Before we get this week's Touchbase underway, a brief word of acknowledgement on the passing of TV legend Bob Barker who hosted the long running game show The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007. While Drew Carey is the host of the current show on CBS, it's the classic run of the show our son has recently discovered on it's own streaming channel.
Barker was a very affable and genial presence on TV who was enthusiastic in his support of every contestant.
He played himself in the movie Happy Gilmore and had a memorable fight scene with Adam Sandler which will be this week's Friday Video Link.
Bob Barker was a strong proponent of animal advocacy, donating his time and fortune to various animal care project and ending each episode of The Price Is Right with “Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered.”
This week's Tuesday TV Touchbase takes a look at the first half of season 7 of Outlander. Starz gave us 8 episodes with 8 more to come sometime in 2024.
Normally I found the parceling out of seasons like that to be annoying but given how much has been packed into season 7 of Outlander so far, I think it might be fair to say I ken we need a wee bit of a breather.
The American Revolution has come! Jamie and Claire canna avoid it no longer, aye! OK, I'll stop trying to write in a Scottish accent.
Well, before we get into our star crossed lovers getting knee deep into the 18th centiury battlefields of the revolution, it's time to return to the 20th century.
Brianna tells her dad Jamie about Disneyland and it's so funny to see Jamie trying to wrap his head around the concept of a theme park (!!) inhabited by a human sized rodent (!!!).
Roger and Brianna McKenzie welcome their second child, a daughter named Mandy who Claire diagnoses has a congenital heart defect that will eventually kill the child in the 18th century but is completely treatable in the 20th. So Brianna, Roger, son Jemmy and Mandy go through the stones on North Carolina's Okrakoke Island.
In the year 1980, all is well.Mandy's had her operation and is now a happy healthy toddler. Jemmy seems to have adjusted to living in a time 200 years after he was born although he gets in trouble cursing out kids in school in Welsh.
Brianna and Roger buy the old Lollybroch estate in Scotland and engage in a refurbishment project of Jamie's ancient old homestead. Brianna gets to put her engineering degree to work at a nearby hydro electric dam where she meets a man named Ron Cameron who (through a variety of shenanigan and some truly stupid carelessness on Roger and Brianna's part) susses out their time travelling past and causes all sort of trouble.
Meanwhile (or 200 years earlier), Jamie and Claire decide to make a break for back to Scotland to avoid the war.
Nope!
Jamie gets conscripted into the American Revolutionary Army with Claire coming along to provide medical aid and support. Claire's knowledge from the future provides the broad strokes. Yes, America will win this damn thing but she's not up on every specific battle, who wins what and when to get there.
Jamie is the good soldier and will fight for the American cause but damn it, he knows people over on the other side.
There's his cousin Simon Fraser who is a general in the British army. And there's William, Jamie's son who doesn't know he is Jamie's son. In a pitched battle that the British lose, Jamie shoots William's hat off. It's a close call that saves William's life.
Simon Fraser is not so lucky and is mortally wounded. His dying wish is to buried in Scotland and for his cousin Jamie to escort his body back to Scotland.
So the halfway point of season 7 ends with Jamie and Claire just off the shores of Scotland which is where they wanted to go in the first place.
And all that is not even touching on what's going with Ian McMurray, Jamie's Scottish nephew who is also a Mohawk Indian and his infatuation with the young Quaker girl Rachel and the mission of vengeance the ominous Mr. Bug is on against Ian for killing his wife and...
And Roger is gone back through the stones at Craigh na Dun to track Ron Cameron who has abducted his son Jemmy back through time to find a cache of lost gold and...
Yeah, we need to take a pause here.
OK, Starz, just don't be too late into 2024 to serve up the 2nd half of season 7 of Outlander. '
Coming up on future editions of the Touchbase:
- What We Do In the Shadows
- Justified: City Primeval
- Star Wars: Ahoska
- My Adventures With Superman
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
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