Watched: The Crown [TV, season 2]

Corgi/dogwatch continues. There were still too few corgi shots in this season for my tastes, but it was otherwise very enjoyable television.

Maybe my favorite shot of the whole season; look how PISSED these corgis are about being out in the back of the truck. The queen should expect doggy retribution for this later.

Watched: The Crown [TV, season 1]

Here are all the corgis (and a couple of pugs) spotted in season one of Netflix's The Crown, which tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II from the time of her wedding to Phillip until Churchill's retirement/her sister Margaret's wedding scandal. It's well-written, well-filmed, well-acted, SO very British (I actually put subtitles on because I couldn't understand actor Matt Smith who plays Philip at all) and very engrossing. The costuming is also gorgeous. My only true complaint is the lack of significant corgi representation. Here are all the instances where I spotted one, in order as I watched it.

Vacation corgi!

Mere background corgi.

In the early episodes, Elizabeth's uncle and famous abdicator from the throne Edward VIII and his pugs got more screentime than the royal corgis. They're quite, I guess, but they're definitely outshined by the bizarre and hilarious PUG PILLOWS. What?!

The first real corgi close-up we get. 

Historical research time. Sadly I could not find any picture of the queen with her corgis in the 1950's that identified them as Honey or Pippin. So let's assume these adorable canine actors are perfect casting. Sugar, however. Here's a picture of the queen with a corgi the caption tells us is Sugar.

Source: http://www.papergreat.com/2012/10/update-this-royal-dog-was-welsh-corgi.html

Compared with the middle corgi featured above (presumably Sugar, assuming the queen is addressing them according to how they are sitting) this pup is a LOT less fluffy. BUSTED.

This barely even counts.

Just chillin', waiting for their queen to hand out some treats.

I mean if Philip is going to run around with the kids the corgis are going to chase. Corgis are what they are.

Again, patiently waiting in the background for ol' Lilbet to sort her shit out so she can give them the attention they deserve.

Look how fucking bored that corgi is, peeking out behind her. This scene is obviously meant to encapsulate the transformation Elizabeth made throughout season one from still fairly green princess then suddenly queen and her slowly learning how to hide herself from everyone, even her family, in order to successfully carry out her responsibilities. And I would say that Claire Foy's acting in this scene is excellent. BUT I WAS DISTRACTED BY THE HOPELESSLY BORED CORGI IN THE BACKGROUND. That is a corgi who is also trying to discover itself, and find a royal presence it can present as its public face in order to protect itself from the public.

Watched: Mystery Science Theater 3000, Season 11 [tv]

I've loved MST3K for a long time. I watched the show as it aired when I was a kid with my family. I can remember Saturday afternoons as being reserved for the show, coming home from wherever I was to get back in time for snacks and our favorite program to watch together (I have similar memories of TNG). MST3K had a huge influence on my sense of humor and my appreciation for imaginative, silly, absurdist, and simultaneously high-brow/low-brow style of television shows. And I have followed these guys throughout their careers, especially with Rifftrax, the post-MST3K project of my favorite of the hosts Mike and friends. Anyway, all of this is to say I was nervous about the revival of the show with a new host (Jonah), new mads (Felicia Day and Patton Oswald) and mostly a new writers' room. And while there are tweaks in the basic premise, some a return to original form and some acknowledging interesting changes made in the later seasons, plus an uptick in the pace of the joke delivery during the films, at its heart season 11 still feels like the show I know and love. I started screen-capping just to grab the cameos and some fun skit moments and there are a few shots from films in there but about halfway into the season I decided to just enjoy it. I may go back at some point and write about the individual movies because they picked a really great batch for this effort, and I was happy to see that the selection moved beyond the strictly sci-fi angle of the SciFi Channel days to include lots of silly B-movie genres.