Every once in a while my inner child cheers itself up spontaneously remembering this delightful scene from the pretty cool Quiz Show (1994). It's that moment when Mark Van Doren (played by Paul Scofield) is reading aloud a poem to his family and friends during lunch in the country. It's all so pleasant and relaxed. Despite Paul's natural dignity, and his character's status as an intellectual revered by all the world, those who know him and love him best just laugh him off the stage. I love "Bunny"'s put downs: "Next birthday, you all get a dirty limerick." "I certainly hope so!" :D
Mark Van Doren: "Now see summer bloom upon this lea. Three score rings around this tree. Once green; now bare. Once lush; now sere. Consoled only that I am planted here."
Guest: You certainly are.
Mark Van Doren: "Roots thick"...
Charles Van Doren: And old.
Mark Van Doren: "and deep"...
Guest: And doddering.
Mark Van Doren: "assuage my woes--"
Bunny: A termite nibbles at my toes.
Mark Van Doren: Et tu, Bunny?
Guest: Charlie, is Jack Barry single?
Charles Van Doren: I think so.
Guest: Well, my roommate has a huge crush on him. She wants you to introduce her.
Guest: What's Dave Garroway like?
Charles Van Doren: Cheap.
Guest: Cheat?
Mark Van Doren: Wasn't I talking?
Bunny: You were, yes. Talking and talking and talking.
Guest: Charlie's famous, like Elvis Presley.
Mark Van Doren: I've become like Leopold of Belgium, usurped by his son before his time.
Charles Van Doren: I suppose that makes me king Baudouin.
Mark Van Doren: No. Next birthday, you all get a dirty limerick.
Bunny: I certainly hope so!
And, damn!... What a piece of a bad road, as the Brazillian say.
5 + under the cut.
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