preview for that episode, but in the actual episode they used a take where she just choked a little on the wine.

I don't know about you, but I found this all very fascinating! I've never seen a live show taped (I saw a podcast taped once, if that counts), so it was neat to hear about how that really affects how it all works!

Random Question: America's Most Wanted

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

It was brought to my attention a few weeks ago that America's Most Wanted was being cancelled. Again. I don't really remember much in television news pointing out that, on May 16th, the cancellation was announced. The final episode ran last night. 

America's Most Wanted was on the air for 23 years, well over half my life. I've never seen it, though I regularly watched Unsolved Mysteries for several years, which some people find to be similar. The purpose of AMW is to help apprehend criminals who are involved in various types of crimes. And, it works. Four days after the first broadcast, a capture was made. There have been over 1100 episodes (and there is an endless amount of material available for future programs... crime hasn't stopped) shown, and 1153+ people have been captured as a result of the show! How can you cancel a show that results in this??

Back in 1996, the show was cancelled, mainly because of production costs. However, 37 state governors, 80,000 law enforcement officers, and hundreds of thousands of viewers all wanted the show back on the air... and six weeks later, it returned. Shortly after the announcement of "the end," fans began rallying together again, hoping that this is not truly the end.

Four two-hour specials are still planned for the Fall. FOX has said that other networks have offered to pick up the show (Saturday nights on FOX have a long-unchanged lineup and some of the steadiest ratings out there), and maybe that'll happen. But, for now, it's unknown what's going to happen.

Do you ever watch America's Most Wanted? Do you think that it has run its course, or should it be preserved (possibly in another form?)?

Random Thoughts: Oprah's Final Farewell

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

First, a confession. I had never seen an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in my entire life before tuning in to the finale. And, it has been on for the majority of my life. I've flipped past it, sure. I've seen a clip or two online, yes. But I've never watched more than a couple of minutes. This is particularly of interest when you consider the facts that a) I've known a handful of people who have been ON her show (albeit before I knew them), and b) I spent an entire summer watching Jenny Jones' talk show every day.

When I heard that Oprah was starting her own television network, I was amused. I even planned to DVR the first thing that aired... but my DVR didn't understand how to record a channel that did not yet exist. Or, at least I couldn't figure out how to make it recognize what I wanted (I was out of town when it premiered). And now, I can't say that I've even tuned in to her channel once, though I do look at the lineup now and then while I'm scrolling through the on-screen guide. I didn't even realize when The Oprah Winfrey Show was ending (though I did know this was her final season) until maybe a week before the finale.

So, I DVR'd the two-part finale spectacular (which, for some reason that an Oprah fan could probably tell me easily, ran on Monday and Wednesday) and watched. Here are my thoughts, and I encourage you to share with me whether you watched the finale and what you thought. 

Part I:
- I liked her clothing choice (the purple dress seen to the right) for the first part. 
- I love "Tonight's Gonna be a Good Night," so hearing the Black Eyed Peas was cool.
- Apparently the guests are surprises... Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise... Tom Cruise has been on her show TWELVE times.
- There's a LOT of singing. First, a kid sings. Then, a guy sings. Then, Patti LaBelle comes on singing. Then, some Madonna. Geez! Is Oprah always so musical?
- I liked Dakota Fanning comes introducing those young girls who share how Oprah changed their lives.
- I really liked finding out that, because of Oprah, a bunch of schools have libraries. But, I totally rolled my eyes at the "Oprah Tree" being put in front of all those libraries. And then some more... 25,000 to be exact.

Part II: 
- Nice highlights of the early years... I found them amusing and cute.
- The motivational thoughts didn't hit me the way they affected some of the people I talked to about the episode, but they were nice nonetheless.
- um, the rest of the hour kinda bored me... nothing else notable.

Well, what did you think of the finale?

Random Question: Gonna Watch Switched at Birth?

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

If you watch ABCFamily, you may have noticed that they have a bunch of new shows coming up. The first of which, Switched at Birth, premieres tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about it, as the premise is a bit different, usually reserved for television movies. The idea is that two girls were mistakenly brought home by the wrong parents when they were born. When the girls are in high school, the error is discovered. One family (mom-dad-daughter-son) invites the other (mom-daughter) to move into their guest house in an attempt to give great opportunities to their birth daughter as well as the girl they've raised as their daughter. Add in the fact that one daughter is deaf and we've got a pretty interesting piece of television here. I'm really excited about how this will bring diversity to television and raise some awareness about deaf culture as well.

Last week I took part in a Q&A with Vanessa Marano, who plays Bay (third from the left in the image) in Switched at Birth. I learned some great things about her and about the show, and wanted to share a few with you.

- Vanessa enjoys watching The Real Housewives franchise, in addition to older shows like Arrested Development and Flight of the Conchords.

- She's also taking classes at a community college, where she's technically a last-semester sophomore. She started early, and the balance of coursework with acting has been really hard, though she says it's great that she can sometimes take one class a semester or take a semester off if she needs.

- The most difficult role for Vanessa was playing a young girl who became a quadriplegic in The Brooke Ellison Story. She believes it was the most amazing and challenging experience that she will ever have. [and she may be right!]

- Playing Bay is difficult for Vanessa because the character isn't exactly happy and light, yet she's still a protagonist rather than an antagonist. She also has never played a role like Bay, despite her vast background in diverse characters. She has found ways to relate to Bay, though she says she's not like the character at all.

- Vanessa is learning to sign on-set since they have a lot of actors who rely on sign language to communicate.

If you're still on the fence about whether you should catch the new show tomorrow night, check out this extended clip:


So, for today's actual question: will you be tuning in?

Random Thoughts: A Commercial Prop

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I go through periods where I really enjoy watching commercials, and then periods where I can't stand to watch them. Sometimes, I'll only watch things I've recorded so that I can fast-forward through commercials if I'm just not in the mood. When I was a kid, I thought the smartest thing that I could do was pop a tape into the VCR in the fall, and then record the toys I wanted when their commercials came on, so I pretty much had a video Christmas list. My mom didn't like the idea, so I wrote out my list year after year, though I remember lobbying for my "video list" more than once.

I don't talk about commercials often here, but the subject of today's post comes from an abnormality that my husband and I saw while watching television last week. He noticed it at first, though I was more disturbed by it. It's a commercial for Ross that came out at least a month ago. There are two separate shots of a specific boy with a skateboard. Doesn't sound that unusual... until you consider the surface of the board. It looks like yellow shag carpet. on a skateboard. What's that about?? Have you seen such things? Does it remind you of other strange props in commercials?

If you haven't seen the commercial, here you go... the skateboard kid is between seconds 8 and 12.

cropped with SnipSnip

Random Thoughts: "Maci" and "Bentley"

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

How do people come up with baby names? They look at books, of course. They figure out meanings and look for names that sound nice next to one another. They choose to repeat family names out of respect or remembrance. They create new names based on words and blends and special places. And, of course, they utilize names that are currently popular.

It should come as no surprise that Jacob and Isabella are pretty popular, since Twilight has been sweeping various areas of pop culture in recent years (though "Jacob" has been extremely popular for more than ten years now). But, it was announced last week that the names with the highest trending (meaning that they've grown by the greatest margin) are Maci for girls and Bentley for boys. [Complete data available here] Now, Maci (or Macy) is a name that's been around a long time, though I've never met a Macy. A girl I went to school with named her baby Macy a few months ago, and that's my only personal familiarity with the name. Similarly, I've never met or personally known a Bentley, though it certainly has the feel of trendy names these days. And, it's memorable. My husband doesn't watch Teen Mom, but when I have it on, he knows it as "The Bentley Show."

Now, of course you can argue that the popularity of the names and the popularity of the show are not related. I mean, Jacob was popular before Twi-hards had babies. Similarly, Isabella has both royal and godly ties. But, at the same time, Bentley didn't even make the Top 1,000 Names in the country before 2007, and Maci's first appearance on MTV wasn't until the summer of 2009 (though Bentley was born in October 2008).

So I leave you to ponder... of all the names on all the television shows... why do you think Maci and Bentley rose to popularity?

Random Thoughts: Cancellations

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

So maybe this question isn't as random as some of the others that I have posed. But, since there have been many, MANY cancellations this past week (including three shows that appear in the reviews on this site), I thought I might ask which cancellation YOU are most disappointed in. And it doesn't have to be a show that was cancelled just recently - if you were in love with a show that was cancelled earlier in the season, share that one!

Regardless of whether we saw it coming, whether the ratings were bad, or whether it just wore out its welcome, the networks cancelled a ton of shows this year. ABC's cancellations were referred to by many as a "bloodbath," for starters. As the fall lineups roll out (for the major networks. the cable ones have their own thing going on) and pilots get picked up, I'm most upset about Better with You. Although I liked Mr. Sunshine, it had its flaws. My husband was a fan of Lie to Me, of course, and is a bit sad to see it go. I wasn't really into The Paul Reiser Show, so I'm not complaining on that one. Plenty of people are mourning everything from Smallville to All My Children, though those both had long runs. So, what are you sad about? If you haven't been following all of the sources that are covering renewals and cancellations, here's a limited list of shows that have been cut from future lineups...

All My Children
Better with You
Big Love
Brothers & Sisters
The Chicago Code
The Closer
Glory Daze
Human Target
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Los Angeles
Lie to Me
Medium
Mr. Sunshine
No Ordinary Family
Off the Map
One Life to Live
Outsourced
The Paul Reiser Show
Running Wilde
$#*! My Dad Says
Smallville
Terriers

Random Thoughts: Characters with Cars in NYC

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

So I watch Seinfeld in the afternoons sometimes. It comes on at 3pm here in California, and it'll be on as I'm writing or folding laundry or whatever. Last week, I managed to catch an episode where George was driving. He owns a car. Kramer also owns a car. So does Jerry. I don't believe that Elaine does, but the fact that 3/4 of the main characters on the show have cars is weird. And, I'm not sure why they have them. Jerry, maybe... I assume he probably had some stand-up gigs in Jersey or upstate or whatnot. But with the price of parking and insurance and the few times you'd use a car in NYC, I just don't see why they all have cars!

And it's not just Seinfeld. On Friends, Monica has a car in the later seasons (her dad's Porsche), Phoebe has her grandmother's taxicab, and Ross has a sportscar in one episode (though I imagine he returned it, since we never hear of it again). The taxi comes in handy on several occasions, and Monica only has a car because it was a gift of sorts... so these are much more justified. But, on most shows, those who live in Manhattan are car-less, which I think is much more believable. Will and Grace don't have cars. Marshall used to, but now none of the How I Met Your Mother gang have cars. Paul and Jamie owned a parking spot but not a car. So it just seems weird to me that so many people on Seinfeld had cars. What do you think?

Random Question: Sex in Disney

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Since I wrote about Song of the South last week, I thought it would be appropriate to get your thoughts on another Disney event that I came across recently. Now, if you're as old as I am or older, you probably remember the shenanigans about the phallus on the VHS cover of The Little Mermaid. And you probably remember the hullabaloo caused by the "SEX" vs. "SFX" controversy in the stars during The Lion King. But those are old news and have been beaten to death.

Have you heard about the alleged tangles of hair on Rapunzel? It has been asserted that Disney has once again hidden "SEX" on an animated advertisement. Check out this image for Tangled:

 

 Now, I should mention that I didn't discover this on my own. I wouldn't have seen it if someone hadn't pointed it out to me. And, while it could innocently be a mistake, it could just as easily haven been intentional. If you look at the hair that is acting as a rope, the end sort of resembles an "S" in a sideways shape. Then, there are several straight-across-the-torso loops that form an "E" when you use Flynn's arm as part of the vertical leg. Just below that, we can see the crossing strands near the bottom, forming an "X." And there you have it... or, more clearly, here you have it: 

What do you think? Someone reading too much into something again? Or is it possibly a legitimate claim? In Disney's defense, they were probably just looking to play with the hair a bit and not have every wrap straight. At the same time, there's no way you could argue for "SFX" (for "special effects") this time... it's just too clearly an "E" rather than an "F." Agree? 

Random Thoughts: Song of the South

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I don't want to open a can of worms, and I know that Disney certainly has a reputation for its practices in many areas, but at the same time, I just have to address some news I've learned of lately. Song of the South will remain unavailable on DVD (or blu-ray for that matter) for who knows how much longer. Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, said at The Walt Disney Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders that, "sometimes you have to make financial sacrifices in order to do what's right. So remember Song of the South for what it was and don't expect to see it again anytime."

I'm adamantly against the re-writing of Huckleberry Finn because, in removing words that are deemed "offensive," you're screwing with the author's intentions. What's wrong with adding in footnotes to explain the words and phrases? A ton of the renditions of Shakespeare's plays have them to explain the original meanings of his words. Why not do the same? I can see why that might not work in Fantasia... it's more difficult to explain purely visual sequences than it is to explain words. So, while cutting part of the animation from "The Pastoral Symphony" wasn't necessarily right (it would be hard to deny that the "servants" in that sequence are anything other than of African descent), it might have been the best way to address the concern. But we're not talking about ten or fifteen seconds of material in Song of the South. Regardless, there are plenty of other areas in Disney "masterpieces" that contain questionable material!

There is going to be a 70th anniversary edition of Dumbo soon, which is another 40s-era Disney film that has some racist moments (one of the crows is named "Jim Crow" for starters). And, if you're familiar with other older Disney cartoons, you'll find stereotypes of Jews, Nazi propaganda, and some ridiculous depictions of Asians. Oh, and of course, let's not forget the "red men" in Peter Pan. And it's not just antiquated images... Pocahontas and Tarzan are a few of the newer Disney features that deal with indigenous peoples in ways that aren't 100% perfect. But, you can only do so much. Yes, you could try harder in some instances. But, just because children might get the wrong impressions (which is a specific reason as to why Song of the South remains in the "vault"), why remove a learning tool that exhibits a historical example of the way things were seventy years ago? The actor who played "Uncle Remus" in the film couldn't even attend the premiere, because it showed at a "whites only" theatre in Atlanta (though he did receive AN OSCAR for his performance). Why not add in an "extra" or even an introduction to the DVD that explains the time? Put it in a historical context, folks. 

No, I haven't seen Song of the South. I want to see it (and not some bootlegged copy. I want to be able to see it free and clear). And, if I lived in another country, I could... there have been non-US releases multiple times (yeah. our country is being censored, but others aren't.). Many other people might want to see it, too, who have no idea what spawned the cute ditty, "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah," or that the film is the basis for the hit theme park attraction, Splash Mountain. And so, I leave you today not with an invitation to argue the issues in Disney film-making, but rather a smaller question: How do you think Song of the South should be released?

Random Question: Stylish Characters

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

This is the first post in a new Sunday series, which will feature a random thought that I had about something television-related, or a question I want to pose to the readers.

Today's question stems from an article I read about Stylish TV Characters, which featured Carrie Brashaw from Sex and the City, Denise Huxtable from The Cosby Show, Lucy from I Love Lucy, and a few other lovely ladies. While I don't necessarily agree with the choice to put one-outfit-wardrobe Lisa Simpson on the list, I think that the article makes some excellent points regarding style and fashion sense. It reminds me of a post I did about what characters' closets I'd raid.

That said, I think I'd choose Carrie Heffernan from King of Queens as the ultimate stylish character. She seemed to have just the right outfit for every occasion... and I think that the multiple episodes devoted to her shopping and spending habits enforce her sophisticated style. What about you... who do you think fits best?