Insulting Compliments

 

 

We have learned this week that the greatest insult you can give a person is to compliment them. 

Howie Mandel was on "Live With Kelly and Mark or Ryan or Michael but Not Regis Because Regis is In the Great Big Studio In The Sky" and Kelly, of all people, got sideways with Howie.

First of all, I've always liked Howie Mandel, going back to the time he was on TV putting surgical gloves on his head and blowing it up. (The gloves, not his head.)

He was on this medical drama called "St. Elsewhere," where he played a wacky doctor. (Footnote: "St. Elsewhere" was the show that started Denzel Washington who is 71 and looks great for his age on his path to stardom.  The show's finale revealed that it was the entire show a dream of an autistic child.)

He's a very funny man and does a bit about the digital prostate check exam that will leave you needing Depends.

Also, my wife and I were in the audience of "Live With Kelly And Ryan" a few years ago.  Fun fact: Ryan Seacrist was a disc jockey at WSTR ("Star 94"), here in Atlanta in the nineties. I would like to say I listened to his show and knew that young man was going to go far, but I have no memory of listening to him.

The key to being in the audience for "Live" is two-fold:  1) Can you get up early in the morning, and 2) Can you wait in line at WABC?

The big star for our show was Tom Selleck.  We had really good seats, and I was able to observe Mr. Selleck, and I came to two conclusions.

One, Mr. Selleck is physically a large man.  No wonder the gals like him.

Two,  it was early in the morning for Mr. Selleck, too, and it seemed he would rather be somewhere else. I don't blame him.

The "Mark" on "Live With Kelly and Mark" is Mark Consuelos, who is married to Kelly. It is a good gig if you can get it.  He seems like a guy who was so doggone good-looking that you had to give him a job.

He married Kelly when they both worked on a soap opera together, and they don't appear to be a husband and wife Phil Donahue tag-team out to get the celebrities.

Here's what happened. Howie is introduced. Hubs told Howie, "You just celebrated 70 years. You’re 70 years old." Wifey said that “it doesn’t make any sense” to her because Mandel “looks great.”

Howie said, “I look great? That doesn’t mean anything to me. No, no, no, no. I don’t like that, because that’s a caveat." He goes on to say,  “It’s like saying you’re smart for a stupid person.”

No, it doesn't. 

Howie is trying to say this compliment is like, "hey, you don't sweat much for a fat girl." It is simply not a backhanded compliment like one I got, saying, "You don't act like a short person."  People have their minds on how short people have acted around them.  I guess I never got the book telling me how to act.

Sara Moniuszko writes in USA Today, Chloe Bean, "a licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in trauma, says this comment can activate shame because it reinforces the message that aging is something to apologize for or avoid."

"Even when it's intended to be flattering, 'you look good for your age' can land as an insult because it suggests a pressure to keep looking different than the age you are,' Bean said, which can reinforce the idea that your value is being measured by your appearance."

 First of all, intentions do matter.  You can't get all snippy with someone because they activated your shame gland.  Secondly, Howie Mandel has never been valued for his appearance. He was valued for being one of the funniest men on the planet. 

Mandel is four years older than I am.  I'm not a person who gets a lot of compliments, but I am complimented for not looking sixty-six years old. The only reason for that is that I have all my hair, and the hair I have is not gray.  Well, I do have some gray hair, but my wife says it is, and I quote, "kind of sexy".  

After being near-sighted, big-eared, short, and little tubby, the Lord said, "Ah, let him keep his hair and hair color."

Ms. Moniuszko's article gives us some tips on talking to people who look good for their age, so you don't hurt their pumpkin feeling by telling them they look good for their age. 

Chloe Bean, who I remind you is a  licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in trauma, gives some alternatives such as: "It's always so great to see you," "You have such great energy," and "I always look forward to our conversations about how you don't look your age while I look like Gollum."

By the way, I did watch the clip of Howie, Kelly, and Mark. I didn't think it was all that bad, but I understand Kelly is banning Howie from the show for not acting his age. 

(Note: As I was posting his, Howie posted an apology to Kelly and said he does look good for his age. Thanks a lot, Howie.)

 

 

This Is CNN

 

 

"Two Pennsylvania teenagers crossed into New York City Saturday morning for what could’ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather. But in less than an hour, their lives would drastically change as the pair would be arrested for throwing homemade bombs during an anti-Muslim protest outside of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home". 

The above was the first paragraph in the CNN.com report on the two young men who threw homemade bombs outside the home of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Many have criticized the post as being little too nice to two individuals who wanted to blow up people. Kids will be kids. 

 I took it upon myself to look up other CNN reports in their archives regarding past events.

*"James Wilkes Booth was a well-regarded actor dropped by Ford's Theater just to check up on some old friends. But, wouldn't you know it, his friends were performing in the hit play, "Our American Cousin",  and President Lincoln was in his balcony seat. Booth had bought a new pistol and thought the President would be interested in seeing it. Ooopsie-doodle, the gun went off and Booth had to jump from the balcony to the stage. Upon landing on the stage, Booth broke his leg and yelled to the crowd, "Sic Simper Tyrannis". This reporter took Latin in school and this means "My tyrannis is sick with the simpers."

 

*"Gavrilo Princip was a Serbian nationalist student who always wanted to start a World War that no one would understand.  Gavrilo did not make good grades in school, mainly because he didn't know how to spell his name.  But wouldn't you know it, Archduke Franz Ferndinad and his lovely wife, Sophie, came driving by and Gavrilo thought this would be a good time to start a World War because Franz Ferdinand was not only the heir to the Austria-Hungry throne but also a band that played songs like "Darts of Pleasure”, “Walk Away”, and “Ulysses”.  So Gavrilo shot both of them. This has started the World War Gavrilo wanted although we're still not sure we understand why. 

 

 * "On December 7, 1941, Mitsuo Fuchida was flying around with a couple of friends when he decided they should fly to the Hawaiian Islands just for giggles. The planes Mitsuo and his friends were flying felt weighted down by all of the bombs they were carrying.  When they saw Pearl Harbor, Mitsuo sent a coded message "To, To, To" which meant "Everybody have fun tonight,"  and the young pilots dropped their bombs on the US Naval Battleships, which just happened to be in the harbor.  Then Mitsuo sent another coded message:  "Tora, Tora, Tora," which meant "Everybody Wang Chung tonight."  This led to more bombing and caused Ben Affleck and Josh Harnett to get involved by chasing them in the only two airplanes that were not damaged from the "raid". Upon hearing the news, President Jon Voight to stood up."

 

* "On Friday morning, Lee Harvey Oswald caught a ride to work with his friend, Buell Frasier,  with a paper package of curtain rods.  Oswald went up into his work area on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, taking his curtain rods with him.  He set up a little area of boxes of books stacked on top of each other, so he could study the curtain rods. These were fancy curtain rods and everybody was always telling him how to hang the curtain rods like they were some kind of expert. When he opened the package, he was in for a surprise.  Oswald didn't pick up his curtain rods. He picked up his Carcano rifle that he totally, by accident, shot in the vicinity of General Edwin Walker. Oswald decided to shoot the rifle, three times out the window.  Talk about all of the dumb luck. The President of The United States just happen to riding by in an open convertible."

 

* "In the early morning of August 9, 1969, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krewinkel, and Linda Kasabian drove around Hollywood looking at the homes of movie stars. They came across 10050 Cielo Drive which was the home of Sharon Tate. "What a great place to start Helter Skelter!", Tex Watson exclaimed.  Susan Atkins said, "I wonder what other Beatle songs Sharon Tate likes."  It is not known if Tate even liked The Beatles.

 

* As a youth. Virgilio Gonzalez enjoyed playing in the sand at one of the glorious beaches in Cuba.  Yesterday, he has broke into the Democratic Party's National Headquarters at The Watergate Hotel because they were going to nominate the glowing hunk of charisma, South Dakota Senator George McGovern.

 

 

Ol' Bill

 

 

You may have noticed that I don't post as often on politics as I used to in the past.

One reason is that politics has gotten into a rut where nobody laughs at themselves, and they think their political opponents are the spawn of Satan. That is, if they believe in Satan. Otherwise, it is Hitler twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. 

A lot of the political humor has morphed into this Colin Jost Weekend Update bit, "Senator Mitch McConnell, seen here smiling at a box of puppies being sit on fire".  It is funny the first million times you hear it. 

 I was going to comment about President Trump, addressing the nation about bombing Iran, while wearing a USA baseball cap.  I thought it would have been neat to watch newsreels of President Truman wearing a leather football helmet while announcing the surrender of Japan. 

But some people will complain about the "dignity" of the White House, while others would call me a RINO.  It's just not worth my time, but it was still funny, ha-ha, and not ha-ha, if you know what I mean. 

 People say they want a "political dialogue."  They don't. They want a monologue and guess who is talking.  Hint: it is not you. 

After they finish their brilliance, they want you to cry "Uncle" and pledge to agree with them on any topic.  

One thing people argue about is "The Epstein Files".

Jeffrey Epstein was a rich jet setter who was a pervert and sexually exploited underage girls. 

He ran around with some hoity-toity people, including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew.  The other people he ran with were your basic run-of-the-mill EuroTrash men that held these la-te-da jobs and enjoyed the company of girls who never heard of John Lennon. 

It is pretty well documented that Prince Andrew "knew" many of the girls in the biblical sense. As for Trump and Clinton, it really depends on what you think about Trump and Clinton. 

I have an unpopular opinion.  Both Trump and Clinton have been cads in their lives.  That is undeniable. 

However, I don't think Trump and Clinton ever did the Prince Andrew with any of Epstein's victims. I just don't see any evidence.

I watched a little of President Clinton's testimony before the House committee on CSPAN. Yes, my life in retirement is that exciting.

There was President Bill. Head full of white hair. Looking cagey as ever. He even flirted with a comely Republican Congresswoman. The man can't help himself. 

Committee Member:  "Do you remember what happened on February 12 2002?"

President Bill:  "Whale, ah, you haffa member that there wuz a big ole earf quake in Inder and I was dealin' with that. An tryin to git the house set up for you know who, so I don't member."

Committee Member:  "You were on a private plane with Jeffrey Epstein and forty former Penthouse Pets."

President Bill:  "Ah wuz?  Whale, slap some butter on me and call me a biscuit."

Whatever they were looking for from President Clinton, I'm sure they didn't find it. 

I mean, this guy survived "acting inappropriately" in the White House and the state house in Arkansas. He was the Big Cheese. I've heard a billion people say that when they met Bill Clinton you had his full attention-you were the most important person on earth-even if you wasn't built. 

Clinton is the only person I know of that got into politics to meet chicks. 

Still, watching President Bill, with the shakes as he tries to drink some water, I felt sort of sorry for him. I can assure you that is the first time that has happened.

Chocolate In My Peanut Butter

 

 

Now that I am in the fourth quarter of life, I don't buy candy like I used to.

For one thing, it is too expensive. 

When I was coming along, candy bars were usually a quarter. Back then, everything was a quarter, including used cars and split-level houses. 

(Note to my Gen-Z readers: No, split-level houses did not cost a quarter, even in Marietta, Georgia, in 1971. I'm joking. ) 

According to our lords in Artificial Intelligence, a standard candy bar is $3.45.  That's pretty hefty in my mind, especially when I'm at the age at which I'm supposed to know my A1C. I'm not sure if a less-than-standard candy bar costs less.

We should recognize that although M&M's and Hershey Bars are great, the GOAT of all candy is the glorious Reese's Cups. 

Reese's Cup is chocolate with peanut butter.  They taste good "chilled" -placed in the refrigerator. I especially like to do this to the small cups they sell at Christmas time. 

However, there has been some trouble in the Reese's Cup world. 

According to the AP, "The grandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups has lashed out at The Hershey Company, accusing the candy company of hurting the Reese’s brand by shifting to cheaper ingredients in many products. Brad Reese, 70, said in a Feb. 14 letter to Hershey’s corporate brand manager that for multiple Reese's products, the company replaced milk chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut crème."

First of all, how cool would it be to know your grandfather invented the Reese's Cup?

Secondly, "compound coatings" sounds like the name of an '80s hair band.  "Please welcome to Alex Cooley's Ballroom...Compound Coatings!"

This is a big deal because when I was growing up, the Sterling-Cooper ad agency produced a series of commercials that featured a young man with a chocolate bar running into a young woman eating peanut butter straight out of a jar.

The young man says,  "Hey you got peanut butter on my chocolate bar." While the young woman says, "Hey, you got chocolate in my peanut butter." From there, they both tasted the heavenly combination, and a million pounds and pimples were conceived. 

James Lileks says this is a perfect example of "encrapification", which is "the process by which everything gets incrementally worse."

Lileks goes on to say, "Every food, every experience, every aspect of daily life and commerce, encrapified by bean counters, hedge funds, cost-cutters, and other MBA types who make something worse so the bottom line looks better, and they get a bonus that sets them up for life."

We geezers say this all the time.  We used to have good music; now we have bad music. We learned this from our parents, who claimed to have music instead of the "racket" we liked. 

The halftime show at the Super Bowl is another example. They used to have Michael Jackson and Prince. This year, they had Bad Bunny, who sells a lot of downloads and performed exclusively in Spanish because of something that has to do with President Orange, and everybody should just shut up because you know you like to go hear operas in German. 

Movies. Really. When was the last time you went to the movies without having to take out a home equity loan?  When was the last time you saw a movie that was really enjoyable?

TV shows? Most of them start good and finish terribly.  

Hershey responded to Mr. Reese: "The company said the classic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup hasn’t changed and is still made with milk chocolate and freshly roasted peanut butter. The statement also acknowledged that as the brand has expanded into new shapes, sizes, and seasonal items, the company has made what it called “product recipe adjustments.”

I've noticed white chocolate Reese's Cups, heart-shaped Reese's, and Reese's cups shaped like the Easter Bunny. I guess there had to be some recipe adjustments.

But, for the love of all that is good and sacred, please do not change the taste of a Reese's cup. I don't know if I have a jar of peanut butter to walk around with while waiting for an errant chocolate bar.

Something Big. I Guess.

 

 

It should be apparent that I'm NOT the one you go to for new tech information. 

You've heard of "early adapters" of the latest and greatest tech thing?  I'm sort of a "finally get around to it" adapter.

In the early years of the cell phone, I had a little one. It fit in my pocket. It rang, and I answered it. One time I decided to go a little crazy, and I put the "Hawaii 5-0" theme as my ringtone. 

By the way, the "Hawaii 5-0" theme absolutely slaps, as the kids say today. 

That was pretty cool until I forgot to put the ringer on silent, and during a particularly reflective moment of our church's Christmas concert, my late great friend, Bill Wade, decided to give me a call. 

Nothing says Christmas like the "Hawaii 5-0" theme.

After that phone, I got a flip phone, which was the worst cell phone ever created.  However, the flip phone could text and take pictures in a very primitive way. 

Then I got a Blackberry, which I thought was pretty cool.  To show how cool it was, Karl Rove had a Blackberry.  You could text on it, and (this is important), you could have the Facebook and Twitter apps, so you could always be engaged with social media.  That might not have been such a great idea. 

Soon, I learned the Blackberry was like the K-mart tennis shoes that your mom would buy you because it sort of, kind of, looked like the Adidas shoes everyone at Wheeler wore, because we were not going to spend $30.00 for a pair of tennis shoes, Alan. 

Then one day, my wife and I walked into the 21st Century and got an iPhone. It drove Blackberry out of the market. I don't even think Karl Rove has one now. 

The big topic in tech is Artificial Intelligence or "AI".

What is AI? According to my deep research (Wikipedia) "AI" is artificial intelligence, which is intelligence that is artificial. It is computer systems that "perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem solving, perception, and decision making".  

 

AI also helps you to spell better and pick out Netflix shows.

 
AI is supposed to do many of things. However, right now, it looks like the main function of AI is to make cat videos for TikTok and Facebook. 

 One video shows cat restaurant servers bringing food to human customers, which is a hoot because, as anybody who has been around a cat knows, they would never bring you anything unless they killed it themselves. 

Another video shows cats dancing around to Taylor Swift songs.

So I was surprised at a post by Matt Shumer, who owns an AI firm titled "Something Big Is Happening".  Read it here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/something-big-happening-matt-shumer-so5he/

 Matt Shumer said today reminds him of February of 2020, when we heard rumblings about this "virus" in China that would kill everybody. You might remember it, I think it was called Covid.

The virus was very bad, and it killed John Prine, but there is a line of thinking that if somebody, like, oh, President Trump, had just done something (exactly what nobody has ever explained), maybe so many people would not have died. 

Shumer says in 2022, a mere four years ago, AI could not do simple math. (Finally, me and high tech have something in common.)  Now, AI can pass the bar exam.  AI won't make lawyers disappear, (dang) but Shumer advises that you better be aware of the changes that AI will cause. AI might actually do some work.

Shumer's thesis is simple: brace yourself. Things are going to change fast, so be prepared.  Forbes magazine says this: "His (Shumer) prescription is blunt: get ahead of it. Learn to use AI. Become indispensable. Invest wisely. Prepare for volatility."

The only problem this slightly less tech-savvy person sees is that learning to use AI, becoming indispensable, investing wisely, and preparing for volatility is just good advice anyway. 

I remember a lot of the latest and greatest things. The color TV. Microwave ovens. Calculators. All of these presented a challenge and would change everything. I remember during the dot.com boom, I heard that brick-and-mortar stores would go out of business.  Okay, maybe they were right about that.

AI is just a tool.  It can make things easier and make things more complicated. It depends on how we use it. 

So maybe it is not the end of the world as we know it. Maybe it is just another gadget that can make life better.  Or make more cat videos, we'll see. 

The News About Newspapers

What's the news across the nation?

We have got the information. - Rowan And Martin's Laugh-In

 

 

 

The big news this week was about a newspaper

 

The Washington Post downsized its staff by a third, including the sports and books departments. It was over 300 employees.

 

I know it stung. I was a survivor of a big lay-off back at the insurance company in '96. Looking back on it, it was worse to be a survivor than a victim. The survivors were advised to "work smarter, not harder," whatever that meant. 

 

By the time I was downsized by the insurance company in 2002, it was more of a relief than anything else. I got another job within a month, and nine months later, I was hired for the job I retired from in 2024.

It wasn't really surprising that it happened to the Post because the Post has been bleeding money for years. 

 

 Jeff Bezos bought the paper several years ago, even though he had no experience in making a newspaper profitable.  It turns out that even the most successful businessman on planet Earth can make a newspaper profitable in this Internet age without Wordle.

Because Bezos has so much money, the proglodytes yelped it was his fault that he had to lay off people from a business that depends upon readers and subscriptions when it had no readers or subscribers.  Charles C.W. Cooke notes, "Jeff Bezos was supposed to pay for in perpetuity as penance for having been a useful member of society."

 

The library at my college, Hooty U, carried the Post and I read it instead of studying.  When the internet came around, I could read The Post without going to the library.  They used to have a feature called "Live Online" in which you could post a question to Post writer or newsmaker. One day, Buddy Ebsen was featured and I posted a question. Ol' Uncle Jed answered it! I'm going to make sure that is mentioned in my obituary. 

 

The Post had many glorious moments. It was at its zenith in the early 70s when two reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein from the City desk followed up on the burglary at The Watergate.  Their reporting eventually led to the resignation of the President.  You may have heard about it.

 Some of the shine has come off those glorious days. In 2005, Mark Felt, a high-level FBI official, admitted he was "Deep Throat", the source of so many leads that Woodward and Bernstein used. He also admitted he didn't do it out of some obligation to save democracy, but rather because he wanted to stick it to Richard Nixon for not selecting him as the director of the FBI after J. Edgar Hoover died. 

 

There were other issues with the paper.  Such as Janet Cooke winning the Pulitzer Prize for a piece called "Jimmy's World" about a heroin addict who was eight years old. Problem: Not one word in the article was true. 

 

No matter. The Post had writers like Thomas Boswell, David Broder, George Will, and among others.  Even though I thought he was a mean-spirited loon, I enjoyed Herbert Block's (HERBLOCK) cartoons.

The Post was liberal, and they were pro-Democrats, but they were not snotty about it for the most part. At least back then.

But over the years, the Post joined up with the "progressive" crowd and became a national nag and scold. The "Democracy Dies In Darkness" kids chose to perform puppet shows for each other, until the center-right and right bounced. When Jeff Bezos declined to endorse a Presidential candidate in 2024, the "resistance"  did its usual: a spastic hissy fit. They canceled subscriptions, and the Post went into a coma. 

 

 I've always loved reading the newspaper. 

My first was my beloved Marietta Daily Journal. Soon, I graduated to The Atlanta Journal. They merged with their morning paper, The Atlanta Constitution, and became The AJC. 

I was a subscriber for almost thirty years. 

True, they were generally more liberal than I was (am). But they had Lewis Grizzard, Furman Bisher, and a great sports staff. Plus, they published Dave Barry's column with Jeff McNally's cartoon.

As time wore on, I began to realize it was odd that newspapers delivered the news to you by putting it in a bag and throwing it in your yard.  

 

I canceled my subscription when the only thing I could remember reading was the "Pearls Before Swine" comic strip. The AJC is now available only on the internet. 

Basically, what happened to The AJC is what happened to The Post. They waited too long to adjust to the changing times, and when they did, it was too late. 

Now, The Post will join its old sister publication, Newsweek, as a shadow of its former self. It is almost a shame Richard Nixon didn't see this day.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

Like It or Lump It: His & Hers

 

 

We end this month with another Like It or Lump It.

This is a feature where I review a show on a streaming service and tell you if it is worth watching. 

Before I get into "His & Hers" (Netflix), a quick word on a couple of other shows. 

One is "Stranger Things 5".

This one was a honking big deal.  Eight episodes spread out between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.  It was longest Dungeons and Dragons game ever, 

Basically, "Stranger Things" had run its course. All of the kids of Hawkins had grown up. Like "Eleven," who was a little girl when the show started in 2016, but now is a grown woman in more ways than one, if you catch my drift. 

In real life 1987, you would have heard the guys say, "Hey, have you checked out El, lately?"

But no, they kept going down into the upside out or whatever it was to fight the Mind Flyer Spider or Mr. Vecna. Not going into great detail, but it all worked out sort of. I guess. By the time it ended, Dustin flipped off the high school's principal and a girl that had been in a coma for two years graduated with her class.   

Nothing against The Duffer Brothers, but their next show should be about CalvinBall because it seemed like they just made up things as they went along. 

The other show is the second season of "Fallout," which is based on a video game. You can tell.

It is about life in a post-nuclear apocalypse. The first season was really violent. The second season is too violent.  I checked out after the one hundredth exploding head.  

And now, "His & Hers".  The premise per Reddit: "The investigation by TV anchor Anna Andrews (Tessa Thompson) into a murder case in her hometown of Dahlonega, Georgia, deeply troubles Detective Jack Harper (Jon Bernthal) in the thriller series based on Alice Feeney's novel of the same name."

 Jack Harper is troubled because Anna Andrews is (wait for it) his estranged wife!

Anna was the six o'clock news anchor at WSK-TV  Channel 5 Action News Scene Alive. However, she disappeared a year before the story takes place and is replaced by a bubble-headed-bleach blonde whose husband is a cameraman.

The story starts when the town's Miss Lincoln (everybody took a shot at her in the balcony) is found all carved up in a wooded section near downtown Dahlonega. 

Anna just happens to stop by WSK to ask her old boss for her old job back, but Blondie has taken her place as anchor, but gives Anna the story because, what the heck, it is great to have the old mouth breather back. (The actress conveys the act of listening by looking at a person with her mouth open.)

I would add more, but it would ruin it for you. Just be aware there are a lot of "dunnits" in this "who dunnit".

Acting:  Okay. There's a lot of criticism on Reddit about the guy who plays Jack Harper, who slides in and out of a Southern accent. The lady who plays Anna Andrews is a little better, but you can't really imagine her being from Dahlonega. Everybody else is just okay, too. There's a newbie detective from Boston who is being trained by Jack.  You really wonder how in the world she made it to Dahlonega from Boston. Did she answer an ad?  The best acting in the show came from "The lady holding a pink box of donuts in the sheriff's office".  This actress really captured the essence of holding a box of donuts. The fact that my wife and I know the actress from church did not influence my evaluation. 

Violence:  Some stabbing, punching, and shooting. No exploding heads.

Language: NSFGRD (Not Safe For Gold Rush Days).  Lots of F-words. Someone tells someone else to "shut your pie hole".  I have lived in Georgia for sixty-six years, and I have never heard anyone use the phrase "shut your pie hole".  That's a Yankee phrase.  A southerner would say either "Hush," or if they are really mad, "Shud-up."

 Sex and Nudity: Lots of getting it on in the North Georgia mountains. However, there is no nudity except Grandma nudity. It is essential to the plot. 

The Good:  In most tv shows and movies, Dahlonega would have been presented as a Hillbilly Redneck heaven where everybody is drinking shine and getting their white sheets dry-cleaned so they can meet up at the local Klan rally and sing praises to President Trump. "His & Hers" does not do this. The people of Dahlonega are presented as good people who say, "shut your pie hole."

Additonally, Jack and Anna are an interracial couple, and nobody makes a big deal about it.

As a whodunnit, it keeps you on your toes. There is a surprising red herring, and the ending makes some sense. Kind of. Close enough for jazz.

The Bad:  The acting could have been better, except for the lady holding the pink donut box.

The Weird:  Dahlonega is portrayed as a suburb of Atlanta, which I can assure you it is not. Characters zip from Atlanta to Dahlonega with no problem. It would take you 30 minutes to get from Buckhead, where WSK-TV is, to Ga-400 and at least an hour from there to Dahlonega. 

Verdict: Like it, but don't expect too much from it.