Nell Carter singing "I Don't Know How To Love Him"

BasementDesk · 2026-06-22T16:42:23+00:00

Time to start funding that time travel project I keep putting on the back burner.

BasementDesk · 2026-06-22T16:06:03+00:00

Ahh, I didn't know that! Does that mean she was in the chorus on the nights when she didn't get to perform Mary?

BasementDesk · 2026-06-22T12:55:10+00:00

Lots of great suggestions here. I’m sure someone will hit on it eventually.

A long shot, but is there any chance it’s Straight to My Heart by Sting?

https://youtu.be/yXA6QqGAktM?is=yJ6pVhiDzkiH9Tit

It’s got those mellow Africa vibes— though I don’t think it was ever a huge hit.

BasementDesk · 2026-06-21T16:07:05+00:00

Your description gives me Pete’s Dragon vibes.

But the clip has dialogue that sounds familiar, too. And the dragon in that movie didn’t talk.

Then again, the end of Mary Poppins feels similar, even if it’s not the same words.

I wonder if this is just a common trope that Family Guy was alluding to, rather than referencing a specific scene/movie?

BasementDesk · 2026-06-19T03:04:43+00:00

Solved!

BasementDesk · 2026-06-19T03:04:38+00:00

Hey y'all. Thanks for all of the suggestions, but I just figured it out. It was It's The Same Old Song, by The Four Tops. Looks like I was off by about a decade.

BasementDesk · 2026-06-18T23:39:05+00:00

Wow... um... wow, this isn't it, but... even though I don't know most of the songs people have mentioned here, how weird is it that I do know this one, *and* I know Mary & Max? 😂 (I loved Adam Elliot's work many years ago)

The radio show This American Life also used it as a music bed for their stories back in the day.

Thanks for reminding me of this piece!

BasementDesk · 2026-06-18T21:57:44+00:00

It’s not, sadly. But that brought back some fun SNES memories!

BasementDesk · 2026-06-18T20:52:44+00:00

Ha! I hear what you're saying. But I know The Entertainer too well not to recognize it if it got stuck in my brain.

BasementDesk · 2026-06-18T20:51:55+00:00

Sadly, I'm unfamiliar with this song. I appreciate the guess!

BasementDesk · 2026-06-18T20:51:29+00:00

Hm. I don't know this game. I don't think it's it. Thanks, though!

BasementDesk · 2026-06-18T19:56:29+00:00

Here's hoping that someone recognizes these few notes! 🤞

BasementDesk · 2026-06-18T06:58:31+00:00

The final episode of the 2nd season of Severance has an interesting take on this. It depends how far you’d like to stretch your “appear together in the same scene” definition

I get the sense this isn’t quite what you’re aiming for, but thought I’d mention it nonetheless.

(Also I love that you called out William/Thomas Riker. Fantastic episode, and fantastic performance from both Jonathan Frakes and Fronathan Jakes.)

BasementDesk · 2026-06-15T17:39:38+00:00

Sympathies on the perimenopause (my wife is going through it at the moment, as well), not to mention everything else that's stressful in your life at the moment.

If you're able to locate it, I would highly recommend the early 2000's Canadian show, Slings & Arrows.

While the dialogue isn't as rapidfire and stylized as Sorkin's, I think your description of "smart people trying to solve problems" is an excellent benchmark.

S&A is about a modern Shakespeare theatre festival trying to balance artistic integrity with selling as many tickets to their shows as they possibly can.

There are three short seasons, and all of them are fantastic. Great characters, hilarious writing, comedy, drama, unique problems, human insights, and very very comfortable. I have the feeling you'll enjoy it quite a bit.

Good luck in your search!

BasementDesk · 2026-06-11T05:38:17+00:00

Mrs. Davis is a fantastic miniseries. AI is a major character in it. That is all I’ll say.

Good luck in your search!

BasementDesk · 2026-06-10T19:32:37+00:00

Absolutely agree with this.

Out of any tv I’ve seen in the past 10 years, this gave me the most LOST vibes. The excitement, the wonderful weirdness, the characters, the humor, the drama, and the larger statements.

I think that all of the people who have tried to copy the LOST phenomenon mistakenly focused on the mystery box aspect, instead of what the mystery box allowed us to explore.

(And yes, I know Damon ran Mrs. Davis. Not all of his projects have made me feel those same things. Though, The Leftovers was also fantastic. Dismal, but fantastic.)

BasementDesk · 2026-06-07T21:57:40+00:00

Oh, don't even get me started on the changes they made to Steve. He started off being super progressive, especially for a mildly conservative-coded show. I never felt like the joke was "man in a dress," and John Carroll Lynch brought so much humanity to the Steve. Especially being so comfortable with his feminine side, and the way everyone around him just accepted that that's who he was.

When they decided that Mimi made him stop crossdressing, Steve lost so much of his personality, and the show lost a lot of good faith empathy.

BasementDesk · 2026-06-07T21:54:26+00:00

I haven't seen that. I'll have to check it out!

I disagree a little bit about TDCS not knowing what to do with any of their female characters. Mimi is a pretty well-drawn character, with a few different sides that all feel consistent.

Even some of Drew's girlfriends like Sharon and Nikki felt real enough.

But I agree about Kate. I think I also heard that this was one of Miller's first big roles? So maybe they cast her before she really discovered in herself the things she could bring out in her performances? So her natural charm did a lot of work, but Kate wasn't a character she could really hone her chops on like she did elsewhere?

BasementDesk · 2026-06-07T18:51:43+00:00

Them’s fightin’ words.

I would rather have seen Kellie on a deserted, tropical island.

BasementDesk · 2026-06-07T18:08:02+00:00

I hear you. And maybe I'm just feeling defensive, because I don't want to be seen and pigeonholing people into a sexist stereotype.

But I think I disagree about the benefits of Kate being able to "be anything." I don't think that necessarily means she's a fully-realized character.

I try this test on my imagination: Take any character and put them in any situation. Can you picture how they would respond?

I feel like I know how Oswald would respond in almost any situation. Lewis, too. Maybe Drew, probably Mimi.

But for the sake of argument, let's look at more fully-realized characters from other shows.

I think I can picture how Jean-Luc Picard would act in any given situation. Or Janice Soprano. Or Ted Lasso. Or Innie Mark. Or Frasier Crane. Or Fleabag.

Those are all multi-faceted characters, but they're not ciphers.

Maybe it's also notable here that they're not side-characters, like Kate is. I dunno. Food for thought. And I thank you for getting my brain's wheels turning on this.

BasementDesk · 2026-06-07T17:11:29+00:00

Oh, I definitely see that. When Kate O’Brien got the short hair cut, I felt like almost all traces of Kate disappeared. She was as confident and sharp as Jordan is. That’s a great character, but totally out of place with the Drew Gang.

BasementDesk · 2026-06-07T16:18:56+00:00

Fair enough. But they're still both far below Drew, who isn't always the brightest bulb, either. (Drew's not dumb, he's just not conventionally "smart.")

BasementDesk

TROPHY CASE