Quotes For Today

Max out the time with the people you love. - Tony Soprano




Depression is rage turned inward. - Dr. Melfi to Tony Soprano

Rest in Peace James Gandolfini

I was shocked and saddened yesterday when I heard the news that James Gandolfini had suddenly died in Italy at the age of 51.  If you look back at this blog, you'll see I have several posts about how much I loved "The Sopranos."  I've seen every season on DVD and also watched it on A&E even though it was edited for network TV. I don't think you'll find a bigger fan of the show or of James Gandolfini. I looked for his movies when they came out after the series ended in 2007.

Ironically, I had just picked up a movie of his from last year called "Down the Shore." It takes place on the Jersey shore and concerns Gandolfini's character's sister who had died in Paris. It's another wonderful performance by Mr. Gandolfini. I watched it last night as a tribute to him. 

I just recently had a chance to see two episodes of "The Sopranos" on HBO and they were two of the best. When Carmela told Tony that she didn't love him anymore, the look in Tony's sad eyes was heartbreaking.

My thoughts and prayers go out to James Gandolfini's wife and children and the rest of his family and friends. He is an actor I will truly never forget.

Here is one of my favorite scenes from the show -

 http://youtu.be/uMhop8-gAPU

And here is the last scene from the series when everything fades to black. Focus on the good times -

http://youtu.be/rnT7nYbCSvM

Tony and Carmela Soprano

The Impossible Dream

When I was growing up, my family and I always watched Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C starring Jim Nabors and Frank Sutton.  This classic show was a spin-off from The Andy Griffith Show and you can still watch full episodes on YouTube and it's available on DVD.  Jim Nabors is a wonderful singer and I thought I'd post his version of "The Impossible Dream" here as a tribute to my father who passed away last month.  As I recall, he loved Gomer Pyle...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqJ2jYumJJo&feature=colike

The show ran from 1964 to 1969.  According to Wikipedia, "Gomer Pyle" has become U.S.M.C. slang for "a recruit who continually messes up or needs extra training."  But I think Gomer had a wonderful, optimistic, sweet nature and even Sgt. Carter eventually learned a few things from him.  Gomer would often say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" and "Shazam!"

Here is a list of interesting trivia about the show from www.imdb.com -

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057752/trivia

My husband and I were able to see Jim Nabors perform in Hawaii when we were there on our honeymoon.  He has lived there for many years.  I seem to remember that I shook his hand after his show.  Hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane!

Remembering Sherman Hemsley & Chad Everett

Actor Sherman Hemsley, best known for playing George Jefferson on All in the Family and the spin-off The Jeffersons died on July 24th at the age of 74 of natural causes.  The Jeffersons ran from 1975 to 1985.  Here is a great clip from the show -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkvWvgST5HU&feature=colike

Actor Chad Everett also passed away this week.  He was 75 and had been suffering from lung cancer.  Chad was best known for playing dashing Dr. Joe Gannon on the TV drama Medical Center in the 70's.  That show ran from 1969 to 1976.  He also had a memorable role in "Airplane 2: the Sequel"  from 1982 -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrRdy4BAYp0&feature=colike

Rest in peace to both of these television icons.

Rest In Peace Andy Griffith

I was sad to hear that Andy Griffith passed away today at the age of 86.  I posted several clips from The Andy Griffith Show earlier on this blog of Andy singing.  I hope you check them out in his honor today.  It is such a wonderful, classic show that still holds up today. 

Here is a good article including photos of Andy -

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-57465667-10391698/andy-griffith-dead-at-86/

Good Quote

Here is a great quote from The Sopranos, one of my favorite TV shows of all time -

"They say every day is a gift.  But why does it have to be a pair of socks?" - Tony Soprano

Tony & Carmela Soprano

My next book...

I just picked up my next book at the library today.  It's called Mr. Monk on Patrol and is the 13th book in the Monk series written by Lee Goldberg.  I've read several of the Monk books in this series since I'm a huge fan of the USA television series that ran for eight seasons.  I own the entire series on DVD. 

In this book, Monk and his long-suffering assistant Natalie, are called to Summit, New Jersey to help former SFPD lieutenant Randy Disher who moved there when he married Monk's previous assistant Sharona Fleming.  Randy is the new police chief in Summit and is dealing with a wave of residential robberies which escalate to murder.  It sounds good and I'm anxious to get started on it.  I'll let you know what I think of it once I've finished it.

20 Best Series Finales

Entertainment Weekly posted their top 20 best TV series finales online today.  See if you agree with their choices -

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20593459_20387623,00.html?xid=email-top25-today-20+best+TV+series+finales+ever#20603553

I agree with most of them, especially Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Wire.  I would not have included the Seinfeld finale because as much as I loved the show, I felt the finale was disappointing.

Moonlighting

One of my favorite shows from the 80's was Moonlighting starring the great Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd.  I have the first and second season on DVD.  Here is a classic clip from the episode called The Murder's in the Mail.  Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/20Mh3n6ffl4

Remember NYPD Blue

I used to love NYPD Blue, especially the first season with David Caruso.  Here is an article about a recent reunion of the cast -

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/04/nypd-blue-partner-david-caruso-had-to-suffer-through-quite-a-bit-says-dennis-franz.html

Seek ye first, the Kingdom of God

I had posted the video for this song from the Cosby Show a long time ago and I noticed today that it's now marked "private."  Here it is again (although I don't know if it will be allowed to stay on here) -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AflsFMXcgHo&feature=colike

Mad About You

One of my favorite shows from the 90's was Mad About You starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a young married couple living in New York.  Here is a clip of the show featuring the song Where Have You Been All My Life from the Up in Smoke episode from 1995 (Season 3).

http://youtu.be/U9scyLfr6tk

Bewitched

I love Bewitched!  It looks as good today as it did in the 60's. Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York are one of my favorite TV couples.  The show reminds me a lot of Mad Men!!

Here is one of my favorite episodes -

How Great Thou Art

I love this song and especially the way Dixie Carter sang it on Designing Women

Top 10 Seinfeld episodes

I would put The Soup Nazi first but these are fantastic clips!!

Newman's Best scene

Classic Seinfeld - you gotta love it!

River

Robert Downey Jr. is one of my favorite actors.  I really enjoyed him on Ally McBeal, one of my favorite shows from the 90's.  Anyway, did you know he could sing?  This video from Ally is about his character wishing he could be with his son on Christmas.  The song is called River and was originally sung by Joni Mitchell.  I love this version -

Another lovely song

The Darling family, composed of musically-inclined hillbillies, appeared occasionally on The Andy Griffith Show.  The Darling boys were played by a bluegrass group called The Dillards.  Here is a pretty song they did with Charlene Darling (played by Maggie Peterson), the daughter of the family.

Roseanne

Another one of my favorite shows is Roseanne starring Roseanne, John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf.  This classic show ran from 1988 to 1997 and can now be seen on TV Land.  Here is a clip from one of my favorite episodes from the first season called "Death and Stuff".  It's the one where Roseanne lets a tired door to door salesman in the house for a glass of water and he dies in the kitchen.

The Wonder Years

The classic TV show The Wonder Years is another great family show that ran from 1988 to 1993.  The show was told from the point of view of 12 year old Kevin Arnold played by Fred Savage.  The Wonder Years is known for the voice-over narration of the adult Kevin by actor Daniel Stern.  I was a regular viewer of this show and I remember it fondly.  Here is the opening theme by Joe Cocker -