I’ve been wondering if in my neighboring environs there lurks someone who’s considering a vocation to the priesthood or clergy. Why? Well, in my effort to live simply and get out of debt, rather than buy or rent dvd’s I check them out from my local library. If there’s something I really want to see, I put it on hold and wait a few days, weeks or sometimes months. But other times I just browse the video shelves, which are filled with movies my neighbors have already ordered from other branches, viewed and returned. Over the past few months my library video perusals have resulted in me watching (and in some cases discovering):
Boys Town … Spencer Tracy as do-gooder Father Flanagan .. a classic
Going My Way … Bing Crosby as the very cute Fr. Chuck O’Malley, the new priest in town. Another classic.
Ballykissangel .. British TV series about an English Catholic Priest in Ireland. Cute priest. Funny show. Deals with some of what I’d imagine to be the pressures of being a cute young English priest in a small Irish village.
And I just finished watching a few episodes of:
Vicar of Dibley .. another British TV series. This one about the new Vicar in a small English village who happens to be a woman. Absolutely hilarious. Wondering what my revgal pals think of this show, which I’m sure they’ve seen.
Could just be a coincidence that I’ve happened upon these movies on the shelves. I’ve enjoyed them. But it does have me wondering … After all, who was the one secretly checking out non-spiritual nun-reading?
Of course there’s also always an assortment of Poirot, Prime Suspect and Inspector Morse videos on the shelves. Perhaps there are some budding private detectives living nearby too :)
9 comments:
Have you seen 'Father Ted'? Discovered it while sick on my Irish/English honeymoon!
Then there's "The Trouble With Angels" .... was big entertainment for some of the staff when I worked at a boarding school. The first time I actually watched it --- well, I got hit by the ending; didn't see it coming. Maybe it just was the place I was at discerningly at the time. Regardless, it's a fun film.
I love "The Trouble with Angels." When I tell someone I have a scathingly brilliant idea, they know they'd better watch out. :)
I now have the Trouble with Angels on hold. Never seen it, but now I have to.
And come to think of it, I think I did see Father Ted on the shelves at the local library one day as well. Maybe I'll check that one out too!
'Scathingly brilliant idea!' Gosh, hadn't thought of that in years!
At New Year's I was in San Francisco visiting my aunt and uncle - it was their 50th anniversary - and my other aunt was going on and on and on and on about various religious shows on TV and radio. (She'd test the patience of a saint, really.) She asked if I ever listened to Dobson (ugh!) or Father _______ and I said with a straight face, 'I watch Fr. Ted Crilly.'
'Oh?' she said. 'Who's he?'
'He's on Craggy Island,' I said. 'He was exiled there with two other priests after the funds for his church accidentally wound up in his personal account.'
'Oh!' said my aunt. 'That sounds charming!'
My other aunt - the host and a Fr. Ted fan too - cracked up.
By the way, Dermot Morgan, who played Fr. Ted, very unexpectedly dropped dead of a heart attack right after filming the last episode of season three. He was only in his early 40s. I told my husband that and he said, 'Criticism?'
I remember hearing, on a special about Dawn French (star of "The Vicar of Dibley" and all-around British comic genius), that that show was developed for her before the C of E even had women as vicars -- they were still working on it when the big change came along, which I guess re-set the show in a non-alternative reality. I thought that was interesting, and now I'm hearing an announcer in my head: "This fall, a woman will be pope!"
I actually have a video of the first three Father Ted episodes, should you want to borrow it. The second series is in my Netflix queue, though a ways down at the moment, and I'd be happy to share that as well. :)
My boyfriend is British and Catholic and introduced me to it, along with a few other gems of British comedy.
Loved Bally-K - especially the first two seasons. Thoughtful and playful. Wonderful writing, acting, and characters. Great show.
Bally-K is great. There's also a young Colin Farrell in the later seasons. The Vicar of Dibley is hilarious, and I always try to catch it when it's on PBS.
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