JQA Trash-Talks Jackson’s Wife
It’s proud mom here, reporting in. Last evening, by dint of the technical know-how of neighbor Betsy Nordquist, Nyel and I were able to see “The People’s President,” the Travel Channel episode in which my son Charles M. Howell plays John Quincy Adams. It had aired May 4th when we were out on the Pacific someplace between Los Angeles and San Francisco and we’ve been looking for it ever since returning home.
Betsy had sent an email Tuesday evening that said: I just finished watching Charlie. Here is my summary: 1. He trash talked Andrew Jackson’s wife. 2. He broke up a fight. He did great!
The Fight Scene
After seeing the episode for ourselves, we think she was right on! I was especially impressed at his vaguely Bostonian accent (Adams was from Massachusetts as was my father; I wonder if Charlie was mimicking his memory of Grandpa’s voice) and by the ease with which he improvised. The actors were not provided with scripts – just an ‘outline’ of the situation. From the little bit of theater in which I’ve been involved, I think one of the most difficult instructions to follow is a director’s advice to “just improvise.”
We watched the episode on Betsy’s notepad and were able to go back, pause, take still pictures, etc. But as many times as we reviewed the program, we could find no credits for the actors – only for the many members of the production staff. Seems unfair. But perhaps we missed it…
The Series Logo
I wish I could report exactly how Betsy captured the program. It might help some of you who asked to know that she has an app on her notepad that accesses her TiVo at home in Seattle. Somehow, by remote cyberspace magic, she was able to download the episode so that we could see it right here in Oysterville! For anyone who might have an inkling as to what I’m talking about, the episodes seem to be chunked together four at a time. We had to fast-forward through three other segments to get to Charlie as JQA on “The People’s President.”
We came away from viewing Charlie’s TV debut puffed with pride but not convinced that the Travel Channel will find a permanent place on our menu favorites. Not unless Charlie is featured again! He was awesome!
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