Twin Peaks 1.14: Painstaking Progress

Hey, it's tough to make progress when your adversary is from/in another dimension and an evil one at that, and one with the power to snap up good people and return them with an evil twin.  Not to mention that the FBI agent in charge of the case can't speak softly and carry a big stick, because he's hard of hearing (proof - he was a hearing aid).  But the forces of good made a small amount of painstaking, painful progress in Twin Peaks 1.14 nonetheless.

Truman finally managed to convey to Cole that there may be two Coopers afoot.   It's especially appropriate that Truman was the conveyor of this news, seeing as how he's the brother of the original Sheriff Truman - Harry Truman - who likely has no relationship to the U. S. President who dropped the atom bombs on Japan, though, come to think of it, you never know, given the almost entire hour devoted to inside an atomic explosion on the Return a few episodes ago.  David Lynch again shows a knack for being uncannily in synch with what's happening in the real world, given the concern about nuclear warheads and North Korea these days, though maybe that's too serious to even slightly joke about (but probably not).

But, anyway, the two true Trumans in Twin Peaks are not twins but brothers, and they don't even look all that much alike, but being a bro on this show is good enough.  Our heroes are also beginning to close in the E's - Janey-E and Doug E - and I'm wondering if these E's have any connection to E=mc-square (that's what Elvis may have said to himself about Ed Sullivan, i.e.,  E[d] = mc-square - those these types of puns ain't E-asy).

Meanwhile, back at the end of the episode, we once again have a great musical performance by Lissie - especially appropriate (memorable music) given the appearance of David Bowie in vintage Twin Peaks aka dream sequence footage.

See ya next time.

See also Twin Peaks: The Return 1.1-2: Superluminal Sans Cherry Pie ... 1.3-4: Coffee and Cole ... 1.5: The Mod Squad Meets Big Love in the Diner ... 1.6: Red Door and Childish Scribbles ... 1.7: Lost and Not Lost ... 1.8: Atom Bomb and Mr. Homn ... 1.9: "I Don't See No Hidden Buttons" ... 1.10: "No Stars" ... 1.11: Double Cherry Pie and Viva Las Vegas ... 1.12: No Song - Slim Hope of Deliverance ... 1.13: Humor

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Dylan Ratigan confuses Theodore Roosevelt for Harry Truman

Harry Truman famously said about Republicans - when he was urged to "Give 'em hell, Harry" - "I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell."

I thought everybody knew this. Apparently not Dylan Ratigan, who in a promo for his show on MSNBC, just attributed a mangled version of the quote not to Harry Truman but Theodore Roosevelt, of speak softly and carry a big stick fame.

Boos not only to the usually more erudite Ratigan, but his producers, or the producers of this promo, over at MSNBC. One or more of these people either wrote the line for Ratigan, or if he said it on his own, his producers not only failed to catch the mistake but saw fit to highlight it in a promo for Ratigan's show.

News anchors and producers are only human. Of course they get things wrong on occasion, just as do professors (my profession). But this rises to a new level of, well, ignorance and/or carelessness. We deserve a little better in our promos.

*Note added 13 July 2010:  Well, it's good to see that someone at MSNBC is paying attention to bloggers - I just heard the Ratigan promo, and Harry Truman was dubbed in to replace Theodore Roosevelt!