Random Hollywood: Kitty McHugh

Kitty McHugh was the sister of Warner Brothers character actor Frank McHugh.  They performed together in vaudeville.  Married to cantankerous actor Ned Glass, McHugh took her own life by swallowing sleeping pills.

This is a series of random pictures of actors and actresses, for no particular reason. If you want to add information, feel free.

Phyllis Diller Chili!

Comedian Phyllis Diller, a major star in the 1960s and 1970s, decided to start her own food company.  The first (and only) product the company produced was "Phyllis Diller Chili" in 1987.  It came in chicken, beef and vegetarian varieties.

Phyllis and her daughters at the inaugural launch of Phyllis Diller Chili

It doesn't seem to have lasted that long, although there are photographs of the cans quietly rusting away.

Chicken Chili with Beans...it's a wonder it didn't fly off the shelves!

"It Took Diller To Remove The Filler"

What can I say? Other than GLACK.

Prince: Under The Cherry Moon Part One

It's Prince-O-Rama!

I'm going to jump ahead in time, to this interview that Prince gave to MTV shortly before the release of his second film, "Under The Cherry Moon".

reprinted in ROCK & SOUL * APRIL 1986

THE PRINCE INTERVIEW
Mr. Purple Discusses His Movies, His Music, His Musicians
And More, More, More.

By Michael Shore

Prince's next feature film, Under the Cherry Moon -- and the much-anticipated followup to his smash debut, Purple Rain -- should be out in theaters in three or four months. It's even more eagerly awaited because it's also Prince's feature-film directing debut.

Originally, the film was to be directed by Mary Lambert, a premier music-video director who has overseen Madonna's "Borderline" and "Material Girl," Sheila E.'s "The Glamorous Life," and the Go-Go's "Yes Or No." But in mid-September, about a month or so into the movie's two-month shooting schedule, Lambert abruptly walked off the set and handed the directing reins to His Royal Badness.

Lambert issued a statement which read, in part, "I'm leaving under totally amicable circumstances. It's just become quite apparent that Prince has such a strong vision of what this movie should be, a vision that extends to so many areas of the film, that it makes no sense for me to stand between him and the film anymore. So I'm going off to work on my own feature and letting him finish his."

Lambert's was not the first departure from the set of Under the Cherry Moon. Just days into filming, veteran British actor Terrance Stamp walked off the set, allegedly due to "scheduling conflicts," which may or may not be public relations' diplomacy. In any case, Stamp was replaced in short order by Steven Berkoff, who played the heavies in both Beverly Hills Cop and Rambo. He'll be seen as the father of Prince's love interest in the film.

Under the Cherry Moon is a love story, set in the 1940s and shot in black and white. Word from the set has it that the plot is more or less spelled out in the lyrics to "Condition of the Heart" on Around the World in a Day, which appears to be about a musician falling in love with a woman too rich and worldly for his own lifestyle.

In Under the Cherry Moon, Prince's love interest is a rich girl named Mary Sharon who, according to one cast member, "wears miniskirts and pigtails." Prince plays Christopher, a piano player in a casino-style lounge in a place similar to the French Riviera, where the film was shot. One unconfirmed story was that Prince wanted to shoot some scenes in Monte Carlo but Prince Rainier wouldn't grant permission. Guess he felt one prince on the premises was enough.

While the plot may come from a Prince song, don't expect much Prince music in Under the Cherry Moon. Another unidentified crew member says the Revolution was on the set only to shoot the video for "America," that there's no band music in the film at all, and that the only Prince music in the film is His Royal Badness at the acoustic piano. So there may or may not be soundtrack album. Another crew member confirmed, though, that there is one actual "song," and it's called something like "Snowing in July." You'll recall that when Prince announced he would stop touring late in the Purple Rain tour, one of his cryptic reasons was, "Sometimes it snows in July."

The rest of the cast includes little-known British actress Kristen Scott-Thomas as Mary Sharon; Jerome Benton, Morris Day's former valet in the Time and now a member of the Family, as Prince's "partner"; veteran British actress Francesca Annis as an older woman with whom Prince's character reportedly has an affair; and Victor Spinetti, whose career as a supporting player in rock movies goes all the way back to the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night and Help!

So what'll the movie be like? Your guess is as good as ours or anyone else's at this point. But consider another hot report from one crew member. In order to complete the film on time after he took over from Lambert, Prince shot the remaining scenes in one take.

Maybe that's a good sign. After all, His Royal Badness did all right making records by himself for a long time, and surprised a lot of supposed experts with the success of Purple Rain. Somehow, it's hard to believe Prince is finished surprising us.

Late in 1985, Prince broke his self-imposed silence and spoke to the public for the first time in almost four years. First came an interview for Rolling Stone magazine. Later came an interview for MTV. Prince's agreement to be interviewed took MTV so suddenly that the staff at the cable network were unable to arrange to conduct the interview in person. Consequently, the Music News staff resorted to simply providing a list of questions to be read to Prince by his manager and answered by Prince on videotape. MTV elected to broadcast only parts of the interview. The full interview was then offered to other broadcasters.

The videotaped interview was conducted in France, where Prince was shooting his forthcoming motion picture, Under the Cherry Moon. He first took a break to film the video for America, the third single from the Around the World in a Day LP, before 2,000 kids at the Theatre de la Verdure (translation: Greenery Theatre), which is a huge tent on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. Once the video shoot was completed, Prince & the Revolution treated the audience to a 90-minute concert. Afterwards, Prince sat with a few of the young people in attendance and answered the questions prepared by the MTV Music News staff. It marked the first time in his career that Prince had said more than two sentences on TV. Unfortunately, in many cases, he didn't answer the questions posed, as you'll see. Although Prince is very good at many things, his inexperience with interviews shows greatly.

---

The first and most obvious question is, why have you decided to drop your media guard with the recent Rolling Stone interview and this one for MTV? And why were you so secretive prior to this?
 

Well, as you can see, I've made a lot of friends here, but I was homesick and I missed America. I guess I just wanted to talk to somebody.

Prince in his MTV interview

A lot of observers have remarked on your apparent need for control, and only with your two most recent albums, you gave credit to your band for composing, arranging and performing. It seems to us, from what we know of your personal background, that the need for control arose from your childhood and early teen years when you had a total lack of control over your life and were shuttled from home to home. Is this the case? If not, how does the need for control and/or your current, more open stance relate to your music?
 

I was horrible. To be perfectly honest, I was surrounded by my friends, but nevertheless, we had a difference of opinion in a lot of situations -- musically speaking, that is. A lot had to do with me not being quite sure exactly which direction I wanted to go in. Later on toward the Controversy period, I got a better grip on that. That's when we started to see more and more people participating in recording activities. Boom.

Someone in Minneapolis recently told us that several months ago they were in a studio there when David Rifkin, your sound engineer, walked in. They asked him what he thought of the new Prince album, Around The World In A Day. He said, "It's great, but wait 'til you hear the new album." Apparently, he meant you're already working on a new LP, and that this one would be a strong return to your funk roots. Is this true? Can you elaborate? What will it be called? When will it be due out, and what's the music like?
 

Don't you like surprises? Guess not. Ah, it is true I record very fast. It goes even quicker now that the girls help me -- the girls, meaning Wendy and Lisa. I don't really think I left my funk roots anywhere along the line. Around The World In A Day is a funky album. Live it's even funkier.

Why did you make the announcement that there'd be no singles or videos from that LP, and then start issuing singles and making videos anyway? 
 

Because I wanted this album to be listened to, judged, critiqued as a whole. It's hard to take a trip and go around the block, and stop when the trip is 400 miles. Dig?

Speaking of singles and videos, your latest is "America." This is one of the most political songs you've ever done. Could you tell us what the song is supposed to say to people? For example, is it straightforwardly patriotic or more complicated than that?
 

Straightforwardly patriotic.

We understand you directed the "America" video, and that you also directed "Raspberry Beret." How do you approach directing a video? Do you consult others in order to keep a certain perspective when directing yourself? 
 

Yes, definitely. When directing myself, I consult Steve (Fargnoli), my manager. On directing other Paisley Park artists, I consult the artists first and foremost. One of the things I try to do with the things I direct -- namely for our acts -- is go for the different, the out-of-the-norm, the avant purple, so to speak. And the thing that's unique about the situation I'm in now with these people is that they all know who they are, and they agree with me when we say the one thing we produce is the alternative. If someone wants to go along for that ride, then cool.

Would you ever like to direct your own movie?
 

Yes, (very enthusiastically) yes, yes.

Speaking of movies, tell us as much as you can about Under The Cherry Moon. 
 

Ooooh.

What's the plot, what kind of characters, what kind of music, how many songs, what can we expect?
 

It's a French film. It's a black-and-white French film, and ah, she's in it (girlish giggles can be heard). And her name's Emanuelle.

A lot of people were offended by what they saw as sexism in Purple Rain.
 

Now, wait, wait. I didn't write Purple Rain. Someone else did. And it was a story, a fictional story, and should be perceived that way. Violence is something that happens in everyday life, and we were only telling a story. I wish it was looked at that way, because I don't think anything we did was unnecessary. Sometimes, for the sake of humor, we may've gone overboard. And if that was the case, then I'm sorry, but it was not the intention.

When and how did you first get the idea for Purple Rain? Did you really spend a year or so taking notes in a purple notebook, like some people have said?
 

Yes.

Did you ever think Purple Rain, the movie and the album, would be as big as they were?
 

See this cuff link? Give a brother a break. I don't know.

Speaking of brothers, some have criticized you for selling out to the white rock audience with Purple Rain, and leaving your black listeners behind. How do you respond to that?
 

Oh, come on, come on! Okay, let's be frank. Can we be frank? If we can't do nothing else, we might as well be frank. Seriously, I was brought up in a black-and-white world and, yes, black and white, night and day, rich and poor. I listened to all kinds of music when I was young, and when I was younger, I always said that one day I would play all kinds of music and not be judged for the color of my skin but the quality of my work, and hopefully I will continue. There are a lot of people out there that understand this, 'cause they support me and my habits, and I support them and theirs.

How do you feel about Jesse Johnson leaving the Time? Have you heard his album, and if so, what do you think of it?
 

Jesse and Morris and Jerome and Jimmy and Terry had the makings of one of the greatest R&B bands in history. I could be a little pretentious in saying that, but it's truly the way I feel. There's no one that could wreck a house like they could. I was a bit troubled by their demise, but like I said before, it's important that one's happy first and foremost. And, as far as Jesse's record goes, chocolate. You know.

It was obvious from the Purple Rain tour that, with the extended jams on some of these songs, you were paying tribute to James Brown. Would you agree? Who, besides James Brown, were your major musical inspirations and influences? Obviously you were thinking of Hendrix, Clinton and Sly Stone.
 

James Brown played a big influence in my style. When I was about 10 years old, my stepdad put me on stage with him, and I danced a little bit until the bodyguard took me off. The reason I liked James Brown so much is that, on my way out, I saw some of the finest dancing girls I ever seen in my life. And I think, in that respect, he influenced me by his control over his group. Another big influence was Joni Mitchell. She taught me a lot about color and sound, and to her, I'm very grateful.

In your Rolling Stone interview, you said you were surprised by so many people comparing you to Hendrix because you've always been more into Santana than Hendrix as a guitarist.
 

A lot has to do with the color of my skin, and that's not where it's at. It really isn't. Hendrix is very good. Fact. There will never be another one like him, and it would be a pity to try. I strive for originality in my work, and hopefully, it'll be perceived that way.

Your father is a musician too. Have you ever, or would you ever, try to get your father's music released on an album?
 

I did. He co-wrote "Computer Blue," "The Ladder" and several tunes on the new album. He's full of ideas. It'd be wonderful to put out an album on him, but he's a little bit crazier than I am.

You gave Andre Cymone the song, "Dance Electric," for his new album, and we know that you two had some kind of falling out a few years back. When and how did you patch things up?
 

I saw him in a discotheque one night and grabbed him by his shirt and said, [at this point, Prince reenacts the scene down to the last facial gesture], "Come on, I got this hit. You know I got this hit, don't you? "Dance Electric"? Yeah, it's great. You need it, you need it. no... Hey, come here, don't you play, hey, no, no, no you're not crazy, I'm crazy. I'm the one that's crazy, K? What chu gonna do? You gonna come by? For real? You ain't mad or nothing? So what? Yeah tomorrow. Noon. Cool."

We hear rumors that the Revolution may record an album of its own.
 

I don't know. It'd be too strange. They're very talented people, but they're (motions with his hands like a spastic hula girl), and together we're (motions with his hands, making them neatly parallel). I'd rather stay here (parallel), than (spastic).

Can you tell us about Paisley Park?
 

Paisley Park is an alternative. I'm not saying it's greater or better. It's just something else. It's multicolored, and it's very fun.

Can you comment on the incident that occurred after the American Music Awards in January 1985?
 

We had talked to the people that were doing USA for Africa, and they said it was cool that I gave them a song for the album. It was the best thing for both of us, I think. I'm strongest in a situation where I'm surrounded by people I know. So it's better that I did the music with my friends than going down and participating there. I probably would have just clammed up with so many great people in a room. I'm an admirer of all of the people who participated in that particular outing, and I don't want there to be any hard feelings. As far as the incident concerning the photographer goes, it's on the flip side of "Pop Life." The main thing it says is that we're against hungry children, and our record stands tall. There is just as much hunger back here at home, and we'll do everything we can, but y'all got to understand that a flower that has water will grow and the man misunderstood will go.

Have you changed your mind about touring since you announced the Purple Rain tour would be your last?
 

No. I don't plan on touring for a while. There are so many other things to do.

Now that Purple Rain has made you such a huge superstar, do you worry about the possibility of a backlash against you?
 

One thing I'd like to say is that I don't live in a prison. I am not afraid of anything. I haven't built any walls around myself, and I am just like anyone else. I need love and water, and I'm not afraid of a backlash because, like I say, there are people who will support my habits as I have supported theirs. I don't really consider myself a superstar. I live in a small town, and I always will. I can walk around and be me. That's all I want to be, that's all I ever tried to be. I didn't know what was gonna happen. I'm just trying to do my best and if somebody dug it then (kiss, kiss to the camera).

What are your religious beliefs?
 

I believe in God. There is only one God. And I believe in an afterworld. Hopefully we'll all see it. I have been accused of a lot of things contrary to this, and I just want people to know that I'm very sincere in my beliefs. I pray every night, and I don't ask for much. I just say, "Thank you" all the time.

Happy Birthday, Prince Rogers Nelson!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRINCE!

You would have been 58 years old today.

You will always live in our hearts.

Prince and Morris Day, Part Two

More Prince-O-Rama!

This is "Tricky", Prince and Morris goofing around in the early days. So worth listening to! If this doesn't make you smile, you are in a coma.   It starts out with Morris, but that's Prince on the vocals, tearing Bootsy Collins a new one!

You can kinda see why.

At the end they refer to "Johnny," i.e. Johnny Carson, legendary host of The Tonight Show.

Here's the backstory from someone named madhouseman:

The song was recorded at Sunset Sound on Wednesday February 1, 1984 (drifting into the morning of Feb. 2). The session started at 7 PM. For 6 hours, Prince, Morris (I think you can also hear Jerome) and a few others goofed off in the studio. Prince was playing the bass (supposedly while wearing gloves) and keyboards, while Morris played the drums. They were supposedly singing about Bootsy Collins . It is obvious that Prince and Morris were having fun, so some of the tension they had during the recording of ICE CREAM CASTLE was behind them.   The funny thing is they were using studio 2, so they had to take a microphone down thru the main recording area, down the hall to the bathroom where the toilet flush had to be cued for the end of the song.

Ed McMahon, comedian Dom Deluise, Johnny Carson, 1976

R.I.P. Prince.... Prince and Morris Day, Part One

Ever since Prince's death in late April, I have been obsessively posting videos and pictures to my Facebook, Twitter and Live Journal accounts.  I couldn't even tell you why.

Then I remembered: I have a blog!  The perfect place to bring it all together!  So starting today, it's going to be PRINCE-O-RAMA around here!

There are fantastic pictures posted on Morris Day And The Time's Facebook page.  Along with Andre' Cymone, Morris and Prince were high school friends.  Here's just a few!

Here's Prince at COACHELLA in 2008, with Morris Day & The Time, and Sheila E.!



This is a MUST-READ article about Day, Prince, and their fractious relationship over the years, from the Guardian:  

Cult heroes: Morris Day – Purple Rain rival who almost stole Prince's thunder 

They came up together. Born in Minneapolis just six months apart, Morris Day and Prince Rogers Nelson played in their first band, Grand Central  later renamed Champagne, while still at high school. The band’s manager was Day’s mother. The duo’s relationship thereafter consisted of back-and-forth favours (and occasional fallings-out). Day wrote the song Partyup for Prince’s Dirty Mind album in 1980, and Prince brought Day in to replace Alexander O’Neal as lead singer of the Time.


Jeff and I saw "Purple Rain" when it first came out.  Then we saw it again recently at a midnight showing.  More about that in a later entry, which will also give me an excuse to post a buttload of videos.

Life's A Witch: Supernatural Review, 11x10, "The Devil In The Details"

This episode pissed me off enough to actually write a review!  Yeah, a lot of fans were creaming their jeans over badass!Sam (with hurt and blood); Cas/Dean, Mark Pellegrino, Dean DONTFUCKWITHMYBROTHER Winchester, and other stuff I can't remember or will mention farther down in my review.  There are spoilers.  Why do reviewers and recappers warn for spoilers?  What are they supposed to say: "Sam's in Hell. Dean finds him. Crowley's nasty, Lucifer's nastier, uh, that's all we can tell you.  Oh, the Darkness is in there somewhere."

Directed by Thomas J. Wright with a thoroughly uninspired script by Andrew Dabb, "The Devil In The Details" is as hokey as its title. Seriously, when the cold open is by FAR the best part of the episode, we are in trouble.

THE ROAD SO FAR:

Loud rock song, Winchesters killing stuff, Impala sliding, until they have to go into a buttload of exposition to get us to the present.

NOW:

Christmas morning!  Adorable Crowley in pajamas!  Rowena in antlers and a blinking red nose!  A Funko Sam!  Lucifer as Santa!  Satan Claus kills Crowley with a candy cane.  Crowley collapses, wheezing, "I've been a good boy..."! Turns out it's a recurring nightmare of Rowena's, but Lucifer shows up to free her!  IT IS AMAZING!


Sorry for the poor pic quality but this set was the only one that caught the epicness of Crowley in footie pajamas.

TITLE CARD!

Dang.  Lucifer and Sam in the Cage.  They never should have shown Sam's "vision" of the Cage.  It's so much cooler than this traveling circus lion cage crap.  Lucifer monologues to Sam about the world ending and Lucifer will torture Sam and Sam will say yes and Sam says no and we pretty much know enough to skip most of what goes down between them because that is Exactly.What.Happens.

Rowena is madly in love with Lucifer and intends to be his queen.  Crowley and Rowena fight--she threatens him that all he'll have for protection is Sam Winchester.  To quote Crowley in S6, "Am I the only one who doesn't underestimate those denim wrapped NIGHTMARES?"  (Hee!)  Since none of the heavenly/demonly characters have real powers any more, it's tossed aside that Crowley is the King Of Hell, a powerful demon, that he can snap in and out of anywhere...he's now just another actor with a stunt guy who's paid to be thrown across rooms.  And a character who has spent much of the season in a cheesy men's room with chipped tile.


Another epic moment. Too bad it's the last one.

Soon, Dean has to pull over to the side of the road to puke his guts out.  Have we only seen anyone barfing oncamera once in all this time?  Back when Dean had the MOC and wasn't killing anybody? But that went away in Season 10 and he didn't need to kill anyone. Just be an asshole.

Pimpmobile!  Yay!  I love the pimpmobile.  Cas runs to Dean and gently caresses him.  Dean pretends not to like it.


Smiting Sickness?  Is Can using that just to touch Dean?

"The last time there was a smiting this [whatever] Lot's wife turned into salt."  What?  Supernatural has been fucking around with the Bible forever.  But didn't Balthazar turn Raphael's vessel into salt with the heavenly weapon in S6?  MY HEAD IS EXPLODING AND IT'S ONLY TEN MINUTES IN.

Cas concerned blah blah Dean sick blah blah Cas goes off to search for Amara's body blah blah he used to be able to search entire states in a split second but now he's just a guy who glows once in a while.  Dark Forest of Doom and Destruction blah blah our angel boy runs into a little Stereotype Young Asian Girl With Glasses angel (who works in statistics, no less) who tells him they're both expendable Cas is bummed blah blah.  Unlike the last 7 seasons, Castiel has lost the ability to recognize angels by sight blah blah "we're expendable but Sam and Dean are the real heroes we're not superheroes but we do the job no big loss."

Are you shitting me?  You're talking to the angel who helped save the world?  Who turned into God?  Who helped kill Dick Roman, the head Leviathan?  Yeah, Castiel has been a bit of a wet washcloth recently, but he used to be a warrior until it was convenient that he's not.

Little angel finds Amara and in your basic horror movie trope AMARA IS ALIVE!  She sucks down little Stereotype Young Asian Girl With Glasses Angel's grace.  The Dark Forest of Doom becomes bright and shiny.


They brought in a writer from Law & Order to write Amara's lines.

 Cas confronts Amara, who snarks like a prostitute in a cheesy cop procedural.  “Seriously? I mean, Heaven brought the thunder and it barely even scratched my paint job. But you and a shiny knife, sure, that’s gonna work.”  She then gives Cas the "weak full of self loathing" blah blah blah same shit Dean's always getting wait a minute has Dean even been in this episode never mind Cas gets blown back to Hell where he gets to do his patented Cas Is About To Fall Over move.

She's carved I AM COMING into Castiel's chest.  But no, she doesn't mean she's going to do the dirty with Dean.


It's insane how much better this pic is than the episode.

Lucifer takes Sam back in time.  First to his first make-out session (COLIN FORD! COLIN FORD!) then to Stull Cemetery to relive Sam jumping into the Cage


"Wow, my face was so much fatter then!"
"You were doing steroids trying to get a movie part. Didn't pan out."
"Shut up. I only want to be in this show.  For the rest of my natural life."
"You have Stockhold Syndrome, Jared."

Lucifer takes Sam to Amelia.  We've all done our best to forget her.  (NO! MORE COLIN FORD!) The writers do a little fan-pleasing soft shoe.  Lucifer says "this is the worst thing you've ever done".  They do a retcon blah blah blah Sam isn't strong enough blah blah if I hear "not strong enough" I will shoot out my tv.  One more time a character lectures Sam about his "insane bond" with Dean.  Blood is coming out of my ears.  Hasn't anyone noticed that the Winchesters are basically conjoined twins?  You can't have one without the other?


The worst torture Lucifer devised--bringing back Samelia.

Dean has to sing "Camptown Ladies" (hee!) so that Billie The Reaper (wtf is it with this show tossing around Reapers/Angels/Demons together?) will let him into hell blah blah blah Dean does the "I'm going to Hell" soundbite on his phone.  Somehow, Dean's traumatic memories of 40 years in Hell have been erased and he trots on down.

Back to Lucifer monologuing (I love you, Mark Pellegrino but shut up).  Lucifer makes a throwaway joke about Michael--wait, isn't Michael supposed to be in the Cage?  Go jump off a cliff, writers. "We can beat her," Lucifer urges beautifully lit Sam.

Dean brings a Witchcatcher.  Crowley locks his mom in it.  This gives him complete power over her.  Has anyone else noticed that Dean has bupkus to do in this episode?  Rowena is forced to do a spell to extinguish Lucifer.  Wait, what?  Witchcraft can overcome THE DEVIL?  What bullshit is this?  Why not leave Luci in his Cage and do a spell on Sam that banishes the visions...too simple.  Sorry.


Dean: "I'll just wait here, then."

Sam rejects Lucifer, in the best dialogue in the episode: “My answer is ‘No.’ This isn’t cuz of Dean or the past. This is about me having faith in my friends, having faith in my family. We will find a way. I’m ready to die. And I’m ready to watch people I love die. But I’m not ready to be your bitch.”

So, Lucifer proceeds to beat the shit out of him.  Dean and Castiel show up, get zapped into the Cage, and Lucifer kicks their collective asses.


I so wish that was my hand in Sam's hair...


Lucifer pulls Supernatural's signature move.  Have the Winchesters ever thought of kicking the enemy in the chest? Just me?

Rowena's spell works, the Winchesters and Castiel leave Hell, but wait...Cas is acting strange!  The boys drive off.

Dumbass Cas has said yes to Lucifer.  Meanwhile, since Rowena has to do his bidding, Crowley asks his mother why she hates him. When she looks into this eyes, she sees the pathetic woman she was before magic: when he was born, his father went back to his wife, leaving her on her own. Most important, if she didn’t hate him, she’d love him, and love is a weakness.  Then Casifer/Lustiel shows up, comes on to Rowena and snaps her neck.  That's how it works in this show.  Help out a Big Bad and your delusional ass gets kicked out of the land of the living.

Misha does his best Mark Pellegrino impression, using his real voice.  He does the head tilt thing that he did as the Leviathan saying, "This is going to be so much fun".

Cue Supernatural echo bongoes, and we're done!

Random thoughts:

I'm bummed that Ruth O'Connell is leaving.

Isn't there anything that villains can do besides grabbing a Winchester's neck and lifting them off the ground?  Would levitating them cost too much?

When they do the big season montages, does anyone else notice that the killings look alike?  Exploding in smoke, exploding in fire, exploding?

Shout out to Lucifer's line about moving to LA and solving crimes. A nice shot at "Lucifer", which premieres next week on FOX. And features Satan as a police consultant. *snort*

Cas and Amara have no chemistry whatsoever.

Amara still needs a bra.

I miss Abbadon.

Mark Pellegrino is a better actor than Misha Collins.

Lucifer banged Sam during the latter's turn in Hell.  Does this mean Casifer seduces Dean?  Count me in.

NEXT WEEK:

Dee Wallace guest stars.  There are creatures.  Casifer swanks around.  Misha gets to use his real voice.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2015 was in many ways a fantastic year!

"Cervix With A Smile" GOT PUBLISHED!  I will love the folks at the Exit Press forever.

I did a lot of writing!

I PERFORMED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS!  Last year's resolution was "perform once".  Achievable goals, folks.

We went to the Jersey Shore.  Fantastic weather, great swimming, and food, food, food.

A dear friend sent me a tin of homemade chocolate truffles, most of which have now been eaten.

Another dear friend went with me to my doctors' appointments and kept copious notes.

My first trip by myself, to Chicago, with a roomette on the train both ways.

I got to spend another year with my wonderful spouse.

2015 was in many ways a sucky year.

I started the new year in the psychiatric ward at Roosevelt Hospital.  Nothing says "Happy New Year!" than a paper poinsettia placement and a cupcake with blue frosting.  Then I spent several months with my brain not working quite right.

I got breast cancer.  That blew.

Our cat Rupert died.

I've gained weight, partly from eating most of the homemade chocolate truffles.  Actually, that's not really in the "sucky" column.

Bring on 2016.  I'm waiting for you, sucker.