Favorite Episodes of "FRIENDS" Season Two (1995-1996)

 

Below is a list of my favorite episodes from Season Two of the NBC series, "FRIENDS". The series was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman:




FAVORITE EPISODES OF "FRIENDS" SEASON TWO (1995-1996)



1. (2.24) "The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding" - Rachel Green reluctantly agrees to be maid of honor at the wedding of her ex-fiancé, Dr. Barry Farber. Monica Geller ponders her future with her older boyfriend, Dr. Richard Burke. And Chandler Bing falls for a mystery woman on the Internet.





2. (2.19) "The One Where Eddie Won't Go" - Creeped out by his bizarre new roommate, Eddie, Chandler demands he move out. Meanwhile, old roommate Joey Tribbiani struggles dealing with losing his job on "Days of Our Lives".
A new book on female empowerment inspires the girls to have a "goddess meeting", unleashing buried truths.





3. (2.07) "The One Where Ross Finds Out" - A drunken Rachel calls Ross Geller and reveals her true feelings for him on his answering machine. Meanwhile, an unemployed Monica keeps busy by being Chandler's personal trainer.





4. (2.05) "The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant" - During a dinner party at a local restaurant, the gang become divided by income issues. Chandler also uses a case of mistaken identity to his advantage when a sexy-sounding woman calls the wrong number.





5. (2.15) "The One Where Ross and Rachel . . . You Know" - Monica meets Richard, her parents' old friend, for the first time when she caters a party for him and becomes immediately infatuated. Ross and Rachel go on their first date. Joey and Chandler refuse to move when they get a new television and two armchairs.

"LINCOLN" (1988) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from "LINCOLN", the 1988 television adaptation of Gore Vidal's 1984 novel, "Lincoln: A Novel". Directed by Emmy winner Lamont Johnson, the two-part miniseries starred Sam Waterston and Emmy nominee Mary Tyler Moore as Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln:




"LINCOLN" (1988) Photo Gallery

"LITTLE WOMEN" (1970) Review

 

"LITTLE WOMEN" (1970) Review

It is very rare to find a British adaptation of an American novel. It is even rarer to find more than one adaptation. Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel, "Little Women" must have been very popular with the BBC network. The latter had adapted the novel four times. Several years ago, I had seen the network's 2017 version. I thought it was the only version adapted by the BBC . . . until I had stumbled across the 1970 adaptation.

Set during the 1860s decade, "LITTLE WOMEN" told the story of the four March sisters of Concord, Massachusetts and their coming of age stories during and after the U.S. Civil War. With second daughter Josephine aka Jo serving as the story's main protagonist, the miniseries focused on the sisters' struggles with the family's diminished finances, their personal ambitions and especially their love lives. Early in the story, the March sisters become acquainted with their neighbor, one Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence, grandfather Mr. Lawrence and his tutor, John Brooke. Whereas third sister Beth develops a friendship with the elderly Mr. Lawrence, oldest sister Meg falls in love with Mr. Brooke, and the youngest Amy develops from a slightly vain and coddled child to a mature and self-assured young woman. As for Jo, the story focused on her development from a temperamental and stubborn girl, who learns to maintain her hot temper, navigate through her relationships with two men and adhere to her ambitions to become a writer.

Another surprising aspect of "LITTLE WOMEN" that I had learned was that it was the longest adaptation of Alcott's novel with a total running time of 225 minutes. This gave screenwriters Alistair Bell and Denis Constanduros to be as faithful to Alcott's novel as possible. Were they? Somewhat. The pair did take care to explore Laurie's volatile relationship with his grandfather - something that a good number of the other adaptations had failed to do. And it allowed glimpses into his growing relationship with Amy in Europe. Also, the early stages of Meg's marriage to Mr. Brooke ended up being explored, something that only the 2019 movie adaptation had repeated. I believe the miniseries did a very solid job of conveying these aspects of Alcott's novel.

But the miniseries left out Meg and Laurie's experiences at Annie Moffat's party. The miniseries also left out the sisters meeting with Laurie's English friends - something only the 2017 adaptation had included. Bell and Constanduros had changed the time period of Amy's near drowning at Walden Pond from the winter to either the spring or summer, allowing a rickety pier to send her into the pond, instead of thin ice. And it never touched on Amy's violent encounter with her schoolteacher over pickled limes. Did these aspects of the screenplay harm the production? Hmmmm . . . perhaps not. But I do feel that the miniseries' increased emphasis on the Lawrence men's relationship came dangerously close to overshadowing the March sisters' own relationships. I am relieved that the miniseries managed to focus somewhat on Jo's relationship with Professor Bhaer. However, I do have a problem with the sexist manner in which Constanduros and Bell had the professor viewed his future marriage to Jo. Whatever admiration Professor Bhaer had for Jo's writing skills seemed to fly out of the window in his anticipation of her being a good wife. Superficially, I had no problems with the brief focus on Meg and John's marriage, even if it could have been somewhat more thorough. But I believe it exposed what I believe was one of the miniseries' main problems.

"LITTLE WOMEN" did have its share of problems. Like the 1978 television adaptation, it is clear to see that it suffered somewhat from a low budget. If I must be frank, that seemed to be more obvious in this adaptation. Aside from Amy's near drowning at Walden Pond and some of European settings featuring Amy and Laurie, all other scenes had obviously been shot inside a studio. Very disappointing, considering a good number of BBC productions featured a mixture of interior and exterior shots. I found the actresses' makeup and hair - especially the latter - to be inconsistent and frankly, a big mess. Betty Aldiss' costume designs seemed solid enough, but not particularly earth shattering. Although the cast solely featured British performers, I believe a handful of them managed to handle American accents quite well - especially Stephen Turner, Stephanie Bidmead and Martin Jarvis. But despite their solid or excellent performances, the rest of the cast seemed to struggle maintaining one. And could someone please explain why three of the actresses who portrayed the March sisters seemed to be incredibly loud? Nearly every time one of them spoke, I had to turn down my television's volume. Some have explained these scenes featuring quarreling between the four sisters. They have even gone as far to claim this adaptation was the only one that featured the sisters often quarreling. Well, they would be wrong. Nearly every adaptation (I am not certain about the 1933 movie) of Alcott's novel featured quarrels between the sisters. So, this explanation does not strike me as a good excuse for the loud voices.

Judging from the previous paragraph, one would assume I have a low opinion of the majority of performances featured in "LITTLE WOMEN". Not really. Most of the performances featured in the miniseries struck me as pretty solid. Actresses Angela Down ("Jo"), Jo Rowbottom ("Meg"), Janina Faye (Amy) and Sarah Craze ("Beth") all gave solid performances and managed to capture the nuances of their individual characters in a competent manner. As I had stated earlier, I had a problem with most of them - with the exception of Craze - resorting to loud and histrionic voices in their portrayals of the March sisters at a younger age or in the case of Rowbottom, engaged in a heated quarrel. I thought Jean Anderson gave a solid performance as the stuffy Aunt March. Frederick Jaeger gave a very likeable performance as Jo's love interest, the intellectual Professor Friedrich Bhaer. And I believe the actor had a solid screen chemistry with Down. I really had a problem with actress Pat Nye, who portrayed the family's housekeeper, Hannah. Nye's handling of Hannah's American accent struck me as ridiculously exaggerated . . . to the point that her accent almost seemed Southern. Patrick Troughton, a talented actor in his own right, had more or less been wasted in his role as the family's patriarch, Mr. March. I do not believe he had spoken more than three to five lines in this production.

I can think of at least four performances that really impressed me. It seemed a pity that not one of them came from the four actresses who portrayed the sisters. Oh well. John Welsh has my vote as the second best version of Mr. James Lawrence, the March family's wealthy neighbor. I thought he did an excellent job of developing his character from a strict and curmudgeon guardian to a warm-hearted man who learned to develop a relationship with his grandson. Most portrayals of John Brooke, Meg's future husband, have never impressed me. But I must say that I found Martin Jarvis's portrayal of the character more than impressive. The actor was given an opportunity to delve more into Mr. Brooke's personality and he ended up giving one of the better performances in the miniseries. If given the chance to vote for the best performance in "LITTLE WOMEN", I would give to Stephen Turner for his portrayal of the sisters' close friend, Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence. I suspect Turner had greatly benefited from Bell and Constanduros's script, which seemed more interested in Laurie as a character than the four leads. But judging from Turner's performance, I suspect his would have overshadowed everyone else's due to the actor's superb handling of the character. I also have to compliment Stephanie Bidmead's portrayal of the March family's matriarch, Mrs. "Marmee" March. Not only did I find her performance warm and elegant, but it also lacked the dripping sentimentality of the earlier versions and the heavy-handed attempts to make the character "modern" - relevant to today's movie and television audiences.

"LITTLE WOMEN" had its flaws. I cannot deny this. But I feel its flaws - which included a limited budget and some questionable American accents - were not enough to dismiss the nine-part miniseries as unworthy. I believe the 1970 miniseries proved to be a lot more solid and entertaining than some fans of Alcott's novel believed, thanks to Paddy Russell's competent direction, a damn good screenplay by Denis Constanduros and Alistair Bell, and a first-rate cast led by Angela Down.

Ranking of "JULIA" Season One (2022) Episodes

 

Below is my ranking of the Season One episodes of the HBO Max streaming series, "JULIA". Based on the life of television chef Julia Child and created by Daniel Goldfarb, the series stars Sarah Lancashire in the titular role:




RANKING OF "JULIA" SEASON ONE (2022) EPISODES



1. (1.02) "Coq Au Vin" - Facing mounting pressure from station executives at WGBH Boston, cookbook author Julia Child struggles to figure out how to present a complicated recipe on television.
Later, on-set flubs threaten the future of the show and Julia's career.






2. (1.07) "Foie Gras" - While in New York, Julia and her new show receive both accolades and criticism. While Julia's husband and close friend, Paul Child and Avis DeVoto forge an unlikely, the show's producer, Alice Naman, finds an unexpected connection of her own.






3. (1.04) "Petit Fours" - As WGBH reaps the rewards of their new star's efforts, a jealous rival threatens the station's burgeoning success. While Julia struggles with the price of fame, Paul begins to accept defeat, and Alice changes tack.






4. (1.06) "Breads" - While Paul and book editor Judith Jones experiment with baking, Julia tackles a different kind of "bread." As sleep-deprived producer-director Russ Morash tasks Alice with even more work, the future of Avis's position on the show is questioned.






5. (1.08) "Chocolate Souffle" - After suffering a terrible emotional blow from a hostile critic, Julia's future - and the fate of the show - hang in the balance.






6. (1.01) "Omelette" - In 1962, Julia boldly pitches a groundbreaking television series centered on demonstrations for the home cook - despite pushback from male station executives and her own husband.






7. (1.03) "Boeuf Bourguignon" - When the show goes over budget, Julia doubles down on her efforts to continue making her dream a reality. As Paul contends with his fearsome father-in-law, Alice struggles with her new assignment.






8. (1.05) "Crepes Suzette" - In San Francisco, Julia tests the waters of her newfound celebrity status alongside celebrated chef James Beard, leaving a brooding Paul to question the true cost of his wife's fame.

"GASLIT" (2022) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from "GASLIT", the STARZ Channel's 2022 adaptation of Season One of Leon Neyfakh's podcast called "Slow Burn", which discussed the Watergate scandal. Created by Robbie Pickering and directed by Matt Ross, the eight-part limited series starred Julia Roberts, Sean Penn and Dan Stevens:

"GASLIT" (2022) Photo Gallery