This is why being a TV critic is great

Doesn’t Matter, Matt Smith?

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NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

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Wait . . . the phrase “bowties are cool” has been trademarked?

Jesus wept.

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I don’t think “bowties are cool” has been trademarked. I think we see the closing quotation marks.

It’s an awesome test to find out whether someone wearing a bowtie is in fact a Whovian. One can walk up, and work the phrase “Bowties are cool!” into the conversation – if it gets a response, it’s a Whovian! If not (and if one is sufficiently casual-friendly about it), there are no strange reactions or explanations needed. This is how I found a fellow Whovian also chaperoning a high school dance…

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I question whether or not that’s actually a good test of whether or not someone is a Whovian. A better test would be to ask if they’ve seen the new DVD release of The Macra Terror. Then if they either answer in the affirmative or say they haven’t yet you can call them on it and say it’s a trick question because no episode of The Macra Terror still exist, only audio recordings. That would be a better way to separate the sheep from the goats.

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Tim, it’d be a good way to separate the casual or recent from the serious long-term fans, but it’d also weed me out, as a recent fan who’s seen all of New Who and very little of classic Who. Sufficiently large archives discourage me from diving.

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Sheep from goats, my friend.

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Matthew 25:31–46

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in.
36 I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink?
38 When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you?
39 When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’

40 “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
42 for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;
43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
45 “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’

46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

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I think there are too many variables for that catchphrase to be much of a litmus test. I didn’t need a tv show to tell me that bowties were cool, because I started wearing them about two years before Matt Smith took over. But as it turns out, I’m also a pretty big fan of new Who. It’s a correlation of events, but they’re not actually connected in any specific way.

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I’m still not clear on the sheep/goat question. What do you do with them once you have them separated?

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