It's also interesting when you see actors that you can't quite place and then realize you remember them from a much older production when they were younger.

Last night we watched Season #1, Episode #1, of Blue Bloods. We both like Tom Selleck, so I'm sure we'll follow through with that series.  We haven't watched all of the Jesse Stone episodes yet, and they're also available on Netflix. 

Marillyne, be forewarned that Marcella is graphically violent and has a psychological edge that could be unsettling to some folks

I was watching an episode of MI-5 last night, and one of the characters, like Don says, is someone you recognize, but it takes a bit to figure.  Lo and behold, the young fellow who plays the lead part on the broadcast TV series "Scorpion" was in MI-5, playing the "bad guy".  Well, I guess he's a bad guy, kind of hard to tell the good guys, from the moles, from the bad spies, LOL.  Almost like a LeCarre novel.

Thanks for the warning Don!  I think I will pass on Marcella for now.  I've had my fill of TV violence and sociopathic personalities!  We did start watching Bosch last week, and it was about yet another police detective, discovering buried bodies and chasing down the psycho perpetrators!  Sound familiar??   I have to admit it was a good story and great acting, but I'm not going to continue on with the series.  My husband liked it, and will watch the next season. (Adapted from Michael Connelly's novels.)

HI Marilyne, thanks for posting the other day.  You know that old saying:  "The older I get, the behinder I get" That's me! I guess it took me since March to find you.  Now I am happy to be back with my friends.

The ony comment I have time for to day, is about the new game shows.  I still watch the old game shows, love Match Game.  I was happy to see  the games were coming back, tried to watch Match Game the other night, and did not find it funny at all.  Maybe it is just my age (92)

Thanks again, Marilyne for helping me find my way

Lindancer,  I agree wholeheartedly about the new Match Game!   I will try to watch Family Feud but really don't like the emcee and think the questions are vulgar.  Pyramid, however, is pretty good.

Callie, I will give Pyramid a try.  I guess I was so disappointed in the new Match Game, I thought is just plain nasy.  I use to like to play along and give silly answers. Betty White was on all those shows, and still going strong.

Gloria de - Welcome back!  Good to have you with us again. I was thinking of you last week while watching Turner Classic Movies, Naughty Marietta, my favorite of the Jeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy musicals.  I recorded it this time, so that I can listen to them sing, "Ah Sweet Mystery of Life At Last I've Found You".   I just love that old song. It reminds me of my mother, who also loved it.

Marilyne, glad to be back,  Yes I love the old songs, and I do go back a long ways.  I still have a song book of the Gay Ninetys.  My GM knew Lillian Russell.  She like to sing After The Ball is Over.
Gloriade (deAngel)

Some excellent oldies playing on TCM this weekend and next week.  Sorry I missed The White Cliffs of Dover this morning.  I would have recorded it if I'd realized it was playing.  A good war story, of life on the home front.

Tomorrow afternoon, is another one that I plan to record - Maureen O'Hara and Tyrone Power in The Long Gray Line.  This is a good family saga about a West Point.  After that one, is the great WWII story, The Caine Mutiny. A wonderful movie, that I never tire of watching.  It was deserving of all the Oscars it received in 1955. 

The past couple of days, my Netflix and Amazon streaming, have both stalled and unable to load a program, etc.  We've tried the "unplug and plug" routine, so must be our Wifi?? Anyway, I have been watching mostly HGTV House Hunters, or Big Sky Country, on the bedroom TV,  and hubby has been watching Pickers and Pawn Stars, and other shows on History and Discovery Channels.  Nothing we want to see playing on TCM, or On Demand, so hope we can get the wifi straightened out today??

We're still getting those IRS scam calls! The ringing phone woke me up at 6:00 this morning, and it was the recorded IRS message. Needless to say, I was extremely annoyed.   I wish something could be done about those calls, but apparently they are coming from foreign countries? 

Marilyne, I also watch a lot of HGTV and of course both Halmarks.  Lately I have not seen anything on TMC that I wanted to watch.  Generally that has always been my favorite.  I do watch the old Johnny Carson show

Marilyne, my smart TV does that fairly often.  It usually means that either Amazon or Netflix is updating and will take anywhere from a few minutes to several minutes to complete their update before they start up.  It's aggravating to have to wait but I suppose they have to update their libraries from time to time.  I don't think it has anything to do with your Wi-Fi.  When I check my Wi-Fi connection it always says it is connected. 

Gloria - I get so fed up with the couples on the house hunter/remodeling  types of shows who want everything "updated"!  They walk into a perfectly good kitchen or bathroom, and the first thing they say is "Oh no - this needs updating"!  They always want to get rid of tile and replace it with granite, and get all new stainless steel appliances. So the new kitchens and bathrooms end up exactly alike - cold and industrial looking.  I guess that's the popular style for young couples today.

Phyll - We don't have a smart TV.  We get our streaming through the Blue Ray player.  That's probably why we have these periodic glitches?  We'll probably end up getting a smart TV, but for now, we love the clear bright picture on this set, so we aren't yet ready for a new one.

Looks like our Netflix and Amazon are back, after some all day work by son and husband.  Seems like it was the wifi connection, but I don't understand why or how?

Our son recommended a lot of shows that they've been watching on the streaming channels.  To name a few:  Shameless, with William H. Macy, The Man in the High Castle, and Luther.  So we will probably give those a look-see sometime this week. 

Tonight we'll be watching one of our long time favorites on HBO - Ray Donovan. I've had mixed feelings about that one over the past couple of years, but overall, it's an excellent drama.  Liev Schreiber, as the title character, and Jon Voight, as his father, have both been nominated for Emmy Awards, in the past. 

The 2016 Olympics, will be on our watch list for the next couple of weeks.  We both enjoy all the events, and look forward to "the show" every two years.  Last night we watched the opening ceremony from Rio, and thought it was good, but as usual, was overlong.  It began here at 7:30, but to avoid the L-o-n-g commercial breaks, we started recording, and didn't begin watching until 8:30.  This allows us to fast forward through the commercials, and made viewing more consistent and enjoyable throughout the whole evening. 

 

Marilyne,  I was surprised to find that the commercials on the Olympics were new, creative, and for the most part enjoyable.  Much better quality than we have to endure incessantly on the Superbowl.  And I thought the opening ceremonies were very well done.  I liked them much better than the opening show the French put on a few years ago.  I thought that one was just plain weird!  It is when the Parade of Nations starts that it gets long and boring.  After the U.S. made their entrance I went to bed.   

Well, I thought the opening ceremonies were B O R I N G.
Mainly because there was no narration, and how were we to determine what any of it meant?  I turned it off during the indigenous peoples part, and went back a bit later to see the US team enter the stadium, then turned it off completely. I hope the closing ceremonies will be better.
I don't think anybody can beat the Beijing opening/closing/ or the U.K ones.

I think the Beijing opening is the best Ive ever seen, but I enjoyed last night's opening.  There was some naration last night and interesting tidbits about various participates.  I enjoy seeing the different countries but went to bed before it was over.

I agree with Tomereader.   I turned it off during that opening whateveritwas with all the square blue things waving around on the field - turned it back on to watch the parade of countries - got bored - went back to reading and turned it on again just in time to see the USA come in......"sort of".  Most of that seemed to be various angled shots of Michael Phelps.
After that, I turned it off completely.   

I've never been a fan of the opening and closing ceremonies at the Olympics. I wish the host country didn't feel like they had to put on a big extravaganza every time.  I would much prefer a simple greeting from the officials of the host country, followed by the Parade of Nations, and finally the lighting of the torch.   

As for the commercials . . . it's a controversial subject in this household! LOL  My husband will not watch a commercial of any kind, and always puts the remote on mute, when one comes on. When watching a hockey game, (or any game) he starts recording, and in about an hour, begins to watch.  That way, he can scroll past the commercials for the entire game

There are some commercials that I like and want to see, such as Geico, Jack-in-the Box, or Progressive Insurance, (featuring Flo.)  So if I'm alert, and can grab the remote fast enough, I can occasionally watch one!    

Marilyne.  You just need to have 2 remotes.  I use Comcast and seems that everytime they come out they say the remotes need changing. Now have 3 new ones.

I'm a huge Olympic enthusiast, so I'll be spending most of my TV viewing time in Rio, for the next two weeks.  I have my favorite sports and my favorite contenders, but I enjoy watching just about everything. (except for boxing.)  I'm hoping to find and watch the sailboat racing, which comes along later this week. My cousin's granddaughter, has a bf who will be sailing in one of them - not sure of the class of sailboat?  I'll find out more when I talk to my cuz tonight. The young man's name is Caleb Paine, so if any of you hear him mentioned, let me know.

I was surfing through the various Olympic channels yesterday, and came upon one of the bicycle races . . . ordinarily something that doesn't interest me at all.  But, just watching any sport for a few minutes, can grab me, because I always pick a favorite, and it's usually the underdog, or someone from a country who has never won Gold.  I was rooting for Poland, for that reason, but he came in second, and Belgium won first.  It's fun to listen to what the commentators have to say about every event.

It's fun and good for us, to watch as much as possible, and pick our favorite athletes to root for in every sport.  It takes our minds off of all the bad things going on in the US, and throughout the world, and makes us concentrate on the good stuff, for two pleasant weeks!  

I like swimming, mens and womens, diving, equestrian, beach volleyball, indoor volleyball, gymnastics of all kinds. I was rooting for the Brazilian men's gymnastic team yesterday, they were so stoked, maybe some of them will make the finals! 
Too many events for me to watch even part of them!

I like the swiming, of course I cannot wait for the golf.

The Chinese synchronized women's dive team was terrific.

I watched for most of the day yesterday.  Nearly all sports interest me but I did get a little tired of the women's gymnastics.  They are very good but it just didn't keep my interest.  The cycling is always interesting....and a little scary.  They push themselves to the limit and beyond.  I love watching the scenery as they pass through.  I thought the Brazilian scenery was very interesting and it is a part of the world that I know very little about.  I watch La Tour de France every year, partly for the race but mostly to see the beautiful French countryside.   

Marilyne, I'm wishing Caleb Paine good sailing.  Do you ever watch the Americas Cup races?  I enjoyed them very much when they raced on San Francisco Bay.  Such a beautiful sport.


  I'm hoping that we will see some of the golf, too, Gloria de.  It is a shame that some of the top golfers in the world decided to not go to the Olympics because of the Zika virus scare.  But, many others are going to be there and it should be good.

Gymnastics doesn't interest me as much as it used it.  I think the reason is that it doesn't have that graceful, artistic beauty that it used to have?  The girls now are strictly muscular athletes, and gymnastics is all about flips and twists and jolts. It looks so harsh and stressful to young developing bodies.   I would never want my daughter to be a gymnast.

Phyll - I also watched the women's bicycle race yesterday, and felt the same way you did about observing the terrain.  First the beaches and those attractive modern apartment buildings and hotels along the Copacabana, and then up the winding roads and into the rain forest.  A beautiful sight to see.  It was marred, however, when the bicyclist from the Netherlands, crashed and fell.  I was watching at that moment, and was really quite shaken to see her lying unconscious by the roadside.  Fortunately she is going to be okay.  I read this morning, that she spent the night in the hospital in intensive care, but was released this morning.  She "tweeted" that she was anxious to get back on the bike!  Olympic athletes are so strong and determined!

I haven't yet found out when or even IF, the sailing events will be shown on TV?  I can imagine that it would be extremely difficult to get TV cameras out on the water to film the many sailboats.  They will probably show the boats as they come into the dock - first, second and third. 
Phyll - We were very interested in the America's Cup race, that was held last summer in San Francisco.  The event didn't get the publicity the sponsors were hoping for, so there was sparse turnout.  I don't know when or where it will be held next? 

We watched the swimming last night, and of course were cheering for all the Americans, who did well.  I was very tired last night and wanted to go to bed, but stayed up to see Michael Phelps in the relay.  He looked great, as usual!

I haven't yet seen Beach Volleyball, to cheer for my long time favorite athlete, Kerri Walsh-Jennings.  I just love to watch her, as well as all the beach volleyball players from every country. I have a special love for volley ball, but especially when played on the sand, at the beach itself.  I grew up in Long Beach - Southern CA, and played beach volleyball by the hour, all summer long.  Of course it was much different back then - co-ed, with as many players who wanted to join in.  Strictly for fun.   

Everyone who is watching the Olympics . . . please keep us posted on what you're watching, and on what you like best, or what you like least.