List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 7

While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

See Part 1 here.
See Part 2 here.
See Part 3 here.
See Part 4 here.
See Part 5 here.

See Part 6 here.

Item 13: The Psmith stories transposed to contemporary NYC and starring Natasha Lyonne

P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories are iconic and the recent series adaptation of the Blandings stories is quite good fun (Rec. #379, Rec. #431). The Psmith stories, however, are largely an untapped resource frankly crying out for a modern take. Example: Psmith, Journalist (Rec. #289).

And who better to be unruffled, game for anything, and quick with a sardonic takedown than Natasha Lyonne? Dooooo iiiiiiiit.

Item 14: A book from Kashana Cauley

Kashana Cauley has written so much, in so many places! (New York Times! Rolling Stone! The Believer! Slate!) The time has come for a book, please. A collection of essays? All the cool Twitter people are doing it!

And Cauley is indeed a cool Twitter person. See: List #66, Rec. #662.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 6

While we're in the zone of fulfilling my pop culture requests, I would like to put forward some additional items for consideration.

See Part 1 here.
See Part 2 here.
See Part 3 here.
See Part 4 here.

See Part 5 here.

Item 11: A surreal sketch show with Aparna Nancherla and Jo Firestone

Look. Both Aparna Nancherla and Jo Firestone are doing fine. They have successful comedy careers -- lots of gigs, Netflix stand-up specials, appearances on The Tonight Show, magazine profiles, a perpetually resurrected podcast ... the works.

But, still. They work so well together. I would like the two of them to write and host some kind of leaning-into-the-void absurdity. I'm thinking the fully committed surreality of Maria Bamford's Lady Dynamite. Hey! Have Maria Bamford as a recurring character!

Item 12: A miniseries adaptation of Widdershins

The webcomic Widdershins (Rec. #870) is funny and exciting and smart. It's structured around several small stories within one longer arc, which means it's perfectly set up to be a miniseries. Lots of memorable characters and big action sequences and sharp one-liners. Creator Kate Ashwin has even helpfully cast one of the leads --- Dev Patel as Sidney Malik.

Rec. #815: Highlights of Side by Side by Susan Blackwell

I so thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the Amy Poehler/Natasha Lyonne shenanigans (Rec. #812) that this whole week is going to be all about short, mood-booster videos. Enjoy!

"I rock out my dinger eight times a week in that show." (Will Swensen)
"You smell good."  "Thanks, it's lady deodorant." (Lin-Manuel Miranda)
"I hate everybody." (Andrea Martin)
--- with Will Swensen, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Andrea Martin (2010)





"This is my personal heaven. Feeding goats with Jonathan Groff."
--- with Jonathan Groff (2011)

"If you can explain the rules of cricket to me before I get bored, you don't have to scrub my toilet."
[cut to Radcliffe scrubbing a toilet]

--- with Daniel Radcliffe (2011)
(Rec. #454)

"Are those Broadway.com-approved words?"

--- with Audra McDonald (2012)

"It was Rosh Hashanah ... I was making my one phone call, but everyone was at temple, so I couldn't get out of jail."

--- with the cast of Falsettos (2016)

Connections to previous Wreckage: See Rec. #328 for much more about Side by Side by Susan Blackwell (which has now been going for 10 years!).

Rec. #786: Secret Talent Theatre

What: Yes, you definitely want to spend a little time watching very short videos of celebrities doing party tricks. What else are you doing with your life that's so great?

Some examples -- Amy Adams throws a football, Oprah gets a stain out, Greta Gerwig fences, Jane Fonda escapes handcuffs, Michael B. Jordan irons a shirt, and Janelle Monáe ties a Windsor knot while [checks notes] impersonating a puppy.

How to get it: Secret Talent Theatre is from Vanity Fair, and they've put the series on YouTube.

Rec. #762: Aparna Nancherla and Jo Firestone's "Womanhood" Video Series

What: Who better to explain the nuances of womanhood than comedians Aparna Nancherla and Jo Firestone? Literally no one.

Representative episodes: "Ruining Your Body with Alcohol," "Finding the Perfect Prom Dress Shopping with Mom," "Do You Need Helmets for Aqua Cycling?"

Connections to previous Wreckage: Find more Aparna Nancherla on her Twitter (@aparnapkin), which was part of List #66: Public Voices to Pay Attention To. Find more Jo Firestone on Dr. Gameshow, which was Rec. #585.

How to get it: See the playlist on YouTube here.

List #71: Best of 2018

The Big Family Cooking Showdown: Best Replacement for the BBC's Great British Bake Off, Rec. #717

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Most Positive TV Twist, Rec. #707

Burn, Burn, Burn: Best Road Trip, Rec. #723

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Best Return of the '90s Snarky Brunettes, Rec. #743

Captain Awkward: Best Advice on the Internet, Rec. #705

Check, Please: Best Webcomic Now in Print, Rec. #735

Chess: Best Live Musical Performance, Rec. #721

Colossal: Best I-Guess-It's-Technically-SciFi, Rec. #713

"DecaDance/Chicago": Best Live Dance Performance, Rec. #703

Dogs on Twitter: Best Reason Not to Rage-Quit the Internet, Rec. #747

Dr. Gameshow: Best Way to Keep Up with NYC Comedy When You're Not in NYC, Rec. #719

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Best Place to Discover New Sketch Comedy Duos, Rec. #749

An Emmy for Megan: Best Short Form Comedy Concept, Rec. #751

Flo & Joan: Best Musical Comedy Duo, Rec. #709

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee: Best Righteous Fury on the Screen, Rec. #739

Janeane Garofalo: Best Return of the '90s Snarky Brunettes, Rec. #743

Giant Days: Best Continuing Comic Book Series, Rec. #711

Good and Mad: Best Righteous Fury on the Page, Rec. #737

The Good Place: Best Recent Evidence of the Genius of Allison Jones, Casting Director, Rec. #745

The Good Place: Most Deserving of Implicit Trust, Rec. #757

The Great British Bake Off (Channel 4): Best Replacement for the BBC's Great British Bake Off, Rec. #717

The Guardian: Best Photography Curation, Rec. #729

Making It: Best Replacement for the BBC's Great British Bake Off, Rec. #717

Only Connect and Victoria Coren Mitchell: Best Match of Host with Show, Rec. #755

Paddington 2: Best Movie Featuring Sally Hawkins Underwater, Rec. #701

Helen Rosner: Best Insight Into the Food World for Non-Foodies, Rec. #715

Schitt's Creek: Best Serenades, Rec. #733

The Spy Who Dumped Me: Best Buddy Comedy, Rec. #725

Taskmaster: Best Embrace of Meaninglessness, Rec. #731

Louis Virtel: Most Welcome Podcast Guest, Rec. #753

Visages Villages: Best Road Trip That Is Also a Buddy Comedy, Rec. #727

W1A: Best Faux Documentary, Rec. #741

You're on an Airplane: Best Return of the '90s Snarky Brunettes, Rec. #743

Rec. #751: Best Short Form Comedy Concept

***BEST OF 2018***

An Emmy for Megan is, once again, proof that Megan Amram is a mad genius.

(See also Rec. #427, Rec. #445, Rec. #594)

Rec. #680: Behind the Episodes of Schitt's Creek, Season 4

What: For season 4 of the extremely likable show Schitt's Creek, creator/co-star Dan Levy talks with his cast mates about each episode.

These are short, two- to three-minute videos that also include clips from the show, so they function well whether you watch them before or after the episodes themselves.

Representative quote: "It was one of those things where you know that it's coming, and you don't get a lot of prep time. There was no rehearsal. The only thing that I did was acquire a bottle of Prosecco. And ... had some."

Connections to previous Wreckage: For more content related to this show, see List #59: Great TV Shows, Terrible Titles; List #63: People in the Media I Actually Liked in 2016; List #65: "S" Is for ... Socially Aware Sitcoms; Rec. #490; and Rec. #595.

How to get it: The Behind the Episode videos are on a YouTube playlist. Season 4 of Schitt's Creek is now streaming on Netflix.

Rec. #575: Revisiting List #63: People in the Media I Actually Liked in 2016, Part One

[Originally posted January 4, 2017. I still feel pretty good about these people.]

1. Richard Ayoade

Who: Writer, director, actor (of the British variety)

One of the whats: Travel Man (tv show) (Rec. #396)

Where:
Channel 4 if you're in the U.K.; otherwise, YouTube

2. Samantha Bee

Who: Late-night host, author

Two of the whats: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (tv show) (Rec. #417, Rec. #494, Rec. #510), I Know I Am, But What Are You? (book) (Rec. #285)

Where:
For Full Frontal - TBS or, you guessed it, YouTube
For I Know I Am, But What Are You? - buyable, borrowable, Kindle-able

3. Carrie Brownstein

Who: Musician, writer, actor

Two of the whats: Portlandia (tv show) (SSOW #6), The Realest Real (short film)

Where:
For Portlandia - IFC, or stream on Netflix
For The Realest Real - YouTube

4. Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins

Who: Comedians, hosts

One of the whats: The Great British Bake Off (tv show)

Where: Was on the BBC in the U.K.; PBS in the U.S.; sporadically findable on YouTube

5. Adam Goldman

Who: Writer, director, actor

Two of the whats: The Outs (web series) (Rec. #280), Whatever This Is (web series) (Rec. #484)

Where:
For The Outs - season one at TheOuts.com, season two on Vimeo
For Whatever This Is - at WhateverThisIs.com
(also, his twitter is really great)



Continue with Part Two here

Rec. #565: Joseph's Machines

What: The YouTube channel Joseph's Machines is full of videos showing Rube Goldberg machines in action. Their creator, Joseph Herscher, is from New Zealand, so you also get a Kiwi accent as a bonus.

How to get it: There's the aforementioned YouTube channel and also the Joseph's Machines website.

Rec. #490: Dan Levy & Annie Murphy Play 'Jam or Not a Jam?'

What: The game "Jam or Not a Jam?" is pretty self-explanatory, and this one is the best-executed iteration that I've seen.

Dan Levy and Annie Murphy play siblings on Schitt's Creek and that's the energy you see here. Highlights include Levy's fondness for songs he clearly listened to while cry-driving.

Representative quotes:

"You know, I interviewed Avril Lavigne ... I don't think she liked me very much."

"Dead silence. Is it a Yoko Ono song?"


How to get it: Posted on YouTube by CBC Music.

Connections to previous Wreckage: For more Schitt's Creek content, see Lists #59 (Great TV Shows, Terrible Titles), #63 (People in Media I Actually Liked in 2016), and #65 ("S" Is for ... Socially Aware Sitcoms?).

Rec. #484: Whatever This Is

What: The web series Whatever This Is follows three not-that-young youths trying to make it in New York. Sam and Ari are production assistants, and Lisa is a teacher without pay for the summer.

The show's central question -- how long are you expected to do work that you hate, for pennies, until it becomes something that you love that pays the rent?

Representative quote: "I'm so broke ... and I don't mean 'funny ha-ha' broke, I mean 'I had to pay for my own appendectomy' broke."

How to get it: The full series --- all 6 episodes of it --- are streaming for free on whateverthisis.com

Connections to previous Wreckage: It's from the same people who created The Outs! We looooove The Outs. (Rec. #280)

Rec. #454: Susan Blackwell Makes Daniel Radcliffe Clean Her Toilet

What: Susan Blackwell has done her excellent web series, Side by Side by Susan Blackwell, for years, and this particular segment is a real highlight. (See more about the show at Rec. #328.)

Many people have advocated for Susan Blackwell hosting the Tonys, but I think she can jump right into the Oscars. (We don't need any more Jimmy/James hosts.)

Key quote: "I'll make you a deal ... if you can explain the rules of cricket to me before I get bored, you don't have to scrub my toilet. Go!"

How to get it: YouTube and Broadway.com

Rec. #407: Ave Maria Bamford

What: It's new a 12-part web series from Maria Bamford! Topics are very Bamford-esque, like mental illness, bankruptcy, and addiction, all presented in a stark, stained glass wonderland.

Each video is only about 3 minutes. What are you waiting for?

Comparable to: Lady Dynamite

Representative quote: "When all systems have failed you, you turn to religion. [laughs maniacally] And that's no good, either, 'cause there is no God!"

Where to get it: The series is hosted on (/produced by?) Topic, but you can also find it on YouTube.