MattHelm

filmlover, another outstanding week's schedule from you! I love your salute to the character actors, especially Gorillas in the Mist. And the variety of obscure older serials you chose are great. I also like your Star is Born and Man Without a Face themes. But the most impressive thing is your representing the history of WB throughout the week. Thank you, sugar and Kyle for participating. Voting will commence shortly.

Looking over the schedules again, there are a lot of movies that are the equivalent of comfort food. Speaking of food, the turducken reminds me of an even more elaborate and bizarre culinary curiosity back in medieval times, where they stuffed a cow with a deer that was stuffed with a pig, that was stuffed with a lamb, which was stuffed with a turkey stuffed with a duck that was stuffed with a chicken, and that was stuffed with a rabbit, which was stuffed with something smaller like a quail. Of course, this was only for French royalty. Anyway, what an appropriate theme as most TCM themes are stuffed with the same principle.

Sugarpuss, this schedule is outstanding. It's almost too good because we gotta sleep sometime. You've chosen many movies on my all time favorites list too, and I'm sure that goes for all of us. I'm glad you dusted off Joeseph Cotten and I was hoping someone would have read enough about actors/actresses to be able to use in choosing the guest programmer's picks, and for the Challenge horoscope theme. I was also wondering if people would choose their own zodiac sign for their programming and ironically, the deadline falls within my own. If you and Kyle ever get a job programming for TCM, I'll have to break down and get Tivo. 13 hours and 50 minutes left folks.

It seems I made a mistake in figuring out the deadline date for this Challenge. Due to only having ten fingers and ten toes, I had mistakenly placed that date, December 9th, on a Sunday. Since Dec. 10 is that Sunday, that will be the new deadline: Dec. 10, midnight (PST). Maybe Santa will bring me a calendar this year.

Kyle ... pure excellence!!! The originality of your Zodiac Sampler was what I was hoping to see in this challenge. And it's about time Borgnine got some recognition. I love all the themes ... Hoagy, Rabbit Ears, Southern American Gothic ... the Match.tcm, Rob Petrie and Dames ideas are a riot. Your serial choice and the rest of Saturday's programming makes for a very fun day. Thanks for setting the gold standard for this challenge.

If it's any consolation, you get to watch the TCM movies that are on too late for me to catch. That means your up one to two movies on me.

Rusty, Maybe the mess adds more cover. A man shoving his cape down his pants would seem more inconspicuous amidst that trash heap should anyone walk in. In a psychological analysis, the file cabinet room reflects the messy lives of Lois and Jimmy. No wonder there are only two serials. I think the serial Superman was fed up with their pathological need to throw themselves into fatal situations, and their dependency on him. I think they only view him as a contraceptive and think they can play with fire all they want.

Sure, why not. You can even write-in your own candidate too.

Rusty, Superman was making costume jewelry and not real diamonds. I don't know this for sure, but it seems he would have been filthy rich if he could just make diamonds anytime he wanted. Hell, on a bag of Kingsford charcoal he could retire. What I want to know about the serials is why Clark Kent always smiles like a kid playing hide and seek before he goes behind the filing cabinet to change. He looks around the corner with this big grin on his face then ducks behind it. They show that same scene over and over again regardless of whether there's a dire emergency or not. In one of the chapters in the last serial when they show the smiling footage, Perry White was getting his but kicked in his office.

Just a reminder ... This is the half-way point. Those participating have 19 more days until the Dec. 9 midnight (PST) deadline. Plenty of time.

That's great. I also found this montage of the Spector recording of Darlene Love's White Christmas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ6vLtQXZRY

Ben and Sandy, that Spector album is one of my favorites, too. I also have it on vinyl. I forgot to mention O Tannenbaum by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, as well as Christmas Time is Here, which was mentioned. Diana Krall does a great version of that, as well. Sinatra and Bing also did an album together that I've had for years and couldn't figure out what was going on because it included dialogue in between carols. Then two years ago, a restored TV Christmas special with Sinatra and Bing from the 50s came out, and it's what is on my record. If anyone hasn't seen this show and is a fan of theirs, I highly recommend buying it. It's only about ten bucks and is a classic ... and it's in a beautiful restored color print.

In no particular order (and best listened to on records): White Christmas, Marshmallow World, Baby It's Cold Outside, Let it Snow - Dean Martin Mistletoe & Holly, The Christmas Waltz, Jingle Bells, Ave Maria - Frank Sinatra What Are You Doing New Year's Eve - Julie London The Christmas Song, I Saw Three Ships - Nat King Cole Merry Christmas Baby, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, The Little Drummer Boy - Lou Rawls Christmas in Kilarney, Do You Hear What I Hear, O Holy Night, Silent Night - Bing Frosty the Snowman - The Ronnettes The Man with the Bag - Kay Starr It's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love, U2 I'll Be Home For Christmas - Jackie Gleason (the saddest version I've ever heard) Silver Bells - Bob Hope My Favorite Things - Tony Bennett Sleigh Ride - Johnny Mathis (There's No Place Like) Home For the Holidays, It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas - Perry Como It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Happy Holiday, Do You Hear What I Hear - Andy Williams Ah, just another week and they'll all be fair game.

Not to mention X kryptonite from Supergirl, and Kryptonite X. There's also a black kryptonite thanks to the show Smallville. Next there will probably be a new and improved kryptonite with lemon scent.

Go right ahead filmlover, I couldn't have said it better. Just to add my two cents, in the 90's in the Superman comics it was found that long term exposure to kryptonite wasn't good for humans. Lex Luthor has a pieced of it set in his ring so that he would have constant protection against Superman. But then he developed cancer from it and had to have his hand amputated to stop it from spreading. In the mid-80's Superman's origins went through another re-telling in the comic. All Kryptonians were born as test tube babies, and before Krypton exploded, the incubator thing he was in was evacuated and sent into space, while he was only a fetus. It crashes on Earth just as he reaches infancy so, technically, he's born on Earth. Rusty, the thing that gives Kryptonians their powers on Earth is that Earth's gravity is much lower than Krypton's, plus our solar system's yellow sun charges him up like a battery.

I'm fine with the animated flying scenes, too, but the Captain Marvel serials seven years earlier had some pretty real looking flying effects, using a dummy on a line. You gotta love Cpt. Marvel, he's got similar powers as Superman, but he's not above jumping behind a machine gun and mowing the bad guys down. Nor, throwing them off a building.

Hallelujah, sugarpuss!!! See folks, what the TCM Challenge does for you? Sugarpuss came to us gout-ridden and without eyebrows ... Hallelujah ... and now is proudly back, interacting with society (stay tuned for the fins story). This is real, gen-u-ine proof that the Challenge heals. Whatever your ailment is, there's nothing the Challenge can't cure. But you have to participate. What's a little hard work in programming a week's schedule if it means that you'll play the piano again?

Here in Florida, we all remember the 2000 fiasco where a candidate's people registered felons in prisons, who aren't allowed to vote, and bribed homeless people with free cigarettes to vote for him (luckily that campaign aid was arrested). It is a serious issue, right out of All the King's Men. That should have been on the list.

filmlover, Thanks for posting this info. I've been putting together a proposal for a school I teach in, to teach a program like The Story of Movies for students. And if this projector is within their budget it would be a great way to expose these kids to classic movies. The kids probably won't like the idea of classic movies at first, but to see them in that size would make them more impressive, rather than a 20" TV screen.

Yeah, what he said!!! "Oyez ? oyez ? oyez ... The big Charleston contest. The prize? A genuine loving cup. Those not tapped by the judges will remain on the floor. Let's go!" Remember, the Challenge is like fighting the battle of Bedford Falls. One man or woman CAN make a difference in influencing TCM's programming to reflect the ideas of his or hers Challenge schedule. It's happened with each one of the Challenges, so far. Many past Challengers have seen their movie picks and themes chosen to appear on TCM. Some have even got up out of their wheelchairs and walked again, after participating in the Challenge. My asthma has been a thing of the past, since I started participating in this miraculous Challenge series. C'mon past Challengers, what miracles have happened to you since you first participated in the past? And why don't you want more bestowed upon you? I'm Matt Helm, and I approve this message.

****UPDATE**** It has come to my attention that TCM does not own it's own library anymore. The library was handed over to Warner Brothers as a sort of cinematic dowry when Ted Turner merged with Time-Warner. So this means that the rules concerning which movies one can use in the Challenge have changed. Now, people participating in the Challenge can choose from any RKO or Warner Bros. title, and any MGM up till 1986. This gives you all even more movies to choose from. ****UPDATE PART 2**** Movies from other studios that have been previously shown on TCM can be scheduled, as well.

Kyle, As an ex-pastry chef, I can tell you that a Floating Island is a custard topped with a meringue. I've never made it though. But I think it would be improbable for it to be just sitting in the freezer or refrigerator, and be readily available for Hepburn to have it for dessert on the spur of the moment, for a spontaneous visit by Tracy.

It's also great to see Beaver Cleaver's teacher, Miss Landers, in color. She plays one of the researchers in Hepburn's department.

I haven't seen The Masked Marvel yet, now I'll have to hunt down a copy. It's great to know that Steele did the stunt work for The Thing. Thanks for pointing that out.

filmlover, before you pre-order it from Amazon, check out Half.com. They don't have the Superman serials DVD listed yet, but they usually sell new releases below Amazon's prices.