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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 417853" data-attributes="member: 23">This hasn't occurred to me, but I can see that working. With Phyllis being based away from Minneapolis and being quite a self-involved character anyway it would have been very easy to simply take the appearance on face value without any expectation of filling in gaps when it comes to things best left to the viewers' imaginations.I take it this includes Lou Grant, then? That's a shame.I watched this last night .On Rhoda, Carlton was a character I found tolerable at best. Expectations were very low for a project with him as a title character. This was fortunate since it was very much an exercise in completion rather than something I  enjoyed.In favour of the episode, the animation style was pleasant enough to look at I also give the writers points for being bold enough to kill off a dog onscreen (though I kind of hated this as well). It's arguably nice that it kick started Lorenzo Music's voice acting career as well (even though it could be said that Rhoda did that anyway).Sadly, it just felt surplus to requirements. Carlton's thing on Rhoda was being famously unseen (mostly). Even there I was unhappy when we saw any identifying features (I commented after his hand was seen that it had shattered my mental image of Carlton since I'd pictured him as black). In the animation, Carlton is front and centre, a skinny white man with long blonde hair and a moustache... none of which matched the image I'd mentally composited whilst watching Rhoda (in fact, the very last episode of Rhoda went out of its way to specify that he didn't have a moustache).Compared with MTM, Rhoda and even Phyllis, this just lacked heart. Nothing felt meaningful. It was just a series of situations with no real character. And since it wasn't very funny, it really needed some heart.Really, though, any episode of Rhoda where Carlton was featured more than usual became a little less enjoyable for me, so to it all comes down to familiarity breeding contempt.Also, I watched the first two thirds of The Making Of The Mary Tyler Moore Show last night, which is serving as a definitive time capsule of the series' history for me, with input from all the main players - behind and in front of the cameras - who were still around at the time the documentary was made. It's been great to find out more background.I hadn't realised how much attempted interference there was from the network, who didn't want James Brooks, Allan Burns or Ed Asner. It makes me feel very impressed that it made it to air with so much purity, and it seems several people put their necks on the chopping block to get it done. I'd say it's all in there, from Gavin Macleod reading for Lou but wanting Murray (which, as it turns out, is what the casting woman wanted too) to the disastrous test scene hastily shot with MTM and Ed Asner, in which Asner's performance was pitched and timed wrong and he nearly came to blows with Jay Sandrich.My one complaint about the documentary is the constant soundtrack, with loud music that sounds quite malapropos playing over the dialogue. It's proved hugely distracting and means I haven't taken in as much information as I would if the music was more in-keeping and quieter.  This was the main reason I had to stop after an hour.Still, I'm looking forward to learning more in the remaining 30 minutes, as well as the other features in the DVD set.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?