The Kominsky Method

Turns out Netflix Q (dvd rental) doesn’t have it. Next time I’m in max I will watch it.


Going off on a tangent, do you ever listen to Philly radio WRTI? My downstairs iPad will no longer function with the NEPM (New England Public Media) app & I must have classical music when I wake up. (CT no longer has classical music on the radio.) So I stumbled across WRTI & I like it very very much. The app works perfectly downstairs & I stick with NEPM (out of MA) on my upstairs iPad.

Remember the old days when we just turned a dial?

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

I do remember the old days. For now, if I want classical I either ask Alexa to play me some or find a station on my SiriusXM app (or in the car). I'm too lazy to go dig up a CD downstairs.

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Been debating for a couple of months now what cable series I wanted to tackle next after completing Succession and the recent passing of Alan Arkin cemented my decision for me. Got immediately more interested when the credits revealed the show was created by Chuck Lorre, the genius behind Two and a Half Men and Mom. :Listen, half your age is still an old woman.". Oscar winners Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin play a legendary acting coach named Sandy Kominsky and Arkin as his agent/manager, Norman Newlander. Emily Osment, who made such a strong impression on Mom as the teen drug addict, Jodi, nailed her two different versions Sally Field in Steel Magnolias. m A glamorously aging Nancy Travis was quite charming as Sandy's elder student, Lisa. "I got the house and he got a Somoan mother-in-law." "You were worried that you were going to give the guy brain cancer a case of the sniffles?" Loved the "lived in it forever" look of Sandy's apartment. The guy who got the shampoo commercial was hysterical. barely recognized Susan Sullivan as Norman's sickly wife Eileen. Loved that spontaneous hug that Sandy gave Norman, which he definitely didn't see coming. Matthew's instant hostility towards Sandy seemed a bit much. "So you met my son...kind of a dick, isn't he?" Can't believe Sandy didn't get to the hospital on time. Weird seeing Sarah Baker in a serious role as Sandy's daughter. More than watchable premiere episode, looking forward to more.

I watched this and liked it. The last season, which does not have Alan Arkin in it, I felt was not worth watching. I genuinely don't understand why they continued the show after he decided to leave, as the friendship between Sandy and Norman is the heart of the show.

I think you'll like the series, Gideon. I did, chiefly because of the interaction between Douglas and Arkin. The 3rd season suffered badly with the absence of Arkin. And if you get that far, you won't believe what Kathleen Turner looks like. I didn't recognize her...

Actually, I will recognize Kathleen Turner, she has been sick which has wreaked havoc on her appearance. Long before this, I was shocked when I saw her in Marley and Me and a guest shot on the CBS sitcom Mom...it's very sad. Wow, two different people said the show wasn't worth watching after Arkin leaves, that's very telling.

Just watched ep 2. "What can I say? I urinate in Morse Code...dots and dashes." Love that Norman thinks "skype" is a stupid word. Loved that Norman wanted to start planning the funeral at 4 in the morning and that she wants Jay Leno to host. "Norman, I don't think Streisand does funerals." Loved that first shot of Sandy in his class with the spotlights behind him. Loved when Norman exploded in front of Sandy's class and got applause. "No offense, but a guy named Woody selling coffins? A little on the nose." Arkin was brilliant in that scene at the funeral parlor. "Incestuously Yours" had me on the floor. "When blowjobs cease to be sex, our civilization is over." I can't believe Sandy actually got Jay Leno and Patti Labelle. After all these years, Patti still rocks "Lady Marmelade." Loved the Streisand drag queen and loved that no one was fooled into thinking it was actually Barbra. "seems like you jerking off for a month was a solid investment." Douglas nailed Eileen's eulogy. The arrival of Norman's daughter was perfection. Chuck Lorre's writing for this show displayed some genuine flashes of brilliance.

Ep 3 got off to a darkly funny start with Eileen's repass. George Wyner was funny as the Rabbi and Ann-Margret looked so beautiful. "If he didn't want to be insulted, he shoulddn't have become a Rabbi." LOVED the acting student doing the monologue from Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Lisa Edelstein is turning out to be a real scene-stealer as Phoebe. That was so sweet when Norman was talking to Eileen on the patio even though she wasn't there, making us initially think it was a flashback by having Susan Sullivan play the scene anyway. Is Sandy really facing prostate cancer three episodes into the series? Loved that he told the nurse he's having a penis reduction surgery. Loved Danny DeVito as Sandy's doctor. "Dicks are like snowflakes, there are no two alike." "Well you don't deserve it, but there's Metamucil under the sink." How weird was it seeing a black female acting student doing a monologue from The Boys in the Band? Arkin should have won an Emmy for that scene in the dry cleaners. Arkin and the writing are making this show appointment television.

Ep 4 starts off showing why Elizabeth Taylor will always be the gold standard for Maggie the Cat. "Her personal shopper came to the funeral? Couldn't stop crying." Norman really needs to get Phoebe out of his house. Beginning to find Sarah Baker's Mindy kind of annoying. Loved Norman's discussion with the deli guy. OMG, is that HaleyJoel Osment playing the gay student of Sandy's trying to be Brick? No, it's someone I've never heard of named Caey Robert brown. Loved Sandy and Norman's discussion about the noises their bodies make. I'm over Phoebe too she's already worn out her welcome. "I remember seeing this thirty years ago but it's a whole different thing when you're in the demographic." Over the urinal scenes...borderline bad taste. Sure would like to believe that Phoebe is really gone, but I doubt it. "So many choices, so little testosterone." I don't know why, but I loved the reveal that sandy had a clapper. I'm actually loving that Norman is still talking to Eileen.

All kinds of issues with the opening of ep 5. What kind of doctor tells someone they have cancer but don't have to worry about it? Danny DeVito is really funny though. I'm sure a lot of people would be relieved to know that there is a "nice kind of cancer." "Your daughter tells me she hears you in the bathroom talking to your genitals, who's crazy?" Every moment Arkin spends onscreen with Susan Sullivan is gold. The reveal of Norman's office via the tracking shot was awesome. Can't really tell if returning to the office is a good idea for Norman. Mindy's one woman show about Sandy was a little unsettling. I wish Sandy would have confided in somebody, anybody, about his prostate cancer. Loved the reaction when Norman asked his board to find Sandy a job. Elliott Gould's cameo was hysterical. "Did I mention my character has dementia? He forgets almost everything...except justice!" It was a little contrived that Sandy couldn't do the commercial because it was false advertising.

Not happy that ep 6 opened with Phoebe going to rehab...I was hoping she would just leave. Lisa Adelstein was really good in that scene in the rehab lobby. "Are you offering to murder me cause that would be very thoughtful." "I don't get any pleasure out of this. I'm trying to hasten the coronary." Love the gag of Eddie Money pretending to be a tribute band to avoid the IRS. "I'll say one thing for these Indians...they got terrific water pressure." I don't know why I'm just now noticing it during this episode, but the older he gets, the more Michael Douglas is looking a clone of his father. The Thelma and Louise discussion was hysterical. The final scene was lovely, but I hope Sandy doesn't go where it's implying.

Well ep 7 quickly quashed my hope that Sandy wouldn't do the wrong but he did. "Do you know how old I'll be when you finish paying me off? Dead!" I cannot believe Sandy expected Norman to lend him that money. Really not liking Mindy at all. Love that Eileen wants Norman to lend Sandy the money. That performance by Sandy for the IRS agent was funny. The scene in the restaurant was excellent. Can't Sandy work out a way to sell the building but still continue to teach there? "I'm a little foggy...did I win you back?" "Standards and integrity are for Oscar winners...everybody else has to bend over." Think that was Jeffrey Sams as the IRS agent. He played Viveca A Fox's husband in Soul Food. Sandy's student nailed that Virgina Woolf monologue. Another great final scene from Arkin and Douglas. Loving this show so far, despite Sarah Baker.

A possible new woman in Norman's life was an odd way to start the season one finale. It was no surprise that Eileen encouraged Norman to see this woman. The mirror exercise was the first time I felt real chemistry between Michael Douglas and Nancy Travis. Ann-Margret looked sensational in this episode. Loved Norman's analysis of the way Diane ate her lunch. "Boy she moves fast, you better bring a condom." Diane seems to be working very hard on Norman...maybe she's after his money? Loved when Norman jumped on Diane. She was coming on kind of strong. I could accept Norman talking to Eileen, but do we really need him talking to his mother and grandmother too? Love that Lisa chose to be Sandy's student, which he had coming for trying to manipulate her. :You talk to one too many ghosts and all of a sudden you're in Macbeth." Norman walking the streets in his pajamas was heartbreaking, don't like where this is going. "I'm taking flomax, there's no shooting." Arkin should have won an Emmy for this episode alone. Looking forward to season two.

The opening of season two was a little squirm-worthy. I think Norman getting rid of Eileen's clothes is a good idea, but not sure where this is going. That scene in front of the casket got the laughs it was looking for, but in a realism context, was it appropriate? Nice to see Jane Seymour as Madeline, but it was unexpected, because I still think there's some mileage left in Norman's relationship with Diane (Ann-Margret). Really didn't care about the reveal that Mindy's dating a guy her father's age, because during the reveal I realized I still don't care about Mindy. Please give Emily Osment more to do. Lisa didn't waste a lot of time grieving over her relationship with Sandy.

The reunion of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner was a nice opening to ep 2 despite the trite ex-mate dialogue. Arkin was too funny trying to mount that horse. Did they paint those jeans on Jane Seymour? Didn't recognize the actor playing Mindy's boyfriend. Can't believe Mindy asked who Rick Blaine is. The daughter of a former actor and acting teacher should know who Rick Blaine is. Arkin had way more chemistry with Ann-Margret than he does with Jane Seymour. :It's that or I sleep with my ass in a salad bowl." For some reason, I can forgive Mindy not Knowing who Jimmy Durante is, but everybody should know who Rik Blaine is. How dare Mindy get mad because Sandy and her boyfriend are getting along. "In honor of the request of your deceased wife, you're going to have to f*ck your old girlfriend."

I thought Darhani's take on Apocolypse Now at the opening of ep 3 was interesting, but maybe that's because I've never seen the movie, but everything Sandy said to her was on the money, which I know without having seen the movie. "Sandy Kominsky...making monsters since 1981." Mindy doesn't know about the Sunday funnies or Silly Putty? That reveal made me feel really old. "The truth works! Long live the truth!" Loving Alex the Waiter. Jack Daniels and Doctor Pepper? Seriously? Is there some reason Norman can't have Phoebe live elsewhere? Thrilled that Phoebe didn't accept her father's offer of money. Sandy's phone call to Lisa was a stupid move on his part.

The opening scene between Sandy and Lisa was a nice opening to ep 4. Why does Lisa just want Sandy in the friends zone? Darshani is so full of herself, hope Sandy doesn't fall for her. why does Sandy think Norman needs to apologize to Phoebe? Great to see Phoebe working, even if it is at an yogurt shop. She's going to pay Norman back everything he's spent on her working in an yogurt shop? He'll be dead first. Lisa is so arrogant to assume just because she feel asleep that Sandy took advantage of her. The twenty milligram man...all night long."

I loved that Alex wrote a sitcom about himself and wants Judd Hirsch to play him. The scene with Sandy, Norman, and Marty was a solid opening to ep 5. "A toast...to Mindy and Marty, may they have many happy months together." "If it weren't for ketchup, I wouldn't be alive today." Loved Sandy trying to sell Marty to Norman and Norman was just not buying. "*********, I saved room for cheesecake too." OMG, I just realized that's Paul Reiser playing Marty...God, what happened to him? "When I was 14, I got a blow job in a bomb sheltr, really informed my work." I'm really starting to like the effort Sandy is putting into being Marty's friend. A couple of episodes ago, Sandy was peeing every five minutes now he can't produce more than half a cup of urine for his physical. Steve Oedenkirk was very funny as Sandy's doctor. Poor Sandy...how much more bad news can he take?

Loved Norman's Aurora greenway tribute at the opening of ep 6. "After they removed my right testicle, she told me she always liked the right one better.": Norman is right...Sandy should tell Mindy. "Listen to you talking like a guy with a rosy future." That scene between Norman and Madeline was wonderful. "What channel is Aristophanes on?" The two guys doing the scene from Two and a Half Men was hysterical. "I'm seeing a big blow up coming between Sandy and Martin (Paul Reiser) coming down the pike. Paul Reiser nailed that final monologue.

Just watched ep 7 and loved Phoebe's amends to her mother. Loved Norman's reaction to getting an amends from Phoebe. "I have a touch of lung cancer." Mindy really loves Sandy, but sometimes it's really hard to tell. "You feel shame? That's encouraging." Wonder if Phoebe will ever get a chance to finish her amends to Norman. The Doubt scene in Sandy's class was good but went on a little too long. :You can fall and call to your heart's content. There's no extra charge." I hope Sandy does movie in with Mindy...definitely see some comic mileage there.