The Deadliest Season ... Almost

Okay people.  I've put some serious time into finding a viewable version of "The Deadliest Season."

Let's take a moment to talk about those quotation marks.  The mean, when I read that phrase I hear a loud hockey announcer saying "Pow-errr Plaaaaaaaaay!"  But instead they are standing in their seats shaking their fists at the ice saying "Deaaad-leeeeee-eeeeest SEEEEA-SON!!!!!!"  Just FYI.

1977 + CBS + made for TV movie + Meryl Streep + Hockey =  Does it get any better?  Doubtful.

The truth is I could probably find a pirated version out there in the ethers.  Ok I did.  But my conscience just won't let me.  It's not that I'm a stickler for the law.  It's more that I can't seem to stomach the thought of ripping off Meryl Streep, and that includes 28 year old Meryl Streep, aka Sharon the hockey wife.

But I'm on a mission now people.  And while I will not put everything on hold until I find the elusive legitimate copy of the "Deadliest Season" I will find it... oh yes I will.

In the mean time, please tide yourself over with this strange little scene from 33 years ago.

Clarification

Before I really dig in here allow me to clarify some of the details of what I'm doing here.

1)  An "ouvre" is technically the entirety of an artist's body of work.  Due to my lack of a time machine and excess funds I am not able to take a tour through Meryl Streep's entire work on the stage.  This is instead only her screen work.  Thus movie ouvre.  Television movies count.  Movie + Ouvre = mouvre.

2)  I am working my way backwards through IMDB.  If it says z came before b, then z came before b.  I don't care when it was filmed, just when it was released to the contemporary populous of the time.

3)  And on that note, Meryl Streep's first listing on IMDB is voice work for an animation short in 1975.  Her character is called Stage 6.  I think it's already ridiculous enough that I now have to work my way through the latter half of the 70's in any form, even for her.  I really think both you and I can live with out me finding obscure animation from 1975 so I can only hear her voice for a cumulative total of 10 minutes or whatever.  I'm just not doing it.  I never said I was a purist.

4) You may have noticed, I'm not calling her Meryl.  She's Meryl Streep.  No first name like we're buds because that's just a sad fantasy I refuse to discuss.  And no nicknames and no calling her Mary Louise, because that's just condescending.

Now that we've settled that, stay tuned.

Prologue

We were on our way home from Julie & Julia sometime last year and I had this "brilliant" idea.  Then I spent the better part of the rest of my graduate career getting intoxicated and making grand pronouncements like, "When I have a life again I'm going to watch everything Meryl Streep ever did and blog about it!"  Because that's exactly what people with a life do, right?  Oh well, the point is here I am with said life: blogging.  Because I thought it would be hilarious to do to Meryl Streep what Amy whatshername or whoever the original blogger was did to Julia Child, but not nearly as hard or weight gain inducing (theoretically).  Very meta, or whatever.  Let's just call it inspired.

Plus it turns out that if you run your mouth enough people actually start to call you on it.  Who knew?

Word on the street says if one is going to explore an ouvre it ought to be chronological.  I can't say I'm particularly thrilled about this development.  Upon organizing my Netflix que and intensely studying IMDB, it looks as if the seventies were a) obscure and b) slightly depressing.  I mean, Meryl's TV/movie acting tour through the 70's.  Not the whole decade.  Well, maybe the whole decade, but to be fair that statement is based entirely on other people's opinions as my brain had not yet developed to the point where I could testify either way.

I am going to have to get a nickname for the grande lady sooner or later.  Can't just run around typing Meryl this Meryl that like we're all buddy buddy.  Because we aren't.  I mean, she's practically raised me since I discovered entertainment in the form of moving lights.  But let's get real the woman deserves mad respect.  In retrospect, I question the wisdom of jumping into the deep end with Meryl (see I need a nickname, it's just too familiar).  It's not the sheer quantity of movies before me (67) but the fact that there are so many good ones and she has so many dedicated fans who are quite capable of hate mail because I fail to see the brilliant, subtle whatever.  Like most people I am a movie geek.  But my background in no way prepares me for a comprehensive and accurate review and assessment of the merits and, shall we say, learning opportunities of Meryl Streep's career here-to-fore. So be nice interweb, just lurk if you can't say anything nice and or/constructive.  This is a happy place.  Sort of.

Okay, and I'm afraid of She Devil.  There, I said it.  I don't want to watch it plain and simple.  But I will.

So for those of you that are following on this courageous journey, welcome.  I guarantee nothing in the way of updates.  I'm going to shoot for once a week, maybe twice if I'm feeling particularly motivated.  I imagine things will pick up in the 90s or late 80s.  As it is I'm having to do things just short of pirating to find a couple of those tv specials from the 70s.