Streaming Suggestion of the Week #40: Heathers

Stream what: In the cult classic black comedy Heathers, main character Veronica Sawyer notes that "my teen-angst bullshit now has a body count," which is a fairly accurate summary of the whole film.

Stream why: The dialogue is endlessly quotable, and the themes and plot remain relevant in new and horrifying ways.

Stream where: Amazon Prime and Hulu.

Heathers was Rec. #160.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #39: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

Stream what: Like many other late-night hosts, Samantha Bee has found a way to continue with her show.

Unlike the men, however, Bee is not sitting in her living room or office. Oh no! She has taken her blazers to the woods and has been presenting produced segments from outside a woodshed.

Stream why: Samantha Bee is great. She should get more press for being great. She's great.

Stream where: It's all on YouTube!


See also: List #63, Rec. #664, Rec. #739, etc.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #38: The Big Sick

Stream what: The Big Sick is a based-on-real-life story written by the people who lived it, Emily Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani. It's funny and sad and well written and well acted. Plus, Holly Hunter!

Stream why: Did you not see when I said "Holly Hunter!"? Also, the character Emily gets a great, underrated scene where she says, "I love it when men test me on my taste."

Stream where: Amazon Prime

Rec. #881: Quote from a Fictional Character #105

"I see everyone's point of view, which is very confusing. Seeing everyone's point of view is like mixing your drinks."

--- Annie, Doctors of Philosophy,

Muriel Spark, 1962

(See List #58)

Rec. #880: Marian Keyes on YouTube

What: Author Marian Keyes is a delight and her vlogs on YouTube are like chatting with a friend. 

A friend who is gratifyingly annoyed by daylight and warm weather, who reads loads and loads of books, who doesn't ignore that the world is a mess, who nevertheless delights in shiny things, and who speaks with a really great Irish accent.

Representative quote: "F-ing clocks! Isn't it awful? It's just not nice, it's really upsetting, all that fecking light going on at 4 in the morning."

How to get it: Visit her YouTube channel.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Marian Keyes also has a monthly newsletter that is extremely charming (Rec. #418).

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #37: Somebody Feed Phil

Stream what: Phil Rosenthal travels to lots of different places and eats lots of different things. He does everything with the gleeful enthusiasm of a puppy, but less hyper. It's nice.

Stream why: Remember travel?? Remember eating in other places??

Stream where: There are two seasons so far on Netflix.

Rec. #879: Diary of a Provincial Lady

What: A closed society on the break of great financial uncertainty -- sound relatable? But make it funny.

A chatty semi-autobiographical narrator bridges the gap between 1930 and us. Perhaps the gap never was that big in the first place.

Representative quote: “Realise that this mis-statement should be corrected at once, but omit to do so, and later find myself involved in entirely unintentional web of falsehood. Should like to work out how far morally to blame for this state of things, but have not time.”

How to get it: E.M. Delafield's Diary of a Provincial Lady has never been out of print, but you can also get the ebook.

Rec. #878: Off Menu

What: This podcast has a simple premise -- two British comedians (Ed Gamble, James Acaster) interview people (some also British, some also comedians) about their dream meal.

Very well-executed and addictive listening.

Representative guests: Paul F. Tompkins, Kumail Nanjiani, Aisling Bea

How to get it: Wherever you usually get your podcasts, or direct from the source.

Status Update: #TheHourlyWreck

So.

Most things I can't control right now, but one thing I can do is offer recommendations of things to read/watch/listen to.

Last week, I tweeted recommendations every hour M-F, 9:00-9:00, using the hashtag #TheHourlyWreck. That's 65 different books, podcasts, movies, and tv shows!

I'll be jumping in with a second full week of hourly recommendations starting next Monday, March 30.

In the meantime, remember:

• Stay home
• Support small businesses (order online from independent bookstores and buy merch from restaurants)
• Be mindful of the bandwidth you're using to stream things (maybe don't do everything in HD, huh? let's not break the internet)
• Complete the census online

And here are all of the things I've covered so far in the #TheHourlyWreck (see the twitter hashtag for links):

1. Travel Man
2. Dr. Gameshow
3. One Good Turn
4. Party Girl
5. The Allusionist
6. Widdershins
7. Harold and Maude
8. Mystery Show
9. Gentlemen & Players
10. Russian Doll
11. The Art of Process
12. The Guardian's "Blind Date" series
13. Superstore
14. Song Exploder
15. To Say Nothing of the Dog
16. Three Identical Strangers
17. Ologies
18. Check, Please
19. The Good Place
20. David Tennant Does a Podcast With ...
21. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
22. Green Wing
23. 99% Invisible
24. Good and Mad
25. Some Kind of Wonderful
26. Front Row
27. Be Prepared
28. W1A
29. The Library Book
30. Hairspray
31. Everything Is Alive
32. The Best of It
33. Britain's Best Home Cook
34. Giant Days
35. The Spy Who Dumped Me
36. Pop Culture Happy Hour
37. Trick Mirror
38. One Mississippi
39. I Know I Am, But What Are You?
40. Nothing Like a Dame
41. Nobody Panic
42. Castle Waiting
43. Taskmaster
44. Eloquent Rage
45. Wine Country
46. Welcome to Night Vale
47. Crosstalk
48. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
49. Brat Farrar
50. Pride & Prejudice
51. The Bright Sessions
52. Paris to the Moon
53. Us & Them
54. You're on an Airplane
55. His Girl Friday
56. Standard Issue
57. 2D Goggles
58. Schitt's Creek
59. Cold Comfort Farm
60. North & South
61. Victoriocity
62. Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles
63. This Way Up
64. Day for Night
65. Colossal

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #36: Travel Man

Stream what: In the UK series Travel Man: 48 Hours in ..., Richard Ayoade goes on some mini-breaks with other funny British people. To give you a taste, the first four episodes are Barcelona, Istanbul, Iceland, and Marrakesh.

Stream why: Remember traveling?

Stream where: Seven seasons on Hulu


Connections to previous Wreckage: Travel Man was Rec. #396 and was also mentioned in Rec. #592, Rec. #814, and List #95.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 8

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.
See Part 7 here.

Item 15: A Nish Kumar comedy tour that also incorporates his singing and guitar talents

Nish Kumar is very funny! He has an amazing bit about the drummer for Coldplay that I have tried to recreate, verbatim, for several of my friends.

One particular episode of Taskmaster revealed that he is also a talented musician! Do both! Both is good!

Item 16: Dan Levy as host of The Great Canadian Baking Show

Wait a minute ... this happened! I just really, really, really need those two seasons to be somewhere I can easily (and legally) access them. It seems like such a good fit for Dan Levy, whom I adore.


 

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.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #35: Britain's Best Home Cook

Stream what: Britain's Best Home Cook is addictive comfort-viewing in the vein of The Great British Bake Off. It even has Mary Berry as a judge!

Some differences from GBBO: contestants cook and bake; they live together and there is footage of them playing board games; the host is Claudia Winkleman, who is possibly the most charming person in the world.

Stream why: I would argue that the current iteration of Britain's Best Home Cook (series 2) is better than the current iteration of GBBO. Controversial!

Stream where: Hulu

Connection to previous Wreckage: Since Rec. #802, the show has taken my advice and swapped out one of the not-Kyles.

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.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 5

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.

Item 9: A remake of You Can't Take It With You directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

The film Birdman had its flaws (I would have appreciated a content warning about the attempted rape scene!), but one thing it did well was show that director Alejandro González Iñárritu would be able to direct farce. People in general aren't good at directing screwball anymore, so that was an exciting discovery!

You Can't Take It With You is just begging for a modern remake. I'm thinking along the lines of Awkwafina, Maria Bamford, Susan Blackwell, Ana de Armas, William Jackson Harper, Aasif Mandvi, Melissa McCarthy, Lee Pace, Maya Rudolph ...

Connections to previous Wreckage: I extolled the wonders of screwball comedy in a three part series.

Item 10: A new book from Kira Henehan

I loved Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles (Rec. #195, QfFC #75). I would very much like another novel by Kira Henehan, please.

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #34: Three Identical Strangers

Stream what: Long-lost triplets find one another. Then the mystery begins.

Stream why: It's fascinating. 

Stream where: Hulu

Connections to previous Wreckage: See Rec. #829 and Rec. #864.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 4

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.

Item 7: A TV series from EGG Comedy

Comedy duo EGG (Anna Leong Brophy and Emily Lloyd-Saini) are extremely talented sketch writers and performers. (I saw them in Edinburgh in 2018! See Rec. #749.)

They've had scripts in development, and I'd love to see them and their work on my TV screen.

Item 8: A Katie Presley podcast

Writer Katie Presley is sometimes a panelist on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour (see also List #92), and she has a lot of Very Good Opinions (see Rec. #673), and I would like her also to have her own podcast so I can hear her thoughts on more things.

That is all.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 3

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.

Item 5: A musical about the life of James Baldwin

In the life story of novelist-poet-playwright-essayist-activist James Baldwin, we've got a fraught upbringing and teenage ministry and life in Paris. We've got Richard Avedon, Sidney Poitier, and Marlon Brando. We have queer life and Black life and French life. We've got civil rights activism and even FBI surveillance.

We also have music. Jazz in France with Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, and Josephine Baker.

In 2016, Meshell Ndegeocello created a musical/theatrical tribute to Baldwin (Can I Get a Witness?), but I'm thinking something less ... churchy.

Connections to previous Wreckage: Rec. #23 and Quote for These Times #2

Item 6: Helen Zaltzman as host of The Great British Bake Off

With Sandi Toksvig departing as co-host of the current iteration of The Great British Bake Off, it's very fun to imagine new possibilities. Helen Zaltzman would be great! She is an adept podcast host (List #92 and Rec. #773) and could definitely transition to wacky banter with Noel Fielding.

Zaltzman herself is willing (see above)!

Streaming Suggestion of the Week #33: W1A

Stream what: The TV series W1A is a mock-documentary look at working life at the BBC. (It's British. Obvs.)

Stream why: It's got the satire and highly stylized language of Armando Iannuci's work (like Veep), but with room for some subtle earnestness. Plus, the cast! They've got David Tennant as the narrator, for goodness' sake. 

Stream where: The whole thing (it's only 14 episodes) is on Netflix.


Connections to previous Wreckage: W1A showed up as Rec. #601, Rec. #741, and QfFC #102.

List #95: Pop Culture Wish List, part 2

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.

Item 3: An adaptation of To Say Nothing of the Dog by Tarsem Singh

To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis, is perhaps my favorite book of all time (Rec. #100). I have hand-picked Tarsem Singh for an adaptation based on his direction of the insanely beautiful and surreal The Fall (Rec. #49).

Someone else might try to make To Say of the Dog twee. It is not twee. It is epic and deserves to be treated as such.

Item 4: New original songs from Nellie McKay

I adore singer-songwriter/activist Nellie McKay (Rec. #608, Rec. #667, Rec. #695, Rec. #777), and I was lucky enough to see her perform last year.

For the past decade or so, she's mainly been doing collections of nostalgic covers, which are great! But I long for the creative highs of her early original albums, like Get Away from Me (Rec. #206), Pretty Little Head (Rec. #320), and Obligatory Villagers. More, please.