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I believe Paul has said someone pulls the comments and he then whittles it down further. I assume whoever reads the boards is different from whoever pulls the phone calls but I don't think he's said. I feel very sorry for whoever screens the calls because we've heard some unbelievable calls. I can't imagine what doesn't make air.

OMG! I don’t mean to dwell on it, but he literally read in the episode my words “The brother says ‘blah, blah, blah’” and then he turns it around and says, “I don’t even get where you’re getting this, Cameron? This is wrong what you’re saying.” I mean, I wasn’t advocating the philosophy of a dumb movie. I was just providing the in-universe answer to a question they had ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I happened to be listening to the episode with my wife which also kind of sucked. BTW, Paul is on her shit list

If my memory is correct, someone else pulls the comments for him to read. I know he's incredibly busy these days so I'm not sure how much he gets on the forums anymore (if you see this Paul - you're always welcome here with open arms). So, I believe that he is truly reacting to things he reads this way because he has no idea that entire things have been omitted. Can't explain how he could forget an entire quote from Spirit of Christmas tho Also found out today that he does receive gifs on his text app so I have in fact been sending him Family gifs throughout the day lol. This is my contribution to the greater good.

At least your comment wasn't read verbatim by a caller which has happened a couple times.

Loved this episode until the end. How dare Michael Bay II be Electric Boogaloo. I know it's an obvious pun but I don't support his cause and I hope the "you win" doesn't mean we have given in to this terrorist. Also, how dare Paul insult my beloved SPACE JAM after spending an hour talking about F9. Is it a good movie? No, but it makes me happy. F&F isn't good either! Fight me! And I'm not around next week to defend it. I feel like this date was chosen to spite me.

That sucks, but it definitely happens. He read one of my posts for that Jackie Chan/John Cusack movie and dismissed it as me not backing up what I was saying, but he neglected to read the second paragraph of my post which was exactly the research he was complaining I didn’t have. More recently, he dismissed my Spirit of Christmas post saying I was just pulling shit out of my ass when I was directly quoting the movie. It’s all in good fun though. If you come here regular (which hopefully you will), you experience all this little fumbles. It’s all good

HAHA.. ok, I'm laughing cuz I'm so confused right now. I was gonna come on and say "oh no, caller 'stole' my comment" (and WON!)...or at least, ya know, ALSO knew the same part of the story. Regardless, I was glad that the cricket dying by hammer was brought up in general. BUT THEN, Paul immediately reads my comment, and omits the part where I was referencing the fact he died by hammer in the original story. Which was kinda the whole point of the comment. lol..."REJECTED"...oh man. Not sure if that was selective editing or honest oversight. Just wonder if I can take a small slice of the caller's nothing as I see myself out. Part of my post not read: "...one element of the source material that never got mentioned was that (in the source material) when Pinocchio meets the talking cricket who warns him about being disobedient, Pinocchio throws a hammer at him and kills him." Without that, it makes it sound like I think the cricket is a ghost for ghost sake...I was saying he's a ghost BECAUSE they were alluding to the source material and he got stepped on (rather than being hit by a hammer). ugh, now I just sound like an idiot. [trumpet: wha whaa] Also, glad he played the DDF confrontation that was edited out of the episode. It was a great part of the night.

I hope it's OK to post my notes on the remake as I'm doing it anyway. Misery loves company. Spoilers abound but I try to keep them general in scope. 1) The music is entirely forgettable. I really enjoyed the lunchroom song in the original. I couldn't tell you one line from the remake except to say it appeared everyone was well-rehearsed for it. It didn't appear to grow organically like the 1980 film. 1a) The title song is reduced to one singer who doesn't punch "Fame!" when singing. The movie opens with a minor-key version (my term for a lesser-sounding rendition) of just "Remember, remember, remember". The title song appears in the credits. 2) I do have to give credit to the remake for fleshing characters out somewhat. According to Vudu I had rented the Extended Dance edition but the movie I watched was the theatrical length and had none of the extended scenes. (This link is to a comparison of both versions.) Apparently the extended edition adds more back story and character development and the movie is better for it. An e-mail to Vudu is in the works to complain. 3) I did the original a disservice by saying the ending song "I Sing the Body Electric" left out the drama department. Having seen the remake I realize the original also left out the dance department. The remake uses a different song but throws in components of dance, music and vocal singing. The drama department still gets short shrift. <grin> 4) The original's shortcomings of a) letting students slide on academics until shortly before graduation, and b) letting an acting student slide on letting themselves go until shortly before graduation are in the remake. The suicide is also here but is a real potential suicide. The student is rescued at the last minute and breaks down crying in their rescuers' arms. 5) I wish the teachers had more pop. Debbie Allen was the principal. Kelsey Grammer was the music teacher. He tried exhortation to encourage students (in his teacher character's way) but fell flat. Bebe Neuwirth (Lilith on Cheers/Frasier, Kelsey Grammer's wife for a while and, famously, Velma in Chicago) was the dance instructor. Megan Mullaly (I haven't seen her in anything but I know her name) was the vocal teacher. One fun part was Megan taking the students to a karaoke bar as part of their class. She sang a song but in a childlike voice. Maybe that's the way she sings but it seemed out of place to me, especially given the song she sang. Otherwise the teachers were just teachers. Aside from a nod to Chicago being PA's spring performance (I got to meet Bebe Neuwirth once on Broadway after a performance), the teachers did nothing different than the original. You could have had Bebe do an amazing dance, showing what was possible. They did explore Megan's character's background at or after the karaoke bar but that was about it. 6) More characters left school by "succeeeding" than failing. Anyone who left before graduating was shown working in a paying acting job. No one left thinking they would succeed and then failed like the original's hotshot actor who wound up a waiter. 7) Relationships broke up and got together for the flimsiest of reasons. One dancer got successful and dumped their significant other simply on the reason of "I'm busy now so I'll have no time for you. Bye!" I think that's enough. I will try to find some videos to show what I mean.