Can the adults please smoke?- Page 85

[mominator]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 3:53pm

How about when John Jrs' plane was lost? Yet another tragic end to someone so young, and the Bissetts' lost both of their daughters.

Updated On: 8/4/04 at 03:53 PM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 3:54pm

DG - the emotion was overwhelming.

And, even though I wasn't watching it 'live' - I SOBBED during the funeral. How could you not?!

(and ran out to buy the Good-bye England's Rose single the MINUTE it was available!)

Updated On: 8/4/04 at 03:54 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 3:56pm

I know this isn't the same type of thing, but we all react differently to different things - I was almost knocked to the ground when John Denver crashed. His music gave me hope of brighter days when I didn't know they existed.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 3:57pm

Mom - that was beyond sad. Such an unnecessary loss.

Remember when the Challenger blew up? The faces of the families who had gathered to watch - go from thrill to confusion to disbelief to horror?! I LOVED Reagan's speech following the tragedy.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:00pm

Oh, the John Denver loss was devastating!

His songs were poetry - and provided the songtrack to a large part of my life!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:00pm

Back to TV - was anyone watching when David Dukes played the rapist on ALL IN THE FAMILY, and Edith got away by throwing the hot cake in his face? It's the only time in sitcom history that they turned the cameras around and showed the audience reaction in the studio. We were SCREAMING at our house.

[mominator]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:03pm

I was watching it on CNN. You see Christa McAuliffe went to the same college as I did (she went several years before I did )
But when they opened the Challenger Center at the school. They put it right where my dorm room was! (How cool was that) My oldest daughter got to visit it and I was a chaperone. One of the tour guides was a prof.that I had had as an undergrad!

Updated On: 8/4/04 at 04:03 PM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:05pm

I remember that (All in the Family)! Edith was one of my all-time favorite characters!

I'm sure this has already been brought up 100 times - but M*A*S*H was one of the best shows ever. In my opinion.

Updated On: 8/4/04 at 04:05 PM

[mominator]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:07pm

Also along the lines of space, How about when Apollo 13 rELLY happened!
Man the movie did a great job brining home just how gut renchingly close we were to losing people in space. My kids asked ifthe "blackout" time really felt that long. David ( my husband) just said "longer"

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:08pm

mom - that's an interesting connection to history for you and your daughter.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:09pm

mom - that was the perfect answer.

I remember that - we were in school, and they had a TV on in the cafeteria for us to watch.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:09pm

We did the play of MASH when I was a senior in high school - and I sent the script to a playwright friend of mine and had him insert the Charles character so I could play him. I LOVED the characters in the final permanent cast. I liked Charles better than Frank, and Potter better than Henry. A magical, magical ensemble. And Alan's coming back to Broadway next year!

[Nina]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:15pm

I don't remember the camera's being turned topward the audience during that episode. I do remember the controversy around it. It was the first time a sitcom dealt with the issue of rape of older women. There was the episode earlier with the attempted rape of Gloria.

[mominator]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:46pm

"All In The Family" was one the early ground breaking TV shows.
While the dramatic ones were outstanding, I have to say my two
favorite ones were,

1, When Sammy Davis Jr. gave Archie a great big old kiss on
his cheek

2, Archie and Edith celebrating their 25 wedding
anniversary. Edith leans out the window and yells "It's
still there!"
Archie: "What's still there?"
Edith: "The Atlantic Ocean!"

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:51pm

I don't know if I could pick my favorite FAMILY scenes. It's a toss-up for me between that and MASH for best show ever. They both had perfect casts, impeccable writing, and dealt with everything from laugh-out-loud comedy to pathos - while at the same time confronting most of the major issues of the day.

Favorite MASH episode - when Charles had to decide whether to save a man's hand or leg - chooses the leg so he could walk, and then finds out the kid was a concert pianist. I told you, us piano players stick together

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:52pm

The episode when Edith tries to hide the fact that she may have Breast Cancer.

Heartwrenching.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 4:58pm

NYadgal - didn't Betty Garrett appear in that story arc as a friend who had had cancer? ANYTHING to do with Edith in pain wracked me up!

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 5:05pm

Yes - she played her friend Irene.

The infrequent moments of tenderness between Edith and Archie were gems.

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 5:07pm

I fogot about FAMILY -- I think the best episode was when Buddy became a woman!

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 5:08pm

DGrant - the final episode of MASH: "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen"

I don't think I moved for 20 minutes after it was over.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 5:08pm

Carrol O'Conner was brilliant (of course, so was Jean) - I remember the scene when Gloria had had a miscarriage, and Archie came in to comfort her. Almost no words were spoken - and he tore me to shreds. On the flip side, there was Edith trying to give Gloria the 'wedding night' speech - I almost wet my pants I was laughing so hard!

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 5:10pm

That wedding night speech was one of the funniest scenes in TV. Ever.

I wonder how many shows over the years have had a scene having to do with "that speech"...??

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 5:13pm

NYadgal - probably any of them that had a mother whose daughter was getting married

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen - my answer to people who say that TV is incapable of art. I was always in love with Alan anyway, but that performance almost killed me. And I probably don't have to explain what my reaction to Charles' "music will always be a reminder" speech was.

[mominator]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 5:30pm

DG I also loved that episode of M*A*S*H. Remember Charles found some piano piecies for the left hand, man I sobbed!

[NYadgal]

Posted: 8/4/04 at 5:33pm

MASH - the series was remarkable. And, I loved how it experimented in its storytelling. One episode was presented as a black-and-white war documentary. Another was told in real time - with a clock ticking in the corner of the screen as the doctors performed an operation. The 4077th deserves its place in TV history!

Updated On: 8/4/04 at 05:33 PM