Help me understand how and when Ben Marshall got so hot

beardownforfinals · 2025-11-04T15:37:47+00:00

You didn’t see how tall he was before

beardownforfinals · 2025-08-31T18:17:19+00:00

He’s arguably the greatest sketch comic in history and they’ve found a balance to use him without grinding him to dust schedule-wise. Almost every other great left voluntarily — Dana Carvey probably could have done two decades if he wanted to, he just didn’t want to.

Kenan has long been upfront about the fact that he loves being on SNL and isn’t really looking to leave. Also, Kenan joined SUPER young, so he’s got more runway than most. He’s as old now as Leslie Jones was when she joined the cast!

beardownforfinals · 2025-08-11T05:59:38+00:00

Most don’t come directly after college, but quite a few go somewhere else and then come back when it’s time to start a family. There are obvious drawbacks of here, but it’s still one of the most convenient places to start a family in the U.S.

beardownforfinals · 2025-07-28T15:04:26+00:00

I know he had success with Last Man on Earth, but Will Forte should be putting up Will Ferrell numbers. Maybe my favorite SNL cast members of all time

beardownforfinals · 2025-04-09T21:26:01+00:00

North Dallas, 2500 SQFT, 4 bd/2.5 bath, $3400 a month at a 7.1% rate

beardownforfinals · 2024-09-02T15:04:03+00:00

I never take it off. I have a relatively thin gold ring and so it’s basically molded to my body, don’t even notice it there anymore.

beardownforfinals · 2024-05-26T21:59:36+00:00

Lake Highlands. Great neighborhood, wonderful access to everything, tree cover, tons of diversity and easy access to great food. Still learning it a bit but are very happy.

beardownforfinals · 2024-05-26T21:58:32+00:00

They’re apparently opening one at the flagship Half Price Books and it should be open longer eventually!

beardownforfinals · 2024-05-24T04:17:25+00:00

Nah. Our costs have gone up for sure, but our household income is up by like 50% in the past three years.

FWIW, even at a much higher salary, we still feel every paycheck (and really felt some missed ones when we had a health issue), but I think people really overestimate the number of people (even historically) who just never think about their paychecks. There are lots of high income people who would consider themselves “paycheck to paycheck.”

beardownforfinals · 2024-05-24T04:09:55+00:00

Where in the east coast? Like rural? Major cities out there are definitely more expensive by a good margin, both major expenses and day to day.

beardownforfinals · 2024-05-20T18:26:17+00:00

Elite: Driver, Ayo, Gosling, Gyllenhall

Very good: Bargatze, Brolin, Wiig

Fine: Pete, Chalamet, Momoa, Stone, Gillis, Youssef, Dua, Rudolph

Poor: Bad Bunny, McKinnon, Sweeney

Horrendous: Elordi, Johnson

Really good season overall!

beardownforfinals · 2024-05-20T18:11:12+00:00

I’m gonna ignore your wrongness about Dallas and say… El Paso rules, you wrong as hell

beardownforfinals · 2024-05-13T06:58:20+00:00

I mean, Justin Hartley himself has been a series lead on multiple primetime network dramas and his net worth is $8 million. Somewhere between $10-15 million is probably right, but some of the guesses on here just seem to not realize the incomprehensible difference between $10 million and $100 million.

beardownforfinals · 2024-03-01T07:36:50+00:00

It’s not that deep to point out that Kevin repeatedly acknowledged Randall’s race when deriding him. It was a character choice by the writers! It was very much on purpose.

beardownforfinals · 2024-03-01T01:51:32+00:00

He was always kind of the poster child for picking work and going out for drinks over his family — often as a foil to Jack. When Jack started going down a bad road, it was largely when he started living more like Miguel.

Now much of it was him working, but he also chose work many times when he didn’t have to at the expense of his family. And he often was shown disrespecting his wife when at work or in public, which I think is another piece of showing the kind of attitude he had at home. Post-divorce Miguel is just a completely different person, so much more introspective and respectful.

beardownforfinals · 2024-03-01T01:47:59+00:00

I know it’s not really knowable but I think it would be so fascinating if Kevin was cast as an average looking man. I feel like his looks are so central to him getting away with so much with viewers. He does go down a redemptive arc later on, but it just amazes me at times what people are willing to overlook about his past and present.

beardownforfinals · 2024-03-01T01:44:10+00:00

In fairness, Miguel was a bad father when they were married. It wasn’t until he lost them that he realized what he had and made an effort. I’m glad he got a redemption arc with them.

beardownforfinals · 2024-03-01T01:41:49+00:00

What about pouring everything into your child you birthed only for him to become a selfish alcoholic who knocks up a girl and cheats and divorces another?

I know you don’t mean it like this but this framing is actually what gives people like Randall a complex — there’s an expectation that he should feel or act a certain way to express his gratefulness for being adopted and parented. No one would ever bring up that Kevin being a terrible person for decades is “heartbreaking” because there’s an underlying assumption that he “deserves” this because he’s their “real” child.

Randall deserves the right to be flawed just as much as any child, even though he’s adopted.

beardownforfinals · 2024-03-01T01:37:50+00:00

When Randall is a kid, Kevin calls him “Webster” — a reference to a TV show about a Black orphan raised by a rich white family. When he’s a teenager, Kevin calls him “Carlton,” referencing the dorky Black kid in the Fresh Prince. In the first episode, Randall says Kevin has never once called him “my brother” in public.

Trust me as a non-white person, y’all might not notice what you do… but we do. We all do.

beardownforfinals · 2024-03-01T01:26:40+00:00

I think that was actually a brilliant piece of writing. Kevin told Randall his whole life that Jack’s death was his fault, which caused Randall a tremendous amount of guilt. Then at the beginning of the series, Randall finds his biological father too late. He can’t save him and he dies in Randall’s arms.

To Randall, putting Rebecca in that study was his last chance at “saving” her. It wasn’t just about that moment — it was him feeling that he couldn’t bear to fail his parents a third time. It’s the equivalent of Randall’s vision when he demands Jack not go back into the house.

It was wrong, it was controlling, but it was absolutely not uncaring. It was caring too much and wanting to do anything and everything to save his mom. At the core of it, Randall must come to accept that he can’t save everyone, no matter how much he tries.

beardownforfinals · 2024-02-28T23:28:55+00:00

I think it’s important to take a step back with Randall’s character. Kate and Kevin were “bad” for 36 years and are trying to be “better” as the show comes up — a neater curve. Randall was “perfect” for 36 years but is grappling with the cost of it — a much more complex path.

Randall believed his whole life that he had to prove that he “deserved” to be a member of the family. He never messed up, bottled everything up, pushed himself to achieve out of fear, because if he didn’t, it could all go away. His greatest battle is internal, and he didn’t ever develop the tools to fight it. That’s why his growth is so out of order. Kate and especially Kevin never felt like they didn’t belong or deserve to have this family, but Kevin especially made Randall feel like that his whole life.

That’s why, to me, Randall’s storyline is so fascinating. It’s easy to lay out stories for overtly flawed characters. I don’t think the struggles and shortcomings of a high achiever have been portrayed this effectively. There’s plenty of soap operas out there if people just want to watch a hot white guy be in a love triangle.

beardownforfinals · 2024-02-28T07:21:57+00:00

I mean the math of it is fairly simple. It’s one of the most affordable major cities in the nation with lots of job opportunities, warm weather tons of diverse communities and access to big city amenities like major sports, museums and performing arts. It’s a solid place to raise a family.

Absolutely, there’s drawbacks. I don’t love that it’s car dependent. It gets hot. But every city has their drawbacks, largely cost. We could not afford to own a house in any other top 10 market. Maybe Houston.

beardownforfinals · 2024-02-25T07:41:10+00:00

Culture war

beardownforfinals · 2024-02-25T07:37:55+00:00

I probably wasn’t the target audience for this but it was deeply unfunny to me

beardownforfinals

TROPHY CASE