I’ve always been a sucker for a book or a movie set in Washington, DC. Maybe it’s because I used to dream of being in the CIA when I was younger. Maybe it’s because I’m fascinated by books with political intrigue as the focus. Maybe it’s because I watched All The President’s Men on VHS when I was 15 and decided that being an investigative reporter was 74 different kinds of cool. Or maybe it’s because I related a little too strongly to Darby Shaw in The Pelican Brief when I was in college and wondered what it would be like to be on the run from bad guys with ties to rogue government officials (I could say the same for Alias, by the way).

Or maybe it’s just because I’m weird.

Regardless, if there’s a storyline that involves a high-powered senator or, better yet, the President of the United States, I am all over it. If a writer or a director can make one of the most powerful men or women in the world a sympathetic, compelling character, I will read that book or watch that movie.

And, in the case of Scandal, a new hour-long drama on ABC, I will watch that TV show.

Scandal stars Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope, the owner of a crisis management firm that intervenes in PR disasters with the intention of getting to the bottom of various public scandals and vindicating clients before the media or the authorities can win the PR battle in the court of public opinion. Olivia is the queen of spin, a workaholic, and a boss who inspires such loyalty in her employees that the first few episodes portray her as practically saint-like. She’s smart, savvy, and utterly sincere in her desire to do everything she can for the people who hire her.

She is also, as it turns out, a former White House official with close ties to the President and the members of his staff. By episode two, she finds herself embroiled in a mystery that leads her straight to the White House – and maybe even to the personal life of the President himself. If you’re intrigued by that possibility, you might want to GET THEE TO THE HULU.COM and catch up on the episodes. There are only seven installments in Scandal‘s first season, so you should be able to catch up in no time.

For the first two episodes of Scandal, I wasn’t really sure where it was going. The plot lines were mostly self-contained, but in episode three, the season’s over-arching story really started to get rolling. And by episode five, you’d better buckle up and hold on, because a White House scandal is barreling down the tracks at full speed. It makes for some mighty fine television.

To be clear, Scandal isn’t a perfect show by any stretch of the imagination; sometimes it seems like Olivia Pope channels Julia Sugarbaker’s tendency to stand on her soap box and enlighten the members of her staff (and whoever else cares to listen) about the social issue of the hour. Moreover, the show is still working out its structure and pace, (though episode six was much better in that regard). So while Scandal still has a few kinks to work out, it’s definitely highly watchable, and here are a few reasons why.

1. The Writing

I’ve never been a Grey’s Anatomy fan (HORRORS!), so I’m not familiar with Shonda Rhimes’ writing style. If Scandal is any indication, though, I think it’s safe to say that I enjoy Shonda Rhimes’ writing style. You have to pay attention, and sometimes the characters rattle off details so quickly that I have to rewind the show to catch up (I have even resorted to using the sub-titles on occasion). The supporting actors do a great job with the required rapid-fire delivery; I’m especially fond of Columbus Short as Harrison, one of Olivia’s colleagues who infuses his lines with a whole lot of swagger. Fun to watch.

2. The President

For better or worse, I’m particular about my pretend Presidents. They have to be equal parts charismatic, authoritative, and believable. At first I wasn’t sure about Tony Goldwyn as Scandal‘s Commander in Chief, but by episode five, he’d won my vote. Granted, he’s a little mysterious, and I’m still holding my breath that he’s an above-board guy, but the scenes with President Grant and his wife, Mellie, along with the scenes featuring the President and Olivia, are some of the show’s very best. His occasionally contentious relationship with his top aide, Cyrus, is equally compelling, and while the President is no Boy Scout – not even close – you can’t help but root for him, even when you’re not entirely sure that you can trust him.

But oh, you so want to trust him.

3. The Chemistry

I want to be careful not to give too much away, but there is some incredible chemistry between two of Scandal‘s main characters. Interestingly enough, the connection between these two characters is most evident in their silences, in the moments when there’s so much to say but no possible way to say it. If you’ve watched, you know that the “one minute” rule between these two characters is tender, powerful and almost painful to watch. I’ve watched enough TV to know that things probably won’t end well between these two, but by diggity I cannot wait to see what happens. Good stuff.

4. The What-Ifs

One of the most fascinating parts of Scandal is that things are never exactly as they seem to be. That’s been more evident than ever in the last couple of weeks. Every new revelation prompts more questions: who all is involved? How deep is the cover-up? What’s the end game? And once all the details come to light, what will happen to President Grant’s administration? What will happen to Olivia? It says a lot about the character development that viewers would care so much about the outcome of a seven-episode run, but there appears to be layer upon layer of deception, and watching it unravel is pretty riveting.

5. The Olivia Pope

Yes, at the beginning of the series she’s portrayed as a near-perfect woman. But as the show progresses, Olivia’s weaknesses come to light, and those weaknesses make her human and relatable in ways that the superwoman persona never could. Kerry Washington is just fantastic in the leading role, and as fun as it is to see Olivia take charge of whatever the emergency of the hour might be in her office, it’s the times when she’s confused and vulnerable that make us empathize with her. She’s a take-charge political powerhouse who hides her deepest hurts from (almost) everybody, but that underlying loneliness makes Olivia a character we can care about. She is Scandal‘s heart and soul.

Are any of y’all watching Scandal, too? And if you’re not watching, do you think you’ll give it a chance?

Over the years I’ve given up on way more hour-long shows than I care to admit: Lost made my head hurt (I know that’s sacrilege to some of you, but while I have a certain level of appreciation for the show, ultimately I couldn’t commit); The Killing de-railed around the fifth episode of season one and never recovered; Glee started off strong but eventually drove me crazy with the repetition of the Sue-Sylvester’s-out-to-get-Will-Schuester plot line. And those examples are just the more recent ones; you don’t even want to know about the litany of crime dramas I tried to watch in the 90s.

There are more skeletons than I care to count in my TV closet, my friends.

A few months ago, for reasons I still don’t understand, I saw a preview of Smash and immediately thought, Oh, I am totally watching that show. I didn’t even really expect to like it, but the premise – the launch of a big Broadway show based on the life of Marilyn Monroe – intrigued me. The cast did, too, so I decided to check it out. Four months later, I’ve seen every episode, and I have some thoughts.

Oh, I have some thoughts. Because while there are moments when Smash takes my breath away with its brilliance, there are also moments when Smash makes me want to pull my hair out.

Granted, it makes me want to pull my hair out in a very rhythmic, choreographed fashion (preferably set to the soundtrack of a soaring ballad), but I tend to think that it’s always better to finish a TV episode with all of your hair intact. I’m just wacky like that.

So, in no particular order, here are three things about Smash that make me a little cuckoo – and three things that I think Smash is doing really well.

The Cuckoo

- There are too many people.

Watching an episode of Smash is like walking into a room of thirty people and trying to learn everyone’s name in two minutes. I get that a Broadway show has producers and assistants and supporting actors and dancers and all that stuff, but for the first few episodes, I was forever trying to remember who everybody was and why I was supposed to care. I’d rather feel invested in four or five characters than see bits and pieces of a dozen people who may or may not be an integral part of the plot. I’d be perfectly content if the show only focused on Tom, Julia, Karen, Derek, and Ivy. It’s fine to have everybody else on the periphery, but major storylines with Eileen, Ellis, Leo, Dev, et al. wear out their welcome pretty quickly with me.

- There are too many plot lines.

I contend that the drama directly connected to the production of Bombshell is more than enough fodder for an hour-long show. But in addition to the Broadway stuff, we get plotlines about Julia’s son running away, Julia’s marriage falling apart, Julia’s marriage working out, Dev missing out on a promotion, Dev befriending a co-worker, Eileen meeting a bartender – and on and on. Yes, I understand that you can’t just have musical number after musical number, but do we really need to see what’s going on in everybody’s personal life? It’s almost like the powers-that-be want every character to be multi-dimensional (save Ellis, of course), but doing that creates an exhausting pace for the viewer.

- There are too many (seemingly) impulsive twists.

Sometimes I feel like Smash has multiple personality disorder. Ivy has a drug problem that lasts for two whole episodes and is never really resolved. Ivy and Karen are friendly then rivals then borderline enemies then friendly again – but then Ivy betrays Karen. Julia’s husband isn’t speaking to her until their son runs away, and then suddenly they’re trying to reconcile. Ellis is all over the place, playing both sides to the middle and lurking in corners. Ivy is Marilyn until Karen is Marilyn until Ivy and Karen are both sorta-kinda Marilyn until Uma Thurman (okay. “Rebecca Duvall.”) is Marilyn until Uma Thurman has a reaction to peanuts.

Or something like that.

It’s a lot to process, people.

The Good

- There are some phenomenal performers.

Even when they’re not given the best material to work with script-wise, Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee are fantastic, especially in the musical numbers. It does seem like McPhee’s Karen has maybe visited one too many karaoke bars this season (karaoke bar + Katharine McPhee = perfect opportunity for a rousing solo), but that doesn’t diminish the fact that she and Hilty can both flat-out sing. I also really like Jack Davenport as a Simon Cowell-ish director named Derek Wills. His character is mercurial and fickle, but he’s brilliant (and also a bit of a cad).

- There are top-notch musical numbers.

For me the musical numbers are hands-down the best part of Smash. Unlike Glee, where the characters sing covers of old songs, most of the music on Smash is original. Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman (who I have loved since he was on Saturday Night Live as the Sweeney Sister’s accompanist in the late 80s) have composed a gorgeous score for Bombshell, and that music is precisely what makes Smash work from a big picture perspective. The rehearsal scenes seem more realistic than any other part of the show, and the songs not only help the viewers see how Bombshell is progressing – they also advance the characters’ story lines. When Ivy and Karen sing “Let Me Be Your Star,” they’re singing as Marilyn, but they’re also singing as actresses who are desperate to be cast in a leading role. Pretty clever, that.

- There is great promise.

I’ve talked to several friends who watch Smash, and while they admit that the show drives them absolutely crazy from time to time, they all say that they can’t quit watching. That’s exactly how I feel. Smash occasionally leaves me frustrated and confused, but for whatever reason, I can’t give up on it. There’s so much potential there, so much promise to be something really great. And while I can’t fathom what they’ll do in the second season (chronicle the drama of debuting the show on Broadway? start working on a new musical?), I’m going to stick with it. Yes, it’s annoying when Smash majors too much on the minors, but when it’s on its game? When it’s focused mainly on Bombshell? It’s pretty dadgum good.

And I’m looking forward to the day when it’s great.

Are any of y’all watching? What do you think?

And you know what that means? Macaroni everywhere is about to be spray-painted gold and used to make a jewelry box that only a mother could love because she gave birth to that little macaroni artisan and thinks everything she does is great.

Or maybe that’s just my house.

Mother’s Day also means we’ll be treated to a bunch of articles speculating what mothers would be worth financially in the business world. Even though that never translates to us seeing any sort of monetary reward for raising the next generation. Let’s be honest, no one becomes a mother for the money. We’re paid in sticky kisses, finger-painted masterpieces, and little voices that say “Mama”.

And maybe someday when they’re past the age of twenty-one they might say “Hey Mom, thanks for everything you did.”

And that’s enough.

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to make a list of my five favorite T.V. moms. The majority of them aren’t perfect, but they each did something right in their own way.

 
1. Caroline Ingalls

I grew up watching Little House on The Prairie and Caroline Ingalls will always hold a special place in my heart. I mean, the woman raised four daughters and took in Albert after they found him on the streets in Sleepy Hollow. She had to wash clothes in a wooden tub with water she got from a well and there was no microwaveable mac and cheese in those days and that alone would make motherhood so much harder.

I loved Caroline because she was always there for her kids. She defended them against Nellie Olson, encouraged them and taught them right from wrong. And she made all their clothes.

That’s impressive.

 
 
2. Tami Taylor

There were so many episodes of Friday Night Lights when I would watch Tami Taylor interact with her daughter, Julie, and think to myself that I wanted to remember exactly how she said something so I could repeat it to my daughter one day.

It’s not that it wasn’t sometimes painful, but it was always unflinchingly honest. Tami was never afraid to share her own mistakes to keep Julie from making the same ones, but at the same time she allowed her to find her own way.

When they went on a college visit during the last season, Julie said that Boston College was Tami’s dream, not hers. But Tami responded that her family was her dream and now she just wanted to help Julie make her dreams come true.

I also appreciate the fact that she wasn’t afraid to drink a big glass of wine at the end of the day. Sometimes that can help us all be better mothers.

 
 
3. Lorelai Gilmore

Gilmore Girls is one of my all-time favorite shows. And I’ll still watch the reruns anytime I find them on T.V. because I adore Lorelai Gilmore. She and Rory have the kind of relationship I hope my daughter and I always have. They love each other fiercely, talk about everything, and aren’t afraid to disagree with each other.

Lorelai was always willing to do whatever was best for Rory even when it meant Friday night dinners with her controlling parents and, ultimately, sending her out into the world to become who she was meant to be.

 
 
4. Claire Dunphy

I realize Claire Dunphy is a little neurotic. She’s a control freak and a bit of a perfectionist, not to mention competitive. But this is why I love her.

Claire makes mistakes and gets things wrong and is sometimes overly critical, but she loves her kids and her family even while they drive her crazy. Claire knows she’s not perfect. And isn’t that what real life looks like a lot of the time?

 
 
5. June Cleaver

Speaking of perfect, June Cleaver. I didn’t feel like a list of mothers would be complete without her. Because while most of us realize by this point that we will never vacuum in our heels while wearing pearls, it was a nice illusion while it lasted.

She ran her home with perfection and, if we’re honest, aren’t there days when you wish you could walk through the back door and have warm cookies and milk waiting for you?

June Cleaver always remained calm, she taught Wally and Beaver right from wrong, and stood her ground. And that’s something we all want to emulate.

Even if we don’t own a strand of pearls.

There have been so many great T.V. moms over the years and I know I’ve just scratched the surface. Who are the moms you love to watch? Who are the moms you want to be?

I’m willing to bet no one says Betty Draper.

By Big Mama.

Here’s something you may or may not care about. I love baseball.

Not baseball on T.V., otherwise known as the most boring thing ever. But real baseball. At the ballpark with a hotdog in one hand and a bag of peanuts in the other, the way God intended.

There is just something about it that’s so nostalgic for me. Maybe it’s the memories of going to Astros games with my dad when I was little or all the time I spent at Olsen Field while I was a student at Texas A&M, but there are few things better than a couple of hours spent watching a baseball game on a beautiful spring day.

In these days of the glitzy NFL and NBA, I prefer the simplicity of baseball. I know it’s had its scandals over the years and has lost some of its luster, but there is something about it that still reeks of vintage Americana. Apple pie. Motherhood.

And if you disagree, then I suggest you go spend an hour or two at a little league park. It’s a living picture of how some things never change and a reminder that as long as there are balls and bats, there will be little boys dreaming of hitting a homerun over the right field wall.

So given my love of baseball, it should come as no surprise that I am a sucker for a good baseball movie. Here are my favorites:

1. Bull Durham

Possibly the greatest sports movie ever. Kevin Costner has never been better than he is as Crash Davis. And Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are equally good. Bull Durham is ultimately as much about relationships and love as it is about baseball, but it all comes together with just the right mix of humor and perfect dialogue.

And if you can listen to Kevin Costner deliver his speech about what he believes in without fanning yourself after it’s over, then you’re a better woman than me.

2. Field of Dreams

Ray Kinsella is walking through his cornfield when he hears a voice whisper, “If you build it, he will come”. And so he plows up the field and builds a baseball diamond. Naturally.

It’s about believing in your dreams, following your heart and making old wrongs right. Field of Dreams is the perfect blend of fantasy and baseball with a lot of heart.

3. Stealing Home

This is a sentimental film that’s really more about friendship and first love than baseball. Mark Harmon is a washed up baseball player who finds out his first love has died and left her ashes to him to figure out what to do with them and along the way he rediscovers who he is and his love for baseball.

I don’t know if I love this movie for what it is or for the soundtrack which is, in my opinion, one of the best movie soundtracks ever. David Foster is a musical genius and this is some of his best work.

4. For Love of the Game

Okay, yes, another Kevin Costner movie about baseball. Maybe I have a problem. Or maybe Kevin Costner has a problem. I don’t know and I don’t want to examine it too closely.

I just know that I love this movie. Kevin Costner plays (Yes, again. I know.) washed up baseball player, Billy Chapel, pitching his last game. To add to the drama, he’s throwing a no-hitter. And throughout the game, Billy is reflecting back about his relationship with ex-girlfriend, Jane Aubrey.

Meanwhile, Jane is at the airport. She’s moving to London because she’s accepted that nothing is more important to Billy than baseball, but she catches him pitching this final perfect game on T.V. and misses her flight to watch him. After the game, Billy realizes what’s most important and rushes to the airport to find Jane and they reconcile and live happily ever after.

I cry every time. Every time.

5. The Sandlot

The Sandlot perfectly captures the nostalgia of baseball and the carefree days of childhood. Scotty Smalls moves to a new town in the summer of 1962 with his mother and step-father and finds himself and the best group of friends a boy could have on the old sandlot where they meet to play daily baseball games and, ultimately, face The Beast.

This movie is why my husband and I both look at each other and sigh “Wendy Peffercorn” when we see the boys at the neighborhood pool trying to impress the cute female lifeguards and also why we’ve been known to say, “You’re killin’ me, Smalls”.

It’s a great movie. You should totally watch it with your kids this summer.

And so those are my personal favorites. Go pop yourself some popcorn, grab some peanuts and Crackerjacks and watch them if you haven’t already. And just a warning, you made need a box of Kleenex, too.

When I was about nine years old I went to go see On Golden Pond with my best friend and her mother. I have no idea why this friend’s mother thought that two nine year old girls would want to watch a movie about two elderly people visiting their lake house for the summer, but I fell in love with it even back then. And even more, I fell in love with Katharine Hepburn.

She was so regal. Even as Ethel Thayer (thounds like I’m lithping) in her sensible pants and button-down shirts. I wanted her to be my grandmother because she was the perfect combination of warm and funny mixed with no nonsense. And even as a little girl, something broke inside my heart when she whispered to Henry Fonda as Norman, “You’re my knight in shining armor”.

Little did I know that I’d just brushed the surface of how much I’d grow to adore Katharine Hepburn.

It was years later. I’d just graduated from college and was living alone in an apartment in a city where I didn’t really know anyone. And I decided it might be a good time to watch every classic movie I’d ever heard about but had never taken the time to watch because I was too busy wishing I could meet someone like Patrick Swayze at summer family camp. Even though that would have been really difficult since my family never went to summer family camp.

So I’d program my VCR (after I walked uphill in the snow both ways to my television) to record all manner of movies on AMC. I finally watched Casablanca, Rear Window, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and so many other movies I’d always heard about but never seen.

But the ones I loved the most were the ones with Katharine Hepburn. Bringing Up Baby, The African Queen, Holiday, Pat and Mike, Rooster Cogburn and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

And then there was The Philadelphia Story.

How had I neglected to watch this brilliant love story starring Katharine Hepburn alongside Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart? How had I lived? Where had it been all my life?

I watched it twice in a row that first night. I couldn’t get over the sharp, funny dialogue, the flawed characters, and the breathtaking dresses.

The Philadelphia Story is about a young socialite named Tracy Lord who divorced fellow socialite C.K. Dexter Haven because he was an alcoholic and she had no tolerance for any weakness. Two years later, she is about to marry George Kittredge, a politician and a social climber.

But the impending wedding gets complicated when reporter, Macaulay Conner, and photographer, Liz Imbrie, show up from Spy Magazine to get the inside scoop on the festivities. Further complicating things, they are there with Tracy’s ex-husband, C.K. Dexter Haven, who explains to Tracy that she needs to let them cover the story or else their editor, Sydney Kidd, will publish a scandalous article about her father.

Tracy agrees to let them stay in order to protect her family from bad publicity and we watch as feelings develop and she finds herself torn between her ex-husband, the reporter and her fiance’ as she discovers who she really is and what she wants out of life.

Ultimately, it’s more than a love story. It’s a story of accepting people for who they are, realizing that sometimes we all make mistakes, and seizing the moment. It’s one of those movies I can watch over and over again and find something new every time.

The best part is that Katharine Hepburn’s career was almost dead in the water before this movie. She’d been declared box office poison and took matters into her own hands. She bought the film rights to The Philadelphia Story and orchestrated her own comeback. It went on to be nominated for six Academy Awards and was a huge success. And that makes me love the woman on the screen even more.

If you haven’t seen The Philadelphia Story, go and watch it right now. I promise you won’t be disappointed. In the words of Tracy Lord, it is “yar”.

 
By Mark Spearman.

Some years ago, my daughter, then a high school freshman, asked me to take a look at an essay she was writing about the concept of rebellion. Compare and contrast the rebel in popular culture, the students were told. You know the drill.

But then I sort out that she is drawing from the plot of a movie the class has watched, the masterful 1967 tale of the anti-hero, Cool Hand Luke.

I savor these moments because I don’t have to feel as vestigial and useless as when academic subjects requiring precision are discussed. When young people need serious guidance it is best to confine me to matters of history, pop art or things lit’rary. Most certainly subjects that do not involve mathematics. This request for homework help was not only solidly within my wheelhouse, it regarded a Great Movie.

I grab the paper from her hands and furiously scan the page, impatiently fidgeting, ironically, like a schoolgirl. This is important. This is Cool Hand Luke. No more than 100 words in, I stop and make her promise to make reference to a character called Dragline.

For sure, Cool Hand Luke speaks to the concept of the rebel. Like any movie, piece of music or literature, it is a product of its time. And in 1967 we couldn’t get enough anti-establishment, existential anti-heroes. We were angry at The Man. He’d started a war and cancelled Rawhide and made us drink Tang.

In the movies, non-conformity and disdain for authority were never cooler. We had Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, and in a few short years we’d learn that Soylent Green is PEOPLE for heaven’s sake.

The original trailer proclaims that is it’s all about “The Man, The Motion Picture… That Simply Will Not Conform.” Because those embers have cooled in the 40+ years since, we’re actually left with a better movie experience. Minus the preoccupation with non-conformity, you have a thoughtful story about how we make, worship and tear down our heroes.

That’s where Dragline comes in. He’s the first to recognize who Luke is: The Man Who Cannot Be Beaten.

But The Man Who Cannot Be Beaten, is, ostensibly, Lucas “Luke” Jackson (Paul Newman), fresh off the bus for a two-year stint at Division of Corrections, Road Prison 36, a Southern chain gang. Luke is a decorated combat hero who, after the war, “come out the same way he went in, Buck Private.” Or so announces the camp captain as he sorts and sizes up the new arrivals. The offense that brings him to Prison 36 is malicious destruction of municipal property while intoxicated, i.e. a drunken night of chopping the heads off parking meters with a pipe cutter.

In the barracks, a list of infractions and the consequent punishment is explained by a beefy, cigar-chomping “floor walker” named Carr.

“Them clothes has got laundry numbers on ‘em. You remember your number and always wear the ones that has your number. Any man forgets his number spends a night in the box… Last bell is at eight. Any man not in his bunk at eight spends a night in the box…

“This here spoon you keep with you. Any man loses his spoon…”

That evening, we learn the inmates have a few rules of their own, adjudicated by the tough-talking and physically imposing Dragline (George Kennedy). Dragline likes nicknames, so everyone has one – Koko, Rabbit, Loudmouth Steve…

Society Red explains: “Dragline gives out the names here. You’ll get yours when he figures you out.”

Over time, in word and deed, Luke challenges Dragline’s authority. A Fight Club-style boxing match is meant to settle things. Dragline beats Luke very nearly to death, but Luke, bloodied and barely conscious, refuses to submit. This act cements their friendship, and the adulation of the other cons. Later, sadly, we’ll learn that their devotion to Luke is not unconditional.

Luke is, in Dragline’s estimation, “a wild, beautiful thing” who always comes back at you, even when he’s got “a handful of nuthin.” And nuthin, we’re told, “can be a real cool hand.”

You’d be hard pressed to find a character in any film that expresses anger, admiration, love and a tinge of submission, all in the same moment, better than Kennedy’s Dragline.

One of the pleasures of Cool Hand Luke is the deep bench of great actors, most of whom found their measure of fame years later – Dennis Hopper, Wayne Rogers, Ralph Waite, Joe Don Baker, J.D. Cannon, Luke Askew, Anthony Zerbe and others.

Special mention must be made of national treasure Harry Dean Stanton, the guitar-strumming con known as Tramp. Stanton is perhaps known best as the father who clutches the chainlink-and-barbed-wire fence and screams “Avenge ME!” at sons Patrick Swayzee and Charlie Sheen in Red Dawn. Here that just makes an actor a familiar face, but in England they grant Knighthood for stuff like that.

There are two scenes that are always written and talked about: The one in which the great Strother Martin as the prison captain declares “What we’ve got here is… failure to communicate…” and the scene in which Luke, on a dare, consumes 50 eggs. But that diminishes the real weight of the story.

And there are other scenes that say so much more. Topping the list is Luke’s frail and dying mother Arletta’s visit to the prison one Sunday to say her goodbyes. Luke’s brother John, apparently the obedient child who remained at mom’s side, has her painfully propped in the bed of a ramshackle pickup truck.

This brief and final conversation between mother (Jo Van Fleet) and son tells us more about Luke Jackson than all of the other scenes of the movie combined.

− I’m leavin’ the place to John.
− That’s good. He earned it.
− Ain’t nuthin’ to do with it. I just, I just never give John the, the kind of, you know, feelin’ that I give you, so I’m, I’m gonna pay him back now. Don’t feel you have to say anythin’. The way it is, you see, sometimes you just, just have a feelin’ for a child…with John, I just didn’t.

As Arletta unsuccessfully fights the urge to break down, brother John suddenly appears and thrusts an old and battered banjo into Luke’s hands. “Now there ain’t nuthin’ to come back for.”

Soon enough, one evening Luke receives the message that his mother is dead. Fellow inmates scatter to offer a rare moment of privacy. He sits in his bunk. Tears coming now, he strums the banjo and quietly sings the folk song Plastic Jesus.

Well, I don’t care if it rains or freezes
long as I got my plastic Jesus
sittin’ on the dashboard of my car
goin’ ninety, I ain’t scary
cause I’ve got the Virgin Mary
assurin’ me that I won’t go to Hell.

It is not possible to separate the appeal and lasting impact of Cool Hand Luke from the actor and man that was Paul Newman. He was a talented actor who grew better with age for the sole reason that he worked very hard at it.

Newman was also blessed with an extraordinarily generous dose of something they used to call Screen Presence. But there was a real person underneath it all, a good person, someone you wanted to know. Long before actor-as-political-activist chic was chic, Newman spoke out on issues he cared about. And instead of the head-tilting self-righteous swagger you see in some outspoken actor today, Newman always looked like he wasn’t entirely certain he should be there, in the suit and tie, before all the cameras. Are you asking **me**? He never looked or sounded practiced. There were no surgical soundbites. It was as if the gnawing pain caused by not speaking out had barely trumped another voice inside that told him to keep quiet. You believed him.

And as for his sincerity, the fact that over his life he raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the less fortunate speaks for itself.

Newman grew up outside Cleveland, spent many years in New York and settled far from Hollywood in Connecticut. But lots of cities and towns like to claim him. The little Ohio town where I grew up rather boldly considers itself responsible for Newman’s acting career. He was a graduate of nearby Kenyon College, and it was a bar just off our city square, one night in 1948, where he was arrested and jailed for engaging in a brawl with some of our townies. That led to his being kicked off the Kenyon football team. He then turned to acting. Boom – we had given the world Paul Newman.

One summer in the late 70s he was directing a student play at Kenyon’s new theater, and he breezed into a local shop where my sister worked. He asked her if they stocked some nut or root or such dipped in dark chocolate. My poor sister had the duty of disappointing Mr. Newman with the news they did not carry such an item. Through visibly starstruck, she was able to report that he was polite and charming, although he never removed his sunglasses. I’d heard he had a thing about that; people were often belligerent about asking to closely examine the celebrated blue eyes.

After his death in 2008, there were the expected tributes and accolades. But what struck me most was what his friend of some 50 years, the writer A.E. Hotchner, said about him.

He said Newman was “an unadorned man, simple and direct and honest.”

An unadorned man. Not affected by fame and wealth, doing some actual good in the world. That’s something. It really is.

My daughter’s essay turned out fine. She was a much better writer than I was at that age, and she rarely had an actual need for my help. She did oblige me and even included a snippet of dialogue from Dragline. It’s from the final moments of the film. If you’ve not seen this movie, no spoilers. Let’s just say that, ultimately, fate rarely smiles upon true heroes.

A dozen or so cons are crowded around Dragline, and they ask what he saw and heard of Luke when they last parted.

“He had that Luke smile,” Dragline tells them. “Oh, Luke. He was some boy. Cool Hand Luke. A natural-born… world-shaker.”

Here are the answers and winners of last night’s quiz.

THE ANSWERS

 
Q.3
Woody and Buzz Lightyear are two of Andy’s toys. Who is the next door neighbor that Andy’s toys fear?

Rex
Sid
Hamm
George

 
 
Q.4
In Goodfellas, what is Henry Hill’s job as a teenager that gets him involved with the mob?

Delivering groceries
Selling newspapers
Picking up trash
Parking cars

 
 
Q.5
What Vietnam War movie’s tagline reads “The first casualty of war is innocence.”

Platoon
Apocalypse Now
We Were Soldiers
Forrest Gump

 
 
Q.6
What type of beans does Hannibal Lecter like to enjoy with a nice chianti?

Navy
Fava
Lima
Kidney

 
 
Q.7
In Saving Private Ryan, how many of James Francis Ryan’s brothers have been killed in combat?

1
2
3
4

 
 
Q.8
Which Unforgiven character said, “Yeah, no one liked me. Mountain boys all thought I was gonna shoot ‘em out of pure meanness.”

Will Munny
Ned Logan
English Bob
Little Bill Daggett

 
 
Q.9
What specific creature does Indiana Jones hate?

Scorpions
Snakes
Spiders
Cockroaches

 
 
Q.10
Part of Rocky’s training is punching the sides of frozen meat of what animal?

Horse
Cow
Bison
Pig

 
 
Q.11
True or False: Bilbo Baggins makes it to Mordor with the One Ring.

True
False

 
 
Q.12
“In a good shoe, I wear a size six, but a seven feels so good, I buy a size eight.”

Pretty Woman
How to Make an American Quilt
Steel Magnolias
When Harry Met Sally

 
 
Q.13
I am one of the seven dwarves from the 1937 version of Snow White, but I don’t speak at all during the entire movie. Who am I?

Happy
Sleepy
Sneezy
Grumpy
Bashful
Dopey
Doc

 
 
Q.14
In the movie “Sideways,” Miles (Paul Giamatti) is a frustrated _________?

Writer
Artist
Magazine Editor
Football coach

 
 
Q.15
What type of candy does Elliott use to persuade E.T. to come into his room?

M&M’s
Reese’s Pieces
Skittles
Sour Patch Kids

 
 
Q.16
What is the cardinal direction used when referring to the witch that wants Dorothy’s ruby slippers?

North
South
East
West

 
 
Q.17
Against whom are the Three Amigos hired to fight against in order to save the village of Santo Poco?

El Guapo
El Salvador
El Mariachi
El Diablo

 
 
Q.18
In “As Good as it Gets,” what does Jack Nicholson’s character throw down the trash chute in his apartment building?

A cigarette
His cell phone
His neighbor’s dog
His medication

 
 
Q.19
To which Sonny and Cher song does Phil Connors keep waking up in Punxsutawney, PA?

The Beat Goes On
Laugh At Me
But You’re Mine
I Got You Babe

 
 
Q.20
What bird is associated with Han Solo’s “Millenium” ship?

Falcon
Hawk
Eagle
Sparrow

 
 
Q.21
Who detonates the nuclear weapon that destroys the asteroid in “Armageddon?”

Ben Affleck
Bruce Willis
Owen Wilson
Liv Tyler

 
 
Q.22
What is the meaning of the “wonderful” phrase, “Hakuna Matata?”

No worries.
Why even bother?
Live and let live.
Eat, drink, and be merry.

 
 
Q.23
Which of Forrest Gump’s body parts was wounded, thereby sending him home from Vietnam?

Pinkie
Earlobe
Big toe
Buttock

 
 
Q.24
How much money does the paperboy demand in Better Off Dead?

$1
$2
$3
$4

 
 
Q.25
“Your mom goes to college.”

Good Will Hunting
Napoleon Dynamite
The Breakfast Club
The Graduate

THE WINNERS

The first person to correctly answer all questions was…Ashley M!
The second person to correctly answer all questions was…Carly W.

The following three people correctly answered all questions and were randomly selected to win a third place prize:

Pam D
A’s MieMie
Elizabeth Morr…

Congratulations to all the winners! Contact prizes@thepioneerwoman.com to claim your prizes.

It’s time for the Big Fat Movie quiz. My friend Kevin helped me write this one, and I think it’ll definitely challenge the cinematic region of your brain!

To take the quiz, just select the best answer below. After you submit your answers, you’ll be shown a percentage result (though you will have to scroll up to the top to see this.)

If you score 100%, check back Sunday to see if you’re a winner!

Answers and winners will be revealed Sunday night.

(Thank you, Kevin!)

PRIZES

1. The first person to correctly answer all questions wins a $250 Amazon.com gift card.

2. The second person to correctly answer all questions wins…a $150 Amazon.com gift card.

3. Three randomly selected players (out of all players) who correctly answers all questions wins…a $50 Amazon.com gift card.

Ready…

Set…

Go!

(NOTE: You may have to scroll up to the top to see your result!)

WHAT: BIG FAT MOVIE Quiz
WHERE: Here!
WHEN: Saturday, April 21, 6:00 pm Pacific Time
WHY: Because we live for movies and if they disappeared forever we would wear black the rest of our lives.

ANY movie, movie line, actor, director, storyline, etc. could be mentioned. This is a general MOVIE quiz from the beginning of time! (Well…the beginning of movies.) Take your movie vitamins!

Prizes will be shiny and fun.

See you tomorrow night!

After seventeen long, LONG, months, I can’t express my joy at the return of Mad Men. Because seventeen months is a long time to do without something that you love. Seventeen months is enough time to get pregnant, have a baby and lose your baby weight.

Not really.

Unless you happen to be a Hollywood movie star because they all seem to have some sort of innate ability to give birth and wear a bikini five weeks later while strolling their newborn down the beach.

The point I’m trying to very poorly make is that I missed Mad Men. We were left at the end of Season 4 with a proposal, a pregnancy, and an uncertain future for Sterling, Cooper, Draper and Pryce. And I’ve spent more time than I should admit wondering how it was all going to work out.

And missing seeing Don Draper in all his glorious dysfunction week after week. Because, let’s be honest, he’s easy on the eyes even when he’s a total and complete jerk.

So a new season has begun. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed on the show since we last saw everyone and was really thrown off when I saw Sally walking down the hall. She looked so much older and taller that I thought maybe a couple of years had gone by, but then I saw Joan with her newborn and realized it’s only been about nine months.

Memorial Day 1967. Don is married to Megan and they live in an apartment that I’d like to live in right now in 2012. It’s so retro and kitschy. And I even saw some round velvet throw pillows like my grandma used to have.

Joan is adjusting to life with a newborn baby and trying to deal with her mother while worrying about her future at the firm.

Roger is still delightfully Roger. He has always been one of my very favorite characters because he has the best one-liners. It appears that hasn’t changed.

Here are a few quick thoughts on the first few episodes:

1. I can’t decide if Don is really happy or if he’s just temporarily okay because this is something new. And if he’s really happy, will he end up getting his heart broken by Megan? It seems like he might finally be ready to settle in to life and she strikes me (Zoo Bisou Bisou) as someone who wants a little excitement and adventure.

2. It was interesting to see that Pete Campbell has finally gotten the life he thought he wanted. All he aspired to be was Don Draper. Now he has the wife, the baby, the house in the suburbs. And he’s miserable. Who knew that Lane could take him in a fight? I didn’t see that coming.

3. Roger and Jane are the perfect example of being careful what you wish for. They both imagined the other as the key to a happier future and I think they realize that what they thought they were getting and what they ended up with are two very different things. I wonder if Roger wishes he’d just stayed with Mona?

4. What about Betty? Or as Don called them in the first episode of the season, “Morticia and Lurch”? I’m curious to see how they continue to work her into the show now that she lives a life that’s so outside all the main characters.

5. What is going to happen to Joan? Will it ever come out that the baby belongs to Roger? What about Peggy? Will she be able to come up with a better idea for Heinz than a bean ballet? Which, by the way, I was already thinking that no one really wants to look too closely at a bean before the Heinz executives voiced that objection in the meeting.

So what are your thoughts on Mad Men this season? Are you happy with the episodes so far? Any favorite moments or predictions on where everything is headed? If the past holds true, it’ll be different from what anyone expects.