Station Break: R.I.P. Bea Arthur, Pontiac, 'King of the Hill,' More

Washington Post staff writer Paul Farhi was online Tuesday, April 28, at 1 p.m. ET to talk about the latest news in the pop culture world of TV, radio, movies and trends.

Today: R.I.P. Bea Arthur. R.I.P. Pontiac. And really R.I.P. "King of the Hill, "which is fading out after 13 seasons as (yes) the best animated sitcom ever on TV. We repeat: The best. Yes, better than "The Simpsons.

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Paul Farhi: Greetings, all; hope you're enjoying a lovely swine flu-free day...So, death supposedly comes in threes (is that Shakespeare or Charlie McCarthy?), so I've compiled my extremely arbitrary list of three of the newly (or soon to be) departed here for your perusal/discussion/rejection/revulsion. One R.I.P. at a time, please:

--Bea Arthur, 86. Unmistakable, wasn't she? Tall and formidable, with that deep voice, Bea Arthur was a star for all the reasons that women aren't stars on TV. She wasn't "ditsy." She wasn't "cute." She wasn't "perky" or certainly "sexy." Which rules out 99.6 percent of all the women who have ever starred on TV. I think she proved her unusual star quality by doing what many true TV stars have done over the years: She was in TWO long-running sitcoms, the great "Maude" and the enjoyable (if not brilliant) "Golden Girls." Think on it: the biggest people on TV almost always succeed twice (this isn't like the music business, where one-hit wonders are the rule). Lucy, Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith, Mary Tyler Moore, Carroll O'Conner, Bob Newhart all did it twice. Bea Arthur, unlikely TV star, belongs in their company.

--Pontiac, 83. Was it ever a great car line? Mostly not, but occasionally, yes. The Trans Am is iconic, storied in song and film. Ditto the GTO. And...what else? Well, not much. The Solstice? The Fiero? The amazingly awful Aztec? (I remember "Survivor" giving away an Aztec as a prize to contestants one year; and all I could think was, "What's second prize? Two Aztecs?"). Back in the day, Pontiac was the aspirational car, midway between a Chevy and a Caddy. It was big and powerful and cooler (though not by much) than an Olds or a Buick. Will it be missed as GM craters? Well, I worry more for the fate of the people who built it than for the line itself.

--"King of the Hill," 13. Yes, the greatest animated sitcom. And "The Simpsons" isn't even No. 2 in this category. Because, you see, "The Simpsons" is the greatest animated TV series. There's a difference (work with me here): "The Simpsons" is pure satire; it is, literally, a cartoon--exaggerated (ingeniously and hilariously) beyond human recognizability. Not so "KOTH." Hank Hill is your next-door neighbor, your uncle, your dad. He's everyman. His situations are recognizably sitcom-ish--they always relate to his faltering ability to keep up with this ever-changing world in which he (and we) live in. And has there ever been a more frighteningly "real" character on TV as Cotton Hill, Hank's grumpy, grouchy, cruel and racist bastard of a father? R.I.P. "KOTH," for sure...

Okay, let's go to the phones...

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Beverly Hills, Calif.: A moment of silence for Bea Arthur. What a great, talented woman Bea Arthur was! Go out today and buy the original Broadway recording of "Fiddler on the Roof" and you will clearly hear why Bea Arthur was the original Yenta, the Matchmaker, in the original "Fiddler." She steals every scene she's in. And you can also hear why Zero Mostel was the original Tevye. It's a powerhouse performance by everyone -- and, if memory serves, there's also a young Austin Pendleton and a young Bert Convy in there, too. It's still the best "Fiddler," if only because it was the original. No offense, of course, to Herschel Bernardi, Topol or Theodore Bikel, all of whom also portrayed Tevye. But Bea Arthur, of course, also triumphed in "Mame," winning a Tony, on "All in the Family," bravely and strongly butting heads with Archie Bunker, on "Maude," becoming a grand hero for the feminist movement in her late 40s and 50s, and becoming a hero again in "The Golden Girls" as a symbol of strength and confidence and perseverance in our senior years. What a talented woman, what a smart woman, and what a great presence on stage, screen and film for many years. We were lucky to have her with us. As Yenta would have said, Bea Arthur and entertainment were "a perfect match!"

Paul Farhi: Nicely said. 'Nother thing about Bea: She was literally 50 years old when she became a TV star. Pretty good...

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Specter To Switch Parties: I thought he was just convicted of second degree murder. Can he run for office?

Paul Farhi: Haha...Arlen, not Phil.

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Detroit, Mich.: We'll miss Pontiac and some of its souped-up sports cars and the tradition and history behind some of its cars, but in 2009 terms, we won't miss cars that had crappy gas mileage, broke down repeatedly, had bad parts, and were, really, more flash than economy. If GM has listened and made Pontiac cars that had good gas mileage, didn't break down repeatedly, had good, strong, solid parts and were just as much economy as they were flash and style, well, Pontiac would be Toyota or Honda, and we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today. That's the lesson for GM, Chrysler and Ford. Too bad they didn't listen 40 years ago.

Paul Farhi: Eh. The Accord and Camry aren't exactly the most fuel-efficient cars around. Bad design, and so-so marketing, did in Pontiac moreso than MPG, I think...

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Greater Green Bay, Wisc.: I respectfully disagree with "King of the Hill" as best animated series ever. (And not just because the previous eight years has made me thoroughly sick of Texas.) To me, the show could have been done as well as a live-action series; it had none of the visual imagination of other animated shows which took full effect of their ability for characters to do impossible things. KOTH is an excellent sitcom, but only a very good animation project.

Paul Farhi: This is a fair point, and expounds (expands?) upon my take on the show. But "KOTH" did have a certain visual style that would have seem dull as live action but "worked" better as animation. It was similar to Mike Judge's style on "Beavis and Butthead," which also was far better animated than it would have been live.

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Arlen, Tex.: A bunch of us are men and women, black and white, in our 30s and 40s. We have been watching "King of the Hill" since it debuted on the air 13 years ago. We maintain that "King" is not only the best animated series ever on primetime television, that in many ways it is a little bit better, really, than the "Simpsons" (although that is NOT to dog on the "Simpsons"), and that, in many ways, also, "King of the Hill" has actually been one of the best situation comedies on television for the past 13 years. Really. One of the main aspects of "King of the Hill" that makes it an excellent show is, well, what makes any show or film good: good production, good direction, good writing and good acting. "King" covers all these areas on an above-average level, week after week, year and year. The show is about real people in real situations in a real town. You get a sense of real people, real businesses and homes and communities, and real life. Just everyday real life. And that's what makes it special: it's about real life. And there are messages, themes and morals--good ones, often, too. Hank Hill is Everyman, and the residents of Arlen represent a little bit of each of us, quirks and secrets and bad stuff and good stuff and all. The only negative we could come up with in regards to "King of the Hill" is that the morons and idiots at Fox have cancelled this show about seven years too early. We figure there's still at least another seven years worth of stories to tell in Arlen, Texas. Don't worry, Hank and Peggy and Bobby and everyone else -- we love you, and Arlen and its citizens will always exist, just down the dusty road, somewhere in the Texas of our minds.

Paul Farhi: We agree here...And, actually, the morons at Fox tried to cancel the show in 2005, but had a change of heart (so I guess they aren't really morons) and let it live for three more years. But Mike Judge is moving on and isn't all that upset about the end of the series, so maybe it's time...

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Ancient Ro, Maine: Loved Bea Arthur's cameo in Mel Brooks's "History of the World, Part 1." She works at the UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE office. Unemployment Insurance History Of The World

Paul Farhi: Hated that movie. Thanks, anyway.

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Washington, DC: King of the Hill is good, but I think Futurama was actually the best ever, the biggest problem being it was not on long enough.

Paul Farhi: Confession: I've never seen a single episode of "Futurama." I know I should, but I haven't.

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Bea Arthur RIP : My first memory of Bea Arthur came when I was in fifth grade. My family belonged to a conservative church that had called for a boycott of "Maude" when she had an abortion.

My favorite memory came from a story about her I heard at Rufus Wainwright concert. He became a fan of her and her Golden Girls character after moving to California and inserted a line in his song "California" by referring to her as his "new grandma." He subsequently had occasion to meet her, conveyed his affection for her and told her about the song, to which she replied "I'M NOT YOUR #@%!&%$! GRANDMOTHER!"

Gotta love ol' Bea. She'll be missed.

Paul Farhi: Tough broad! And, you know, after all the publicity about the abortion story line on "Maude," I don't recall Bea Arthur getting all strident and soap-boxy about the issue. She may have, but I seem to remember she just shut up about it...

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State College, Pa.: I owned a Pontiac Grand Prix for five or six years. Worst.Car.Ever. When it finally broke down for the last time, I thankfully bought a Toyota Avalon.

Paul Farhi: I always like the little racing flags in the logo of the old Grand Prix. They didn't put them on the Grand Am, though, for some reason...

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Alexandria, Va.: "this ever-changing world in which he (and we) live in"

You need a copy editor.--

-- Unless this was a shout-out to bad Paul McCartney grammar. Then never mind.

Paul Farhi: Yes, never mind.

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"Beavis and Butthead" : Mike Judge said that Hank was essentially the old neighbor in B and B. You can also hear a little Beavis-voice in Peggy's students.

Paul Farhi: Ah. Good cartoon archeology there ("cartooneology"?).

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Clifton, Va.: No Paul, Pontiac almost vanished back in the mid '50s and it recovered because of car guys like John Delorean(sic) and others. They were car guys first and mavericks. They invented the muscle car with the GTO. If Pontiac and GM had encouraged leadership like this instead of flunkies GM would be kicking Honda and Toyota to the curb and they wouldn't be in this mess.

Buying a car or truck for 85 percent of the American public is still an emotional decision driven by who we are are and who we hope to be.

Paul Farhi: Very true, on all counts. I remember as a little kid being excited to see the new Pontiac models because many of them seemed cool. I don't think I've felt that way about a Pontiac since about 1971.

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Cartoons: Paul, totally agree on the awesomeness of King of the Hill. I love the paranoid conspiracies of Dale and my own brother even once referred to his child by saying "this isn't a Dale and Joseph thing." However, I have to disagree on the Simpsons being number one for satire. That title clearly goes to South Park. No animated show does it better, hands down. The satire is crisp, relevant and often so true that the subjects themselves have to remark upon it (hello Kanye West). I like the Simpsons, so this isn't against them, but that number one spot has to belong to South Park.

Paul Farhi: I think "South Park" is a worthy contender to "The Simpsons" throne, yes. But "The Simpsons" got there first (and is still there, amazingly, after about 207 seasons), so I'm going to have default to Homer & Co. On the other hand, I'm constantly surprised at the freshness and creativity of "South Park." It has gotten better over the years.

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RIP Bea Arthur: I was never the target demographic (27 years old now), but I have always loved the Golden Girls. Even when most of the jokes were over my head it was still funny. Now when I watch reruns on I'm amazed at how edgy the show was when it came out. Go post-menopausal ladies! Thank goodness for Hallmark Channel's dinnertime reruns.

Paul Farhi: Yes, loveable comfort-food TV. And we'll probably never see its like again (at least not on a major network). Television vaporizes characters over 50; it will not put them on the air, certainly not in primary roles. I blame you young whippersnappers for this; TV is all about attracting 27 years olds.

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Anonymous: What amazed me about King of the Hill is that it just never was very funny and yet so many chuckleheads (sorry Paul) seemed to think it was worth watching for so many years. I say goodbye and good riddance.

Paul Farhi: Thank you for your opinion. I think we can all agree that you're wrong (impeccable logic, no?)...

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Arlington, Va.: Paul, I am so bummed about Bea Arthur's death. I remember watching Maude in rerun on WTTG back in the 80s. That show was Ground Breaking. Think we'll see some repeats on TV Land or Nick at Night? Or can will we have to make do with Golden Girls reruns? I like the Golden Girls but miss me some Maude!.

Paul Farhi: It's got to be airing somewhere because everything is. Or at least it's on DVD. Surely, it's on DVD....

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Washington, D.C.: I agree, King of the Hill is the best -- What can we do to keep it going? I don't really get the "Family Guy" (it's disgusting), and "The Simpsons," ridiculous. None of these show any family values, what they show is a total disrespect for family values. This is what our children are watching, and having them think that is is okay to disrespect your mother and father. King of the Hill is quite the opposite. It's real.

Paul Farhi: Oh, gosh. "Family values" is such a loaded concept. I'm not sure "King of the Hill" has great "family values" (c.f., Cotton Hill), but I guess I'm not really seeking to have my family values reinforced by TV shows. Sitcoms have satirized families (and their values) for as long as there have been sitcoms, so I wouldn't single out "The Simpsons" or "KOTH" on this basis.

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Planet Z: I can still sing,for the time being, "I bought me Chrysler. It's as big as a WHALE and it's about to SET SAIL!"

Paul Farhi: Doesn't quite work for Fiat, does it?

(And how bad off does a company have to be when Fiat--Fiat!--is your white knight?)

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Hamilton, Va.: Loved "Maude." I remember in the abortion episode Walter told Maude he was going to get a vasectomy after golf. Her retort was that 'sounds like a Neil Simon play.' Great writing in those old Norman Lear shows.

Pontiac, eh. It's Chrysler I'll mourn. Been a Mopar guy since the first time I laid eyes on a 65 Barracuda. Loved 'em.

Paul Farhi: Yes, and "rich Corinthian leather," too...(I like that Iacocca, or someone, eventually admitted that there's no such thing as "Corinthian" leather; it just sounded good when Ricardo Montalban said it).

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St. Paul, Minn.:For real laugh out loud funny I think Family Guy would have to get my vote. They miss the mark embarrassingly sometimes but when they hit their target there is NO ONE who does it better.

Paul Farhi: I find "Family Guy" mostly repellant. It manages to squeeze a laugh or two out of each episode, but mostly it's just substitutes shock for wit. It always seems badly written.

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Maude: Surely, it's on DVD.... : Yes, season 1 (1972) is available on DVD.

Paul Farhi: Thank you!

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Washington, D.C.: How can a team that is dead last in MLB, third from last in home attendance, unable to spell their team name on their jerseys, and generated almost as much ill will towards an ownership group as the Ursay's did to Baltimore, threaten to pull advertising from a radio station because a morning DJ talks negatively about the team?

If I were the Nats, I would be excited that at least someone was talking about the team, not wining that nobody has anything good to say about them.

Paul Farhi: And let's not forget the debacle with the rain-delayed game. People were actually debating whether the team or the city should pay for Metro to keep running after hours when games run that late (and literally something like 16 people wanted to ride the subway). How about no one pays? How about we just shut Metro down after hours and let fans walk, ride bike, take taxis or leave early? Thank you.

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Bethesda, Md.: Best King of the Hill episode -- when Bobby was using LuAnne's hairdressing manequin to practice his moves with girls. Classic.

Paul Farhi: And my favorite line (I completely forget the context):

Hank to Bobby: "Bobby, if you weren't my son, I'd hug you!"

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Fiat: In the middle 70s, my older brother had a Fiat. He was very tall and didn't fit. He removed the front seat and drove it from the back. I think our riding lawn mower was bigger than that car.

Paul Farhi: Did Fiat ever make a great car? Maybe in Europe, but I don't remember a Fiat here that didn't have some exotic thing wrong with it.

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Arlington, Va.: Fiat build Lada's for the Soviet Union and Polksi's for Poland and god know's what in Romania.

Now if we have Alfa Romeo's here in the US the demise of Chrysler and the hemi will be worthwhile. A 4 cyclinder dohc turbo Alfa engine is superior to a Mopar hemi anyday.

Paul Farhi: I won't get into debating hemis, for the simple reason that I don't know a thing about 'em. But Ladas and Polskis? I think the case against Fiat is open and shut.

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Re: Family Values: Actually, "they" did a study a while back and found that the Simpsons was one of the best shows for "family values," in terms of things like time spent together as a family, loyalty to family members, support in times of trouble, etc.

Of course, one of the longest-running gags on the show is Homer choking Bart, so... well, whatever, it makes me laugh.

Paul Farhi: Me, too! Just thinking about it does the trick. Also, Homer with thought bubble: "Mmmmm...bacon."

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Random Bea Arthur Memory: There was a horrible movie made about 15-20 years ago that starred Brendan Fraser about a group of slacker wanna-be rockers that took a radio station hostage because they wanted their song to get airplay. When the hostage negotiator asked for a list of their demands they requested naked pictures of Bea Arthur just to mess with them. I always thought that was kind of funny.

Paul Farhi: Haha. Bea Arthur seemed to have a sense of humor about herself; I bet she found that funny, too...And Brendan Fraser: Worst actor ever, or really no worse than Keanu Reeves?

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LA, CA: I can't let that Futurama comment go by unremarked upon. That show sucks! I love animated TV, esp. KOTH. Futurama was only on as long as it was because Fox was afraid of pissing off Matt Groening. How he could come up with the brilliance that is "The Simpsons" as well as the lameness that is "Futurama" is beyond me. What's that coming down the road with the flashing red lights? A Futurama punchline.

Paul Farhi: I am agnostic here. But thank you.

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Fix It Again, Tony: Their 70s roadster wasn't as awful as some of their other cars.

No, wait, I'm thinking of Alfa Romeo. Never mind.

Paul Farhi: There was a time when "Italian sports car" meant something cool. But, of course, it meant Ferrari or Lamborghini or Maserati. Fiat never got in that conversation.

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Savannah, Ga.: Maybe Chrysler/Fiat (Fysler? Chriat?) could use James Dean in their new commercials, the way Ford resurrected Steve McQueen?

Paul Farhi: I think there's a lot of danger in those ads, frankly. For all the nostalgia they evoke for the classic cars of yore, they also force you to ask, "What has Company X done lately?" And the answer usually isn't very flattering.

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Anonymous: My Grandma used to make the best Ladas and Polskas. Damn that woman could cook.

Paul Farhi: Haha. And I once drove a sweeeet Piroshki (known in some parts of the country as a Pierogi, but only if it had a hemi engine)....

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Brendan Fraser vs. Keanu Reeves: This debate is presented by someone who has apparently blocked Pauly Shore from their memory.

Paul Farhi: At least Pauly was trying to be funny....

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Fiats...: Fiats also build Ferraris and the F1 team that gave birth to the great Michael Schumacher. And yes I know most people won't know who he is....

Paul Farhi: I imagine building great Formula One cars translates into building decent, reliable commuter cars, in theory. But it's a pretty complicated theory. So many of the NASCAR models have made truly crummy mass-market vehicles.

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FIAT: The Fiat X19 was an extraordinary vehicle; both reliable and sporty!

Paul Farhi: Okay. Don't really know it, I'm afraid...But doesn't any car with an X in its name HAVE to be really good?

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And Brendan Fraser: Worst actor ever, or really no worse than Keanu Reeves? : No, worse. Keanu at least did well in his typecast roles. There IS no type for Brendan.

Paul Farhi: I think Brendan's type is "goggle-eyed lummox with floppy hair." The next time you have a role like that call him; he does really well in those parts.

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Horrible Brendan Fraser Movie: The movie was called "Airheads," and it wasn't horrible, it was great. The guys in the band ("The Lone Rangers") were Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler. The DJ of the hijacked radio station was Joe Mantegna, and the sleezy Program Director was Michael McKeon in a ponytail.

Epic Flick.

Paul Farhi: Have heard of it; never seen. And pretty darn good cast!

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And Brendan Fraser: Worst actor ever, or really no worse than Keanu Reeves?: Can't it be both?

Paul Farhi: If you prefer, yes, it can.

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Ballston, Va.: So many of the NASCAR models have made truly crummy mass-market vehicles. You must be referring to the Toyota Camry and Tundra pick up.

Paul Farhi: Huh? Does Rusty Wallace drive a souped-up Camry? Is Jeff Gordon rolling at Talledega in a Tundra?

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Bethesda, Md.: Golden Girls was, indeed, comfort TV. My daughter (now in her late 20s) fondly recalls watching GG with me and her grandmother on Saturday nights and how much "Grandma loved" that show. Well, actually Grandma thought GG hated that show -- she thought it was crude -- but she watched it because she thought my daughter loved it. Whatever -- Grandma is gone now, but daughter still watches GG reruns in her memory.

Paul Farhi: Nice story. I did the same with my grandmother with "Fantasy Island" back in the 1970s. I hated the show, but my grandmother truly did enjoy it. So what the hell...

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Fiat: Fix It Again Tony... They do own Ferrari however...

Paul Farhi: Yes, but Ferrari is a boutique vehicle. They make, what, a thousand of those a year? Five thousand? Whatever, the number is tiny. And they cost a fortune. So, Ferrari SHOULD be good, even great. Let's see how they do turning out 500,000 models a year. Then we'll see how great they are.

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Swine Fool: Uh-oh, I just started coughing.

Am I condemned to unending TV coverage? Should I twitt my symptoms as they appear?

Paul Farhi: My theory on the swine-flu coverage mania is twofold: 1) This could be a pandemic that wipes out humanity, thus justifying all the coverage; or 2) given the flame-out of SARS and the avian flu, the media is primed to believe that every outbreak COULD wipe out all of humanity. At least we won't be taken by surprise when the Big One really does hit.

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Just watched Maud Abortion Episode again: Paul, Wow -- just watched the Maud abortion episode and being a woman in her early 30s, it really touched me. In some ways we've come so far, in others, we still keep treading ground. Does anyone out there know what reaction to the episode was like? It seems to really show why it is so important to have a choice... but ALSO that the choice isn't easy.

Paul Farhi: Yes, that episode was way, way, way ahead of its time. There may have been some discussion TV shows about abortion up until then, but it was rare, and certainly it wasn't a theme for a sitcom. It cause a great stink back when, and came right around the time the Supreme Court ruled on Roe vs. Wade. I think sitcoms could do something similar today, but, if anything, the subject may be even harder to tackle now than then.

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Bea Arthur: Did you see that the NYT referred to Bea Arthur as a "battle-ax" in its obituary of her? I think that was improper. Thoughts?

washingtonpost.com: Bea Arthur, Star of Two TV Comedies, Dies at 86 (The New York Times, April 25)

Paul Farhi: I did see that, and was shocked. And then I thought, she DID play a battle ax, didn't she?

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Lyricsville: Poster: "this ever-changing world in which he (and we) live in"

That always bothered me too until I decided the lyrics were "this ever-changing world in which we're living."

Paul Farhi: What??? Have I been hearing it wrong all these years?! Please say it ain't so. I like the ungrammatical way better.

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Washington, D.C.: Worst actor debate. Have you ever SEEN a movie on the Sci-Fi Channel? They don't get paid the big bucks, but the make the "adult" movies look like Shakespeare.

Paul Farhi: I like seeing movies with bad actors. Well, I don't LIKE them particularly, but they are instructive. I've never really understood what a good actor does--I mean, he/she just DOES it, right--but seeing bad actors make you realize how much skill and technique goes into a creating a convincing portrayal.

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Chantilly, Va.: So Bea Arthur grew up on the Eastern Shore? I would have loved to hear her thoughts on being a Jewish child in such an alien place.

Brooklyn to Cambridge, Md. -- the differences are a lot greater than the couple hundred miles between them on the map, and it was probably a lot more so when she was growing up.

Paul Farhi: That was striking. And, frankly, till I read her obit, I didn't realize that Bea Arthur was Jewish.

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Arlington, Va.: So what's the word on Comcast switching formerly free channels (like 22) to the more expensive digital tier? After reading the comments in your piece on the Channel 22 switch, I'm confused about just what we "normal" cable subscribers will get after the digital switch in June. All along, Comcast has said that its customers don't have to do anything to make the digital switch. Now it appears that we'll have to pay more (naturally) for what we had been getting in the base price.

washingtonpost.com: MPT's Digital Move Angers Cable Viewers (Post, April 23)

Paul Farhi: Well, yes, and no. This gets confusing, but we're talking about two separate events, both of which use the confusing word "digital." Event One: When over-the-air stations go to all-digital on June 12, you'll need a converter box to get 'em if you don't have cable. If you have cable, you should be good to go. Event Two: Comcast has bumped MPT from its basic tier to its cable-digital tier in the Washington area (and WETA has been bumped up to digital in the Baltimore area), so if you want to keep seeing MPT on cable you WILL need a digital converter box (a different box than the one cited in Event One, by the way). This box is free for a year; then it will cost a few bucks a month.

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Ballston, Va.: Tony Stewart drove a Camry last year. Gibbs racing runs Camrys and Tndra pick ups bubba

Paul Farhi: Ah. I stand corrected. And I'm sure those Camrys and Tundras are just like the ones I see on my street!

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Washington, D.C.: I once drove a rented four-speed Fiat from Zurich to Bern, Switzerland, a journey that took me straight through the Alps. For that entire stretch of the trip I prayed to whomever was listening that the four-speed transmission wouldn't fall out of the car. I had nightmarish visions of my tiny Euro-dud hurtling backwards down the narrow Alpine highway and then plunging into some rocky Swiss ravine. Otherwise, the scenary was gorgeous.

Paul Farhi: Hahaha...I had a similar experience with a cheap Peugot. But I wisely stayed out of the Alps.

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Washington, D.C.: All of the much deserved praise for Bea Arthur brought up an interesting question at my house. Why is it that in the '70s a woman like Maude could have an abortion on television but not today? I realize it is an explosive issue but it seems like it would have been even more so at that time, months before the passage of Roe v. Wade. Would an updated version of that storyline even be allowed on tv today?

Paul Farhi: Interesting question, yes. The fact that we're even pondering it says something about history (or maybe just TV history): That it doesn't move in a straight line, from conservative to liberal (in terms of social/cultural depictions, not as a political question). TV seems to have gotten MORE conservative in this respect in the past 35 years.

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Oxford, Md.: Bea Arthur's chief cultural legacy seems to have played a screeching feminist on a TV show who had a TV abortion. Some legacy, huh?

Paul Farhi: If that's what you're reducing it to, then you've missed the point.

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Austin, Tex.: I agree with you 100 percent re King of the Hill. I'm sorry to see it go. With apologies to my friend Seth MacFarlane, it is the best animated series ever put on television.

My wife and I grill often and use both a gas grill and a charcoal grill/smoker. I refer to them as "the meat" and "the heat," respectively, due to Hank's propane sales pitch "taste the meat, not the heat."

And every time I see a car/truck (El Camino, Brat, Baja, etc.) I think "you can haul anything in there: copper pipe; re-bar; shoot, you hit a deer you don't even have to stop... it just flips right over into the back.

Paul Farhi: Great line(s)!

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Herndon, Va.: Mr. F: I'm old enough to remember Bea Arthur's first appearance on "All in the Family." I can't remember if "Maude" was already being planned, or if Arthur's debut was so successful, "Maude" was planned afterward. She was great, and, due to her, I think "Maude" can be rated the most successful spin-off ever (artistically, at least -- if not financially)

Paul Farhi: I don't know the history of this, but I can't imagine CBS planned it. In any case, "All in the Family" was a sitcom spinoff factory--"Maude," "Good Times," "The Jeffersons," etc.

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I hated the show, but my grandmother truly did enjoy it. So what the hell... : I know the feeling. I'm forced to watch Millionaire Matchmaker because my husband loves it so much.

Paul Farhi: Don't knock it. Long, long ago, TV used to be a "family activity."

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MPT and Comcast: But if you have a digital TV, you can still get MPT, plus all the broadcast HD channels, without a digital cable box. It's on channel 106.4302 (easy to remember...)

Paul Farhi: Yes, if you are within reception range of MPT's over-the-air signal (which is quite strong, I'm told).

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Paul Farhi: Folks, I better call a timeout right here and go back to word processing elsewhere. Thanks for stopping by; I'd like to thank my special guests Pontiac, Bea Arthur and Hank Hill for a great chat. I have a swell idea: Let's get together and do this again next week. Hope to catch your act then. In the meantime, regards to all!...Paul.

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