In one village you might have Armenians, Kurds, Assyrians and Yazidis. “The people inside were mixing constantly. Up until then, it was imperial borders: Russian, Persian, Ottoman,” she explains. It wasn’t until one hundred years ago that these strict national borders separated Armenians from Turks and Azeris. “These are foodways and food cultures that are shared across peoples. For her Ph.D., Suni traveled across Eastern Turkey researching the social history of Armenian cultural artifacts. “I disagree with these nationalistic claims to food-that lavash is Armenian or not Armenian,” she says. It’s a sentiment shared by Anoush Suni, an Armenian-American researcher at Northwestern University. This is a place where different people have lived together for a long time.” “To say, ‘this is Armenian’ or ‘this is Turkish’ is very difficult. Cuisine comes from geography,” says Bağış. Long before modern borders were established, Armenians have lived in what is today Turkey, Iran and beyond. Although it’s located in Eastern Turkey, Ararat’s towering silhouette fills the horizon in the Armenian capital of Yerevan. But for Armenians, Ararat is both their holy mountain and national symbol. The biblical figure of Noah is said to have planted vineyards on its slopes. Mount Ararat is Turkey’s largest mountain. The cuvée, a collaboration with Thracian winery Barbare, is dubbed Ararat, a name with special significance for Bağış, who is part of Turkey’s Armenian minority. An astute observer will notice Bağış’ visage on the bottle’s label, cartoonified but recognizable with his distinctive beard and rims. Vision restored, he turns to a glass of ruby-hued wine. He opts for the chestnut-colored frames instead of the clear or fluorescent red ones. (Perhaps they should rethink the rule of forcing actors to stick mostly to the old scripts and allow a bit more in-the-moment improvisation.Levon Bağış is deciding which pair of glasses to wear when I walk into Foxy, a wine bar in Istanbul’s upscale Nişantaşı neighborhood. The performers need room to bring more to their roles than a snarky take on old sitcom punchlines. The previous one, in which John Amos got a bit lost playing a different character in the Good Times recreation, was particularly tough to sit through.īut Hart and Wayans have shown the way to move these specials beyond questionable exercises in nostalgia. How to move beyond an exercise in nostalgiaīefore that Diff'frent Strokes episode, I was ready to write an essay begging Kimmel and ABC to stop doing these projects. In particular, Flashdance star Jennifer Beals and Fresh Prince of Bel Air co-star Alfonso Ribeiro appeared in several sidesplitting, retro-style commercials for a string of products including Heinz ketchup and Jack in the Box restaurants that felt like old school Saturday Night Live ad satires (created by a production company/marketing agency co-founded by movie star Ryan Reynolds). Often, I found myself enjoying the commercials more than the episodes, because several of them were filmed in a retro style hearkening back to the late '70s/early '80s when these episodes first aired. ("I'll be there for you," in a nod to Friends.) But Hart's last line – "How come Vernon always smell like weed?" – was also spot-on, and a great callback to Snoop's character. Each episode also featured a new final line – the Facts of Life quip spoken by Jennifer Aniston, wasn't very memorable and was partially covered by applause. Will Arnett, playing a thickheaded suitor to Blair in the Facts of Life episode, offered a brief ad lib while speaking to Jon Stewart that scored better than most of the scripted punchlines (Stewart was playing Carl, a geek who also liked Blair). Indeed, the best moments of the night came when stars broke character briefly or found a way to bring new interpretations to old material. And the night's best bit of surprise stunt casting – rapper Snoop Dogg as Willis' friend Vernon – was inspired, mostly because Snoop is a much better comic actor than many realize. ("Even though he looks 45, he's just 8," Wayans deadpanned about Hart's Arnold in one moment). Damon Wayans, taking over Todd Bridges's role as Arnold's brother Willis, was another surprise, setting up Hart's punchlines as a consummate straight man before landing his own sly jokes. Hart wrung out every bit of physical comedy he could manage, pretending to struggle while climbing down from a bunk bed and copying Coleman's distinctive gait. Drummond – you felt the absurdity of the casting bring new laughs. Watching a bearded Hart, running around the stage in a superhero outfit, jumping into the arms of John Lithgow – playing Arnold's wealthy adoptive father Mr. Kevin Hart in 'Live in front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes.'Ĭasting for maximum humor, rather than mimicry
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