Back to the agency… Lee, Francine and Billy are still discussing the case.. where’d Amanda go?? [Hopefully to change her earrings 
]Well.. check out where we find Billy:
With his feet on his desk?! LOL!! They are trying to come up with a few different camera angles for the office here..and why is Lee randomly standing facing the door like that??!! I thought the last scene including Amanda was an interesting idea. Look:
See Billy is perched on the side of his desk! Different!
Interesting way to fit all four of them in the shot! Hmm maybe this leaning back in the chair thing explains why next episode Billy has a new chair: so he can’t do that ever again! 
Francine: So you think Columbus liked what he heard of the Burling’s side business and then made them an offer?
Billy: Which Malcolm refused and paid for.
[so funny! another curious angle..]…Now, if it were illegal and profitable, Frankie Columbus would want a piece.
Lee: I tell ya, if Columbus and Private Party have started doing business 
together, and if we could nail the both of them…
[Aha!!! Lee begins to see the possibilities!!! Is it just me or is there something wrong with Lee’s jacket?? too big?? I don’t know..]
Billy: Any suggestions how?
[whoo strike a pose! Go Billy! ]
Lee: Yeah…
…Let’s go on the offense. Force their hand. And it all starts with Amanda.
[whoooo I love the way that sounds.. yes Lee.. that is true of many things in your life.. many things for you start with Amanda! Bring on the confetti as Edna would say! what’s the episode?????!!!! anyone??? ]
Francine: Amanda?
[yeah… like how could Amanda be useful for anything other than cleaning?! ]
Lee: Yeah. We have her go see Vic and Mrs Flannigan, and she tells them that she’s 
anxious to earn some more extra money. Next chance that comes up, she’d be happy to pocket something else for them.
Billy: And then?
Lee: we provide the bait.
Francine: we throw our own party!!
Lee: Right!
We’re all lovin it!!!
Lee: complete with juicy stealable information. All three of us will be there, that way there’s no danger for Amanda.
[Ah bless him.. I do think he still believes that It’s funny to keep this line in mind as events unfold!!! ]
Billy is too cute!
Billy: I love it! Our own party!!!
Well, it’s time to party!
This is cute Billy looks like a little boy when he says ‘our own party!’ .. you want a pony Billy? do ya??!! hehehee…
So on to Billy’s Party!! 😉
Keep an eye out.. they’ve totally reused the same extras from the first party! I won’t point them all out…ok maybe a couple!
We find Lee having a conversation with someone..
Man: What exactly is IFF?
[I’ve missed hearing Lee talk film talk!]
Lee: It’s a documentary film company. We have a piece coming up on the vampire bat which is absolutely riveting!!
[See the white/blonde lady with short hair??standing in the background? she was the waitress working for PP at the opening party!Oh and white haired guy is back too!]
Man: Well, I wouldn’t wanna miss that.
Lee: Just check your public television listings. It’s called “Nightsucker: Dracula of the Dark” !!!!
I think Lee makes it sound as dull as possible while also conveying that he thinks it is riveting- on purpose! That way you don’t have to answer anymore questions about it- as you think he will talk about this dull IFF with glee if he is asked a question! Love Lee’s head shake. while describing the film.. so reverent.. like he has just spoken poetry!
Man (quick! change subject! ): Do you know our host today, the minister of defence?
Lee: Uh… Vaguely. I met him a few years ago in Africa. As a matter of fact, there he is right there by the buffet.
Man: Oh, excuse me for a moment.
This bored to tears man seizes the moment to go and possibly meet the host.. [and get away from Lee! 😉 ]
At this, we have Billy’s funny reveal!!We hear a woman call out: Mr Ngamo,..
and Billy turns around.. rofl! the expression on his face is too funny! 
the woman continues: ..Hi. I’m Linda Seward. I’m a graduate student at Georgetown in African studies.
[uh oh!!! Nightmare for Billy!! He kisses her hand and 
smiles..
Linda loves it! and decides to, for once, use some language she’s probably spent years learning and never had anyone to speak it to!!
The script says her dialogue here is: ‘zi lave qa ge ve te ga’ with a note in the script saying this means: ‘I am happy to have seen you’!
the direction is ‘Billy smiles benignly as he listens to what is pure jibberish to him’. Haaaa! He certainly does!!!
Billy (with accent): Very nice. indeed. But here in America. I must speak 
English. is it not true? Excuse me.
Billy’s thinking: get me out of here!!!!
Zi lave get lost!!
Billy takes a step to 
move away but she follows with him, not getting the hint.. drat.. that’s not going to work..zi not lave ga Billy tries another tactic
…
Billy again:
Please. So very nice to meet you.
Your accent is excellent.
[Pleased with the compliment, Linda finally turns away. Billy walks casually over to join Lee.]
Billy walks over to join Lee..
[white haired guy right behind them.. again!]
Billy (no accent): The next time we do this, would you make sure I play somebody that speaks English?
[Love how Billy smiles here the whole time he is complaining! soooo funny!!! great delivery from Mel! I do wish they did the undercover jokes more often- I love them!!] Oh! and LOL that Lee gets to decide what Billy does.. err Billy? you are the boss?! Aren’t you???!!
Lee: Yeah.
Billy: How are you making out?
Lee: Well, everything’s going according to plan. I just planted a list of confidential arms bids inside the office a few minutes ago.
Billy: Columbus and Vic Burling will think they’ll make a million selling those bids.
Lee: Yeah, not that it’ll get that far. All we have to do is catch them in the act of accepting those papers from Amanda and they are all out of business.
[Okay.. thanks for explaining to me..]
Billy: Have you spoken with her yet?
Lee: No, I was just on my way.
Uh-oh. Hold onto your dashiki, here you go again.
Haaa! hey the guy behind Billy- I thought that was the mouthpiece at the first party?! Well, Billy becomes Ngamo again..
BJo, I think you were asking which white haired guy? this one!
Love how Lee has a chuckle at Ngamo’s antics! Too cute..
Lee heads off in search of Amanda..
Nearby we see Vic at a drinks table, and Paulie dressed as staff..
Vic: I still don’t think it was a good idea for you to be here.
Paulie: Mr Columbus likes to have his interests looked after. [Oh? Gee. I thought he was there for ‘protection’ of Vic?! 😉 ]
Lee finds Amanda and makes like he is looking to eat something from her platter.
Again! Amanda’s got those super matchy matchy earrings!!! Maybe PP issue them along with the uniform?? and Francine refused to wear them!!
Amanda: Oh, hello.
Lee: When the time is right for you, it’s inside the office cabinet, top drawer.
Amanda: Right. Lee, there’s something a little strange going on. [whoooo Amanda has noticed this party has the same guests as the first party too????!!!! ]
Lee: What?
Amanda: If you’ll take a look over there at the table, you’ll see a 
man with the beard?
LOL could it be anymore obvious that Lee is looking at Vic here?! I think Vic notices.. Oh yeah! he would have immediately known who Lee is having seen him the other night raiding the PP office! talking to Amanda like that- it should be clear to Vic that Amanda is in on it.. but.. who knows..
Lee: Yeah.
Amanda: Vic Burling. [whoa! you mean.. Lee doesn’t know him?? and what he looks like? Hmm]
Lee: He wouldn’t normally be here?
Amanda: No. As far as I know, the owner never comes.
Lee: Alright, thanks. 
[I love how at this ‘thanks’, Amanda hides a little smile!]
…Signal me when you’ve picked up.
[such a great team!!!] LOL that one line in isolation could be plucked and used errr misused by a fan vid maker for laughs! rofl!!!!
Amanda (a little louder): Yes, sir.
Amanda kind of bows to farewell her guest, Lee, as she moves away..
Love the dimple flash Lee gives her
I swear, once again, Lee keeps smiling at Amanda just a moment longer than he needs to – still smiling at her when she has turned away
Lee heads over to the drinks table.
What Luck.. right when Lee comes over, Vic finds an excuse to get rid of Paulie.. telling him they are out of ice (Is that a mafia gag?! I mean.. they do love to ‘ice’ people!) Paulie, not happy, goes for ice!
Okay.. it’s not luck.. I don’t think I realised this the first time I saw this, but Vic knows what he is doing here! I don’t think I gave Vic too much credit..
Vic doesn’t waste any time..
Vic to Lee: Hey, how are you doing?
Lee: Fine. How are you doing?
Vic (with urgency): Listen, I 
need to talk to you. Would you follow me, please?
Vic leads Lee away from the crowds, luckily past Billy and that persistent extra with the white hair..
So Billy sees that he needs to hang on to his dashiki.. Looks like Vic might have ‘come to the party!’ haaaaa!
Well I better stop here.. Sooo what extras did you find that had been reused?! Do tell! I love how the same ones are behind in scenes in different areas of this party too.. they probably had 15 people and tried to make it look like hundreds.. still thank goodness Betsy Jordan didn’t show up! byeee for now!!!
"Just walk with me.." 
#2019rewatch
It makes perfect sense that upper management, such as Billy and perhaps other government oversight officials, were at the party because it was actually hosted and funded by The Agency.
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#2019rewatch
Iwsod, you are cracking me up with all the comments about reusing extras! 🤣 I do think this is one of the most obvious episodes they commit this offense. Maybe they filmed both parties the same day. Or maybe these were real Hollywood party crashers. 😉
Can’t say enough how much Billy rocks in this scene. And also, such an awesome job to BB with the whole documentary spiel. It kinda reminds me of his “director” talk with Scotty at the restaurant in Filming Raul.
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I adore Billy in this scene! He is hilarious!!!! This episode really has so many great moments from all characters!!! Perhaps that is what makes it one of my favorites….it highlights the whole agency cast a little more than normal. And not just that, but gives them all a chance to spread their wings from what and where and with whom we normally get to see them, and they all really rise to the occasion. And there are a lot of laughs to be had. 😁
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LOL – love Francine’s look at Lee when he says “and it all starts with Amanda!” She just can’t believe it! Iwsod, I think you’re on to something there with Lee’s jacket. In that same picture it looks like Lee’s left arm has a bandage on it or something underneath the sleeve. His left bicep looks bigger than his right.
Edna and the confetti, err rice, is from Nightcrawler. I can’t believe I had to look that up. I guess I only have that other scene memorized. Thank you for pointing out the white haired-guy, iwsod! He does look familiar. I’ve got a bad head cold and I feel slightly out of it – so I didn’t scrutinize the other extras. Too much motion.
Love Billy as Mr. Ngamo! It’s too funny that Billy’s character speaks a foreign language. Just when did he find that out? Right before he got into his dashiki? LOL! Is it just me or are they taking this all a little too lightly – Billy’s cover is flimsy and Lee is totally laughing about it!
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LOL. I don’t think Lee is staring at the door–I think he’s staring into the Bullpen, thinking about Amanda and coming up with his plan for Amanda to help out…
Random Tie Patrol factoids–Billy also wears that black/white/red stripey tie… with his chunky blue cardy… in Season 1 ep RoTP and Lee wears his party tie previously… with a grey suit… in Season 1 ep ITCK. (I’m only through the first half of Season 1 so far…)
Is anyone else reminded of Eddie Murphy in Coming to America by Billy as Minister Ngamo? 😀 CtA came out in 1988–maybe Billy was the inspiration for the character/character’s speech style… or not, but it’s a fun idea.
Yep, Valerie–I also think that Vic is purposely getting Paulie out of the way so that he can talk to Lee–and I like your take on Billy’s management style. I think we’ve gotten hints from previous eps that agents (senior agents/agents in charge) are responsible for setting up the covers (with the help of the applicable Agency department/s).
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I remember coming to America lol be fab if billy was the inspiration. 😉
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It reminds me of Eddie Murphy in CtA too!
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I didn’t really think Lee was staring at the door.. it was just a strange position to cut back to.. usually (at least in my mind!) we’d see Lee turn to look out the window while thinking. we don’t usually cut back to the office to find him randomly facing the door.. that’s all I meant.
more reports from tie patrol?! 😉 sounds like you are having fun!! I think tie patrol needs pictures for us to truly enjoy it.. Hmm.. what to do.. if you catch up where I am up to, I’d be happy to add in a little blurb from you when there is a tie spotting.. ? would that help?
Yes I agreed Valerie and KC, I too think Vic knows what he is doing.. he recognises Lee and intentionally gets Paulie away… maybe what I wrote wasn’t clear but I was saying I didn’t think that when I first watched this episode.. but I think I was underestimating Vic at that time! 🙂
Yes Billy the supportive Boss as you have described it Valerie makes sense – I exaggerate because I find it funny.. while I agree with you – I think there are moments where Billy does not look like the boss.. yes Billy can’t do everything and to be honest the whole set up is a bit strange – why would Billy even be out in the field in the first place? and how Billy always arrives to clean up Lee’s mess ( ie. escort the bad guy away in cuffs kind of thing) soooo I like to pay out on Billy and Lee being his boss.. don’t mind me.. deep down, Billy is the character with Authority here – deeeeep down 😉
Loved hearing your thoughts Valerie!
I’m super busy with exams.. hope you are all well.. I’m enjoying reading your comments.. though I don’t get much chance to respond – they are a wonderful stress relief.. 🙂
Sorry to hear you are unwell BJo!!!! 😦 Hope you get better quickly!!!
byeee all!!!
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Had an SMK moment while doing lesson plans with the TV on in the background. The movie “Silverado” was on. It’s a western that came out in 1985. There is a scene where a little boy named Augie is told by another character named Swann that he has stolen a horse. Of course, my mind goes to Augie Swann in that hat. Coincidence? I don’t know, I just thought it was interesting.
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No way is that a coincidence! Good catch, Valerie!
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I would love to have seen Billy go undercover more often. He is such fun here, it would have been great to see him do more. I guess that’s part of being in charge.
I see your point, IWSOD, that Billy seems to be taking, rather than giving, orders and laugh along with you when you direct our attention to those moments. However, I do see Billy’s style of leadership a little differently, too. I’ve always felt he was apt to delegate and expect results. Having been in the field, he expected his agents to plan and execute whatever was needed, calling on him as backup or looking to him for advice. He would then call attention to details overlooked, assist where he could, discipline where needed. The “agent in charge” would call the shots, but Billy could (and would) easily take over if he felt something was wrong/out of place/unacceptable.
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I like your idea of Billy’s leadership style. I have often wondered why it looks like Lee is in charge all the time, and yet Billy often appears to be a mature and competent leader. This idea reconciles the two for me. Thanks, debilyn.
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Agree, and this is what good management of a good team is all about. I can’t stand micro-managing! I wonder if Lee, as he arranged security and logistics, made the decision on purpose. I can see him getting a chuckle out of the idea, just like he seemed to be enjoying Billy’s mock annoyance at the party. I like to think that Lee knew exactly what he was doing, and Billy, good-naturedly, knew he’d been set up. I love how well SMK walks the line with its characters. We see Billy now and then in ridiculous situations (the Santa suit in The Long Christmas Eve is another example, as is the ridiculous all-day sucker in The ACM Kid) but SMK never overplays it to the point we would lose respect for him. The same is true for Lee and Francine; unfortunately there are a few places where they didn’t tow the line so well with Amanda. But all and all, SMK keeps a nice balance, letting us laugh with the characters rather than at them, and not letting them look like bozos.
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Glad I could assist, Morley. I enjoy working for managers that give clear directions then let you handle it. I’ve worked with micro-managers before, Raffie, and it’s not fun at all. When you have a good relationship with your boss and know them well, you can get away with those momentary “fun” moments. However, you definitely don’t want to take them too far, and SMK does the whole thing nicely overall, I agree. You can see both the professionalism and the “family” in the Agency.
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Billy is too funny in these scenes, excited about the possibilities of this party and distraught about having to speak a foreign language. Maybe in the future he should borrow some of those tapes Amanda uses.
It’s funny how Lee seems to pick the one appetizer that is completely different than all the rest on the tray. It’s amazing what you notice when you watch these episodes over and over.
I think Vic noticed Lee earlier and was trying to get rid of Paulie, maybe put Paulie “on ice” as it were.
The Edna episode is “Nightcrawler” but I don’t remember if it was confetti or rice.
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Absolutely enjoying the valuable growth of Amanda for Agency work!! Wonderful that Amanda has seemed like the professional over Francine 🙂
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“maybe Vic has one of those looks that are not note worthy — always there, never noticed, always blending into the background. He probably would have made an excellent spy.”
Looks that are not noteworthy/never noticed –> so, then, the complete and total opposite of Lee. 😀
I’ll comment on this ep later–gotta go to work… :p
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Sorry–that was meant to be a reply to Cindy’s observation…
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Hi KC – if you copy and paste this comment where you meant to post it in response to Cindy, I or iwsod can delete this one here. Up to you…
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Are those black earrings clip ons?
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Love the experimental camera angles at the beginning of this post. Can you guess which of Billy’s poses we call the ‘one cheek sneak’?
As to Lee not noticing Vic (again) — maybe Vic has one of those looks that are not note worthy — always there, never noticed, always blending into the background. He probably would have made an excellent spy. 😉
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Or a piece of office furniture 😉
I’ll bite – which one is the one cheek sneak? Not sure which ‘cheek’ you’re referring to.
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“One cheek sneak” is when you are sitting or perched on something using only one of your glutes. We most often use it when someone is trying to sit at the end of a bench and doesn’t quite have enough room to completely sit down.
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In my world, the “one cheek sneak” is usually paired with, ummm…, flatulence. 😀
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My guess is where he is leaning on the desk.
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