6/21 Season Three, Episode 22: All the World’s a Stage–Scarecrow and Mrs King

Back from a commercial break, and we find Amanda home with her family in the living room.  It looks like the room has been rearranged to be like a stage. All the world’s a stage? All the King family room is 🙂 Phillip fiddles with a hat stand/picture hanger prop in the background. 3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0008[16]
Jamie: “Don’t worry! She’s one of us, though a …”
Amanda: Cynic, sweetheart. (Phillip joins them)
Jamie: I know.
Phillip: Simp.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0008[19]
[Ahh Phillip, can this guy get a line that doesn’t involve calling his brother something?!! And yes – this scene is quite blurry and hard to get a clear image of! Quite absurd!]
Amanda: Fellas! [Why she cries ‘fellas’ and not ‘Phillip!’ is beyond me]
…“Do you really believe the (ze) promises of Utopia?”
Phillip: “I don’t think so but I could be wrong”.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0008[4]
(LOL Amanda really goes for it with her portrayal and the boys get out of the way Winking smile )3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0008[14]Amanda: “You remind me of the dancing weasel, sometimes happy, sometimes sad.” [lol we’ve got two smk episode titles in this dialogue already Winking smile  Watch Dotty react to Amanda here rofl!]
3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0008[11]
(Jamie rotates the picture showing in the background.)
[Is this to symbolise the ‘sad’?]
Dotty (very flatly!): “Mon Dieu, Mon Dieu.”..
3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0008[1]
(to Amanda and out of role): …Amanda?
Amanda: Yes, Mother?3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0008[2]
Dotty: I don’t understand this man in the shadows character, that just sits at the end of the bar and says
Mon Dieu, Mon Dieu.  [Oh good. Yes do explain! I don’t follow either!]3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0008[23]
[A broach seems to have fallen on Dotty’s shoulder?! Lovely colour this outfit though.. ]
Amanda: Well, Mother, he’s in the shadows right, 3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[30]
(We see Phillip go back to the picture in the background, and he turns it around again.)
[Oh I see! It’s the picture of an upside down soldier I think]
…he’s foreshadowing the fall of Paris to the Germans.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[77]
[lol this play is quite ummm obscure?!]
Jamie: This play is weird.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[98]
[I’m with Jamie! who I note is wearing his glasses!!! I’m thinking this is the first time we’ve seen them. Anyone think of another time so far?? sooo in terms of ep order, any episode that has Jamie in it without glasses has to come before this one?.. I think?!]
Amanda: Sweetheart, it’s called Neo-Absurdism… 3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[84]
[One person’s neo-absurdism is another person’s weird! Winking smile ]
…See everything stands for something else.

(We see Dotty respond to this)
[An ‘oh I see’ maybe?3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[64]
Or.. it could be the start of a sneeze Winking smile tee hee..

I thought when everything stands for something else that was a metaphor, an allegory or an analogy!? [can someone set me straight?] Is this neo-absurdism for real? anyone?  Well whether it is or isn’t, it’s a great vehicle for comedy Smile 3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[43]
I think Dotty is trying, but not feeling the love for this play!]
…The whole play takes place in a Paris café and that’s um, the war, or the world. 3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[42]
[LOL even Amanda isn’t sure what it is. I think she’s totally making this up! And it’s not even Martinet’s original work, she’s going off the lame version Krutiov wrote!]
…And the French chanteuse is the free spirit of the French people. All right?3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[52]
Dotty:  The free spirit of the French people does a can-can on the bar!! 3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[14] [Dotty is dubious Smile .
Dotty – I know why the French people do that- Because they can can! Winking smile ]3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[67]
Amanda (deadpan): That’s an act of defiance, Mother.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[24]
Dotty: Ugh…
3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[29]
…What ever happens to musicals?3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[22]
[Was Beverly Garland in any musicals?]
Amanda (to Dotty): Your line.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[93]
Dotty: Ok, all right…
3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[101]
“Mon Dieu, Mon Dieu”.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[66]
(Jamie tries to make a move out of this torture!)
Jamie: I’m going to watch TV.
Amanda: Sweetie.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[55]
(Jamie manages to get the tv on)
Phillip: That’s not part of the play! Haha! [I guess not all the world is a stage after all 😉 ]3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[48]
(Phillip joins Jamie with the tv watching..)
3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[6]
Jamie: Neither am I! [Good call! haaa]3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[35]
Amanda: Fellas….3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[85]
Dotty: Another act of defiance.
[haaa brilliant!]3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[53]
Amanda: Mother!
3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[92]
[Haaa I’m with Dotty and the boys. Enough! They don’t share your passion for this absurdity Amanda!]
Dotty: “Mon Dieu”.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[7]
[Love how Dotty throws this line back at her deadpan. Hilarious!]
(Dotty then turns to watch the tv.)
Amanda: You have two Mon Dieus
[haaaa.. if you are going to quote the play to ignore me then get it right!]3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[41]
Dotty: “Mon Dieu,
3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[13]
..Mon Dieu”.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[106]
[Something tells me that at least one of these ‘Mon Dieu’ stands for something else Winking smile ]
Amanda: Thank you.3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[17]
Amanda admits defeat and goes back to studying the revised script alone. 3.22-ALL-THE-WORLDS-A-STAGE.avi_0009[82]
Ahh I love this little scene.. Who else loves it???
It feels like smk of old doesn’t it? [lol I guess this is a bit like Amanda knowing the awful dew drops dialogue wasn’t Martinet – it just didn’t feel right!] This feels spot on! Playful and clever dialogue.. and the performances are hilarious! The scene ends here.

I’ll pause here too.. anyone got any thoughts they’d like to share! Thanks for reading!!! Sorry I’m a little delayed hopefully it’s been worth the wait 🙂 hope you are all well!!

47 thoughts on “6/21 Season Three, Episode 22: All the World’s a Stage–Scarecrow and Mrs King”

  1. I can see why this guy is no longer a popular playwright. Absurdism is a kind way of putting it — stupid might be better! Why they couldn’t have the guy write a decent story is beyond me.

    I’m kind of surprised Amanda would be into this sort of thing to be honest. It doesn’t seem to fit her personality.

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  2. I love the discussions in the comments of this post that point out Utopia Now and Dancing Weasel references in the play scene during the family rehearsal. My watch through this episode was the first time I think I picked up on those references. Also, wondering if the “play” also threw a shout out to Sour Grapes in the next scene….“Wine… will make you forget?”

    But mostly, I just wanted to comment that Iwsod, your screencaps of Dotty made me belly laugh, especially your comment of A broach seems to have fallen on Dotty’s shoulder?!
    🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 How I never noticed this before is beyond me!

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  3. This scene with Amanda, Dotty and the boys practicing the play is probably my favorite family scene of the entire series. It makes me laugh and it seems like a real family dynamic. Honestly, it would be worth it just for Dotty’s mon dieu mon dieu.

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  4. It’s so funny, Iwsod, that as I was reading and scrolling, my reaction to Philip’s comment to Jamie was exactly what you wrote. Philip sometimes comes off as this one note character with not a lot of dimension whereas Jamie seems to have more depth to him. It would have been interesting to see how these boys would have developed had the series continued.

    I agree with everyone else about seeing this snippet of home life with Amanda. We haven’t gotten many of these moments in the past few episodes. It’s nice that Amanda can bring at least this much of her work home with her and share it with her family. She doesn’t have to do a whole lot of explaining especially if this is part of what she did in college and therefore Dotty won’t ask to many probing questions. At least she can say Amanda has moved on from clams.

    Is this the red script that Amanda got from that box?

    I’m thinking that the mention or inclusion of two earlier episode names might be interesting to delve into maybe near the conclusion of this episode.

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  5. On a separate note, the music for this episode has a different feel to it. Much more melodic, flowy (is that a real word?), and softer, especially compared to the beginning of the theme song which is brassy and punchy (almost staccato-like – see, I do know at least one real music word :wink:).

    Actually, for someone who is a bit oblivious to music, I do notice how it can tell a viewer a lot about a scene or what will happen in a scene if done properly. Some of my favorite CDs are instrumental soundtracks of movies I’ve loved. Just listening to them reminds me of the emotion of the movie. Because I heard this episode before I saw it, I think the music stands out much more. This music could have been used in earlier episodes, but when I hear it, it reminds me of this one, of the feel of the whole episode. If I remember, I’ll bring this up again at the end.

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    1. When the family and I are watching a really cheesy show/movie we yell at the characters – “He’s a bad guy! Can’t you hear the scary music?” If only real life came with a sound track.

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      1. I’ve seen deleted scenes in the bonus features of various shows/movies where there’s no music, presumably because they were deleted before they got that far? Anyway, watching them feels very, very strange.

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  6. Well whether it is or isn’t, it’s a great vehicle for comedy 🙂

    Comedy for you, iwsod, when writing posts maybe, but so far I’m finding it all a bit annoying. Someone please throw in the word matrix here! I’m totally with Dotty (attitude, face and all) and the boys too.

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  7. I tried posting to this section a couple of times last week (it wouldn’t go through for some reason) and then got busy with my dad passing away. So let’s see if it will go through today. I love the family scenes and doesn’t seem like we’ve got as many this season. Dotty is always hilarious and she doesn’t disappoint in this scene. It’s nice to see the whole family helping Amanda with her lines.

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    2. So sorry to hear about your Dad, Melissa. Thinking of you.
      And I agree, Dotty is fabulous here. It would be great to see KJ and BG doing more comedy together.

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    6. Sorry about your father- mine died February 2007. Its hard to lose a parent. I hope your good memories can help you in this difficult time.

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  8. It’s good to see Amanda having some family time, even if it is work-related (although the family don’t know that). Obviously they are keen to spend time with her despite the neo-absurdity of the activity. By now Dotty must be wondering about all the weirdness that has been in Amanda (and their) lives in the last 3 years. I think I made this comment earlier in the season, but I still feel it would have made the show much more interesting and provided heaps more scope for character exploration if Lee had been “introduced” to the family earlier – as Amanda’s co-working/senior partner in the IFF film business. This would have enabled Lee to ocasionally interact with the family and might have made Amanda’s work / out of home life seem a little more “normal” to Dotty and the kids.

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    1. Lee meeting Amanda’s family earlier…. yesss, yesss, yesss!!! I’d love it. nodding my head vigorously 😀

      On the other hand: Wouldn’t Dotty have started to marry Amanda off again – as she did with every male coming along during the series? Well ‘of course, no pressure on her side…’ 😉
      I guess Amanda was afraid of exactly that and what that would have done with Lee -> letting him hesitate even more.
      With that scenario we’d still wait for them to get closer… 😦

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      1. Dotty was already trying to hook Amanda up with Lee even if she didn’t know who he really was. Remember all of her hints to invite her friend over for dinner in BO? an Mr. Sampson and the nice silver sports car outside that must belong to a new neighbor. Dotty would have been insufferable if she had really met Lee and her prodding would have made the last three yers an agony for Amanda, I bet.

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    2. Whooo interesting!

      So why did it take so long for Amanda to have Lee meet the family? I mean at this stage – he still hasn’t so let me rephrase it – why is she keeping the two so separate right now and up to this point in the story guys?

      I think lots of humour comes from Amanda doing weird things and then the family not knowing the true context.. though IMHO they didn’t milk this as much as they could have..

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  9. I think neo-absurdism is such a thing – or maybe it’s a philosophy. I don’t know – all too thinky for me.
    Anyway, “neo” suggests new, so was there an old or archaic-absurdism?
    Someone with a bigger, more thinky brain than mine is going to have to fill in the gaps on this one. 🙂

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  10. I agree with everyone that this is wonderful scene and I love seeing the interaction of Amanda with Dotty and the boys. I always wondered what the significance was of incorporating the titles of “Utopia Now” and “Dancing Weasel” into the scene.

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    1. I always wondered what the significance was of incorporating the titles of “Utopia Now” and “Dancing Weasel” into the scene.

      Good question! The only thing I could come up with is: this is the season finale.. maybe they are trying to draw in the whole of the season to bring things to a close. Incorporating titles into the language is a subliminal way of doing this..
      Hey.. I tried! 😉

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      1. I remember reading a whole thing that Petra wrote about the symbolism in this episode. She made a lot out of the episode titles mentioned in this scene. I think there could be something to it, especially because they are mentioned in the context of a “neo-absurdism” that is being explained to us as each part having some deeper meaning other than the obvious and standing for something else.

        So without going further into the episode, could we take this as a hint that maybe Amanda has been thinking about Lee and what they experienced together in those two episodes? Utopia now and Dancing Weasel? Or are we being cued by the puppet master writers of SMK to conjure up aspects of those two episodes?

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        1. Really enjoying your comments, Morley! I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out why Utopia Now and Dancing Weasel are mentioned. Darn that puppet master writer. I think I’ll have to go back and watch those episodes.

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          1. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I think the mention of the ‘promises of Utopia’ might be foreshadowing of “the-ending-that-cannot-be-spoiled”. There was a similar moment in that episode, & I won’t mention what that was. Vague enough? 😉

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        2. Wow, once again morley, that’s exactly what I was thinking. In sticking with the theme of the past weekend, it feels like the writers have left a whole bunch of Easter eggs for us to find. Some are right out in the open, others are more carefully hidden! Furthermore, I think they are having a LOT of fun with this, and maybe even toying with the tendency that literary folks have to turn everything into a symbol, whether it was meant to be or not. “When is a tree just a tree?” Doesn’t matter, it’s much more fun when we pretend it’s something else! Why a walrus? Maybe it was a reference to the Lewis Carroll poem “The Walrus and the Carpenter” — ” ‘the time has come,’ the walrus said, ‘to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings.'” Gee, one of the Terry Wall’s in The Boy Who Would Be King was a shoe salesman and secret documents were hidden in a cabbage in that episode — sounds like a reference to me! 😉

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          2. How come I never “loved” this comment when you wrote it? Yes, Yes, Yes! A thousand times.I am taking a class on interpretive practices right now. Of course its about interpreting the Bible, but writers and those who pay attention to telling good stories use all sorts of methods. I am sure the writers were aware of these things (and if they weren’t, don’t tell me – because I know they did other squirrely things)

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  12. This scene is pure brilliance. I love the writing and interaction of Amanda, Dotty and the boys is wonderful and feels real (I seem to recall the script had an extended version of ‘absurd’ script though I can’t recall if it was at this part of the episode. Mon Dieu, Mon Dieu!
    I do think this is the first time we see Jamie in glasses and could probably be used for ordering episodes, though often when kids started wearing glasses, they did not need them full time.

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  14. Its a great scene. The family dynamic is very realistic (in my experience at least). The ‘enthused’ member getting everyone else to enter into their enthusiasm, which they do with willingness and curiosity for a while, and then they get bored!
    It is good to see Amanda with Dotty and the boys. It is good to see her so excited about her job.
    It is so refreshing to have a funny light hearted scene where the script writers laugh a little at Amanda they way they used to – it makes her a lot more human and likeable in my opinion.
    If only Lee were in this in some way, it would be perfect!
    I never noticed the shoulder brooch before, but I suspect, like the comb over, it will haunt me now!

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  15. Love this scene too! And I think it further shows how much Amanda enjoys her job at the moment.

    Dotty cracks me up. Her demeanor/acting is perfect. And I’ll agree about the color on her. I’ve actually seen broaches worn on the shoulder before, although it wasn’t a popular fad.

    I think Amanda was expecting Phillip’s comment to be followed up by a response from Jamie. Probably just jumped in too soon? My mom would call all three of her kids names until she got to the one who was in trouble or the one she needed. Especially, when she’s distracted.

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      1. This was around the late 80s to early 90s and I was working in DC. It was mostly middle-aged and older women in business attire. Friends and coworkers of my mom’s. My mom always wore hers in the right spot.

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      2. I think it also depends on the outfit. There may be some cases where the brooch looks more like it compliments the outfit, rather than sticks out. I thinking of evening gowns and formal wear, where it could work.

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  16. I just love this scene. It is actually probably in my top two favourite scenes in this episode. It’s pure SMK gold! I just love Dotty and her Mon Dieus. And Jamie. Pity about Phillip 😀 I’d love to be able to drop Lee into the mix…

    The brooch on Dotty’s shoulder is truly weird. It looks like some insect has fallen from the ceiling, landed on her shoulder, and been gilded… Now it’s trying to run for Dotty’s neck but struggling to get onto her blouse collar. {Hmmm, maybe Learjet’s been working too hard because she’s seeing moving insects instead of inanimate brooches}

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So what do you think??? :)

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