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So, what is noted master furniture restorer and upholsterer Sonnaz Nooranvary so cheerful about? Clearly, it’s the latest issue of my newsletter, in which I write about one of my favorite teevee shows ever (and one that features Ms. Nooranvary), The Repair Shop. Check it out and subscribe! Tell your friends and your neighbors and your coworkers and that sleep-deprived barista who nevertheless gets your coffee order right more often than not! (No, Ms. Nooranvary isn’t cheering anything I did, that’s just a screencap from an episode of The Repair Shop. But I’ll bet she would cheer it, if she had any idea whoDown the rabbit hole….

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Here are some random notes and thoughts on things we watched in February: Teevee: If you’re not watching Abbott Elementary, I really don’t know what you’re doing with your life. I was getting kind of tired of the whole “workplace documentary” sitcom subgenre that The Office blew up, spawning a dozen imitators, but the characters in Abbott Elementary are just so fun and compelling that all the usual “workplace documentary” stuff–the knowing glances at the camera, the “stealth shots” of characters’ hidden reactions to things other people are saying or doing–don’t feel at all forced. If you’re unfamiliar, Abbott Elementary takes place in an innerDown the rabbit hole….

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I’ve drifted away from tracking things we’ve watched in recent years here, so I’m going to start getting back to it. Teevee: Kaleidoscope (Netflix): This is a heist show that tells a pretty standard heist story: a guy wants to rob another guy, but stealing his stuff is going to be very difficult, so he puts together a crew to help him. The crew consists of career criminals each with a different skill set, and they all have trust issues. All that, and there’s backstory between the main thief and the planned victim. It’s all pretty standard, as heist storiesDown the rabbit hole….

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For no real reason other than I need a blog post (and I’m waiting for The Wife to get ready so we can go out to dinner), here’s a memorable clip from the finale of the sixth season of Dallas. When I was a kid, I loved Dallas. That show was golden–at least for several seasons; later on it started getting a bit cornier and even slapsticky (there was even an episode where JR got hit with a pie!). Early on, though, it was a blast, even if I think the delightful portrayal of someone as awful as JR onDown the rabbit hole….

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By now I’m sure we’ve all had the weirdly unsettling experience that goes something like this: I was talking to a friend about how to best slice tomatoes, and nobody else was in the room, and then the next day my Facebook feed kept showing me ads for mandolin slicers and tomato-slicing gadgets and kitchen cutlery! It’s SCARY, man! I’ve kind of gotten used to this, to be honest. I find advertising an irritant and nothing more; I generally pay no attention to it. What’s a little frustrating is how often I’ll see a whole bunch of ads for aDown the rabbit hole….

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Apparently The Price is Right is 50 years old, which kind of blows my mind. I don’t know why, since it was my favorite game show as a kid* and I’m 50 years old. I’ve seen a few episodes of the show recently, thanks to the prime-time incarnation of the venerable game show, and…well, the show is what it’s always been, with a few updates here and there. TPIR has this really interesting blend of retro and modern going on these days. The set has dialed up the garish colors, but the 70s-era snowflake logo things still abounds. Anyway, some random observations:Down the rabbit hole….

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 For years, Ken Levine has done a “summation” post of the annual Oscar telecast, full of pithy humor. I don’t normally do much more than skim these over, because I don’t watch the Oscars and therefore I never have the full context for what Levine is making fun of, and in all honesty, I occasionally find Levine’s sense of humor a bit mean-spirited. Well, yesterday he wrote a surprisingly whiny post announcing that he’s not doing the Oscar posts anymore, and not for the obvious reason (this year’s telecast is likely to be a colossally unentertaining train wreck), but becauseDown the rabbit hole….

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 A couple weeks ago, we finished watching Season Two of The Mandalorian, so here are my thoughts on the show, including thoughts on Season One. None of this is in any particular order. In fact, it’s pretty damned random, because that’s how I blog. This is the way. (Note: I know that his name is actually “Din Djarin”, but I’m going to refer to him as either “The Mandalorian” or “Mando”, as he is dubbed by the Carl Weathers character.) ITEM the ZEROTH: OK, before I begin talking specifically about The Mandalorian, I have to once again complain about howDown the rabbit hole….

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Today is Martin Sheen’s birthday! He turns 80 years old, which I can hardly believe. In his honor, I’d like to note just one scene from his amazing life of work. This is from The West Wing‘s Season Two opener, called “In the Shadow of Two Gunmen”. The previous season had ended with an assassination attempt on President Bartlet (Sheen), and as the finale ended we didn’t know who had been shot or even killed. When Season Two began with this two-part episode, we learned that President Bartlet and his Deputy Chief of Staff, Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), had both beenDown the rabbit hole….

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Edith Keeler: And you, um, don’t want to talk about it? Why? Oh. Did you… did you do something wrong? Are you afraid of something? Whatever it is, let me help. Capt. Kirk: “Let me help.” A hundred years or so from now, I believe, a famous novelist will write a classic using that theme. He’ll recommend those three words even over “I love you.” Fifty years ago today, “The City on the Edge of Forever” aired for the first time. This episode of Star Trek is, for me, not only the best episode of any Trek series ever filmed,Down the rabbit hole….