Well, obviously, Lionel Tribbey is a brilliant lawyer whom we cannot live without, or there would be very little reason not to put him in prison.

ANYTIME I see Mr. Larroquette since The West Wing...I cannot help but smile as I think of "Little Umbrellas In My Drinks" 😊

It would appear that skill with a melee weapon is a requirement for the position of White House Counsel.

It's clear (to me) that larroquette was supposed to reprise the role but didn't, I wonder why?

@@TheStuport Its a shame that the new Night Court is such a terrible show.

It is a wonder setup of the Chekov's Gun.

It is a bit clunky. He has the hammer, and hes playing with it. A lawyer owning a gavel and playing with it isnt a big deal at all. Why bother describing it, and why describe it to a staff member who has likely heard the story 100 times? And why screw around with a family heirloom? And, why was their a cassette in that recorder? Just take that out, and you dont care what happens.

@@tal_the_great Why do you think the lawyer has heard the story 100 times? Because Babish loves to tell it. He loves to hold that gavel and play with it. Because none of us have any quirks about items we love, right? Hence her sarcastic question. And there were undoubtedly times when he still wanted to record something, and that's the recorder he had.

I love this scene. Joke telling 101. It's about as understates as it can be when the punch line is a hammer. Seed the history of the hammer. Seed the issues with recorder. Put a scene in between so you forget about both. BAM!

The West Wing is written incredibly well.

It's the "okay" that nails it

@@FlameKoRn RIght?! on both counts....

I use that irl ...it's hilarious

@@jeffreyhuston2017 hah. Same. 😄

I had to google that - and now' I've learned something.

@@rafezetter8003 Me too! People are never too old to learn and never to young to teach! On a side note, no real surprise to me that Hemmingway disagreed with Chekov's Gun" philosophy" ! Cheers👋

That’s because he is a man of Chicago. Though there are better musicals out there, if I’m being totally honest.

@@srednivashtar5432 I mean you also have West Side Story, Les Mis, The Producers, I would go on but I'm really familiar with musical theater and just named a few of the bigger ones that also got movie adaptations.

Like Ainsley trying to get Sam to reschedule her second (post-Joey Heatherton) meeting with the President.

This is why chekovs gun is such a beautiful literary device

The only thing better I've seen is Zelazny taking an ENTIRE CHAPTER to set up and pay off "And then the fit hit the shan..." (Lord of Light, if you wanna go track it down...)

I like Chicago so much I'm even willing to forgive you all for the horrible damage you've done to pizza with that reprehensible "deep dish" idea. For anyone who likes photography and/or architecture, there's arguably no better place to visit in the US.

But you’re very happy to TELL us that you’re from Chicago & we’re happy for you. 😉

​@@Dan210871have you had the deep dish or just complaining because you like new york style?

@@keithduvall812 Not to brag, but I've tried pizza in more countries than I can count (including Italy). The deep dish pizza does not compare favorably to most others.

@@Dan210871 Ah c'mon. You could definitely count the countries.

And chekovs dictaphone as well

Im of the generation before that so my first thought was Thor's hammer Mjolnir. lol MC fits nicely though!

@@michaelcousins2526 You took me to school today Michael as I just had to look up "Mjolnir" after reading your comment! Had an idea what was going to appear as Thor's Hammer was quite the Cliff Note!🤣 Fun to learn new things and meet people who help others! I thank you and this apple is for you! Salute 🍎

Busted. (STOP! *wham! wham! wham!* Hammer time... )

@@stonebear 🤣🤣🤣

Mine is when they hired all those people to walk up to Josh on election day and tell him how they screwed up their ballots.

And the “scared to have a meeting so let’s do it later/when?/later” bit.

It's a line setting up a Noodle Incident, the viewer is left to his own devices as to how boarding soldiers in private residences, state's sovereign immunity and the right to a jury trial could somehow produce an outcome. The bill in question was causing 4th Amendment issues, probably allowing too-wide searches or something, and the staff went down a different rabbit hole. Some combination of those three amendments no matter how absurd is why Oliver had to fix it himself. And given his annoyance at having to fix it, it was probably extremely absurd and a utterly impossible outcome of the bill.

Maybe it's about the use of military or national guard assets for federal law enforcement purposes?

I have to admit that this whole thing of states suing each other has never really made any sense to me. A prime example in current real life is how the attorney general of Missouri thinks he somehow has standing to sue the great state of New York over a certain verdict. The worst part is that he’s doing it in my name inasmuch as I happen to live in Missouri at the moment. Suing another state over a jury verdict seems at once frivolous and willfully ignorant of the facts involved in the underlying case. On the other hand, if the actions of one state are having a detrimental effect upon another state-for instance, with regard to pollution, then the case could be made for the latter state filing suit against the former.

The Council on Fitness? The Council on Economic Development? Ohh... you meant COUNSEL. Ainsley and Joe were Associate WH Counsel, not *the* White House Counsel.

@@marcot3333 Spell check did me dirty. No need to be a jackass about it.

Yes...and Oliver Platt played his bowling rival on Modern Family

Yabbut it’s really hard to set up the hammer gag if he’s in the Oval Office. 😉

@@pinverarity And besides... if you've got a listening device and a free pass to put it where you want it, where you gonna put it? the Counsel's office, where you have to sort through all the legal mumbo jumbo, or in the Oval Orifice of a president who doesn't mince words? (excepting that *could* be a mistake; Jed Bartlet is fluent in Latin INCLUDING SWEAR WORDS...)

no, it should've happened years ago. This guy is - despite the stutter - sharp as a bloody tack, and my receipts on that are historian Heather Cox Richardson, who interviewed him personally not long ago, *among others*... it's the *felon* who's losing his marbles.

Not to mention the last one.

@@shiftfocus1 Please don't tell me you believe the Russiagate hoax.