Gay's film is pure sucrose beside the bittersweet humanism of Flowers, Will Sharpe's rare black orchid of a sitcom that defies all expectations of the usual dysfunctional family wackery: still streaming at Channel 4, it's enough of a keeper to merit box-set investment.
We talked about the merits of poutine: box gravy vs. homemade gravy, how long to fry the fries, what temperature the cheese should be heated to for optimum melting.
"Game of the District Messenger Boy," reads the faded box, "or Merit Rewarded".
But most home fans will be at pains to say last-man Pascali's slip, which felled Redmond as he chased a long ball into the box, perhaps merited a spot-kick for Accies and a red card for the Italian.
However, theatre design in London remained ambivalent about the merits of the "picture-box" stage, and for many decades to come, London theatres including Drury Lane had large forestages protruding beyond the arch, often including the thrust stages found in the Elizabethan theatres.
For all its box-office busting merits, the result is less Untouchable than Untranslatable.
But does this new generation, despite being small enough to fit into the glove compartment of a sport utility vehicle, still merit the title of "boom box?" "Maybe it should be the mini boom box," said a woman selling portable stereos.
They have nevertheless had the great merit of seeing outside the box, of extending boundaries a little, to design new landscapes that are innovative in formal terms, but also in the use of materials and building technologies.
The available recommendations, outlined in Box 2, have merit.
Old-school boxing gyms have their merits, but many are stuck in the past, doing too much steady-state cardio, not enough strength and conditioning, and employing out-dated approaches to nutrition and weight-cutting.
