From: H. Nunes <hwnunes@leland.stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: 1/11 Episode "Revelations"
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A77892D4E80100F0@naranja-pc-175.stanford.edu>
X-Xxdate: Tue, 12 Jan 93 15:23:00 GMT
Organization: CaveMakers, Inc.
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d17
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 23:22:41 GMT

In article <1993Jan12.221244.24903@leland.Stanford.EDU> David Y.S. Chang,
radioman@leland.Stanford.EDU writes:
>What a show! Best in weeks, that's for sure. Does anyone know who the
writer
>was, and what other shows he/she has done recently?

The husband/wife team of Schneider and Frolov wrote the episode (its
always a good sign when you see these two at the beginning of an NX
episode).  They are both producers, with Andrew Schneider being
co-executive producer (The only persons with greater control over the
show than Andrew are Brand and Falsey).  They have written many of the
better episodes including "Cicely" and "Seoul Mates." (I am afraid to
name more because I know I'll make a mistake).  They have been around
since the begining.

>=-=-=-= Now for some followups:
>In article <1993Jan12.064508.1384@leland.Stanford.EDU> H. Nunes 
><hwnunes@leland.stanford.edu> writes:
>
>>! Were Janine Turner and John Cullum (Maggie & Holling) doing another
>>"Quantum Leap" episode?
>
>Hmm. I hadn't heard about this. What kind of characters did they play?

It was a reference to the 1989 QL episode titled "Catch A Falling Star"
where both John Cullum (Holling) and Janine Turner (Maggie) had guest
starring roles as actors in an off Broadway production of "Man of La
Mancha."  Cullum was GREAT and Turner sure had an interesting part. 
Holling played a drunk star of the stage (exactly the way he plays a
drunk Holling) who is saved by Sam when he falls off the set (hence the
title of the episode).  Cullum does some singing too and he is superb. 
Turner plays the lead actress in the musical who is replaced.  She then
uses sex to get back at the people who crossed her.  Cullum looked like
Holling, but Turner looked totally different.  Shoulder length hair, high
heels, mucho make-up, and showing some leg.  It was recently shown again
on USA cable.

>>! Marilyn:  Paper clips, blue, and beige.  Is it just me or is this
>>Marilyn/Joel schtick getting very old?  Although I can never get enough
>>of the fact that "we only have one line."
>
>I must have missed the "one line" joke, but this was the only real
annoyance
>for me in the show. 

No, this was reference to prior shows.  I think the last time it was used
was in the second season.  Marilyn goes and answers the phone and then
tells Joel something like "Juneau on line one," then Joel replies "We
only have one line," then picks up the phone.

>Beige, yeah, right. Mediocrity in NX comes when the
>characters are made into stereotypes of themselves. With Marilyn, they
could
>almost have a stand-in made of cardboard. She has no goals, no emotions,
no
>real friends....Sure, stoicism and emotional equilibrium are
>strong parts of her character, and probably her culture, but it's
supposed
>to be "silent waters run deep," not "hey, there's no one in the kiddie
pool."

Great point.  In "Crime and Punishment," I believe she said a total of 14
words in two scenes.  TWO SCENES!  She added nothing, it was almost a
parody of herself.

>>! What really shocked my about the whole Chris and Simon thing was the
>>fact that Simon DID turn out to be a woman.  
>
>I thought they raised the stakes a lot with the floor-scrubbing scene. 
>Hilarious. And I wasn't expecting the "Simon is a woman" twist because I
>watched her body language in the beekeeper outfit and damn if she didn't
look
>like a pissed-off man who wanted to knock Chris' block off. 

You were able to distinguish body language with those robes!!!

I don't know, but as soon as I saw Chris kissing the thing with the bee
hood, I said "I hope that monk doesn't turn out to be a woman."  In the
end, I don't find fault with what they did.

>>! First and only gripe-- the reuse of footage used in the episode
>>"Dateline:  Cicely" in the ending montage (the mom reading the newspaper
>>with her daughter) is probably worst than using the trebuchet a second
>>time... for me, anyway.
>
>That's a big one. You're right; they can't try to move their viewers
>emotionally and toss out leftovers at the same time. And where the hell
>are these people during the real show? You hardly ever see other
Cicilians. The
>only examples I can think of are the times when Chris was in heat and the
>ending montage (in B&W) that Ed had filmed of the town.

Well, atleast we that there are kids in Cicely.  Remember in "What I Did
For Love," there was a waiting room full of children.  And the kids in
Ed's film in "Animals R Us."  Just because the characters the show
follows don't have kids doesn't mean that there aren't kids in Cicely.

>>! I really like Bernard (who doesn't?), but they really need to
>>find/write better reasons for him being in Cicely so much lately.
>
>I don't. Bernard doesn't seem natural because they don't give him the
chances
>to blow off steam, to explore himself, to butt heads with others--that
they 
>give Chris. Without that, he's eternally sunny and erudite. There's no
balance.
>Not like he has to be the lead story. Just give him a chance to get
pissed off
>or obsessed or euphoric.

Isn't that what he did with the monologue about April 15.

I like Bernard (so do many others) because he seems to be more of a
realist than Chris, and he is more cheerful.  Most of us can relate to
Bernard, a man who has worked for a living, rather than Chris, whos shady
philosophy and backgroud make sum shy away.  Personnally, I like Chris
because he is very amusing.

>>! A very, very, very good episode.  Solid, with no real complaints.
>
>I agree. Too bad I'd stopped taping 'em.

Bummer.  I can see why you stopped taping (I'm not in any hurry to watch
most of the first 11 episodes of this season again), but you should have
known it was going to make a turn around.
Newsgroups: alt.tv.northern-exp