The Seamless Web: A Blog on Law, Popular Culture and Related Issues

Six Legged Love

A new exhibit at Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences. More here.

False Advertising

Never annoy a cat with false advertising. He might work for the FTC.

Plot Holes You Could Drive a Train Through

Courtesy of Cracked.com, which points out seven world changing discoveries in films that show us wonderful creations and then make absolutely no earthly use of them. I think Hitchcock called these "Macguffins."

And Another Thing

Listening to NPR's Talk of the Nation today. Once again I heard someone using the word "conversating" instead of "conversing." When did "conversating" become an alternative to "converse"? Never mind that "speak" or "talk" are less formal and less pompous. I remember hearing characters in films use "conversate" but writers gave them the word to say in order to make a satirical point. The word was supposed to indicate these characters were uneducated and trying to sound more articulate than they were. Somebody has missed the joke. And I really don't like "dialogue" used as a verb, either, but that's another conversation. ;)

Lawyer Drama, Lawyer Drama

USA will probably renew the legal drama "Suits"; also revived by Sony Pictures TV (although for what network is uncertain) is the "high concept" legal drama "Dead Lawyers" in which John Stamos would play a, well, dead lawyer, who has to justify his conduct. Sounds like "Defending Your Life", sort of. How did Stamos' character die? He got hit by a bus. A bus? Whhhyyyyy? It couldn't have been a BMW?

"Two and a Half Men" Returns, But What's In Store?

Deadline and other media are reporting that the first episode of season nine of Two and a Half Men will bring us the death of character Charlie Harper (played by the now spectacularly fired Charlie Sheen) and the introduction of a replacement character (whoever that is) played by Ashton Kutcher.

Now, I'm certainly not an expert in the entertainment business, and I don't have a hit show on any network, but it seems to me that it might be a better idea not to kill off anybody, even someone who has been as rude to you as Mr. Sheen has been to Chuck Lorre. One never knows what might happen in a year or two. Wouldn't it be wiser to send Charlie Harper off to rehab--a looong stint in rehab? And then maybe to seek his fortune in New York as a composer? Or marry him off to Rose (played by Melanie Linsky) and send them off to live in Melanie's house? That way we could still see Rose on the show and get Charlie's news. Ms. Linsky's great, by the way. (Or the couple could go to London, or whatever). And if the day should come when all is forgiven, and that day just might come, Charlie Sheen could return. But if he's killed off, writing him back into the show becomes more difficult. In addition, writing about death on a sitcom is difficult unless the actual actor passes on, as happened with the late John Ritter. I have to say that the cross-over episode featuring "CSI" on "Two and a Half Men" was not one of my favorites. Even the episode featuring Emilio Estevez (Charlie Sheen's brother) wasn't all that amusing.  In fact, the writers took that opportunity to make the Charlie character think a little bit about his quality of life and about mistakes he had made, although, granted, he didn't actually make a lot of longterm changes.

I realize Chuck Lorre likes to push boundaries, but death really does need to be handled tastefully. The viewers already know about the big flap between him and Mr. Sheen. Killing Charlie Harper off would just seem like vindictiveness--as if Mr. Lorre can finish Mr. Sheen off in this way so why not take the opportunity? If I were writing the show, I'd think about methods to use Mr. Sheen's departure that offer opportunites to open up possibilities for "Two and a Men,"not close its storytelling arcs. And I'd want to look magnanimous. And winning.

In the Midwinter Of a Midsomer Pathologist's Discontent

Barry Jackson, the actor who plays the foresic pathologist on ITV's long-running "Midsomer Murders," unburdens himself now that his character has been replaced by a younger, female character. Read his take on the newly revamped show here.