Cold Temps a New Record for Sumter

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Cold Temps a New Record for Sumter IN SPORTS: 8 local teams make 1st basketball coaches’ top 10 poll B1 NATION More prisons create cellblocks for veterans THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2018 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents A4 NIGHTS BELOW MQ-9 Reaper Cold temps 20 DEGREES Jan. 1 13 Group will a new record Jan. 2 18 come to Shaw Jan. 11 Unmanned aircraft unit approved after for Sumter 3 an environmental impact assessment Jan. BY KAYLA ROBINS 7 nights below 20 opened year, but longest 4 16 [email protected] run below freezing was 22 days in 2000-01 Shaw Air Force Base was approved as the location for Jan. a new unmanned aircraft unit whose aircraft deploy for 14 combat missions overseas. BY BRUCE MILLS cord last week with seven con- 5 Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson said yes to [email protected] secutive days with overnight bringing an MQ-9 Reaper Group, including mission lows under 20 degrees. The Jan. control elements, to Shaw after the results of an Envi- The first week of January weather service’s records date 6 17 ronmental Impact Assessment process. 2018 in Sumter won’t just be re- back to 1901. The group includes personnel who operate the un- membered for New Year’s Eve Overnight low temperatures Jan. manned aircraft, which are deployed at other locations. parties and college football from Jan. 1-7 ranged from 11 to 19 The base was selected as the preferred location last bowl games. 19 degrees in the county, ac- 7 year and had to wait for the the assessment and a pub- According to the National cording to NWS Meteorologist lic comment period from Oct. 10-Nov. 8, 2017. Weather Service in Columbia, Sumter County set a new re- SEE COLD, PAGE A6 SEE REAPER, PAGE A6 City falls behind on fixing its roads Winter weather causes some deterioration BY ADRIENNE SARVIS [email protected] The roads once made treach- erous because of snow and ice remain a hassle because of added deterioration after days of moisture and freezing tem- peratures. Since the snow, county pub- lic works has not been able to keep up with its maintenance of dirt and gravel roads. Karen Hyatt, assistant direc- tor of Sumter County Public Works, said public works has been a little behind schedule on maintenance since about Christmas. The department will contin- ue its regular maintenance of dirt and gravel roads after they thaw and dry, she said. When the temperature drops below freezing, the roads freeze, and a lot of water or ice on the roads can result in extra potholes, she said. Hyatt said the department has not received complaints about potholes getting worse, MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM Vehicles pass over potholes on the bridge over Second Mill Pond on Liberty Street after the snow melted this week. SEE POTHOLES, PAGE A6 County gets clean audit, OKs plans for veterans memorial park BY ADRIENNE SARVIS revenues and spent approximately $51 gates, valued at $265,000, to the Second go toward the construction of a veter- [email protected] million, leaving a more than $800,000 Mill Pond dam reconstruction project. ans memorial park on Broad Street difference. The current spillway gates were in- Extension adjoining Shaw Air Force Sumter County received an unmodi- Sumter County Council passed a stalled in the early ’90s, county admin- Base. fied opinion — clean audit — for its balanced budget of $49.39 million in istrator Gary Mixon said. The park will be a joint project be- 2017 financial reporting and was ap- June 2016. Automated spillway gates are a tween the county, city and base, plauded by the auditing company, A detailed look into the county’s much safer system that will hopefully Mixon said. Webster Roger LLP, for turning in its 2017 budget will be included in Fri- prevent flooding such as occurred in Some adjustments have been made financial report months earlier than day’s edition. 2015, he said. to the previous plans for the park, in- in past years. Later, council approved first reading In the same ordinance, county coun- cluding the placement of a Tuskegee According to the audit report, the of an ordinance to amend the 2017 cil approved the transfer of $500,000 county collected about $51.8 million in budget to add automated spillway from the county’s hospitality fund to SEE COUNCIL, PAGE A6 VISIT US ONLINE AT DEATHS, B3 WEATHER, A8 INSIDE Janie G. Adger Nancy K. White AT LEAST IT’S NOT SNOW 2 SECTIONS, 14 PAGES the .com Robert McCloud William C. Jefferson VOL. 123, NO. 60 William Myers Sr. Isaac C. Joe Sr. A few showers in the James Amos Sr. Mable Dukes afternoon; showers Classifieds B6 Sports B1 Ray Dempson Myrtle H. Baker tonight, too Comics B4 Television B5 Robert B. Harrell Bertha Edwards HIGH 71, LOW 59 Opinion A7 Reanell N. Bradley Leon A. Hamblin Sr. Barbara Ann N. Adams A2 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2018 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] Deputy coroner tried to kill woman, litter officer COLUMBIA (AP) — A deputy coro- in the area. Leonard Bradley, 62, had Litter control officer Levi Brown The sheriff said Bradley had a rela- ner on personal leave drove up to a been an officer all of his life, starting was talking to the woman around tionship with the woman, who was not woman he knew and began shooting with Columbia police in 1975 and 12:30 p.m. Tuesday when Bradley identified. Lott did not give details. at her and a litter control officer she working for the Richland County coro- drove up and started shooting, Lott Richland County Coroner Gary was talking to before he killed himself, ner's office since 2006, authorities said. said. Watts turned the death investigation a South Carolina sheriff said. "Our careers kind of followed each Brown was hit in the arm and fin- over to Lexington County since Brad- The litter officer was wounded but other. I never had an idea something ger. His bulletproof vest stopped one ley was his employee. is expected to recover. The woman like this would happen," Lott said at a shot to his chest, Lott said. Brown Bradley had been on personal leave was not hurt and fled to a home where news conference. couldn't fire back because one of the for about a week, but gave no indica- she was able to lock herself inside, Lott said it would be impossible to shots hit his gun and broke it during tion he might be experiencing severe Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott know exactly why Bradley started the ambush. problems in his life, Watts said. said. shooting because he killed himself be- Bradley tried to follow the woman "If you ever get to the point that it The shooting Tuesday in Hopkins, a fore anyone could ask. Authorities into the home and fired a number of doesn't bother you doing these things, suburb about 15 miles southeast of have not said why Bradley was on per- random shots before shooting himself you're in the wrong line of work," Columbia, stunned law enforcement sonal leave. in the head, Lott said. Watts said. "And this is a tough one." Local S.C. All-State Chorus students recognized Through competitive auditions, 37 students from Crestwood, Lakewood and Sumter high schools earned spots on the S.C. All-State Chorus. Sumter School District Board of Trustees recognized these outstanding students at its meeting on Monday after hearing them perform. The students were chosen from among thousands of students statewide who auditioned for the limited number of slots. The most competitive choral competition at the high school level, the All- State Chorus is comprised of superior high school singers who also know how to read music. These Sumter School District students will join with the other selected students from across South Carolina to learn and sing together under guest clinicians in March at Winthrop University in Rock Hill. To see individual photos of the students, visit https://www. facebook.com/SumterSCSchools/. PHOTO PROVIDED duced them and McKay is a STATE BRIEFS kind man who gets along ‘Great Halifax Explosion’ is topic FROM WIRE REPORTS with her four grown chil- dren she had with Mark Jenny Sanford is Sanford. of Genealogical Society meeting getting married Mother charged CHARLESTON — Former in infant's death BY IVY MOORE one knows much about it son will set the Halifax explo- South Carolina first lady GREENVILLE — Author- Special to The Sumter Item today, including most Canadi- sion in the context of previous Jenny Sanford is ready to ities say a South Carolina ans.” such events and explain the get married again. woman has been charged in Joseph Angus Matheson Jr. Matheson has a personal causes and effects of the mas- Nearly eight years after connection with the co- of Camden will be the present- connection to the event, as his sive explosion. divorcing then-Gov. Mark sleeping death of her er at Monday’s meeting of the grandfather’s brother Angus The Sumter County Genea- Sanford, who had publicly 7-week-old son. Sumter County Genealogical “missed the explosion by only logical Society meets monthly admitted an affair with a The Greenville News re- Society. His topic for the 7:30 an hour, as he was released from September through May. woman in Argentina, Jenny ported Tuesday that 21-year- p.m. meeting at Swan Lake from the Halifax Naval Hospi- The public is invited to attend Sanford posted a picture old Kendall Reid Bishop was Presbyterian Church, 912 tal that morning to go home to at no charge.
Recommended publications
  • The Revenge of Jenji Kohan
    ThThe Reveevengnge of Jenjnji KoKohanan Smart. Funny. Obsessive. Subversive. How the creator of the hit TV shows Weeds and Orange Is the New Black smoked the doubters and got the last laugh By Paul Hond enji Kohan ’91CC is a rare bird among With the latest season of Orange in the can, the television showrunners: blue-haired and building is quiet today, and Kohan is relaxed. Her female, a punkish Jewish earth mother with private offi ce exudes warmth and comfort, as does a darkly comic vision so basic to her nature Kohan herself. Her hair is the vivid indigo of blue that the goblin of political correctness velvet. Her cat-eye glasses could have been teleported Jshrinks in her presence. As a writer, she is fearless. from a 1962 mahjong game. Objects on her desk She will go there, and keep going. attest to a fondness for thrift-shop fl otsam and novelty “I fi nd the funny in everything, especially the inap- doodads: two Magic 8 Balls, a Weeds condom, and a propriate,” she says. “Maybe it’s my survival technique.” beanbag emblazoned with an unprintable four-letter Kohan’s company, Tilted Productions, is based in word starting with the letter C. central Los Angeles, in a Spanish Colonial–style build- Life wasn’t always this good. “I spent the fi rst part of ing of pink stucco, arched windows, and iron grillwork. my life very frustrated, feeling patronized, and fi ghting Built in 1926 as the Masque Playhouse, it was later injustice, and it doesn’t work when you’re young,” renamed the Hayworth Theatre (legend has it that Kohan says, seated in an armchair with her feet tucked Rita Hayworth’s father once ran a dance studio there).
    [Show full text]
  • The Hit Man's Tale
    Save paper and follow @newyorker on Twitter Letter from Detroit OCTOBER 15, 2012 ISSUE The Hit Man’s Tale How an honors student became a hired killer. BY NADYA LABI Vincent Smothers at Michigan Reformatory, where he is serving a sentence of fifty to a hundred years. “There’s no atonement,” he says. “I’ve taken people away from people who love them.” PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEC SOTH / MAGNUM incent Smothers thought that it would be a job like any other. In the summer of 2007, he told me, his friend Marzell Black asked him for a Vgun for his mother’s boyfriend. Smothers didn’t sell guns, and he told him so. A few months later, Marzell amended his request, saying, “That dude who was looking for a gun? He asked me how much he would have to pay to kill somebody.” A murder Smothers could handle. “Marzell wasn’t the killing type,” he said. “I told him, ‘That’s not something for you to do. I’ll talk to him and see what this is all about.’ ” Smothers drove Marzell in his black Jeep Commander to a gas station on Detroit’s East Side, the rougher part of a rough city. As they waited in the parking lot, a bald black man opened the rear passenger-side door and got in. It was the boyfriend, whom Smothers knew only as Dave. Staring intently at the back of the seat, he explained that the target was his wife; he was leaving her and didn’t want her to be alone.
    [Show full text]
  • SEINFELD on MARKETING
    SEINFELD on MARKETING 777 Marketing lessons from the cast of “the show about nothing” by Bill Gammell http://ubereye.wordpress.com © Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc . A show about nothing… All this time we thought Seinfeld was a show about “nothing”. Little did we know that peppered in its nine seasons were hidden, real-world marketing lessons taught from the masters themselves. But unlike the Soup Nazi’s secret soup recipes, these marketing lessons are to be shared freely with everyone. In fact (to loosely quote Elaine Benes when she discovered the secret recipes of the short-tempered Soup Nazi), feel free to give these lessons to every marketer in town , to have ‘em published (not really) or drop them as fliers from a plane above the city. So why did I write this ebook? Anyone who knows me well knows that I watch way too much Seinfeld. So much so that many times during a conversation with someone I’ll remark, “Hey, that reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where Jerry and Kramer are…” Basically, it’s a curse. We’ll that’s all about to change with this ebook. I have decided to use my Seinfeld powers for the good of marketing-kind. Maybe this will help to quite the voices in my head (doubtful, but one can hope). Even if you have never watched an episode of Seinfeld in your life (shame on you!), you can still participate. I’ll give you the background of each episode so that you can play along at home. …on with tthehe show.
    [Show full text]
  • The Revenge of Jenji Kohan
    Arts & Humanities The Revenge of Jenji Kohan Smart. Funny. Obsessive. Subversive. How the creator of the hit TV shows Weeds and Orange Is the New Black smoked the doubters and got the last laugh. By Paul Hond | Summer 2016 Illustration by Connor Langton. Jenji Kohan ’91CC is a rare bird among television showrunners: blue-haired and female, a punkish Jewish earth mother with a darkly comic vision so basic to her nature that the goblin of political correctness shrinks in her presence. As a writer, she is fearless. She will go there, and keep going. “I find the funny in everything, especially the inappropriate,” she says. “Maybe it’s my survival technique.” Kohan’s company, Tilted Productions, is based in central Los Angeles, in a Spanish Colonial–style building of pink stucco, arched windows, and iron grillwork. Built in 1926 as the Masque Playhouse, it was later renamed the Hayworth Theatre (legend has it that Rita Hayworth’s father once ran a dance studio there). Kohan bought the place in 2013. Now, after a major renovation, it’s a clean, spare, sunny, feng shui triumph of orderly space and calming energy, with long hallways and private writing rooms, a large open kitchen and dining area, and even a children’s playroom filled with brightly colored educational toys. This is where Orange Is the New Black, Kohan’s award-winning women’s-prison dramedy series, is conceived, discussed, mapped out, written, edited, and birthed. With the latest season of Orange in the can, the building is quiet today, and Kohan is relaxed.
    [Show full text]
  • Universi^ Micrcxilms Liitemational 300 N
    INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or “target” for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is “Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication of either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, duplicate copy, or copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed. For blurred pages, a good image of the page can be found in the adjacent frame. If copyrighted materials were deleted, a target note will appear listing the pages in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photographed, a definite method of “sectioning” the material has been followed. It is customary to begin filming at the upper left hand comer of a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete.
    [Show full text]
  • Great Questions from NIBRS Contributors in Washington State
    Great Questions From NIBRS Contributors in Washington State Questions Submitted Between 2017 - 2019 Abstract The following pages are a compilation of some of the great questions related to NIBRS submission that the WASPC CJIS team has received from our contributors. This information is provided as a resource in the interest of expanding everyone’s knowledge about NIBRS. [email protected] (360) 486-2400 Contents Administrative Segment ................................................................................................................................. 5 Cargo Theft: Yes or No (Data Element 2A) ........................................................................................ 5 Incident or Report Date (Data Element 3) ....................................................................................... 6 Cleared Exceptionally (Data Element 4) ........................................................................................... 7 Hate Crime (Bias Motivation) (Data Element 8A) ........................................................................ 9 Offense Segment.................................................................................................................................................. 9 UCR Offense Code (Data Element 6) .................................................................................................... 9 Animal Cruelty (UCR Offense Code 720) ............................................................................................ 9 Arson (200) ................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Culture of Post-Narcissism
    THE CULTURE OF POST-NARCISSISM The Culture of Post-Narcissism Post-teenage, Pre-midlife Singles Culture in Seinfeld, Friends, and Ally – Seinfeld in Particular MICHAEL SKOVMAND In a recent article, David P. Pierson makes a persuasive case for considering American television comedy, and sitcoms in particular, as ‘Modern Comedies of Manners’. These comedies afford a particular point of entry into contemporary mediatised negotiations of ‘civility’, i.e. how individual desires and values interface with the conventions and stand- ards of families, peer groups and society at large. The apparent triviality of subject matter and the hermetic appearance of the groups depicted may deceive the unsuspecting me- dia researcher into believing that these comedies are indeed “shows about nothing”. The following is an attempt to point to a particular range of contemporary American televi- sion comedies as sites of ongoing negotiations of behavioural anxieties within post-teen- age, pre-midlife singles culture – a culture which in many aspects seems to articulate central concerns of society as a whole. This range of comedies can also be seen, in a variety of ways, to point to new ways in which contemporary television comedy articu- lates audience relations and relations to contemporary culture as a whole. American television series embody the time-honoured American continental dicho- tomy between the West Coast and the East Coast. The West Coast – LA – signifies the Barbie dolls of Baywatch, and the overgrown high school kids of Beverly Hills 90210. On the East Coast – more specifically New York and Boston, a sophisticated tradition of television comedy has developed since the early 1980s far removed from the beach boys and girls of California.
    [Show full text]
  • Masaryk University Faculty of Arts
    Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Šárka Tripesová The Anatomy of Humour in the Situation Comedy Seinfeld Bachelor‟s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Pavel Drábek, Ph.D. 2010 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Šárka Tripesová ii Acknowledgement I would like to thank Mgr. Pavel Drábek, Ph.D. for the invaluable guidance he provided me as a supervisor. Also, my special thanks go to my boyfriend and friends for their helpful discussions and to my family for their support. iii Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 SEINFELD AS A SITUATION COMEDY 3 2.1 SEINFELD SERIES: THE REALITY AND THE SHOW 3 2.2 SITUATION COMEDY 6 2.3 THE PROCESS OF CREATING A SEINFELD EPISODE 8 2.4 METATHEATRICAL APPROACH 9 2.5 THE DEPICTION OF CHARACTERS 10 3 THE TECHNIQUES OF HUMOUR DELIVERY 12 3.1 VERBAL TECHNIQUES 12 3.1.1 DIALOGUES 12 3.1.2 MONOLOGUES 17 3.2 NON-VERBAL TECHNIQUES 20 3.2.1 PHYSICAL COMEDY AND PANTOMIMIC FEATURES 20 3.2.2 MONTAGE 24 3.3 COMBINED TECHNIQUES 27 3.3.1 GAG 27 4 THE METHODS CAUSING COMICAL EFFECT 30 4.1 SEINFELD LANGUAGE 30 4.2 METAPHORICAL EXPRESSION 32 4.3 THE TWIST OF PERSPECTIVE 35 4.4 CONTRAST 40 iv 4.5 EXAGGERATION AND CARICATURE 43 4.6 STAND-UP 47 4.7 RUNNING GAG 49 4.8 RIDICULE AND SELF-RIDICULE 50 5 CONCLUSION 59 6 SUMMARY 60 7 SHRNUTÍ 61 8 PRIMARY SOURCES 62 9 REFERENCES 70 v 1 Introduction Everyone as a member of society experiences everyday routine and recurring events.
    [Show full text]
  • South Atlantic Review
    South Atlantic Review Spring 2020 Volume Number 1 85 Journal of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association Editor R. Barton Palmer About South Atlantic Review [email protected] ince its founding in 1935 as the newsletter for the South Associate Editor Atlantic Modern Language Association, South Atlantic Marta Hess S Review has become a premier academic quarterly publish- ing research in the modern languages and literatures, as well as in associated fields such as film, cultural studies, Reviews Editor and rhetoric/composition. The journal welcomes submis- Daniel Marshall sions of essays, maximum length 8,000 words, that are accessible, and of broad interest, to its diverse readership across a number of disciplines. Submissions may be made electronically directly to the managing editor at the ad- Managing Editor dress above. SAR also welcomes proposals for special is- M. Allison Wise sues and special focus sections. Additional information regarding submission require- ments and book reviews can be found on our website at http://samla.memberclicks.net/sar. In Appreciation. South Atlantic Review wishes to ac- knowledge the generous contributions and support pro- vided by Ashley Cowden Fisk, Michael LeMahieu, Cam- eron Bushnell, and the Pearce Center for Professional Communication at Clemson University, by the Clemson University Department of English chaired by Lee Mor- rissey, and by the College of Arts, Architecture, and the Humanities. About SAMLA https://samla.memberclicks.net [email protected] embership. Annual membership dues for SAMLA: M$35 for a student membership; $40 for an adjunct, lecturer, emeritus, or independent scholar membership; and $50-70 for a full-time faculty membership.
    [Show full text]
  • MILKMAN Anna Burns
    Milkman by the same author no bones little constructions mostly hero MILKMAN anna burns First published in 2018 by Faber & Faber Limited Bloomsbury House 74–77 Great Russell Street London wc1b 3da First published in the USA in 2018 Typeset by Faber & Faber Limited Printed in the UK by CPI Mackays, Chatham All rights reserved © Anna Burns, 2018 The right of Anna Burns to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library isbn 978–0–571–34273–0 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 For Katy Nicholson, Clare Dimond and James Smith one The day Somebody McSomebody put a gun to my breast and called me a cat and threatened to shoot me was the same day the milkman died. He had been shot by one of the state hit squads and I did not care about the shooting of this man. Others did care though, and some were those who, in the parlance, ‘knew me to see but not to speak to’ and I was being talked about because there was a rumour started by them, or more likely by first brother-in- law, that I had been having an affair with this milkman and that I was eighteen and he was forty-one. I knew his age, not because he got shot and it was given by the media, but because there had been talk before this, for months before the shooting, by these people of the rumour, that forty-one and eighteen was disgust- ing, that twenty-three years’ difference was disgusting, that he was married and not to be fooled by me for there were plenty of quiet, unnoticeable people who took a bit of watching.
    [Show full text]
  • Gift Guide Contact Your Liv Concierge to Purchase Any of These Gifts and for More Thoughtful Gift Options!
    WINTER 2020 HolidayGIFT GUIDE CONTACT YOUR LIV CONCIERGE TO PURCHASE ANY OF THESE GIFTS AND FOR MORE THOUGHTFUL GIFT OPTIONS! [email protected] OR CALL 212-784-2390 Luxury Gifts Hang Out with Former MLB Cashmere Meditation Carpet Private Charter Player Keith Hernandez Loro Piana Quantum Jets Hang out virtually with Keith Hernandez, the Channel your inner zen with the simple The gift of travel never looked so good. former Major League Baseball first baseman indulgence of a meditation mat with leather Book a charter (yacht, helicopter, or jet) of the New York Mets and five-time All trim and its own soft pillow. Made from the to anywhere in the world, and let your Star, in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. finest cashmere and treated with Storm concierge handle the rest. Chat about what it’s like to win two World System® for a waterproof finish. Series titles, ask about his experience on prices vary the Seinfeld episode “The Boyfriend,” or $2,150 maybe even snag a few tips to perfect your baseball form. LIV PERK: book through your concierge for up to $1,000 off price upon request your flight The Perfect Mountain Vacation Private In-Home Chef Dinner Silver Rocket Cocktail Shaker LIVunLtd x Villas of Distinction LIVunLtd x Resident Asprey Take Après Ski to a new level with this Host an intimate dinner party for your Influenced by early 20th Century design, all-inclusive trip to Aspen, Colorado. other half and your closest circle prepared this sleek modern rocket-shaped cocktail Your one-of-a-kind experience includes by a chef from Eleven Madison Park, Le shaker fits into a supporting base with red round trip tickets on private jet, ground Bernardin, or Per Se.
    [Show full text]
  • “Not That There's Anything Wrong with That”: A
    GRAAT issue # 2 – June 2007 “Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That”: A Queer Reading of Seinfeld Charlotte Gould Université Rennes 2 – Haute Bretagne One particular expression seems to spring to mind whenever one evokes the reference to homosexuality in a television series or serial: “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” The phrase appears in an episode of the 1990s American-sitcom- turned-cultural-phenomenon Seinfeld. In “The Outing” (4.57) a young journalist believes Jerry and George to be a gay couple—they bicker in front of her over an unwashed piece of fruit and George reproaches Jerry with not liking his shirt. She writes an article about it which is then taken up by the rest of the national press, and this to the dismay of both characters. Jerry comments thus upon the misunderstanding: “I’ve been outed, I wasn’t even in!” “Not that there’s anything wrong with that” is the leitmotiv of the episode, uttered every time a character denies they are gay or shows amazement at Jerry and George’s outing—though the fact that Jerry is admittedly thin, single, neat and in his late thirties makes the revelation less surprising to his neighbour Kramer. The sentence was introduced in the dialogue after the episode was almost cancelled when the executives at NBC thought it might offend the gay and lesbian communities and was not politically correct enough. Larry Charles, one of the writers of this specific show and a regular contributor to the programme, kept repeating the frightened mantra, which Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld eventually picked up on as a running joke rather than a warning, to great success what’s more, since “The Outing” went on to become a favourite, especially with the gay and lesbian communities, its catchphrase making its way into everyday talk.
    [Show full text]