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bballer24143-blog · 4 years

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The Rise, Fall, and Future of Cam Newton

USA Today Sports

By Sam Mehr

6/8/2020

Quarterback Cam Newton is one of the most intriguing figures in the NFL. The Carolina Panthers drafted him with the number one overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft, and from the outset, he took the league by storm. Newton threw for 422 yards in the opening game of his career against the Arizona Cardinals, the most by any rookie qb in an NFL debut. That game set the tone for a spectacular rookie season, which included him breaking future hall of famer Peyton Manning's record (at the time) for passing yards in a rookie season. Newton threw 21 touchdowns passes, and rushed for 14 touchdowns on the ground, the most rushing touchdowns in a season by any quarterback (this record still stands today). Newton’s spectacular rookie season led to him earning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, and garnered him placement as the 40th best player in the NFL (as voted on by his peers) in the NFL Top 100 show before the 2012 season. He continued to have further success in the coming years, culminating in his masterpiece 2015 season. In 2015, Newton totaled 45 touchdowns (35 passing, 10 rushing), leading the Panthers to a 15-1 record (the best mark in franchise history). Newton’s performance led to him receiving the MVP award. The Panthers reached the Super Bowl in 2015, only the second time in their existence that they had reached that game. They ultimately came up short, however, falling to the Denver Broncos 24-10. Through the years, Newton has been known for his considerable physical gifts. He has a titanic 6'5 inch, 245 pound frame. Cam has a strong arm, giving him the ability to effortlessly uncork deep passes. He possesses gazelle-like speed to run for first downs and touchdowns, often accentuated by acrobatic dives and flips into the end zone.

Newton has fallen on hard times in recent years, however. In 2018, Newton played excellent football for the first 11 games of the season. However, he struggled down the stretch with a shoulder injury. The injury forced Newton to miss the final two games of the season, and required offseason surgery. Newton came back in 2019, but injured his foot August 22 in a preseason game against the Patriots. Newton showed his toughness and competitive fire by returning to the field a mere two weeks later when the regular season started. Nevertheless, after struggling in the first two games of the season, the Panthers shut Newton down with a Lisfranc injury. According to Orthoinfo.org, the injury entails either bone fractures in the midfoot or torn ligaments. Newton ended up missing the rest of the season, and had to undergo surgery in December. In March, the Panthers unceremoniously moved on from Newton, signing quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to replace Newton. The team allowed Newton the opportunity to talk to other teams about trade possibilities the same day they signed Bridgewater. One week later, the Panthers ended up releasing Newton, officially closing the book on a thrilling era in Panthers history.

To date, Newton remains a free agent. It is surprising that a player of Newton’s caliber and credentials is still out there to be had. Naturally, the question is raised as to why Newton is still a free agent. A number of factors are likely in play, in my mind. One possibility for Newton’s continued unemployment is pickiness by him in terms where he wants to play. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said that, while Newton wants a starting job, he is open to signing as a backup. The one stipulation, however, is that he would only accept a backup role with the right team, implying he would not just sign with any team that picked up the phone to call him. Another logical possibility is concern over Newton's attitude. Newton has been known to sulk during games and after losses. Who is to say that Newton would be content when dealing with the reality of being a backup quarterback come fall? Therefore, teams might look at other quarterbacks who are less accomplished, but more willing to accept being a backup rather than bringing Newton onboard (average at best quarterbacks such as Joe Flacco and Mike Glennon already found backup work). A final issue for Newton relates to the timing of when Carolina released him. The Panthers cut Newton loose on March 24. The problem is that by the time he became a free agent, teams that needed starting qb’s (including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts) had already made commitments to the guys they signed in free agency (Tom Brady and Philip Rivers respectively). Beyond that, the horrific Coronavirus hit the world, leading to NFL teams closing their facilities. This shutdown hurt(s) Newton because team doctors cannot examine him to see whether or not he has fully recovered from his injuries. Without such clearance from doctors, it is hard for a team to be willing to pay Newton a hefty sum of money. Further support for this specific factor is reflected in comments made by Seattle Seahawks tight end Greg Olsen. Olsen, a longtime teammate of Newton’s, told Seattle reporters that Newton’s release post-pandemic lockdown limited his options, in part, due to teams not being able to see his current health status.

Finally, looking to the future, it is interesting to consider teams where Newton could fit. In terms of potential teams where Newton could start, there are a few options. One would be the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew gained the starting job last season after playing well in relief of the injured Nick Foles (who has since been traded to the Chicago Bears). However, Minshew was chosen in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, a draft slot that doesn’t guarantee long-term commitment. If the Jaguars wanted to add a new starter, or at least make Minshew compete for the starting position, Cam Newton would be an ideal player to sign. Another place where Newton could start is the New England Patriots. The departure of superstar Tom Brady left a gaping hole at the quarterback position. The Patriots like Jarrett Stidham, a second-year player who played at a high level in the 2019 preseason. Still, Stidham is inexperienced, as he only threw four passes during the 2019 regular season. He may need one more season to sit on the bench and learn from a veteran quarterback. Newton would be a perfect one year bridge, who could keep the Patriots in the playoff mix, and revive his own career before potentially hitting free agency again in 2021. A final place where Newton could start is the Washington Redskins. New coach Ron Rivera hasn’t fully committed to 2019 first round pick Dwayne Haskins (whom he inherited upon taking the job). Rivera indicated that, while Haskins is the presumptive starter going forward, he would have to compete for the job. Rivera, the Panthers head coach from 2011-2019, already traded this offseason for former Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen. Why not bring in Newton, another quarterback with whom he has familiarity? In fact, Rivera acknowledged to Good Morning Football on NFL Network that he had thought about the possibility of signing Newton, and would not rule it out one way or the other.

If Newton wants to be a backup, there are two teams where he would be a solid fit. One is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is planning to play in 2020. However, he is 38 years old, is coming off elbow surgery, and has considered retirement as far back as 2017. Newton could be a backup for a year, and then slide into the starting role if Roethlisberger were to retire in 2021. The San Francisco 49ers are a team where Newton could have an opportunity to play in time. Jimmy Garoppolo, the 49ers current quarterback, guided the team to the Super Bowl in 2019. However, he doesn’t seem to have the complete confidence of coach Kyle Shanahan, who only let Garoppolo throw a combined 27 passes in the 49ers first two playoff wins in 2019. Newton could go to San Francisco as a backup, with the chance to eventually become starting quarterback if Garoppolo were to struggle, or if Shanahan simply thought Newton was a better option given his dynamic talents.

A multitude of unfortunate events have led to Cam Newton getting knocked off his spot amongst the best players in the NFL. Still, there are teams out there that could use a player of Newton's caliber; therefore, his long term future in the NFL should not be in doubt. Going forward, if healthy and given an opportunity to play, don't be surprised to see Cam Newton wowing NFL fans again with his fantastic talent.

#NFL Sports Football Cam Newton NFL Free Agency

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themousai · 4 years

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Top 10 Albums of the Decade: Helena Barnett

Let’s Cheers To This Sleeping With Sirens

[2011]

During the end of 2010 and start of 2011, I had to experience some things I never thought I would have to experience in my entire life time. I didn't quite know how navigate all these new experiences, so this album and the music released in 2011, was a huge form of therapy for me. I couldn't really voice my emotions and thoughts as I didn’t have the confidence or vocabulary, so I let the music help me out on that one. I really dig the pairing of smooth vocals from lead singer, Kellin Quinn, contrasted with some heavier, more post hardcore melodies and vocals within each track. Perfect music to jam out and/or cry to in your room when your 13 or 23.

Top Tracks: Do It Now Remember It Later, A Trophy Fathers Trophy Son, Tally It Up Settle The Score, Your Nickel Aint Worth My Dime, Postcards and Polaroids.

If you like: Pierce The Veil, Asking Alexandria, Of Mice & Men.

Neighborhoods Blink 182

[2011]

With the perfect balance of catchy melodies and darker lyrics, this 14 track alternative/pop punk album became my escapism during 2011. My sister used to jam a few of their older albums in the early 2000’s, and I had just found her old CD's a year prior to the release of this album. This led me to associate a lot of nostalgia and comfort with their sound. I was also finally at an age where I could relate to the lyrical material, which created a whole new listening experience.

Top Tracks: Natives, After Midnight, Hearts All Gone Interlude, Kaleidoscope, Wishing Well.

If you like: Sum 41, Simple Plan, Jimmy Eat World.

Every Kingdom Ben Howard

[2011]

You can’t go wrong with Ben Howard. He is an Indie Rock Singer Songwriter who embodies emotion within his smart lyrical content and sound. Each song he creates is a musical masterpiece along with being lyrically brilliant. Every Kingdom also uses a similar recipe to Blink 182’s Neighborhoods album which includes darker lyrical content contrasted with an opposing, more upbeat melody. This album has definitely helped me rethink my perspective on certain situations throughout the past decade and I have found it to be relevant and enjoyable consistently, even after listening to it on repeat.

Top Tracks: Old Pine, Diamonds, Everything, Only Love, The Fear, Keep Your Head Up.

If you like: Ryan Adams, James Vincent McMorrow, Angus & Julia Stone

Mayday Parade Mayday Parade

[2011]

Another emo 2011 album for the list, and not the last. This self titled album is full of Pop Punk anthems that have made it into almost all of my playlists over the past decade. It's one of those albums where every song hits hard and speaks about issues like mental health that were not so openly talked about at the time. This album acted almost like an emotional guide to my confusing year as a 15 year old. Earlier in the decade, Pop Punk, had this sort of revival and growth in popularity (tumblr, definitely being an influence there) which connected so many people all around the world. Throughout bands like SWS, Mayday Parade and Blink 182; Pop Punk was able to help listeners navigate and validate emotions that a lot of us were struggling to deal with..

Top Tracks: No Heroes Allowed, Priceless, Stay, I’d Rather Make Mistakes Than Nothing At All, Without the Bitter The Sweet Isn't As Sweet.

If you like: Sleeping With Sirens, All Time Low, Pierce The Veil

What You Don't See The Story So Far

[2013]

This next album was released in 2013, but I was a little late to the party and gave it a listen more-so in 2014. It had been the soundtrack to a lot of house parties and car jams and seemed to be influential to a lot of people in my life at the time. The album consists of 11 tracks that feature lead vocalist, Parker Cannon’s signature pop punk vocals alongside the bands strong guitar riffs and heavy beats. Similar to a lot of the earlier albums on this list, the lyrical content navigates growing up and experiencing the ups and downs of being a young adult making it damn relatable for a lot of my generation. It’s one of those albums that holds a lot of memories and is a steady contender in all party playlists within my friend group.

Top Tracks: Things I Can't Change, Right Here, Stifled, Empty Space, Face Value.

If you like: Balance and Composure, Basement, Neck Deep.

Shangri La Jake Bugg

[2013]

This record is a beautiful Indie Rock, Singer/Songwriter, album that holds the essence of British 80’s Rock with a touch of Folk goodness. There's also a great balance of up-tempo jams and mellow ballads so what more could you ask for really? This album was the first Jake Bugg record I had a listen to and was definitely not the last. Jake Bugg’s 2014 concert at Auckland's Town Hall was also the first concert that I went to, by myself. I was so nervous and just wanted to hide in the bathroom but in the end I actually had such a great time and forced myself to stay in the pit and have since attended many a gig alone without hiding in the bathroom the whole time which is honestly fucking awesome.

A few of my favourite tracks are; Slumville Sunrise, What Doesn’t Kill You, A Song About Love, Kitchen Table, Simple Pleasures

If you like: Arctic Monkeys, The Clash, The La’s.

Wishful Thinking Neck Deep

[2014]

This album introduced me to a whole new community and a whole new wave of Pop Punk. It led me to bands like State Champs, Knuckle Puck and Modern Baseball and encouraged me to get out in the local scene a little more. I had just moved to Auckland when this album was released and had a friend who encouraged me to head along to their gig at Ding Dong Lounge later in the year. This was one of my first experiences of the music scene in Auckland, and it’s safe to say it was a good one as 5 years later, I am still regularly hitting up Ding Dong Lounge for my weekly music fix. The lyrical content throughout this album really resonated with me heavily at the time too as I had just moved cities and was only 18 so the “growing pains” mentioned throughout the album hit home.

Top Tracks: Losing Teeth, Growing Pains, Sweet Nothings, Blank Pages, Candour.

If you like: Real Friends, State Champs, Trophy Eyes.

To The Sun And All The Cities In Between City Of The Sun

[2016]

We have all probably gone on a Sofar Sounds binge in the last decade, it’s truly such a good outlet for finding new music. I first listened to City Of The Sun on the infamous channel 4 years ago, so I was stoked when I heard the announcement of an album in 2016. These guys create ridiculously good genre bending instrumentals, similar to the likes of Chon and Explosions In The Sky. Their passion and pace is reflected beautifully within this debut album. It is a perfect balance between peaceful and poetic melodies alongside upbeat tempos and insane shredding. If you haven't checked them out yet, I would start with searching “City of the Sun - Intro (The xx Cover) | Sofar NYC” on YouTube and then go listen to this album for the full experience.

Top Tracks: To The Sun And All The Cities In Between, Those Days Are Now, W. 16th St, La Puerta Roja, Everything.

If you like: Chon, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Explosions In The Sky.

Chemical Miracle Trophy Eyes

[2016]

The reviews and hype are true, this album is phenomenal. It’s a great showcase of lead vocalist, John Floreani’s vocal range as he belts through heavy verses as easily as the more subdued melodic parts. The band accompanies John’s vocals with interesting tempos and melodies that keep you interested while listening to even the mellow tracks like ‘Daydreamer’. This 11 track album is super versatile and probably resonates with a lot of people due to the influence of different genres and mixtures of slow tracks and heavier beats. It’s perfect for parties, perfect for car rides, perfect for any mood at any time really.

Top Tracks: Chlorine, Counting Sheep, Heavensent, Breathe You In, Daydreamer.

If you like: The Story So Far, Citizen, Can’t Swim.

Beside Myself Basement

[2018]

If this was a top 100, I would have loved to include Basement’s discography including: Promise Everything, Colourmeinkindness and I Wish I Could Stay Here. I doubt anyone would want to read my incoherent Top 100 of the decade, so I have picked one of my favourite albums of theirs from the past decade, Beside Myself. Once again, you just can’t go wrong with a darker narrative within an album accompanied by a relatively upbeat sound. This album doesn’t mess around, it includes interesting combinations of smart lyrics which are complemented with mood matching music, creating an easy-listening and enjoyable experience. I doubt I could ever get sick of this album.

Top Tracks: Disconnect, Be Here Now, Nothing Left, Stigmata, Slip Away

If you like: Title Fight, Balance and Composure, Seahaven.

Listen to our decade wrapped over on Spotify!

Written by Helena Barnett

[More decade round ups here]

#helena barnett #top 10s of 2010s #top 10 of the decade #sleeping with sirens #sws #blink 182 #ben howard #mayday parade #The Story So Far #jake bugg #neck deep #city of the sun #trophy eyes #basement

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junker-town · 4 years

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6 winners from Week 10 of the NFL season

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan Tannehill secured the Titans’ biggest win of the year, while Lamar Jackson did Lamar Jackson things.

Week 10 featured less NFL action than any other regular season lineup this year. With six teams enjoying their bye week, only 11 games filled select stadiums and broadcasts across the country Sunday.

That week off also applied to a handful of starting quarterbacks. Andy Dalton learned he’d been benched for a winless Bengals team more than a week ago. Jacoby Brissett’s MCL sprain kept him off the field against the Dolphins. Matthew Stafford was a late scratch for the Lions’ rivalry game with the Bears.

In their stead, unheralded passers Ryan Finley, Brian Hoyer, and Jeff Driskel each earned their first starts of 2019. None of the three were victorious, though Driskel showed off enough skill against a tough Chicago defense to build confidence as a rising backup:

holy moly, Jeff Driskel pic.twitter.com/Cc4BrBl0us

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) November 10, 2019

There were still plenty of winners to go around, however. So who was the most impressive despite a fairly limited slate of games in Week 10?

It wasn’t ...

Not considered: Saquon Barkley, 7th-leading rusher (out of seven) in the Jets-Giants game

Barkley had played 22 games in a brilliant NFL career leading up to Sunday’s showdown with the Jets. In that span, he’d never rushed for fewer than 10 yards.

And then Week 10 happened. 13 carries, 1 net yard, 0 touchdowns.

Barkley was bottled up by the league’s top rushing defense and smothered into oblivion on a day when only quarterback Daniel Jones could find any kind of success on the ground for the Giants. Nine of Barkley’s 13 rushes ended at or behind the line of scrimmage. Although he gained 30 yards through the air in his team’s eventual 34-27 defeat, it was by far the least productive game of his professional career to date.

Those struggles persisted even when he didn’t have the ball. As a pass blocker, he missed key assignments that led to two of Daniel Jones’ three fumbles — including one that Jamal Adams returned for a touchdown.

Saquon Barkley had his worst game as a pro against the Jets today. On top of carrying the ball 13 times for just 1 yard, he was a liability in pass protection. Saquon is obviously not himself #Giants pic.twitter.com/JG7x3gJNyS

— Kevin Boilard (@247KevinBoilard) November 10, 2019

The Jets’ underrated defense played a role, but Barkley was also hampered by injury concerns. Head coach Pat Shurmur said he was “banged up” after the game, and Barkley wound up in the club’s X-ray room shortly after the final whistle. Losing him for another extended stretch — he missed three weeks with a high ankle sprain earlier in the season — would rob the Giants of their most versatile weapon.

And now, on to ...

This week’s actual winners

6. Jets-Giants, which was more entertaining than it had any business being

Few people were hyped for the all-North Jersey showdown between the 1-7 Jets and the 2-7 Giants. Selling football fans on a Sam Darnold-Daniel Jones gunfight turned out to be just as difficult as it sounds:

history being made today pic.twitter.com/hKOjaJpiOF

— charles (ronald) mcdonald (@FourVerts) November 10, 2019

That was an hour before kickoff, and the fans that trickled in later were rewarded for their faith. Even if the game was by no means a triumph of technical wizardry — the two sides combined for four fumbles and eight sacks — it was still a pretty damn exciting football game.

Jones led his team back from an early 14-0 deficit to take a 27-24 lead. All four of the Giants’ touchdowns came through the air, making Jones just the fourth quarterback since 2000 to have multiple four-touchdown games in his rookie season. He’d be one-upped by Sam Darnold, who overcame the ghosts that plagued him previously, en route to an efficient 230-yard, one-touchdown day.

Jamal Adams, still working through the sting of his team listening to trade offers that involved him, had a 25-yard fumble return touchdown. Embattled kicker Sam Ficken made six of his seven kicks, including a 53-yard field goal. Giants receivers Golden Tate and Darius Slayton combined for 216 yards and four touchdowns.

Was it poetry? Nope. But it was better than the 6-6 tie the 2019 Giants and Jets each deserved.

5. Andy Lee, who threw a legitimately great pass into coverage (despite being a punter)

Kliff Kingsbury is an innovator. He isn’t satisfied with just calling a fake punt. He’s going to fold a trick play into another trick play like a football turducken of laterals and unexpected passes.

On Sunday he dragged Andy Lee — a punter with one career pass in 15 seasons as a pro — atop his mountain of madness. And Lee, like any good Kingsbury charge, responded by throwing a masterpiece of a deep ball.

.@AndyLee4 out here dropping dimes like a QB pic.twitter.com/OgFgUmQwFo

— Arizona Cardinals ⋈ (@AZCardinals) November 10, 2019

That bold call — from fourth-and-10 at the Cardinals’ own 36-yard line — was vital to Arizona’s comeback hopes. Lee’s strike went for 26 yards and kept a crucial fourth-quarter drive alive. Three plays later, Kyler Murray delivered his third touchdown pass to Christian Kirk to take a 27-23 lead with a little more than seven minutes to play.

While the Cardinals couldn’t hold on in an eventual 30-27 loss, the Lee play is another wrinkle opposing coaches have to consider when facing Kingsbury. And with Rams punter Johnny Hekker tanking his career passer rating by throwing an interception against the Steelers — it dropped from 106.0 to 81.3 — it’s possible Lee is now the NFC West’s preeminent punter/quarterback (and not the other way around).

4. The Falcons, because if you’re only gonna beat a few teams this season, they better be rivals

Atlanta not only doubled its season total for wins (from one to two!), but also did so while weakening one of its biggest rivals. The Falcons ranked 30th in the league in scoring defense and had yet to hold an opponent to fewer than 20 points this fall before traveling to the Superdome. Then they held Drew Brees, Michael Thomas, and Alvin Kamara to nine points in the biggest upset of the regular season to date.

The Saints rolled into Week 10 as a 14-point favorite and then left the home fans with nothing to cling to but some pallid “28-3” jokes. An Atlanta defense that had recorded seven sacks in its first eight games got to Drew Brees six times for a net loss of 46 yards — and this included big plays on what were decidedly not blitzing downs.

OUR DEFENSE IS FIRED UP! pic.twitter.com/eWTZiBOmOd

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) November 10, 2019

Younghoe Koo, signed 11 days earlier off the street as a free agent, converted all four of his field goal attempts. Matt Ryan, making his return after missing his team’s last game due to a high ankle sprain, only threw for 182 yards but didn’t need to do much more. The Falcons limited a hobbled Kamara (12 total touches for 74 yards) and refused to let a typically impactful day from Michael Thomas (13 catches) beat them. In the process, they chipped away at their rival’s case for a postseason bye.

3. Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was absolutely worth a first-round pick

Back when the Steelers freed Fitzpatrick from Miami, it looked like the former Alabama standout had just traded one scuttled boat for another. Pittsburgh was 0-2 when it added the playmaker to its secondary, and would be 1-4 with only a win over the lowly Bengals to its credit three weeks later. With Ben Roethlisberger out for the season, the team’s playoff hopes had been left for dead.

And Fitzpatrick has revived them.

The rangy safety has been electric his last four weeks, turning up on the happy side of five different turnovers (four interceptions, one fumble recovery) as the Steelers have rallied from 1-4 and a spot at the top of next year’s draft order to 5-4 and a spot on the periphery of the AFC playoff race. His last two turnovers were the key to upsetting the Rams, who’d arrived in Pittsburgh as 4.5-point favorites, in a 17-12 victory.

The first, a 43-yard fumble return touchdown, ensured the home team hit halftime with a 14-7 lead:

.@Jay_MostWanted with the sack.@minkfitz_21 with the score. pic.twitter.com/V4sB0dTmz7

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 10, 2019

The second didn’t end in a touchdown, but was arguably more important. The Rams had their backs against the wall when they got the ball with 61 seconds left. A 60-yard touchdown drive would give them the win. Instead, Fitzpatrick made sure quarterback Jared Goff wouldn’t redeem himself after a terrible start.

He was on the end of Goff’s final pass of the afternoon, a tip-drill interception that quashed Los Angeles’ comeback hopes and launched a thousand “are the Rams washed?” tweets across the universe.

Jared Goff was a borderline MVP candidate a year ago pic.twitter.com/UykH8cMEMd

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) November 11, 2019

In the Steelers’ four-game winning streak, Fitzpatrick has played 100 percent of his team’s defensive snaps and averaged 1.5 passes defensed and an interception per game. He’s also got two return touchdowns for a Pittsburgh team that would almost certainly rather have him than a mid-round Day 1 pick next spring.

2. Lamar Jackson, who we should all just assume is on this list unless otherwise noted

Jackson has been one of the league’s brightest stars throughout 2019. Even after proving he could beat an elite team a week earlier by toppling the Patriots, Sunday gave him the chance to turn the difficulty down from “expert” to “beginner” against winless Cincinnati. He then put together one of the finest games of his budding career.

The former Heisman Trophy winner’s 16th start saw him finish with 15 completions in 17 attempts for 223 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions. That was good enough to make him one of just six quarterbacks to have multiple games with a perfect 158.3 passer rating in his career. He sliced up the Bengals’ AAA secondary with ease through the air, but also showed no mercy on the ground:

LAMAR. JACKSON. @Lj_Era8 TO THE HOUSE ‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/DcR8A7S2Vy

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 10, 2019

Jackson got things done on his own, but he also used that rushing threat to lift his teammates — notably fellow former Heisman winners Mark Ingram and Robert Griffin III, with whom he teamed up to run a throwback college-style option. In a 49-13 rout, the Ravens emptied their bench and Jackson watched the last quarter wearing Dwight Schrute’s Terminator glasses:

Swaggy pic.twitter.com/hbbmcsTGP0

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 10, 2019

As for the Bengals, well ... at least their race to the top of the 2020 NFL Draft is going well.

1. Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill, the Titans stars we always knew they’d be

The theme of Sunday was upsets. The Steelers took down the Rams. The Falcons shut down the Saints. And the Titans, led by Tannehill and Henry, dropped Patrick Mahomes to 0-3 in the last three games he’s been healthy enough to finish.

Henry had only had one game this season with more than 90 rushing yards. He more than doubled that mark with a 188-yard, two-touchdown performance that hit the Chiefs’ run defense on fire and then trampled the ashes.

Feed that man. @KingHenry_2 #KCvsTEN pic.twitter.com/lSP2l9Dnwx

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) November 10, 2019

But when the Titans needed a big drive to cap a comeback, Tannehill delivered. While Mahomes outgained him by 265 passing yards, the former Dolphin was responsible for all 61 yards of a drive that turned a 32-27 deficit into a 35-32 lead — including running in the two-point conversion that meant Kansas City could only tie the game up with a last-ditch field goal.

And what about the guys by Ryan Tannehill running over defenders numerous times today, sacrificing his body for points. pic.twitter.com/Jz2F8WAmgL

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 10, 2019

Instead, Harrison Butker’s 52-yard attempt was blocked, and the Titans got back to .500 — and one step closer to their 9-7 destiny — with an affirming upset in Nashville.

Tennessee has a shot to reel in the fading Colts and bully its way into the AFC South title race. That success starts with Tannehill, who has engineered game-winning drives in each of his three wins (in four chances) as a starter after replacing Marcus Mariota behind center.

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undertheinktree · 7 years

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For the musical ask - Dear evan hansen (bc I'm obsessed rn) and Falsettos (bc you seem to be obsessed rn)

DEAR EVAN HANSEN

Favourite character: Probably Heidi! She’s a great character and I love the fact that despite showing the bad effects that absent parents can have on children it’s still clear the fact that she acts in good conscience to give Evan all he needs.

Least favourite character: I’m gonna say… Cynthia? It’s not that I don’t like her “as a person”, it’s just that we don’t know much about her apart from “grieving mother”, I think her character is a little flatter than the others.

Favourite OBC cast member: Probably Laura Dreyfuss or Ben Platt.

Favourite song: Aaaaah I can’t choose just one! I relate a lot to Waving through a window, I cry every time I listen to You will be found and Sincerely me is a great bop… But imho Requiem is a little masterpiece, so that has to be my choice.

Least favourite song: I honestly find So big/So small a bit boring!

Favourite act: I’d say act one! I love all of the songs and Evan’s innocence in this part.

Favourite ship: I don’t think I have any DEH ship? I’m not a big fan of Evan and Zoey because we’ve seen it over and over again.. On Tumblr I see a lot of Evan x Connor or Evan x Jared or Evan x Jared x Connor or Zoey x Alana but meh. They’re all fine I guess but nothing really clicks with me? I just want all of these kids to be ok and sort their lives out.

Least favourite ship: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Not a big fan of Jared x Connor, but IDK why.

Something I would change about the musical: We need a conclusion for Evan, Jared and Alana’s arc!

Rating: 8/10

FALSETTOS (You’re right I’m 100% obsessed rn!)

Favourite character: I love Mendel with my whole heart. He’s such a silly dork but he also turns out to be a great father figure and I love how he’s at the same time the one who understands Jason and tries to “be his friend” and the one who says that he can’t always act wild and he has to grow up or he will waste his life.

Least favourite character: Nobody??? Act 1 Marvin is a huge asshole but from a “narrative” point of view his character’s arc is beautiful. Maybe Cordelia is the only “”“"useless”“”“ character (always narrative-wise) but I still love her.

Favourite OBC cast member: I’ll be honest, I’m quite ignorant about actors of the old generation. I’ll say Chip Zien because he was great in In Trousers too.

Favourite current cast member: Not really current but let’s talk about the 2016 revival! I utterly love Andrew Rannells and Stephanie J Block (and all of the others tbh) but I must say Christian Borle. He’s honestly stunning. Such an amazing singer, such an amazing actor, his mimicking is brilliant…how does he do it? I love him. Sorry.

Favourite song: I will say You gotta die sometime. I didn’t like it at first but now I think it really is a work of art. But also I never wanted to love you because the harmonies are beautiful, I’m breaking down because Stephanie is amazing, What would I do because FEELS and all of them because Jame Lapine and William Finn are gods.

Least favourite song: Eh..March of the falsettos? Come on, it’s weird. I love its symbolism and in the end it’s still amazing but I wouldn’t listen to it while carpooling?

Favourite act: Act 2. It’s nice to see Marvin being a decent human being, the Lesbians are amazing and HIT ME WITH THAT PAIN, I’M READY.

Favourite ship: THEY’RE ALL COUPLE GOALS. Trina and Mendel are the best straight couple on any media and I will fight whoever disagrees, Charlotte and Cordelia are so sweet and supportive and while Marvin and Whizzer have an absolutely toxic relationship in act 1 when they finally grow up in act 2 they’re absolutely amazing, and the fact that there is a growth makes it even better.

Least favourite ship: In this case, strangely, anything that’s not canon. I don’t want to see any Mendel x Whizzer or Trina x Charlotte or Marvin x Cordelia or whatever. Leave my babies alone 💔

Something I would change about the musical: Sometimes it’s not clear why a character acts a certain way… Why in This had better come to a stop Marvin says to Whizzer that they’re through? What triggered it? And why in I never wanted to love you it’s suddenly important to Jason to say how much he loves his father when for the rest of the time it was like he hated him?

Rating: 10/10. Sorry, I’ve decided that it’s my fave. Yay for Falsettos 🎉

Thanks for asking 💙💙💙

Send me a musical and I’ll give my opinions!

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lynchgirl90 · 7 years

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How #TwinPeaks inspired #Lost and #TheLeftovers

Damon Lindelof tells EW why ‘The Leftovers’ would not be possible without David Lynch’s classic series

JEFF JENSEN@EWDOCJENSEN

Let us be first to remind you for the millionth time that Twin Peaks, the short-lived sensation created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, inspired much of the television that has obsessed us over the past 20 years. To name just a few that hold the cult classic’s peculiar dark spark: Chris Carter’s The X-Files, David Chase’s The Sopranos, Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men, Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad, Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal, Damon Lindelof’s The Leftovers, Sam Esmail’s Mr. Robot, and Donald Glover’s Atlanta. Since Twin Peaks also shaped modern TV tastes and watching — capturing the imagination for serialized mystery, supernatural fantasy, and cool irony; setting an early standard for internet-based conversation and theorizing — we can say Twin Peaks even influenced you. Especially if you’re a person of a certain age.

Of course, Twin Peaks doesn’t completely explain the vibrant state of TV. The radical transformation of the media business — the emergence of demo-driven networks that turned cult TV into a business plan — deserves more credit. There’s probably no X-Files without a network like Fox. There’s certainly no Buffy The Vampire Slayer without The WB. In his essential book The Revolution Was Televised, critic Alan Sepinwall identifies a critical turning point when TV went next level: 1997, when HBO, seeking to ramp up original programming, empowered the likes of Tom Fontana and David Chase — veteran scribes frustrated by the limits of broadcast TV — to pursue bolder vision with decidedly adult storytelling. The buzzy nerve of Oz and even more so The Sopranos spurred broadcast competitors to take more chances and basic cable to get into the game, and now, here we are, with “television” streaming out of every media orifice possible. That, kids, is from where TV babies come, in a terribly reductive nutshell.

Twin Peaks contains a version of this creation myth in its DNA, too. In 1989, ABC, looking for new hits, took a chance on a risky marriage with an avant-garde filmmaker (Lynch) and an accomplished TV writer (Frost) who wanted to make a splash by reinventing the prime-time soap with sophisticated edge and ostentatious quirkiness. Think of Twin Peaks as a kinky bridal dress: something old, something new, something borrowed, something Blue Velvet. The relationship didn’t last long. ABC ditched Twin Peaks after a year, the fast fade partly due to a broadcast network in flux that really had no clue how to manage Team Lynch or the wild, weird, FrankenGenre creature they had made. Yet can’t you see Twin Peaks thriving in today’s mediaverse? Maybe, say, on Showtime?

Mark Frost certainly could. In 2012, the Twin Peaks co-creator beheld the exciting things happening in TV and thought, I want to do that, too. He had the perfect creative vehicle for it, too, one with something TV networks love: a recognizable and marketable brand name. But he couldn’t do it alone. Wouldn’t dream of it, either. So Frost called Lynch and put forth a proposal: How about making more Twin Peaks?

Lynch had convinced himself over the years that there was no interest in Twin Peaks. “I felt that the thing had drifted away,” says Lynch, “so part of me kind of shut down about the possibility of going back.” He was wrong. Twin Peaks actually lingered like a ghost, and it was slowly gaining power. Twin Peaks was steeped in the creative fabric of television, as evidenced by many series. There were people who identified as Twin Peaks fans — cultists who could read about Twin Peaks forever and ever in books, websites, and fanzines like the legendary Wrapped In Plastic, plus many more who considered the show a generational marker. Twin Peaks was also starting to make new fans via DVD (the complete series wasn’t available on disc until 2007) and streaming services like Netflix.

Frost presented Lynch with several arguments for reviving Twin Peaks right here, right now. They had a story to tell — Twin Peaks ended with several unresolved cliffhangers — and their infamously bonkers series finale included a curious, memorable line that offered an irresistible hook. “I’ll see you again in 25 years,” the specter of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) tells FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). “Meanwhile…” And then she struck a pose and froze, as if a statue, or suddenly frozen in time. Frost — confident, ambitious, and maybe a little competitive — also argued that they had a chance to make some bold art, without compromise, in a new TV universe that allowed for greater creative freedom than existed 22 years earlier.

“What I saw was that the TV landscape had shifted dramatically and people were obviously hungry for storytelling that has broken out of the box over the last 10 years,” says Frost. “I felt it was time to take a kind of evolutionary leap forward and that we should be a part of that. David readily agreed. But we went in knowing we couldn’t just do what we did in the past — we’ve got to raise the bar. So that was our admonition to ourselves. This is a chance to keep pace with that evolving landscape, to contribute something new, to move the ball forward even more. And we had some unfinished business.”

And so it goes that the return of the show that inspired today’s TV was inspired by the products of its own legacy. Fun Fact! Lynch doesn’t watch much TV, but he cites Mad Men and Breaking Bad as two shows of recent times that he loved. Their hotly anticipated contribution to our Peak TV moment — an 18-hour limited series described by Lynch as an 18-part feature film — premieres on Showtime on May 21.

We recently asked several leading TV producers to share how Twin Peaks influenced them. Over the next couple weeks, we’ll be sharing with you EW’s conversations with them. We begin with Damon Lindelof, who co-created Lost with J.J. Abrams and The Leftovers with Tom Perrotta, now airing its final season on HBO.

Lindelof’s tale of Twin Peaks fandom takes us back to a time when TV watching was a family time activity, not a solitary, everyone-on-their-own-screen free-for-all. His very personal testimonial also shows how Twin Peaks was part of larger moment in which David Lynch was virtually atmospheric — beginning with his neo-noir masterpiece Blue Velvet in 1986 and including the hyper-pop nihilism of Wild at Heart, released at the apex of the Twin Peaks phenomenon — and saturated the public imagination. Here, Lindelof reveals how Twin Peaks influenced Lost, how Twin Peaks informed his approach to surrealism in The Leftovers, and how the legacy of Twin Peaks nearly cost Lost its legendary monster.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When did you first watch Twin Peaks? DAMON LINDELOF: When it first aired. I watched it at my dad’s place. It was on his radar; he was very excited about Twin Peaks because of David Lynch. We had seen Eraserhead together, and I had loved it, and I remember him saying, “The guy who made Eraserhead has a new TV show and I think it’s going to be very good.” So we watched the pilot together, and once it was over, we watched it again, because he had recorded it.

This evolved into a ritual. Because I was with my dad every other week, there were some weeks I would watch it by myself, but the weeks I was with him, we would watch two episodes: that week’s new episode and the previous week’s episode again on VHS. He would do live commentary and we began to formulate theories. This was my first experience, in the pre-internet era, of theorizing about TV.

So you liked Twin Peaks. I loved Twin Peaks.

What did you love about it? The mystery. The music. The pacing. It was also my first exposure to soap operas. There was just this complex web of affairs that was delicious. Within the first couple of episodes of Twin Peaks, you understood that James and Laura had been together, but James and Donna were actually sort of secretly in love with each other. Laura was also dating Bobby, but he was also seeing Shelly, but Shelly was two-timing her abusive husband, Leo, who also had something going on with Laura and was dealing drugs to Bobby. Meanwhile, Josie Packard is having a secret affair with Sheriff Truman, except she’s also involved with Benjamin Horne, who was married, but also having an affair with Pete’s wife and Josie’s rival, Catherine, and also apparently messed around with Laura. The sexual intrigue was bonkers! And for me, a kid, it was new and exciting, particularly as it related to Laura, this teenage girl who was mixed up in some really bad, traumatic, dark stuff. That was really interesting and felt very fresh at the time.

And then there Agent Cooper. What an amazing character. His entrance in that pilot is a classic TV moment. I loved his quirkiness. He had these obsessions with coffee and pastry. The fact that he seemed to really be enjoying having just a grand old time investigating Laura’s rather horrific murder was provocative and entertaining.

The show had this very distinctive sense of humor. Deadpan and odd. The Log Lady! People remember her as weird, but I just thought she was really funny. And Ben and Jerry Horne, the brothers, their names are funny because of the ice cream, of course, but that scene where those two guys are eating these huge sandwiches and relishing the sensual experience of eating those huge sandwiches — just the fundamental bizarreness of it was hilarious.

One other thing that I loved about Twin Peaks was that it was scary. Cooper’s dream at the end of the third episode, when he’s in the old age makeup and we see Laura and The Man From The Other Place talking backwards — that creeped me out. I slept with the lights on after that episode.

I go on and on like this, because one of the ways that Twin Peaks impacted me was that it showed me that a TV show can be so many things at once — funny, scary, strange, sexy, melodramatic. It was the definition of unique. I had never seen anything like it, before or since. And then — when did Wild at Heart come out?

August of 1990, between the first and second seasons of Twin Peaks. I loved Wild at Heart. It was just so gonzo. Looking back on it, I can’t say I became a fan of David Lynch because of Twin Peaks. I was just a fan of Twin Peaks. But after Wild at Heart, I was just all the way in on Lynch. By the way, this is not to take anything away from Mark Frost, who is a big part of Twin Peaks. But again, my dad turned me on to the show particularly because of Lynch, and then with everything that followed, including Wild at Heart, it became about Lynch, and everything that came with him. The music! That Angelo Badalamenti score! I played the Twin Peaks soundtrack all the time when I was a junior in high school. I didn’t own many CDs — I had to buy them with my own money, and they were expensive — but I owned that one.

What did you make of the supernatural aspect? It became more important to the storytelling as the series progressed. We came to find out that Twin Peaks was a hotspot of uncanny and spectral activity because it was located near a portal into a mystical realm, not unlike the Hellmouth in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or, of course, The Island on Lost. Did you enjoy that part of the show? That was interesting to watch unfold. From the start, you had Cooper’s dreams and you had his fascination with Tibet and a kind of mysticism that he associated with Tibet. That scene in the third episode of season 1, where he’s winnowing down a list of suspects through an intuitive process that involves throwing rocks at a bottle — that was funny and quirky, but it also suggested the supernatural, and obviously, the show became more and more supernatural as it went on.

But I didn’t see it coming. As my father and I were theorizing about Laura Palmer’s murderer, a supernatural possibility was not part of our speculations! But then we move into season 2, and you get the introduction of The Giant, and you have Major Briggs revealing that he’s been monitoring extraterrestrial communications in episode 2. Here, the show is openly declaring that everything is up for grabs. And I do remember loving that and being very excited by that stuff. But I experienced it as an escalation. The show didn’t start supernatural. It became progressively so.

When the show declared this supernatural aspect in season 2, a lot of people I knew who loved the show bailed. They wanted a naturalistic explanation. It reminds me that 25 years ago, TV was rather cool toward sci-fi/fantasy, although it was about to warm up to it. That want for a naturalistic explanation might have had something to do with the fact that Twin Peaks intersected with another trend of the time, serial killer pop. I don’t know exactly when The Silence of the Lambs came out, but my memory of it is that it came out before or during Twin Peaks. [The film version of The Silence of the Lambs starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins was released Feb. 14, 1991, during the middle of the second season of Twin Peaks. The novel by Thomas Harris was published in 1988.] When you watch the pilot of Twin Peaks, you immediately think it’s a serial killer story because of the clues and how they’re found, like when Agent Cooper knows how to examine Laura Palmer’s fingernails and look for these pieces of paper the killer has been leaving behind with his victims. So I can understand why an audience expected a naturalist resolution, because serial killer stories resolve naturalistically.

How did you feel about the way Twin Peaks ended? During the second season, I remember feeling at times, “This is not the show I fell in love with.” And then something would happen that would make me fall in love with it all over again. There was a storyline where Donna resumes Laura’s Meals on Wheels job and she comes into contact with this weirdo who grows orchids and is in possession of Laura’s secret diary. And I remember not liking that. But then Lynch would show up playing [FBI regional director] Gordon Cole, and I’d love that, or David Duchovny would show up playing DEA agent Denise Bryson, and I’d be like, “This is the greatest thing ever!”

Still, I was alternately in and out. The turning point came after all the big reveals with Laura’s murder, that it was Leland who was responsible for killing Laura, that he was inhabited by this evil spirit named BOB. Now, what is the show? Now, what’s the mystery we’re supposed to solve? It never quite locked into anything new that was as compelling as Laura Palmer.

By the time the show ended, my father and I were no longer watching it together, and it didn’t feel like it was appointment TV. I was still watching, but I wasn’t loving it… and then we got the series 2 finale. Wow. The sequence in The Red Room. Cooper getting possessed by BOB. Ending on him looking in the mirror and ramming his face into it. I remember thinking, ‘This is going to be cool! I’m back in!’ And then the show was canceled.

Did you see the prequel movie? Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me? Yeah. That was a year later, right?

Right, summer of 1992. I remember kinda liking the movie and still considering myself a Twin Peaks fan, but also sort of resigning myself to the fact that there wasn’t going to be any more Twin Peaks that resolved those cliffhangers and being kind of bummed about that. Still, I only had positive feelings about Twin Peaks. Even in college, in the mid-’90s, when my friends and I would talk about our favorite TV shows, Twin Peaks was always on our lists, even though it was only on for a brief time and even though it disappointed.

Why is that? Because it was a cultural moment for people, and especially for kids of that era. We were the age of Bobby and James, Laura and Donna and Maddy. Even though they were all clearly played by actors in their 20s, there was an identification with them. The perception was, even if the show strayed from the path and went off the rails a little bit, Twin Peaks was cool, and it was a shared, zeitgeisty thing. But more importantly, in our pretentious NYU film school heads, Twin Peaks was important because it was “cinema.” It was an auteur-driven story in a way a lot of TV wasn’t, but was about to be. And, of course, it felt like cinema because it was Lynch, and we were all obsessed with Lynch in film school.

Did Twin Peaks influence your storytelling? I’m thinking specifically of the phenomenal “International Assassin” episode of The Leftovers, in which Kevin enters a surreal realm that might be pure imagination, might be some kind afterlife, or might be something else altogether. There is no Leftovers without Twin Peaks, full stop. That said, when we tried to “do” Lynch — for example, Kevin’s dreams in season 1, where dogs are growling in mailboxes — we fell way short of the mark. It wasn’t until we embraced the absurd — like Patti pooping in a paper bag and labeling it “Neil,” or Nora simulating sex with a life-sized replica of a salesman while he watched, both aroused and disturbed — that we realized we were finally scraping the essence of Twin Peaks: weird and disturbing and spiritual all rolled into one. And yes, of course, the episode “International Assassin.” No way does that happen in a world where Twin Peaks never aired.

And Lost would never have happened if Twin Peaks hadn’t occurred, either. First off, the idea of mystery as the central premise of a television show came from Twin Peaks. Up until Twin Peaks, at least through my lens, a mystery show was, like, Murder, She Wrote. A procedural. Every episode, there’s a mystery, it gets solved. But the idea of a serialized mystery show, taking place over many, many episodes, was completely and totally revolutionary.

Now, there are downsides with mystery. You’re playing with fire. The minute you resolve the mystery, the show is over. Twin Peaks became a cautionary tale for that. Whether it’s true or not, fair or not, the perception is that once they revealed who killed Laura Palmer, there was no reason to watch the show anymore. I don’t agree with that premise, but I do think if you’re going to do a long-form mystery show, you have to have a plan for what to do once you resolve the central mystery. And the answer has to be, there just has to be multiple, multiple, multiple mysteries, so every time you knock one off, there’s still two unresolved ones in its wake, and you see how long you can play that game. This can become even more complex when the mysteries of your show are supernatural in nature or just plain weird. Which brings me to a story about Lost.

My memory might be faulty. I’m sure about some things in this story and less sure about others. But what I’m sure about is that, after J.J. and I wrote the treatment, ABC really only had two areas of concern. No. 1, which we have talked about ad nauseam before, was the idea that Jack, who would present as the main character, would die at the end of the pilot.

But the main area of concern was the idea that there was this monster on the island. In that meeting, present were Lloyd Braun and Susan Lyne, who were the co-presidents of ABC. Before I go on, let me just say, if Lloyd hadn’t been the president of ABC, there’d be no Lost, because he believed in this thing from the word go. It was his idea to do a plane crash on an island show, et cetera.

But I don’t think he wanted the monster. So in this meeting, he says, “I think this outline is dynamite, but I don’t think that there should be a monster in the pilot. If you guys want to work your way up to some of that weird stuff, it’s a conversation for another day. But definitely not in the pilot. It’s too weird. We don’t want to do a Twin Peaks.” I remember Lloyd very specifically saying, “I don’t want to do a Twin Peaks.”

This wasn’t good. All the things that J.J. and I were starting to get super-excited about were the weird things on the island. The monster is representative of the idea that if they’re just on a normal island, the show isn’t going to be very interesting. But if the island’s weird and supernatural and, more importantly, has a long history and mythology behind it — well, that was the stuff that was turning us on. If we had to take the monster out of the pilot, that would have meant that we’d have to take all the weird things that we had already been sort of talking about. So I was having this bad feeling in the meeting: “Oh, no, what’s going to happen now?”

And then J.J. jumped in and said some version of this: “It’s 2004. Twin Peaks has been off the air for 13 years and you’re still using it as a cautionary tale. But even if it is a cautionary tale, we should be so lucky if this show gets to be like Twin Peaks, because how many television shows get remembered the way Twin Peaks is remembered? Twin Peaks was amazing and maybe it didn’t end well, but we can learn from its mistakes. We should be so lucky to be compared to Twin Peaks! We should aspire to Twin Peaks!”

And Lloyd said, “Okay, do your monster.”

At this point in your working relationship with J.J., you had only known him —

A week!

Did you guys discuss Twin Peaks in your brainstorming? I don’t think so. We talked a lot about The Twilight Zone. We talked a lot about Dickens, in terms of how we would do coincidence and how that would be a big part of the show. But Twin Peaks influenced a lot of Lost. Easter eggs. Characters having secret motivations. A massive ensemble. These were not revolutionary ideas. Certainly not for soap opera. But when Lost came along, there weren’t really any shows on the air that were doing 14 series regulars. I think that the last time ABC had an hour-long drama with 14 series regulars was probably Twin Peaks.

I remember very specifically — although I don’t remember which season it was in — that we contemplated putting some Twin Peaks Easter eggs into Lost and then decided against it.

Why? I don’t know if you know this, Jeff, but back in the days of Lost, there were these people on the internet who were fervently theorizing about Lost to such an extent that, if you made, say, a, reference to The Black Lodge from Twin Peaks, just as a joke, the people who were analyzing the show beat by beat, would be like, “Is the Black Lodge on the island? Is it possible that Agent Cooper exists in the world of Lost?”

That would have been my greatest favorite thing ever. It would have.

What was thinking behind the idea? Why even make that joke? It could have been something like Sawyer making a pop culture wisecrack. Shannon would be walking out of the woods with some firewood and he’d say, “Hey there, Log Lady!” … My knee-jerk impulse memory is that it related to our awareness that the audience was trying to solve mysteries and that there would be some kind of wink-wink at that. Along the lines of, say, a character saying that trying to figure out where the polar bears come from is like trying to figure out who killed Laura Palmer. It was for the best we abandoned the idea. Lost making a reference to Twin Peaks as it related to the frustration of supernatural mystery? That’s radioactive. We couldn’t be that self-aware without eating a tremendous amount of s—. … But in all seriousness, you are literally playing with fire if you invoke Twin Peaks on a show like Lost. The shows shared similar issues, and in some ways now, similar legacies. Echoing what J.J. said in that first meeting with Lloyd, to be compared to Twin Peaks makes me very, very happy, whether the comparison is positive or negative.

I’ll tell you this much, though. We had three years to build up to our ending, and we got to do the ending that we wanted. Frost and Lynch did not get to do that. Now, they are. And that’s the other reason I’m super psyched for Twin Peaks coming back. I don’t know whether this is a season of Twin Peaks that will lead to more seasons of Twin Peaks, or whether it is the final chapter of Twin Peaks. Either way, I feel like it was a story that ended in media res, and now, the very same people who told the first chapters of that story are coming back to tell a new chapter. That’s exciting.

link (TP)

#Twin Peaks #LOST #Damon Lindelof #David Lynch #Mark Frost #TheLeftovers

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hmpygssy · 7 years

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I dare you to pick either the Sondheim asks or the Shakespeare asks and answer all of them. You don't have to answer the weird sexual ones for the Sondheim if you don't want to, though

1: Least favorite thing about your favorite SS showPassion, that a lot of people unfairly dismiss it2: Favorite thing about your least favorite SS showI know roadshow least so let's go w that... I think it does a really good job at compressing the lives of the characters, also Weidman's books are always so singular I love it 3: Best SS characterBuddy Plummer4: Worst characterToby Sweeney Todd 5: Favorite collaboratorLapine6: Best book of a SS show. Why?I'm gonna throw a curb ball here and say Forum... that Shows Fucking Hilarious 7: Worst book....Company 8: Erase one show and all its traces from SS's canon (question courtesy of @non-binary-sally-bowles)Merrily. Then I wouldn't have to be sad about those kids and worried about my future bc of the documentary9: If he ever jumped the shark, what show is emblematic of that?Either bunuel sucks or he never lost his magic 10: Favorite bitchy momentWhen he sent Mandy patinkin an angry letter for writing notes in the front row at the first preview of assassins 11: Who would SS marry as part of a sham marriage?Obviously lee remick12: Thoughts on the book to FolliesDepends on which one we're talking about here. I think it's Generally Good but it really depends on the production13: Make one edit to SS show xxxPacific overtures, take out there is no other way, so only I could listen to it for the rest of my life 14: What would SS do to you in the sex dungeon?Whip me for saying I prefer Evita to Sweeney todd15: Cast Patti in a role she hasn't done yetSarah Jane Moore16: Which Tony would you take awayI would take away company's best musical score and give it to Sunday 17: Novel/book/play SS should adaptEva Peron's biography 18: Favorite quoteAnything you do let it come from you then it will be new 19: Desert island song (singular)Now/later/soon20: On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being Foxy Sondheim and 10 being the Virgin Mary, rate how good of a mother Rose is421: What's your gimmick?Y'all know my gimmick (e***** a**)22: Nervous breakdown song that best represents your last mental breakdownThe god-why-don't-you-love-me blues23: Has SS ever written a true love song?If we're countin this show, then Maria from west side story24: SS sex jamPlease hello25: SS funeral jamScary Sweeney a little priest26: SS wedding dance songYou're gonna love tomorrow/love will see us through... I love Irony27: Toss in the trash- his music or his lyricsLyrics. Sondheim overtures fuck me up every time 28: Which SS do you perform in front of crowdEvery single one of them29: Which SS song replaces Don't Cry for Me, Argentina in Evita?Unworthy of your love, the first verse is Eva singing to argentina, second verse is singing to peron30: Choose a ALW song to replace Color and Light in SITPWGI don't know how to love him, george and dot sing it to each other 31: Which Brecht play does SS adapt at gunpointMother courage 32: SS's current thoughts on Lady GagaShe should be in the Sweeney Todd revival... as the pie33: What pastry do you order at Mahler's?The symphony 534: What would Oscar have made of Follies?I think he would've liked it, esp. if he could compare it's failure to allegro's35: FMK: SS, Hal Prince, and James LapineF lapeen m Sondheim k Hal prince36: Is SS a sub or dom?You know the answer to this question you absolute buffoon37: Miscast BernadetteReciter in pacific overtures 38: Miscast Elaine StritchJohanna 39: ALW goes missing and SS offers you some pie. Do you eat it?I want Andrew Lloyd Webber inside me40: What do you order at Mrs. Lovett's?The beast41: Is Road Show an unappreciated masterpiece or a lesser entry in the SS canon?The latter 43: Which American president do you cast as Bobby? Georges? Sally? Fosca?Bobby is obviously JFK, George is Nixon, sally is carter (bens the peanut farm), fosca is 44: Other than Rose, who is the most Shakespearian character?All of Sweeney todd's victims are just like tamora's kids in Titus andronicus 45: That Frank or Rich and Happy?Rich and happy duh46: Rob Marshall-ize a SS showNo way fuck you 47: Which show is most problematic ®Sweeney todd's depiction of mental illness (Toby) is Yikes 48: Most Sobdhemian Seth Rogen movie?When you think about it Sausage party is the exact same thing as do I hear a waltz 49: Who would play SS on SNL?50: Does Bobby find happiness by age 50?Bobby is dead by 50 51: Tumblr user most likely to be the man himselfRobert 52: A SS show you seem to forget existsThe frogs

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doctorwhonews · 6 years

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The Second Doctor Volume 2

Latest Review: Writers: Julian Richards, Rob Nisbet, John Pritchard, Tony Jones Directors: Helen Goldwyn, Lisa Bowerman Featuring: Anneke Wills, Elliot Chapman, Frazer Hines, Daphne Ashbrook, Louise Jameson Released by Big Finish Productions - June 2018 Order from Amazon UK What with Big Finish’s ever-accelerating expansion into new realms of the Doctor Who universe, from boxsets chronicling the exploits of underserved New Series allies to their ambitious work reviving axed spin-offs like Torchwood, it’s often all too easy to forget that the studio’s roots lie in offering classic incarnations of the titular Time Lord a bold new lease of life. How better to remind us of this noble goal, then, than by transporting us back to the 1960s with the latest Companion Chronicles boxset, showcasing Patrick Troughton’s tenure at the helm of the TARDIS in all its monochromatic, bowtie-donning and frequently base-sieging splendour? Whereas those content to explore Troughton’s televised adventures alone can only – barring telesnaps or the painfully gradual drip-feed of animated reconstructions from BBC Studios – experience but a minute fraction of those serials in their entirety at present, our lives are different to anyone else’s: we’ve got The Second Doctor Volume 2. So without further ado, let’s dive straight into this nostalgia-laced new collection and discover whether there’s life in a bygone era yet or whether, much like the ancient Cyber Tombs of Mondas, some artefacts are better left buried… “The Curate’s Egg”: “I’ve walked on the moon. I’ve faced down the Confederates of Brilpoor. But there is nothing, nothing in the universe as exhilarating as riding a dinosaur!” Had soon-to-be showrunner Chris Chibnall’s 2012 Eleventh Doctor odyssey “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” aired in the Troughton era rather than the dying days of Matt Smith’s, then Julian Richards’ charming opening salvo offers perhaps the perfect approximation of how the story might’ve played out under such circumstances. Dropping the newly-regenerated Doctor, Ben and Polly within spitting distance of a castle populated by cybernetic dinosaurs, “Curate’s Egg” throws caution to the wind, embracing Doctor Who’s frequent flirtations with the fantasy genre through elements as unashamedly ridiculous as mind-swapping gizmos, talking T-Rexes as well as arguably the best canine-themed visual gag of the year so far. Will it all seem too far-fetched for some listeners? Quite possibly, although Anneke Wills and Elliot Chapman – working on double duties here, albeit with Ben only featuring in proceedings for 10-15 minutes at most – do a fine job of keeping events grounded with their heartfelt exchanges as Polly and underappreciated scientist Andrew Clarkson respectively, their joint irritation at society’s efforts to side-line them at every turn adding a welcome emotional core amidst all the prehistoric hi-jinks. Indeed, so brimming is “Egg” with potent concepts – not least the Doctor’s underlying efforts to regain his companions’ trust in the wake of his recent “renewal” – that this reviewer couldn’t help but wish at times that Richards had explored some of them in greater detail over the course of his jam-packed hour, for instance by saving one or two ideas for future scripts instead. Food for thought next time around, perhaps. “Dumb Waiter”: “Die, false Doctor!” Anyone well-versed in the increasingly popular art of the meme will doubtless recall one such trending gag which did the rounds on social media in April, come the release of Marvel Studios’ long-awaited cinematic superhero epic Avengers: Infinity War: Marvel: “Infinity War is the most ambitious crossover in history.” Me: “[Insert award-worthy viral response here.]” Apologies if the experience of reading the last 55 words felt akin to learning a foreign language for the first time, but put simply, Infinity War might’ve just met its match in the eyes of Doctor Who fans worldwide with Volume 2’s sophomore instalment. Just as we’ve seen multiple Doctors cross paths in anniversary specials from “The Three Doctors” to Big Finish’s own The Light at the End in 2013, so too does the audio behemoth’s wide-ranging Who license allow them to bring together companions from differing eras of the show at times, and in this case it’s the turn of James McCrimmon to shine alongside one Leela of the Sevateem. In other words: cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war. Thankfully – not that this should come as any surprise given the levels of acclaim which both stars continue to court with their audio portrayals – neither Frazer Hines nor Louise Jameson disappoint, their hallowed characters’ clash of primal wits so ferociously unpredictable and regularly hilarious that you’ll soon wonder how it’s taken so damn long for this heavenly pairing to occur. That’s for the best too, since the core plot of “Waiter” leaves something to be desired in comparison, its rapid barrage of reality-warping setpieces and convoluted technobabble rendering the TARDIS team’s trip to a deeply sinister garden party, even more, overwhelming for the audience than it is for the Doctor as his present and future collide before his eyes. Scribe Rob Nisbet has his character drama down to a tee, then, but he’ll still need to work on balancing this with comprehensible plotting in order to craft the next Big Finish masterpiece. “The Iron Maiden”: “I suppose that time makes legends of us all…” It’s worth noting from the outset that Volume 2’s penultimate chapter, John Pritchard’s “The Iron Maiden”, houses all the components of a great Doctor Who serial – intriguing temporal anachronisms by the dozen, an extremely sympathetic central supporting character with whose mind these anomalies predictably play havoc and quite possibly the finest companion of the Troughton years, Wendy Padbury’s Zoe Heriot, taking the initiative as our de facto protagonist this time around. Upon sitting through the credits one hour later, then, imagine this listener’s disbelief at only being left with the following inescapable question: just what went wrong here? Despite her touching struggle to endure the seemingly endless conflicts of 14th century France, all while realizing that the worst is yet to come thanks to the suspect arrival of First World War technology on the scene, Jo Woodcock’s fascinating prophet-of-sorts Marie is criminally underserved here, lacking much to do beyond trigger the plot with her mysterious visions and prompt Zoe’s occasional epiphanies as she gets to the bottom of the situation. Throw in the disappointing absence of any real suspense – in spite of the deadly weaponry in our heroes’ vicinity – as well as what should’ve been a hugely poignant denouement falling surprisingly flat due to our minimal emotional investment in the ensemble, and “Maiden” unfortunately ranks as the boxset’s weakest link by some distance. “The Tactics of Defeat”: “We’re on the clock, Zoe.” Volume 2, in stark contrast to prior Companion Chronicles collections, opts out of binding its four serials with any ongoing plot threads or recurring thematic beats, such that “Tactics of Defeat” isn’t nearly as burdened with tying up loose ends as The First Doctor Volume 2’s “The Plague of Dreams”, wherein Guy Adams faced the intimidating task of endowing the First Doctor with a more fitting send-off than his abrupt departure in “The Tenth Planet”. If the benefits of this procedural structural approach weren’t already obvious to Big Finish upon commissioning the set, then they’re downright unmissable here, with Tony Jones’ refreshingly understated quasi-season finale proving all the more satisfying as a result. Not dissimilar to “Curate’s Egg”, “Tactics” pairs Zoe with her supposed Foe from the Future – better known to us as UNIT captain Ruth Matheson. Why the change of moral allegiances on Ruth’s part? Is everything as it seems? Both fair questions, but you won’t find us spoiling the answers here; much of the piece’s appeal lies in the constant twists and turns which Ruth’s mission to recover plague-emitting extra-terrestrial technology from a decaying temple take, not least Zoe’s supposed oncoming demise at the vicious hands of unknown assailants. The latter plot element might appear unthinkable given our foreknowledge of events to come in “The War Games”, yet we’re also well aware by now that “time can be re-written”, and indeed future Doctor Who scribes should keep in mind Pritchard’s tense work here as a prime example of how to put gripping new spins on the well-worn paradox-driven story format. Come for Daphne Ashbrook’s still-endearing work as the constantly resourceful, inspiringly courageous Ruth; stay for one of the more innovative scripts that we’ve seen enter classic Who’s audio pantheon for quite some time. The Verdict: How much you’ll get out of Volume 2 depends largely on what you expect from Big Finish’s Second Doctor productions – if you’re looking for authentic reprisals of the Troughton era’s unashamedly outrageous jaunts into fantasy territory or surreal mind-trips into worlds hell bent on distorting their visitors’ perceptions, then the fifth Companion Chronicles boxset since the range ceased its monthly output will fall right up your alley. If, however, you’re hoping to see the scribes involved push narrative / creative boundaries given their lack of 1960s budgetary limitations, then barring the basic set-up of “Curate’s” and the brilliant “Tactics” in its entirety, the end product mightn’t offer quite as much bang for your buck. But while we can’t afford the collection with quite the same glowing recommendation as its Chronicles predecessors, rest assured that there’s still plenty of entertainment in store for any Second Doctor fans craving further sustenance after last year’s "The Power of the Daleks" animated rejuvenation. And who knows – if Matt Smith consulted Troughton’s work in “The Tomb of the Cybermen” as part of the inspiration for his portrayal of the Eleventh Doctor, perhaps future stars lucky enough to portray the Time Lord’s allies might follow suit by picking up Volume 2, thereby starting the cycle of legacy anew… http://reviews.doctorwhonews.net/2018/08/the_second_doctor_volume_2.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

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