Althouse: "Ah, Godspell. How you shaped our ’70s Catholic school childhoods by influencing an entire generation..."

February 20, 2012

"Ah, Godspell. How you shaped our ’70s Catholic school childhoods by influencing an entire generation..."

"... of semi-closeted nuns to pick up their guitars and force us to learn half the songbook. Do they still have guitar masses? Or did all those Birkenstock’d nuns finally drop the veil and head off to the Lilith Fair?"

The first paragraph of Tom and Lorenzo's recap of the most recent episode of "Project Runway All Stars."

Are you watching this season? I am. I still can't tell you the names of the 2 people they've got in the Heidi and Tim positions, but they're doing a decent job helping us deal with being deprived of familiar things.

And, as long as I'm rummaging around at Tom and Lorenzo's, check out these stiletto-heeled ice skates.

18 comments:

Mark O said...: Godspell is Great.; 2/20/12, 10:32 AM
chuck b. said...: "I still can't tell you the names of the 2 people they've got in the Heidi and Tim positions,"

Haha! Neither can I.; 2/20/12, 10:36 AM
Carol said...: I saw a guitar mass in Honolulu in 2007, so they're alive and well. I play guitar, but I really hate all the hard-strumming emotionalism. The warmed over 70s songs are bad enough...Give me piano or organ, with classical sacramental music.; 2/20/12, 10:39 AM
dhagood said...: i have watched every season of project runway and yes, i'm watching this as well.

i'm glad tim gunn has moved on; he was becoming a caricature of himself. while i do remember joanna coles, i don't remember who the model that took over heidi's spot is.; 2/20/12, 10:40 AM
KCFleming said...: "Or did all those ...semi-closeted... Birkenstock’d nuns finally drop the veil and head off to the Lilith Fair?"

Perfect description.

If they're still Catholics at all, they are still waiting for the Marxist revolution to come to Rome.

Heads nearly exploded when JP2 was followed by Benedict. Our parish priest was so pissed off I thought he was gonna cry.

Godspell has some lovely songs. A bit goofy. Try watching it back-to-back with Passion of the Christ.
He has a thousand faces.; 2/20/12, 10:41 AM
MayBee said...: lewsar- I don't think Heidi and Time are gone gone. They just aren't doing the All Stars.
Top Chef does the same thing- different host and judges for their "Masters" series vs. the regular series.

For some reason, I've fallen out of love with Tom and Lorenzo.; 2/20/12, 10:52 AM
Beta Rube said...: I am watching this season, and following Tom and Lorenzo.

Turning me on to Project Runway 5 years ago and the fabulous coverage of the (so far) year long Madison brouhaha are two landmark Althouse contributions to my otherwise pedestrian existence.

I also think the new bunch of judges are a breath of much needed fresh air.; 2/20/12, 10:56 AM
Joan said...: This season of PR has been great, since everyone on there can actually design and make fairly well-constructed garments within the absurd constraints they impose in each challenge. Except for Kara, and she's gone now. Joanna Coles is an excellent mentor.

Tom & Lorenzo are just awesome. They are the best kind of critics. They keep me laughing and they make me think, and even when I disagree with them (on those rare occasions), I can still see their point of view is a reasonable one... at least when it comes to television. On fashion, they sometimes adore something that I just don't get, but that's fashion.; 2/20/12, 10:58 AM
Anonymous said...: There are too many women with the "British Bitch" accent on PR All Stars. And Heidi's replacement is a pale, bland copy.; 2/20/12, 11:16 AM
JAL said...: No classes today, mmm?; 2/20/12, 11:23 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "a pale, bland copy"

I thought that at first, but I think a few episodes in she figured out how to bitch it up.

The female Gunn, on the other hand, started out being fake-bitchy, for no good enough reason, and she's managed to become more about giving some real advice (as opposed to trying too desperately to make DRAMA!!!).; 2/20/12, 11:28 AM
JAL said...: Well I am mistaken. I see from the post below (I started at the top) you do not have "President's Day" off.; 2/20/12, 11:30 AM
KCFleming said...: "The female Gunn..."

A holster?

Sorry.; 2/20/12, 11:30 AM
madAsHell said...: Project Runway All Stars

Pandering to a whole new demographic today.; 2/20/12, 11:45 AM
Carnifex said...: Kinda quirky segue from nuns wearing the black and white habit to "Project Runway" and its over the top bitchiness and flamers.

I went to parochial school before 70's "reformation" and those nuns didn't take prisoners.

For some reason, they didn't think it was at all funny when the snake I brought to school got loose and bit one on the hand. I told them you just can't grab a snake and not expect it to bite you, but that wasn't what they wanted to hear.

Or the time I forgot my pencil, and I sat in the back row, pretending to write notes. I was too industrious though, so the Sister came to see what I was writing. I'm kinda confused why I got whipped for that one, I literally had done nothing.

All in all I wish i hadn't been such a pain to the Sisters. They were good women all in all, and did not deserve the abuse we, I, rained down on them.; 2/20/12, 1:00 PM
Mitty said...: Oh no, you watch "Project Runway"? And you know Tom and Lorenzo? My wife and I sit together in the living room, each with our laptops on yes, our laps. She watches PR while reading the T-Lo blog. And I read my Althouse blog to get my intelligent, sophisticated commentary and political analysis. I felt so smart, so sophisicated, so so ...superior. And now, this? Oh Ann, what have you done?

On the other hand, I guess I needed to be taken down a notch or two. :); 2/20/12, 6:55 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "And now, this?"

I've been linking to them since the early days of "Project Rungay."

Haven't blogged as much about that (or other TV shows) in the last couple years.; 2/20/12, 8:44 PM
gpm said...: Love most of the TLo recaps (and miss the Musical Mondays). Don't really understand them, but look at some of the fashion stuff. But their "'70s Catholic school childhoods" were only a pale shadow of the real thing. Maybe that's the point. As predecessors to Godspell, though, we did have assorted things in the 60s like "Joy is like the rain" and the immortal Zacchias song ("The Hebrews, they were tall/And Zacchias he was small/But the Lord loved Zacchias/Better than them all").

--gpm; 2/20/12, 8:59 PM