The North of England was a Yorkist stronghold, not sure if that’s relevant
Post Content
Andy Capp, 2/24/26
Honestly, there’s just a lot to enjoy here in today’s Andy Capp. I like that Chalkie is taking the opportunity in the middle of the game to roast his teammate for deservedly getting beat up, and I like that the quizmaster is doing such a half-assed job that he just asked an open-ended “when” question about a series of interrelated conflicts that stretched intermittently over multiple phases over 16 years, or possibly 32 years. I love that we learn that the winner of this thing will take home cold, hard cash, which explains why Andy, not really known for his enthusiasm for intellectual pursuits but always short of beer money, is participating, and also means that, given that we know the questions have answers that will be easy to dispute, it may give rise to a further scrap tonight.
Mary Worth, 2/24/26
Look, I’m not saying that I have perfect gaydar, or that gaydar honed in the real world would be at all functional in the Mary Worth universe, but I do want to say that when a dapper elder gentleman with an ascot arrives in a new community and tells the local nosey women that he’s a widower, and then when he realizes that excuse has passed its expiration date blurts outs “I have a girlfriend named, uh, Trixie, but you wouldn’t know her, she goes to a different school” at their approach, there’s reason to believe he may be dissimulating to a certain extent.
Pluggers, 2/24/26
Ha ha, it’s funny because eventually you get to an age where you retire but just keeping your failing body alive feels like a full-time job! PLUGGERS!
221 replies to “The North of England was a Yorkist stronghold, not sure if that’s relevant”
Mary Worth Mashup: I added a hot tub action to yesterday’s strip. Whaddya think?
Pluggers specifically avoid asking their doctors if they are still healthy enough for sexual activity.
ACapp: I don’t care about the joke, but those are well rendered pints of Guinness.
RMMD-“I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. Spielberg.”
RMMD-‘Sunset Boulevard’
MW-Trixie? Your new girlfriend. Right.
FC-“Couldn’t you have used Vaseline when you took my temperature?”
MW-When your character is dressed like a stereotypical elderly gay person it is alright to assume that the character is gay.
Luann-“Hold on we’re doin your homework?” It’s not like she is asking you to interview people you are the one being interviewed.
Imagine yourself at a pool by the water
With meddlers and drunks and some kind of pie
Someone asks someone about a girlfriend
A Trixie who passed this get together by…
Harvey in the sky with ascot
Harvey in the sky with ascot
Harvey in the sky with ascot
Aah
MW:
Is Mary looking up to see if she can spot Harvey’s late wife?
MW: Look at Mary and Toby’s eyes. They’re on goofballs again.
MW- Is Trixie’s last name name Norton?
MW My gut is saying Trixie is actually a wealthy and successful engineer finishing a contract in Turkey. She just needs a little more money to get home because she had to pay out of pocket for unused materials and oh no she was robbed of her wallet just outside the airport!
(Sigh)
My comments are disappearing.
Imagine yourself at a pool by the water
With meddlers and drunks and some kind of pie
Someone asks someone about a girlfriend
A Trixie who passed this get together by…
Harvey in the sky with ascot
Harvey in the sky with ascot
Harvey in the sky with ascot
Aah
AC: Look at the way the host is shrugging; he knows this question is weak. Of course, with the way he’s daintily holding the microphone half a yard from his face, it’s a wonder that anyone can even hear him.
Mary Worth: “Trixie” may be imaginary, but if it keeps “have you met my new gay friend” off of Mary and Toby’s bingo card, I say, well played, Harvey Hart!
MW: Harvey thinks on his feet: “I don’t know what these two braless floozies are up to but I gotta come up with something. Uh, a girlfriend. That might do it.”
MW: “She…uh…lives in Canada.”
Pluggers’ wives are sick of their bullshit.
MW:
“Didn’t you wear that purple cowl to my wife’s funeral a year ago?”
“Yes, and I haven’t taken it off since!”
Pluggers:
You know you’re a plugger when you begin to resemble the family pet or local livestock.
MARY WORTH:
I would hope so Josh, because an elderly gentleman being for real when he says he has a girlfriend that “goes to a different school” would be a lot more controversial.
MW: The shared thought balloon is missing from that second panel. “He must mean WILBUR!”
@Pozzo: my immediate thought as well.
Andy Capp: Hartlepool is in County Durham, on the opposite side of the River Tees from Yorkshire, and thus sees the War of the Roses as a just a little scrap between bunch of namby-pamby southerners.
MW: OK, going to stake out a prediction here: this plot is going to be about AI scambots. Harvey’s “girlfriend” is a slightly blurry, vaguely Chinese-looking 20 year old whose face is different in every photo and who only ever wears frilly underwear. She tells Harvey “You’re not only my lover—you’re also my love” and unfortunately regularly has financial problems that can only be resolved by sending Amazon vouchers to an email address based in Russia.
GT: What is going on with Keri’s eyes? Is she supposed to be crying or are her eyes melting out of their sockets?
The Phantom: The adventures of The Ghost Who Watches Other People Fight And Does Nothing
MW: I love the beginning, when anything is possible. Trixie: 1) imaginary 2) inflatable 3) a catfish 4) Belle Batsfrey 5) a beard
SO excited!
PLUGGERS: Sad to say, I could easily contribute to this strip. I’ll let y’all know if I ever have a moment in the spotlight.
MW: Where is Mary looking? Did she adopt a cat offscreen and go blind from toxoplasmosis? “Parasites are great!”
JP: How are these people so tan in the middle of winter? Do gulags offer sun beds to make sure their starving prisoners aren’t vitamin D deficient?
@Cloots: I’m with you. The ascot is supposed to show he has money. He was scrolling his phone, he’s getting texts from a scam artist.
JP Did they copy some zombie meme for the drawing of the guard in panel 1? That face looks familiar.
MW;
“Now, is ‘Trixie’ short for Beatrix, Harvey?”
“Nope. Trichinosis. She just adores undercooked pork, Mary!”
MW:
Is Mary looking up searching for Harvey’s late wife?
MW:
Harvey is doing great! In fact, the ladies just interrupted him ogling the nude selfie Trixie just sent him.
MW: Hope to God this isn’t a Hi & Lois crossover…
MW: Given Harvey’s uncanny resemblance to the older Peter O’Toole, I assume he’s answering that way because he’s very, very drunk.
Okay, Luann, let me get this straight. You’re in your 20s, taking a middle school-level “career paths” class that requires you to interview three people. You choose your immediate family, whom any competent instructor whould have forbidden you from using for this assignment, and whose career paths you should already know. Then you have to bribe them with fast food, as if your own family won’t sit down with you unless you offer incentives. Fast food that your father says he shouldn’t be eating, further showing that you don’t know or care anything about them. Then when Bwad correctly calls you out, you get self-righteous that you’re not using AI. Really, Luann, is that something to be proud of? That you’re not using AI to do a junior college assignment that an average 7-year-old could complete? You sure act like it is, sitting there with that smug look on your face as if you’ve outwitted the room.
@Baja Gaijin: These are all perfect.
MW – I hope he is gay, or else this will be a story about an old man getting catfished, or being in love with an AI bot, or getting catfished by an AI bot.
Mary Worth: 3/10 gaydar, mismatched ascot and pocket square indicate failed metrosexual
MW: Mary: “So why isn’t she here? Where is she?”
Harvey: “She’s out working on the street, turning Trix!”
Also Mary Worth: Well, of course Harvey’s dissimulating! His head is being held on by some sort of tube, possibly the cardboard jobby at the center of a roll of paper towels! He’s clearly a 13-year-old boy who disguised himself with a puppet head to sneak into the Charterstone pool party and is now sorely disappointed! You’d dissimulate too, out of fear, shame and horniness!
Whoops, another comment disappeared. Is it ICE or an overzealous Comics Curmudgeon IT department?
@CanuckDownSouth:
JP Did they copy some zombie meme for the drawing of the guard in panel 1? That face looks familiar.
Looks like Gowron.
Pluggers: It’s right about this point in the Plugger lifecycle, when the doctors’ appointments end and the nursing visits begin, when the kids start throwing around words like palliative and DNR, that I show up asking if they’d like to hear a little scripture and a prayer. (Pluggers always want the “footprints” “prayer.”)
MW: Mary and Toby looking at each other in the last panel sharing a thought balloon containing one word in quotes: “Girlfriend?” was right there.
MW: Where else but a Charterstone pool party would three distinct extraterrestrial species wearing ill-fitting skin suits bump into each other? What a country!
@Hibbleton: @CanuckDownSouth: It’s giving me less “zombie” than “made out of silly putty,” but YMMV.
MW: It’s possible Moy recently heard of catfishing and we’re about to be “treated” to a twelve-week-long PSA on the dangers of online dating. However, I think we’ll see a more traditional plot. For example: Mr. H’s daughter Sharon, who is 47, disapproves of Trixie, who is 22. Hijinks ensue, and Mary is in meddler heaven.
MW-Trixie would be there but you can’t tear her away from a good sunbeam.
@I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV: Are you posting about MW and using Mr. H’s first name? It’s on the banned list.
@I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV: Oh, I HATE the footprints prayer.
Mw- we’ve already had a catfishing storyline, so let’s hope it is a coming out story. I’ll let the Wortharian historians figure out if the strip has had a gay character before. If not, there may be a lot of clutched pearls from the non-mudges out there.
@2+2=7: I don’t want to learn no more about the Chartestone Game
@nescio: Nah, I think Pluggers are more like “Bob from Enzyte.” Old, horned up, fueled by medication, and don’t care who knows about it.
AC — The bar is handing out cash prizes–they’ve got a few guineas, sovereigns and ha’pence left in the till. . .
Sometimes you want to track down the person being thanked in the daily Pluggers and give them a hug, telling them you’re so sorry their life has turned out like this.
MW: Toby and Mary are both braless and stoned in P1. If you’re going to be copy and paste from an old strip, it better not be one from the sixties.
MW – I am loving panel two, in which Mary and Toby are able to have a conversation without saying a word. “You buying this shit?” “Not for a second.”
“Uh, correct, 1455 to 1487! Now, why did the War of the Roses occur? Who were the major leaders, and what significant military-political events can we point to as turning points in the conflict? What was the role of France? Come on, there’s cash prizes for you, and my A-Level exams are coming up. Cambridge, here I come!”
Andy Capp: While the bartender/quizmaster’s mic discipline is terrible – no one can hear you when you hold your mic at arm’s length, champ! – I like his overall affect. He’s gesturing demonstratively, like a ’90s comedian.
“The Lancasters keep fighting the House of York! What’s the deal with that?”
MW – Let’s assume he means famous drag queen, Trixie Mattel. Honestly, if that happens, I am going to forgive Moy and Brigman for a few of their larger transgressions. Like, at least three Dawn and Wilbur stories. Go forth an sin no more.
GT: Watch out for my giant earrings up ahead, Daddy!!
@Charterstoned:
@MKay:
@Ken:
Fellas, the answer is obvious. We had a catfishing storyline already long ago (remember Arther, Wilbur’s even grosser double who catfished either Irish or Eshtelle?). We just went through two storylines of ‘Pets are Good’. We’ve done fish, we’ve done mammals, we’ve done birds. ‘Trixie’ is going to be a reptile of some sort, either some sort of boa snake or large lizard.
@Banana Jr. 6000: Especially when she immediately folds and confesses she will be using AI, but only ‘a little’.
Dirk Twacy Hollistic Defective :”….and we’re out of coffee.”
Personally, I think with Mary Worth, its too early to do a gay storyline (if that’s what they’re even going with)
I mean to quote one online reviewer on a horribly dubbed Lion King ripoff (with awkward stilted dialogue) where a Crocodile was speaking with an Australian accent “You’re attempting accents? You already can barely do English.”
MW: Supporting Josh’s hypothesis is the fact that, while no cisgender woman has called herself “Trixie” for decades, it’s perfect for a drag queen. Or a pet. (Or a furry…oh God, has all this “animals are awesome” talk been a soft launch for pet play in Mary Worth?)
Pluggers are retired, but never go anywhere other than the doctor’s office. It’s sad, really.
Dennis The Menace…..Dennis shreds some paper, throws it in the air, and calls it snow, fooling poor dense Joey. Very menacing.
If you’ve ever questioned Luann’s intelligence, the fact that she chose to interview these three for a college paper should end all doubt.
MW: How about, he’s dating the sideshow attraction from Sam&Max “Trixie the giraffe-necked girl from Scranton”
I mean, we have a woman, an animal theme, it all fits together!
AC: Is Four Roses whiskey sold in England? Because that’s the only War of the Roses I’d expect to be referenced in any pub Andy frequents.
@TheDiva: I have never met a woman name Trixie, and even in cartoons and such the name is usually delegated to prankster characters.
@Banana Jr. 6000: I like the “butt print” prayer (or poster) better.
@The Quiet Man: When I was a child, and had to do “interview some adults” type schoolwork projects, we were generally forbidden from interviewing relatives. I realize now that the idea was to make the child do some social interactions. Which, as you might guess from our ongoing conversation, was a challenge for me. But if a college level course isn’t even holding the students to *that* very low standard (or if they are, and Luann is trying to circumvent it) than it’s reasonable to ask: what in the hell is the point?
As Mary and Toby approached, Harvey’s heart soared. I’m the center of the storyline, he realized as he became colorful, better drawn, and more interesting then everyone around him. People at the periphery began to simplify, fade, become the background, and suddenly he remembered Trixie, the girlfriend he hadn’t had until Mary turned her benevolent gaze upon him. He had married, had a wife, he realized, and she was dead and he’d never known her until now, the sudden rush of love and grief and a long life lived almost overwhelming him. “Hello Mary,” he said, and he had a voice, a voice unheard until this moment. He knew his story might end in tragedy, but for now, it was his story, and he lived, truly was alive, for the first time, and would live, so long as Mary, full of grace, kept him in her sights.
@2+2=7: Oh. I met her on the island.
No. Not that island.
Uh, sorry ladies. I really gotta be going.
Whoops, looks like the spambot is still eating comments about the new main character in Mary Worth.
MW- ” Oh hello Mary,…Toby,..I was just reading this fascinating article about surrendered parrots!”
Mary and Toby exchange glances – how did Harvey’s hair part from the middle to the side right in front of us?
GT: Who’s honking the horn? Is Gil celebrating the expression of parental authority like a high-schooler would?
DtM: As long as Alice remembers You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun I think we’re safe here.
RMMD: Enter the poor dope who always wanted a pool.
@Banana Jr. 6000: It most likely won’t be, but I would hope the point is, once this ‘heartwarming’ family dinner is finished, for Mommy and Daddy to sit Luann down and tell her the truth about being an adult and how it involves hard decisions.
Then they do what my parents had to do to get me to leave the nest at age 20. They gave me an ultimatum: either go work full-time and get an apartment, go to school full-time (on my own dime which would have meant loans) and live in the dorm, or join the military. If I could have thought of a fourth option they were open to hearing it, but continuing to live at home was NOT an option.
@Hannibal’s Lectern:
what in the hell is the point [of this “ask an adult how/why they got their job” assignment]?
The Watsonian explanation is that Mrs Fogarty is a terrible guidance counselor, but Luann’s misgivings about it went away when she got an assignment even SHE could do.
The Doylist explanation is that it’s a good pretext to update Bwad’s origin story (“I was a rudderless young adult fresh out of high school, saw 9/11 happen on TV, watched first responders (and firefighters in particular) be hailed as the REAL heroes, immediately applied to firefighter academy”) to deal with the fact that it hinges on an event that happened 25 years ago. And also to finally elucidate on what Frank DeGroot’s job actually is (we know he’s a white-collar office worker, but in what capacity, exactly? For what company/employer?
Sex Organ V.D.: “….Blockbuster after blockbuster, then Blockbuster went out of business, taking Ms. Starr with it.We are still trying to reach her siblings, Brenda and Ringo,for a comment other than ‘Bugger off, we only talk to ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT!’ “
Mary and Toby exchange glances – how did Harvey’s hair part from the middle to the side right in front of us?
MW: It’s nice to see that Ian McKellen is still getting work.
Even if he’s just rehearsing for a revival of “The Honeymooners” at the Santa Royale Playhouse.
“Hey, Trixie! Ralphie and I going to the Lodge. Don’t wait up. Ah-voo-voo-voo-voooo!”
@Anonymous: I read your “Hello Mary…” line in Hannibal Lector’s voice, now I can’t unhear it. I’m going to be hearing every line this guy says from now on in Anthony Hopkin’s voice, but really any excuse to spice up this wreck of a comic.
MW – (Narrated in a stage whisper) Unknown to Trixie, Harvey Hart is really Speed Racer’s older brother, Rex Racer, who ran away from home years ago!
MW – (Narrated in a stage whisper) Unknown to Trixie, H*rvey Hart is really Speed Racer’s older brother, Rex Racer, who ran away from home years ago!
C’shaft: Yes, this is EXACTLY the sort of insight into the creative process people are dying to hear about!
Dustin: Good idea, then the security cameras won’t pick up his face when he bludgeons you to death outside your high school.
FG: “Master Dynamo” would be a great name for a supervillain.
JP: You sure you’ve got the right guy, April? I mean, that statement was only 25% accurate.
Luann: I hate this. I hate that Luann trapped everyone into this with a “family dinner” rather than coming out and asking if they would help her with this. I hate that Brad doesn’t understand how interviews work. I hate that the use of AI is treated like a “lol, the kids these days and their ChatGPTs!” punchline rather than something that could incur serious academic consequences. I hate the implication that Luann and Brad still squabble like twelve year olds. Hate. Hate.
MT: You’d think someone like Mark Trail would be worried about the amount of food waste generated by buffets…
Pluggers – Michael Gallup wants to know what they should do with their days off? I dunno, maybe you should take a POLL! Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!
Don Abundio, translated:
“Don Abundio, the neighbor’s house is on fire!”
“The neighbor I’m always fighting with?”
“Yeah, but… shouldn’t we do something?”
@Peanut Gallery: BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
The Familiar Mucus: “Mom! That thermometer tastes weird! What does ‘rectal’ mean?”
@TheDiva:
On Luann : how about the part where Luann’s “family dinner” was, in fact, just ordering fast food for four people (and, considering it was a surprise, she didn’t even ask them what they wanted)? And, considering she WORKS at said restaurant, she probably got it at a discount? And that she was playing it up with a “look at me adulting, getting a meal ready for my family like a grown-up!” ?
…. Well, there’s one way it could be worse; it could be a ready-made meal from Kafe Kablooie that she paid FULL-PRICE for (or, knowing TJ and Les, was somehow tricked into being overcharged).
MW: Since the modbot hates the H word, from now on we’ll refer to the new guy as Gay Peter O’Toole.
I’m not an actor. I’m a movie star!
FC: Mommy! The glass thermometer broke off in my anus! Get it out!
Apple Annie – Look, all of us think Trixie is obviously a catfisher and I’m sure she probably is…but what if she isn’t? What if this storyline ends with Trixie being very real? I for one think that would be neat, mainly because otherwise this is like our fourteenth catfishing storyline.
6 Chix: I thought I was reading Pearls Before Swine today.
BLONDIE: Well, they did it again. Same artwork from at least 2 other strips from the past year with all new dialogue. This time it looks like a mirror image, though. They must not want us to catch on…
CS: “So what were those early days of working on your strip like?” …Good to know that on Month #19 of the interview, we’re getting into the deep, hard hitting questions.
DTM: Easy for you to say. You don’t have to shovel it.
LH: Uh-oh. Leroy is officially a Plugger.
MW – Hi and Lois started in 1954, so it’s quite possible that Trixie would be an age-appropriate girlfriend for Harvey. But then I remember this is Mary Worth and in that universe, “Trixie” is a code word for “harlot.”
@Anonymous: Who said she got a discount? She’s a table busser at best, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this business doesn’t ‘vest’ employees with a discount until they’ve at least worked their way up to working the register.
Who said she even paid for this ‘feast’? She probably grabbed someone’s DoorDash order off the pickup shelves. ‘Weenieworld just puts free food out for people to take. They’re such a kind place to work! It’s super easy and convenient!’
Mary Worth: “Hi and Lois” got its start in 1954. So if you consider normal, real world-style aging, a 73-year-old Trixie Flagston Mitchell van Pelt Yokum Doonesbury Arbuckle would be completely age-appropriate for our dapper gentleman here.
@The Rambling Otter: #64 MW- Glad to hear it! I was thinking along the lines of Charles Nelson Reilly or maybe Paul Lynde.
Crankshaft-When you run out of ideas just revert to interviewing this guy for his biography.
MW- So was this guy Lorna Starr’s hairdresser back in the day? Mary: “So Harvey….uh..got any blow?”
@The Rambling Otter: I see you’re also acquainted with Lion and the King.
@GarrisonSkunk: #62 RMMD- Don’t forget her Uncle, hall of fame QB Bart.
MW – Anyone who’s got a fetish for space aliens with big tits, today’s first-panel Toby is for you.
BF: “So, do you have any idea how they make grapes into wine?”
”No, I suppose I should glance at the Wikipedia page.”
Phantom: In this situation, the correct move is to plant your palm firmly on the top of your opponent’s head and let them flail their short little arms in an impotent manner. It makes for a great comic effect.
RIP Robert Carradine. He was 71.
@The Quiet Man: I increasingly think the entire world of Luann is an indictment of the American upper middle class. But it’s not smug generation-bashing like Dustin is. Luann seems to acknowledge the role of the parents in the complete directionlessness of their children, if only by showing them as characters who don’t react to things they should. Yes, Luann and most of her friends need a parental boot in the ass. And there’s zero evidence anyone is capable of giving it to them.
So you get a bunch of prematurely affluent 20-somethings, who grew up in a very nice suburb, with parents who have no clear reason to be as wealthy as they are. The kids were left to their own devices in life because they’re good kids, and given no direction beyond “go to college.” The tacit agreement seems to be “we’ll support you as long as you’re going to college”, even when the children don’t seem to be working towards anything, or are working towards dumb things like Les’ video gaming career. So you get the perpeual status quo of Luann: everyone’s enrolled in Crappy Junior College or Even Crappier University, and living like high school never ended.
There also seems to be a theme of overbearing, small town WASPy-ness sticking its nose into everything. Like when Luann was effectively you-know-what-shamed out of a little backseat smooching she had every right to engage in, and wanted to engage in. And which any actual friends would never have interrupted. I also point out that the local university everyone attends has “Moonie” in its name, and acts like a Christian university even if it technically isn’t one. $10 says there’s an “honor code.” And there isn’t a gay, non-white, or promiscuous person to be seen anywhere. (Tiffany is implied to be promiscuous, but that’s an Informed Attribute at best.)
People joke about Luann being special needs, but I really don’t think she is. I think she and most of these characters are perfectly average people, just raised in an environment that coddles them too much. And coddles them in a specific way that aligns perfectly with with a suburban, WASP-y, upper middle class upbringing. It’s scary how much it reminds me of what my own college years were like.
MW – I’m betting Trixie is a brine shrimp….
@Banana Jr. 6000: “And there isn’t a gay, non-white, or promiscuous person to be seen anywhere…”
I’d offer the counterexamples of Bets and Earth Mother Whatsherface (sorry, blanking on her name at the moment) but the former may as well be white for as much as she acts like the rest of the cast, and the latter is presented as no threat or question to the Suburban WASP Upper Middle Class status quo, to the extent where it’s right on the razor’s edge of being a throwback to the more degrading roles Hattie McDaniel played in her career.
MW badly combines two very dated gay stereotypes. That particular variety of wealthy dapper gay man was already mostly extinct when Kennedy was still in office, and while he didn’t explicitly acknowledge his sexual orientation, everyone in his social circle knew. But he still clumsily lies to pretend he’s straight, as though he were a State Department employee trying to protect his career. The comic strip could easily update him to look like Johnny Weir.
@Alter Ego: One may think that Brigman’s big-boobed biddy and bimbo are just there to provide a little cheesecake for us sickos, but really she demonstrating her commitment to realism. Those hefty honeydews provide stability and balance for Charterstone’s long-necked ET visitors, letting us know that natural selection is a universal rule of life across the cosmos, even on Planet Mary.
@The Quiet Man: Most fast food places have liberal employee discounts on food, and/or a ready supply of mis-made and never picked up orders that they don’t care if somebody eats. (Especially if it’s a pizza place. That happened ALL the time.)
MW—Expecting Ian to suddenly show up and pompously declare “as an English professor, I must say that since it is a hypothetical the subjunctive case is proper, and you should have said ‘wishing she were here.’”
@Banana Jr. 6000: My own Doylist explanation for the aimlessness of Luann and her age cohort, is the same one that kept Clark Kent on the farm in Smallville for seven seasons before finally placing him at the Daily Planet. Each universe outgrew its premise long ago but maintained a tenuous connection to it – it aged up the lead characters but wouldn’t let them grow up.
@The Quiet Man: I knew somebody was going to call me out on that. I remember some vaguely ethnic girl character in Luann moved to Peru with Gunther or something. But yeah, any non-WASP characters in Luann are no threat to the WASP status quo. Reminds me of Funky Winkerbean‘s gay prom teens, who were the center of a long-running story despite never actually being seen or identified.
@Tonio: I agree that Luann can never grow up, because then there wouldn’t be a comic strip anymore. But I’m trying to engage the comic strip on its own terms, rather than point out the badly papered-over storytelling problems.
Are we sure that someone named “Trixie” doesn’t charge by the hour?
MW: Trixie is a dog, surely. I’m thinking an Irish setter. They have red hair, and they’re good. The question is, how long will we go on before the big reveal of Trixie’s identity? It’s got to take at least a month.
I’ve been trying to make a Doctor’s appointment for months now.
The secretary never answers the phone. Never returns my messages. And when my Mom managed to get in contact with the secretary in regards to my brother, she wanted to make an appointment for me, the secretary put my Mom on hold and never got back to her.
At first my paranoia was starting to make me think that my Doctor was actively avoiding me for some reason. But in reality, I think that the secretary just sucks at her job.
Andy Capp: Chalkie thinks it’s a good move to make fun of his friend who gets into violent drunken brawls while sitting in a bar where said friend is currently drinking alcohol? I feel like he should know the ending to this strategy. It involves taking a pint to the head.
Mary Worth: Yesterday’s horror movie vibes are still going strong, what with Mary and Toby creepily staring at each other mid-conversation as if agreeing that Harvey will make for suitable prey. Get the hell out of here for your own sake, dapper old guy!
MW: If this man is gay.
Best case scenario: Treated respectfully as showing with the times.
Worse case scenario: Is the butt of a bunch of jokes.
Worst case scenario: He ends up run out of town.
The sad thing is that, Moy knows her writing is controversial and she revels in that (Wilbur) so I can see her continuing to be controversial.
@The Rambling Otter: But in the end… I have a feeling that Trixie
-Is real
-Is an actual woman that he’s dating
-And the plot will be that she’s abusive or something.
Literally nothing to do with LGBTQ+ at all.
In other words, another boring ass Mary Worth plot where nothing interesting happens.
@MonkeyDavid: MW: Expecting Ian to suddenly show up and pompously declare “as an English professor, I must say that since it is a hypothetical the subjunctive case is proper, and you should have said ‘wishing she were here.’”
—-
Subjunctive mood, of course, but “case” is exactly what I too would expect Ian to say.
The look shared between Mary and Toby is them trying to decide whether to go along with it or not.
Also, considering all the eaten comments, we should come up with a universally accepted nickname for Mr. Ascot, à la Masky McDeath, to get around the censor bot.
@Anonymous: I’m not convinced that Luann paid for the meal at all, but snagged a wrong order that had to be remade before clocking out.
@Unca Bob: Flagston. And oversnark apologies to all who beat me to this.
@The Rambling Otter: My current bet is that Trixie is a heartless gold-digger who’s just waiting for Widower Hart to kick the bucket (and, if Moy is feeling particularly adventurous, might even attempt to bring that about herself). Because let’s face it, is there any way a woman is named “Trixie” in the Worthiverse and she isn’t some kind of trashy lowlife?
@The Rambling Otter: I’ve been trying to make a Doctor’s appointment for months now.
—-
My doc informs me that people change doctors now like they change their underwear. It seems that you would have a good reason.
@Guillermo el chiclero: NNNNNEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD.
GT: “Grounded?”
“Honk Honk!”
“Stop pretending you’re a goose!”
“Cock-a-doodle do!”
MW: Quinten Crisp has a beard, er girlfriend? Named Trixie? Sure. Why not. Have her give my regards to Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks.
@Banana Jr. 6000: Yes, that may be what happens in the real world, but this is the Evansii we’re talking about. The way they write, Weenieworld is too stingy to give brand new employees a discount (especially one who clearly will never rise above chief table busser and floor mopper), and because she’s not allowed anywhere near food prep, Luann never has access to the unwanted food, so she just steals someone else’s.
@Banana Jr. 6000: Oh yes, Gunther’s first NiceGuy prize who he followed all the way to South America to pick up rocks and sticks with, then got drunk on one non-alcholic beer and went on a madcap rush home to Mommy because some guy who wasn’t his Daddy was putting the moves on her.
@Banana Jr. 6000: That’s the worst part of it. If the Evansii were better writers, they *could* have Luann grow up and still have a comic. Look at Lynn Johnston. Say what you will about the behavior of her character’s or her inability to let her work rest, but she pulled off the ‘character’s grow up and change’ act several times over.
@Baja Gaijin: Superb – Wilbur is wonderfully rendered – bringing out pity and disgust at the same time.
@The Rambling Otter: Well be fair, the secretary may have had a stalker and her new boy friend wrote up her story as a novel which irked the secretary so much she spends nearly the whole work day talking with the MA – oh sorry, that is RMMD’s problem before his eye acted up and his kid got appendicitis.
@Ken: I hope it is a Classic story and Trixie is a full-on high heeled dancer with big hair, even bigger silicone, and shows up in a miniskirt and midriff revealing top. Meanwhile the daughter acts and looks even older than Mary!
GT – Too bad we can’t see that the other earring says “HOO.” That would help create the impression that Keri is crying, rather than that icicles suddenly sprouted from their eyes.
That’s Quentin Crisp, you can’t fool me.
@Unca Bob: And a gal pal named Alice, they just got back from a trip to the moon.
@Banana Jr. 6000: Well give Luann a break, she needed “a feast” (snicker) just to get her parents and brother to listen to her after all. (The good news is that a 20% hot dog that’s been sitting in a heat lamp for 30 minutes is just too much temptation to pass up, so she’s caught them in her web now!)
@I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV, @Banana Jr. 6000: Here, try this one.
FC: Thel is Australian, therefore I can only assume she’s taking Billy’s temperature in Celsius. I’ve often thought the phrase “It’s enough to make your blood boil” when reading the comics, but seldom so literally.
Garfield: It’s funny because Garfield has a serious eating disorder, something that’s a symptom of several horrible feline diseases!
HtH: It’s funny because Hägar has a serious eating disorder, although in his case it’s probably just a symptom of unrecognised depression!
JP: I’ve just realised that Ces spent so long with Neddy and Charlotte, plus the occasional deviation to Drøbak, where everyone has decided to pretend these events never happened and never talk about them again, that I’ve completely forgotten where we left CIApril. Was she captured? Did she just … disappear? Did the local CIA asset, apparently sent to Drøbak just in case April met a criminal in a coffee shop there, ever actually do anything? And why do I feel like Ces is relying on nobody remembering the details?
SH: If you see your workplace as your family, and also everyone there, yourself included, is having a workplace romance, then eeeew.
DT: This is an expensive attack – whomever is footing the bill paid for the deluxe package, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drones, electronic jamming, the works.
GT: Gil is just disappointed that Kerri got caught. So disappointed.
JP: The principal and his student helper are both cowering in fear from the glare NotCIA April has given them.
MW: Right now it looks like a catfishing situation but please let it be a classic much younger woman looking for a sugar daddy and Harvey is just happy to help. He wants to have a Harvey Wallbanger. The big twist, when visiting Harvey she notices that he has smoking electrical connections and saves him (his smoke alarm battery had died). Everyone then realizes that she makes Harvey really happy and doesn’t want much from him, and leaves him alone. Mary and Doc Jeff go out on the boat whose size reflects Doc’s turgid frustration and later have their umpteenth meal at the Bum Boat.
Phantom: Yup, old chef wants to be sure he is going to get that reward meanwhile the bout has entered into round 2. Patrolperson Han has got the speed and balance down but now needs to work on more power to each hit. Two kicks to General Chum’s head and he is still not down (!?).
RMMD: No way, Starr’s agent and former entourage are not still trying to egg her on for a comeback. Older stars are finding new life on Lifetime, infomercials, Hallmark Movies, podcasts. Every little bit and that 10-15% commission helps keep them all going.
@TheDiva: Re: Luann: I think Luann is a serious “brain drain” and as a result everyone automatically gets stupider if they get within a certain radius of her. For instance, Brad mental synapses have been neutered by her presence so severely that he forgot that he doesn’t even live there anymore, and therefore has no need to resume the “obnoxious teen brother brother” role he grew out of ages ago.
(Incidentally get on Bernice’s family to honor their court-appointed mandate that their daughter must spend a least one dinner with them per quarter so Luann can have time to suck up to her own family in the most ridiculous way possible. Some, positive development came out from all of this.)
@Maltmash3r: I’ll let the Wortharian historians figure out if the strip has had a gay character before.
I don’t think so. I’ve been vaguely keeping track, because it fascinated me that the newspaper comics were still so reluctant to have LGBTQ+ characters in the 21st century, and while this has changed considerably over the last few years, I think Mary Worth is still one of only two current soap strips where (until now, possibly) I’ve never even seen a character implied to be gay. (The other is Phantom – I don’t think the Weezie/Kadia subtext is actually intentional, even though it makes much more sense than Kit/Kadia. I suppose you could count Not Graham Norton.)
@Horace Broon:
It is a master class level hand waving. We last saw NotCIA April knocked out in the back of a van. Somehow … fill the ellipses with your own B-movie action sequence … improbable coincidences and … viola we are here.
For those keeping score at home
1. Charlotte and her beanie are home with Neddy at the ranch counting the horses in the new stable.
2. Ann, Kathryn and JP are playing accusation at home with whiskey chasers.
3. The two ditzy girls are still in Norway at the NotCIA front organization job as some NGO charity.
4. And Ann may or may not have been paroled or just skipped.
@27 I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV: Plugger children by this point should be thinking, “Are they EVER going to die? They smell like they already have.”
Andy Capp – Andy Capp isn’t evil, but given that he’s left-handed and a quarrellous drunk always running a scheme, it doesn’t help assuage the stereotype of lefties being sinister.
Harvey – Harvey’s “girlfriend” probably has gaydar as well, but unlike the women who exploit men like Wilbur, she actually likes spending time with a cultured older man and doesn’t take him for everything he has. She can always go on vacation and screw over a Wilbur-type outside of the local area as a side-hustle.
Pluggers – When Plugger reach a certain age, their greatest economic contribution is to consume more and more medical services.
MW- So was this guy Lorna Starr’s hairdresser back in the day? Mary: “So H@rvey…uh.. got any blow?”
@45 The Quiet Man: Take a look at the mashups in comment #1–you can see your “Trixie.”
@The Quiet Man: I realized something about the “realistic aging” strips like Gasoline Alley and Funky Winkerbean: aging your characters realistically is worthless if your characters never change.
It doesn’t have to be some complex Breaking Bad-style narrative, just something to show that characters have developed a little over the years. Luann’s parents being endlessly tolerant of her indolence is a good example. It’s fine if parents aren’t pushing 15-year-olds to get a job. By the time they’re 22, the parents should at least be suggesting it. The status quo is maintained when the aging makes it no longer viable.
And yes, FBOFW deserves much more credit than it gets for its pre-Anthony writing. It’s a shame Johnston was so butthurt about getting divorced that she took a giant steaming dump on her life’s work.
MARY WORTH: Incidentally, I do have to giggle at the idea that people really think this guys is going to be gay. In a world that’s competing with Rex Morgan M.D. to prove how heteronormative relationships are the boring dull-as-fuck charisma-free “dream” we all desire as the end-game, like come on people. In the Worthverse, boys kiss girls (unless they’re Mary, of course, who is way too “divine” for such trivialities!)
On that note, I suspect that “Trixie” is going to be real, but, given the ostentatious “upper-class” signafiers this gay has been draped with, she’ll be some gold-digging trollop that’ll only be diverted away from the help of Mary and her laissez-faire muffin meddling. Once money-grubbing Trexie is dumped to the curb, Ascot here will fulfill the loneliness by adopting (spins wheel o’ pets) llama and after a stilted intimacy-free victory lap at the bum boat, and we’ll have another Mary Worth adventure wrapped up and ready to put to bed (but the the way that Jeff is hoping for.)
@2+2=7: Give RMMD some credit: nearly ten years ago, they did a story where Kelly was jealous of her boyfriend spending time with another girl, but it turned out that girl had a girlfriend (and then neither of them were ever seen again, obviously). And they’ve got a nonbinary kid now!
MW: The look in Panel 2 tells me that He-who-must-not-be-named is being catfished by Mary and Toby. At this point, most Charterstone residents are being scammed by them in one way or another.
Trixie aka “tricksy”: AI girlfriend or pig-butchering scam? Why not both!
I keep expecting Lorna Starr to show up in Santa Royale to start dating Ascot-Dude.
@Peanut Gallery: Something to put in the church newsletter this month! :)
Sorry, your clearly drawn/defined sagging boobs will not tempt me to be anything other than a gay bachelor.
So nice of you to wait an entire year before you said hello.
Tally ho!
What did Mary put in the muffins she served that provided the glazed expressions on their faces before she wandered over to say hello?
At least TRY to make eye contact when you say hello. Of course maybe they are watching the parrots flit around in the trees…
MW: “You guys wouldn’t know her. She goes to another school.”
Pluggers: Pluggers gain vacation time when their physicians are driven to madness by contact with these eldritch beings.
@Artist formerly known as Ben: Sigh. Really should have read what Josh already had up first as far as Mary Worth goes.
AC Who knew that the proper way to hold a trivia night microphone is not only nearly a meter from one’s mouth – so that the competitors are at the edge of their seats straining to hear the barest whisper from the speakers – but also properly held with pinky delicately extended? I am learning so much about British pub etiquette!
Blondie: A cake that looks like a beach? Fun and yum! What is Maya making the syringes out of?
C-Shaft: It’s estimated that in about 5 billion years, the sun will expand into a red giant and swallow its surrounding planets, including the Earth. Skip Townes will have “just a few more questions” for Batton Thomas about the early years of Three O’ Clock High.
GT: Keri’s moving from the grief to bargaining stage of their suspension, but if you want to negotiate you should really change into a less flippant pair of earrings.
JP: I appreciate that the guard/goon appears to be holding a couple of laundromat slugs in his eye sockets. And that’s before hearing April’s abjectly nonsensical escape story.
Luann: It takes more than patchy hair and a hurty stomach to merit comparison with Charlie Brown, Frank.
Phantom: There are probably a few different features in the Bangallan English dialect, but “In action, did you folks happen to see a patrolwoman somewhere around here” is weird syntax.
RMMD: Lorna Starr initially attempted to become a brown recluse but found the bars to entry for non-arachnids to be prohibitively high.
Crankshaft – Skip has a real grip on that slice of pizza – of course, he can’t use two hands to hold it. The slice of pizza is also tilted, so it’s a wonder the grease and pepperoni aren’t sliding off onto the table.
This interview has been going on for at least a year, and they’ve gotten only as far as when the strip first started. This will never end, will it?
Rex Morgan – The consensus is Sunset Boulevard (except that unlike this, Norma Desmond was an interesting character). Who should be floating face down in the swimming pool? Buck is my first choice, but Augie is a writer so would be a better fit.
Speed Bump – You’re ugly, too.
Mary Worth – I agree with the prediction that Mr. Ascot’s daughter will be against his dating and will cause problems between him and the girlfriend.
There has been some discussion about Ascot being gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I just don’t see the syndicate allowing that story. Sure, at one point fifty years ago, Mary Worth was cutting edge enough to run a story about an unwed teenage pregnancy, but I think that a gay character would be just a bit too far for the syndicate. I’m sure that the editors want to keep this strip bland and uncontroversial to avoid offending or upsetting the remaining old people who read it. Look at the last few stories, and try to imagine jumping into something controversial. It’s not going to happen. To be fair, I don’t know if Moy wants to do heavier stories but the syndicate shoots them down.
Also, remember Funky Winkerbean’s highly hyped gay prom story? A straw man character against the gay couple, and Batiuk didn’t even bother to give the gay couple names. I’m sure that any story in MW would be even worse.
@Baja Gaijin: Mashups – Is that parrot pooping on Wilbur? If so, I approve. I’m thankful that I wasn’t eating my breakfast when I saw Wilbur in the Speedo.
@White Rabbit: We used to have an Irish setter, which was Mr. Jive’s pet when I met him. She was a gorgeous dog and very friendly, but ye gods was she dumb. The Far Side cartoon nailed it.
@Ukranazi Stepan: Sigh)
My comments are disappearing.
________________________________
Stop typing in invisible ink. :)
What A Frazzhole!: You can love your parka, Just don’t LOVE your parka.
I wear an ascot to distract the eye from my gigantic chin! It’s working, isn’t it?
Mary’s Worst: This comic needs the late Charles Nelson Reily to move in to Charterstone. CNR was man enough to handle Mary Worth once and for all with one ascot tied behind his back.
MW; They have already set it up, long time widower, daughter out of the picture. I sure hope Trixie is the return of Belle.
@I speak Jive: On MW: Given how childish the writing in this strip has become, I am not at all sure I want to see an eight year old’s take on LGBT issues.
@I speak Jive: On RMMD – Why not both of them? And while we’re at it throw in Rene, Mud Mountain, Jordan like the Country, that senile weapons dealer, Wanda, Truck, Summer, Mrs. Jordan Like the Country, June’s horrible hair, Rex’s plasic hair… the possiblities are endless!
Someone check with Sid because if there’s been a casting call for a “Trixie,” he might know whether they’re looking for something human or otherwise. My hopes are for something like a boa constrictor, an alligator or a bird of prey. Then all those animals who’ve turned Charterstone into a noisy, soiled zoo will eventually disappear and peace will descend once more.
SlylickFox And Kinky Komix For Kinky Kids: Forrestville’s law enforcement structure continues to crumble from the “unfortunate” eating death of Rachel Rabbit….today one of those damn dirty hairless apes takes Officer Quackers in custody and strips him of his uniform. Where have you gone, Slylick Fox? The Animal Nation turns its lonely eyes to you!
@GarrisonSkunk: Mary’s human like speech wouldn’t stand a chance against his wit.
Interesting fact about Charles Nelson Reilly: He was present at the devastating circus fire in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1944 when he was thirteen years old. He escaped the fire, but 167 people were killed. For the rest of his life, he was afraid of sitting in an audience and only rarely went to plays.
@Rube: When the writing isn’t childish, it’s heavy handed and wrong headed. Remember how Mary reacted when that man (drawing a blank on his name) she was going into the muffin business with actually assaulted her? As infuriating as the animal stories are, the serious situations are worse.
@The Quiet Man: I can get on board with that. Make sure there’s room for Aunt Tildy.
@The Quiet Man: #87:
“the more degrading roles Hattie McDaniel played in her career”
Ms. McDaniel used to answer her critics, including the president of the NAACP, with “Would you rather I make five dollars a week being a maid or five thousand dollars a week playing one?”
@GarrisonSkunk: I mean… Weird Al Yankovic wrote an entire song about what a badass he was.
@The Rambling Otter:
According to the song CNR could unhinge his jaw and swallow a Volkswagen whole
-Melt your brain with his laser beam eyes
-Has a rattlesnake do his laundry
Among other things, hunted down Chuck Norris at some point offscreen and mounted his head on his wall.
How long have they been sky writing Mary Worth’s lines for her? She’s not even trying to hide her eye direction today.
“Thing is, the ascot-wearing widower, he’s got dead eyes. Like a doll’s eyes…”
You’re gonna need a bigger pool party.
Toby: “Pin him down,Mary! Does this ‘Trixie’ have long ears and constantly craves cereal specifically made for kids?”
@GarrisonSkunk: Charles Nelson Reilly couldn’t even handle Captain Gregg, and he was only a ghost.
@The Rambling Otter: Giddy up, Gene!
CS: Too bad Batty didn’t have Thel Keane negotiating his contract with the syndicate. The Keanes own all rights to their strip lock, stock, and barrel.
MW: How about something darker? Trixie is really a mummified corpse kept hidden in a locked room, ala Norman Bates mom. When the Charterstone residents do see “Trixie” it’s really Mr. Hart in drag. He proceeds to stab Wilbur to death while he’s singing in the shower.
@The Rambling Otter: Giddyup, Apple Mary!
@I speak Jive: We used to have an Irish setter, which was Mr. Jive’s pet when I met him. She was a gorgeous dog and very friendly, but ye gods was she dumb.
—-
So, an Irish setter will fight right into Mary Worth.
For fight read fit. Or leave it as fight, works either way.
@I speak Jive: #138- MW- It doesn’t matter whether or not H@rvey is gay. Either way, he’s probably getting more axx than Dr. Jeff.
Re: Mary Worth, I’m just glad that the shade of Peter O’Toole is getting work from the beyond.
@Guillermo el chiclero:
Somehow, everyone else has resisted the temptation.
@Peanut Gallery 117: Excellent!
MT: Having followed MT for lo these many years, I’m irritated not to know why Mark is winking about buffet food. Were it any other strip, I might check online to see if “buffet food” is now some slang sex thing. But this is MT.
GA: I would claim this new damaged-Christmas-card story just has to be better than the vitamin story that finally mercifully ended, but no such thing is true.
JP: The guard dude on the right in the first panel is expressing perfectly how I feel about seeing April again. Thank you, guard dude.
It’s not an ascot, it’s a day cravat. An ascot is worn over the collar (like a regular necktie), folded over and held in place with a pin, and is extremely formal (tailcoat etc.) A day cravat is worn under an open collar, loosely knotted, and is quite informal, like at a pool party.
@Charterstone: Dune: Bwahaha!
@Fnarf: This, this is why I come here. Come for the snark, stay for the education.
Late Thread Cuisine: After yesterthread’s “pumpkin” pie, how does this look?
@139 I speak Jive: Yes, that’s a parrot pooping on Wilbur in the hot tub. A parrot with a cloaca the size of a bone-in ham.
@147 Dr. Pill: Take a look at “Trixie the Boa Constrictor” in the link on comment #1.
RIP Martin Short’s eldest daughter.
@treetown: Last week someone commented that the “soap” comics used to be much faster-paced – a new situation would be introduced and resolved in a week, two at most. It occurs to me, that’s what allowed them to juggle multiple plotlines simultaneously. That’s where JP fails. The writers want to have their four plots running, but since they can’t manage to spend less than six weeks on each, the readers (and possibly the writers) lose track of the other threads.
Is Cartoon Punky Brewster, Cartoon Brandon, and Glimmer moving into Charterstone with Cartoon Henry?
@Ken: I hope Schkrade isn’t making that mistake up on Mongo.
I resent leaving Bok the Bodyguard during his perilous situation to go watch Flash and the Power Men deal with a blackout. Tomorrow: Ergon puts a penny in the fusebox!
@White Rabbit: So, an Irish setter will fit right into Mary Worth.
___________________________________________
You mean sexually?
@Ken: Oh. Ohhhh…
@Guillermo el chiclero: CS: Too bad Batty didn’t have Thel Keane negotiating his contract with the syndicate. The Keanes own all rights to their strip lock, stock, and barrel.
___________________________________________
Actually, Redheaded Stepchild Productions LTD. is just a holding company for the real owners, NotMe and IdaKnow.
@Ukranazi Stepan:
For two days now my comments vanish when I post them. No point wasting my time writing comments anymore.
@Ukranazi Stepan: Are you referring to the new guy in Mary Worth? Apparently his first name – H@rv3y – triggers the modbot. I have a comment lost in the ether too. I assume Unca Lumpy is on vacation.
@Voshkod: I thought that yesterday Josh said he was going to unblock the word, but if so, it doesn’t seem to have taken.
@Baja Gaijin: Soooo much better. I’m not a huge apple pie fan, but I think the two flavour profiles would go fine together
MANDRAKE: Major explosion, apparent collapse of house, yet Narda escapes unscathed and perfectly groomed. What is her brand of hairspray?
Hojo is undoubtedly checking out extent of damage and finding cause while Mr and Missus breathe easy
FBoFW: just noticed spare lunchbag waiting in Panel 1. Again, Aprils future career is developing.
Rhymes with Orange: simple solution– carry around a spreadsheet listing every possible emergency, every possible coalition of hospitals and doctors for each emergency, and current medical coverage for each possible complication. Update twice a day.
6Cx: and yet, prolonged protests sometimes do work, unless under authoritarian regime
MW: Just go with G el C’s suggestion, Gay Peter O’Toole.
Of course, Gay Quentin Crisp works too, but GAY Quentin Crisp? That’s just crazy talk.
@Voshkod:
#182. Let me try (my reputation is Bland). Harvey may be gay or he may be a used to a more refined life
Yep, I tried and my innocuous comment disappeared too.
@Activist: Sometimes the filter takes an inexplicable dislike to me. When that happens I email Josh and he’s happy to unblock my comments.
@Guillermo el chiclero: I’m certainly not begrudging Ms. McDaniel her success as a performer or the money she made as one. She was always a welcome presence in her films and would rise above the formulaic roles she was given to play.
I’m just saying that the world has thankfully moved on and horizons have expanded.
MW – Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Condo Association
@I speak Jive: Re Crankshaft: Someday the interviewer will be asking, “Tell me what the early days of this interview were like for you.”
@GarrisonSkunk:
“The guy with the fancy neckwear tripped and fell right on his BLANK.”
@Peanut Gallery:
#192. PHANTOM: Speaking of neckwear, I sure hope super patrolwoman Han uses her blue bandana in arresting Villain Chung.
@Peanut Gallery: Wow, that brings back memories. Thank you.
@Baja Gaijin: Very much better, thank you. When the BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS test kitchen was chugging along at its best, the food was pretty good.
@Rube: Josh said he had unlocked the word as of yesterday morning, but my two H****y comments disappeared yesterday evening, so the minor curse remains, apparently.
AC: Also note that Andy is already 2/3 of the way through his pint, as opposed to his mate who is only 1/2 through his. Showing that Andy drinks way more than anybody. Or maybe he’s even had 1 or more already! It’s a subtle touch.
@Baja Gaijin: That shows it’ll be dangerous for boa constrictors in this situation. The poor thing is choking to death. Mary is just too hard to swallow.
@Baja Gaijin: Both pies look good, though I’m not a fan of figs. A little pumpkin spice in the double-pie could be real popular around November, say.
@205 CanuckDownSouth: That particular flavor combination probably works well, especially if the apples are tart. Tart apples with sweet pumpkin, mmmm.
@217 Poteet: I tried to find something appetizing after yesterthread’s fakeout.
@220 Dr. Pill: Did you notice Mary’s expression? Not of terror but of peevish annoyance because Toby’s standing there, blathering, instead of helping her out of Trixie’s gaping mouth.