"It was a fracking crime that the entire cast of 'Battlestar' was never recognized for the performance they gave week in and week out"
-Battlestar Galactica creator Ron Moore at Comicon on the perpetual snubbing of his otherwise highly acclaimed show by Emmy voters. So say we all. (Via thehollywoodreporter) (Fortunately the Television Critics Association has proven they have long ago shed their schoolyard prejudices against science fiction, honouring it with the program of the year award)
Maurice LaMarche had a productive afternoon... he finally cleaned up his backyard - threw away all the sun-scarred cracked pool toys, peeling boogie boards, an old broom, deflated faded basketball, and, oh yeah, closed his Futurama deal.
Now that Robot Fingers has moved away from my friend's Apple servers into the warm all-embracing embrace of Google's blogspot, I am now able to make my posts directly, unfiltered, without having to email her first. Meaning what exactly? Well, meaning I can get more Robot Fingers content to you in less time! Meaning my posts will now be a bit rougher around the edges, a little more in yer face, a little bit raw, a little bit edgy, a little bit full on, eh! EH!
In other words, a little bit crappier, perhaps? Forsaking quality for quantity, as goes the platitude. But no! (or, hopefully not) I am not the cynical type (today anyway), I will not give in to this crisis, I will look at it as just the opposite - a crisortunity! Instead of bemoaning the loss of this particular check and/or balance, I will take a page from one of my many TV heroes, Mr Conan O'Brien.
As Late Night host for 16 years and Tonight Show host for almost two months now, Conan presents an hour of entertainment five nights a week, 40-something weeks a year. An hour! Sure, there's some guests plugging their wares, and if he's lucky he won't have to coax them through some dull story. Plus a music guest or a comedian to fill the last five minutes of the show. Oh and 18-20 minutes of commercials of course. But still, thats a lot of time to fill.
And sometimes, despite him assuring us in the opening monologue that they have a great show for us, it isn't. Sometimes the monologues fail, sometimes the sketches go over the head of the audience, sometimes David Duchovny brings the show to a screeching halt with a series of horribly stilted anecdotes. (Ok I only know of that happening once, but it seemed to just go on forever).
But them's the breaks. Comedians tell bad jokes. Musicians play sour notes. Engineers design faulty bridges. Pornographers make bad pornography. The difference is... or, one of the many and varied differences is that Conan's bad shows are televised and watched by millions of people. The mistakes are right there, in the public record, for all who'd care to see... to see. Such is the nature of the business, such is the nature of late night television.
Lucky for him and his production stuff, as well as for fans who count on him to wind down the day with some light, offbeat humour, the very next day brings another episode, and an opportunity to do better. Every night is a fresh slate, even if some of the jokes and the bits aren't particularly fresh. Maybe the next night the audience will be more in tune to his style, maybe he'll be in a better mood, maybe he'll be helped along by Norm MacDonald in the guest chair - maybe he'll just be funnier, who knows. Necessity being the mother of invention, if you need to make five hours of entertaining television a week, you find a way to make five hours of entertaining television a week. You rise to the occasion, you make the best of the crisortunity!
Of course, Conan's show is hardly the only one that has an inordinate amount of time to fill. The American television landscape is full of examples of crisortunitys.
My next few posts (how many exactly depends on how many I can think of) will look at some of the other examples of such crisortunities and maybe y'all will forgive me if there are a few more typos from here on out. Or if I start ending sentences with prepositions.
-hobospaceman
you go on ahead
A few weeks ago, I commented on an extremely clever video comparing Buffy and Twilight, pitting Buffy against the extremely stalker-y heartthrob vampire Edward in one of the best examples of remix videos I've ever seen. I didn't comment too much though, partly because I'm trying to avoid the more academic thought while I'm taking a break from school, and partly because I knew that if I got started, I would find it hard to stop.
Fortunately, the creator of the video, which now has been viewed well over a million times, has provided an explanation of his own. In a guest post for wimnonline.org (Women In Media and News), Jonathan McIntosh outlined why he thought it was necessary and expanded on some of the criticisms.
Though he is schooled in political theory, its not at all tied down in jargon, and I recommend you all have a look at it. Particularly of interest to me is this part.
In sharp contrast to Bella’s story, Buffy’s narrative is one in which gender equity is sexy – and powerful, complex and independent women are the norm. So successful is this normalization of female strength on the show that in the few alternative reality episodes that find Buffy magically weakened, we see her lack of power as utterly absurd. Imagine Buffy being helpless, ridiculous! The very thought is played for laughs. Throughout Buffy’s seven seasons, males that display the type of behavior Edward does are ridiculed or portrayed as dangerous (or both). Buffy is not without its own controversies (especially around race and LGBT issues), but the writers did often succeed in actively and brilliantly subverting expected sexist Hollywood themes. [note-the links are his, not mine]
Also, if you haven't watched the video lately, watch it again. It's hilarious.
-hobospaceman
my friend did yoga with judith butler
"There were two places we wanted the word "ass" in (the episode, "Homer Defined"), and the censors would only give us one ass, and it was a big debate. We put it to a vote who liked what, I think we even switched the asses in the rerun. It was literally 4 years (FOX) later put on a show called Bob's Big Ass Show"
-Former Simpsons co-showrunner Mike Reiss on the decaying standards of the Fox Network in the 90s. Post-Script: Bobcat's Big Ass Show actually aired 7 years later, in 1998. It lasted just 3 months.
As karma seems to be unsure whether or not to actually reward me and my new blog with new Futurama (it will NOT be Futurama if there are new voices, and the collective public guesses at the inner workings of 20th Century Television's negotiations, figuring out various ways to influence their decision, I am struck by how familiar this situation seems to be. Familiar in the sense that I've seen the inner workings of the television business on many occasions. From watching TV. In dramatic and comedically exaggerated terms of course, but still in some detail.
Obviously, emmy-darling 30 Rock is the most immediate example, though satirizing the television business has fallen to the wayside in recent episodes. But there was also HBO's brilliant The Larry Sanders Show (right), set behind the scenes of a Late Night talk show. Here in Australia we had Frontline, which satirized the current affairs/magazine style TV show. Plus I just got my greedy hands on Aaron Sorkin's pre-West Wing dramedy Sports Night, set behind the scenes of, you guessed it, a nightly Sports News program. He also had the short-lived and (as yet) unwatched (by me) Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. But the most iconic example, and the one that I grew up with and made me interested in the process, is the 3rd season of NBC's Seinfeld, which dramatized the process of creating the show-within-a-show, aptly titled Jerry.
Many shows also have single episodes that satrize the business. The TV executive is a fun one to parody it seems. Futurama itself had a stab at them with the 4th season episode "Bender Should Not be Allowed On TV," with robot TV executives programmed to like things its seen before, underestimate Middle America (It's good, but will it get them off their tractors?) and roll dice to determine the fall schedule (More reality programming!)
Of course, these are fictionalized accounts. And though they may be hilarious (and in Sorkin's case, melodramtically poignant), fidelity to the actual workings is usually secondary to entertainment. As well it should be. But now thanks to DVD commentaries, podcasts, Comic-Con Panels, blogs, twitters and facebook (I'm now friends on facebook with both John Dimaggio (voice of Bender and others) and Maurice LaMarche (voice of Calculon, Morbo, Kif also many others), the public has been granted unprecedented access into the actual television processes.
Yes, it seems that long gone are the days where TV shows were created by the mysterious, unknowable "them". Writers, Producers and Directors are no longer sequestered, anonymous cabals dictating to us trends and providing titillating but ultimately hollow entertainment existing only to get us to watch commercials for soap. (That sure was a simpler time wasn't it, when the worst shines apple cheeked boys would find themselves in would be facing a spanking after stealing an apple pie cooling on the window sill.)
And so I introduce a new segment to Robot Fingers. See, now it seems almost like there's too much access. Too much to keep track of anyway. So I offer this service to you, loyal reader. In a format shamelessly stolen from music news and reviewing juggernaut Pitchfork, and with a name chosen in true Robot Fingers fashion, I will here pass on to you some of the pearls of wisdom gleaned from the godlike men and women behind television. Hopefully this will also provide some content when I can't be bothered writing anything. (And will offer insights a little deeper than Conan's Twitter Tracker)
So today, above, I offer you this inaugural edition of Leonard Says, culled from the hours of Simpsons DVD commentaries.
I also urge every Futurama fan out there to show their support for the voice actors. I've given a couple of links already, but in case you missed them here they are again.
http://tinyurl.com/savefuturama
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/futura13/petition.html
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105012526501
-hobospaceman
i've got something in my eye
Last year I wrote a thesis on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as part of the honours year of my B.A. degree.
Much of my time was spent looking at the point where pop culture and politics meets. Not politics like identity politics (gender, race, sexuality etc, which is usually what people write about when they talk about popular culture.. unless they're in England then its mostly about class) but politics like John Edwards announcing his candidacy for presidency on The Daily Show in 2003. Or the then-current prime minster of Pakistan making an appearance in 2006, McCain and Obama multiple times in the last few years, plus all the outgoing Bush Press secretaries at one point or other. All important people that stopped by a basic cable comedy show.
Looking back on it now, I'm grateful I started it when I did. If I had done my thesis this year, I would have had to deal with all that Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live stuff, not to mention the more recent bickering with Letterman. Which would have been waaaaay more work.
But by far the most satisfying foray of politics and pop culture is the story of Al Franken, one of the founding writers of Saturday Night Live, author of such hilarious and illuminating tomes as Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right and The Truth: With Jokes, co-founder of Air America Radio, and now Democratic Senator of his home state of Minnesota.
After an incredibly tight election in November, and a months long, drawn out struggle of court battle after court battle issued from ousted Republican Norm Coleman, Franken was finally granted his rightful victory by the Minnesota Supreme Court on June 30th. Though it seems he is best remembered from his years as a professional comedian as his Saturday Night Live character Stuart Smalley, I know him more as an author and radio host. And his brief but gripping cameo as Mayor of Leonardo in the brilliant, short lived animated 2000 Clerks TV-Series, pictured below. (Franken is the one on the left. Or, my left but your right when you look at it. Or, no, uh. Look, Franken is the one with the glasses, the one that is dressed as Mayor McCheese is his animated character. It shouldn't really be that hard to figure out, geez!)
Naturally there have been outcries from the right, and unease from those on the left with no sense of humour. But celebrities in the political sphere isn't always the best fit, so I will give some credit to his critics, hoping that most of them are not simply using New York comedian as code for "Jewish" (wasn't that in an episode of the West Wing? Or something very similar...) But Franken is no ordinary "Hollywood type" throwing his two cents in. He isn't Jeremy Piven galavanting around India with an "Eat Carbs" T-Shirt on, nor Sharon Stone suggesting that earthquakes in China might be karma exacting its revenge for the Chinese government's treatment of Tibet (or, for that matter, demogogue Pat Robertson calling for the head of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez).
Plus, Franken may have a smug smile, but in his defense, his smugness is a lot more lovable than, say, Bill Maher. And he doesn't have the same despair behind the eyes that Jon Stewart does. No, Al Franken really believes in America, ya know. And is quite funny too.
In fact Franken seems perfectly suited for the job, and certainly ticks all the big boxes for the wholesome American Family Man. He's been married for over 30 years now, has a daughter teaching elementary school in the Bronx and a son recently graduated with a Mechanical Engineering Degree from Princeton.
Plus he's done service in Iraq and Afghanistan and Kosovo. How many sitting senators can say that? Granted, he was on a USO tour, entertaining the troops. But again, how many sitting senators could entertain the troops? Or anybody? Not many I'd wager.
In any case, he's a Senator now whether you like it or not!
-hobospaceman
say yes!
For those unfamiliar with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who may inadvertently confuse it with the earnest melodrama of Twilight, this video, created by a rather talented person at rebelliouspixels.com, will hopefully clear things up.
It's quite satisfying to see Buffy cut through the stalkerish liturgy of undead teen heartthrob Edward Cullen, whose expressions are routinely pulled from the "guy you alert the flight attendant about" collection. (Joke stolen shamelessly from the Rifftrax. Heartily recommended)
And highlights a major flaw in the idea of Twilight as the ultimate Gen-Y text. Namely: WHERE IS THE SARCASM? WHERE IS THE IRONY? Sure, it has the moping, the detached cool, the angst. And hey, I'm not saying it wouldn't be possible to fall in love with a sparkly-diamond vampire. And as a gesture of said love you might even stifle your derisive laughter at how ridiculous it looks, but stop taking everything so seriously! Seriously!
Buffy fought vampires and demons yes, but she also fought against the horror genre. The teen romance genre too. And every other trope the show experimented with in its 7 years. All the propheices, the liturgy, the cliches, the melodrama of the tortured much-older vampire boyfriend. Everything was approached with a large helping of sarcasm. Healthy skepticism, irreverence, whatever you want to call it. Seeing through the bullshit is another good one.
So let's just get this straight: Buffy is a sophisticated, postmodern take on the horror/teen/tv-serial genre, with an ensemble cast orbiting a strong, complex female protagonist. Twilight is.. uh.. not.
So just be careful about comparing the two in future, k?
-hobospaceman
kissing toast?
Last week, America experienced its second and only-slightly-less important peaceful transfer of power of the year. And while Obama may have somewhat better name recognition, and apparently gets much higher ratings, beloved lanky funnyman Conan O'Brien arguably joins a much more prestigious group of people.
For one thing, some 43 people have already worked their ass grooves into the presidential chair, while Conan is only the 5th host of still/again-number one rated show in late night television, The Tonight Show. Unless you count all those guest hosts before and during the Johnny Carson era, or Ernie Kovac's two-night a week deal during the Steve Allen years. But I don't. Count them, I mean. (It would pretty much destroy my argument, for one. And even wikipedia doesn't list all the guest hosts, or even give me a ballpark figure, so what am I gonna do, guess?)
And like Obama's popularity with the youth of America, Conan seems to have the college kid vote. Plus, he really does feel like My Tonight Show host, ya know? Also, they both went to Harvard. Where they were both Presidents. Obama was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, which is probably pretty impressive. (I mean, I've never heard of it before, but whatever). Conan, on the other hand, was president of the Harvard Lampoon! (Which I may or may not have heard of before)
Lest you think I disrespect the office of Commander in Chief let me offer up one more piece of evidence for my case here. Much is made of the way Conan was picked from obscurity when he was picked to take over from David Letterman as host of Late Night in 1993. On the night of its announcement, Jay Leno joked it was the first time he had even been on camera.
And sure, he wasn't known as an onscreen performer, and I doubt any viewer at the time could have corrected Jay by remembering Conan from the background of a few Saturday Night Live skits in the early 90s, where he wrote from 1989 to 1991. But obscurity, really? At the time he got the call, as well as eating a big sandwich, he was writing for one of the most important shows in the history of American television - The Simpsons. The Simpsons!
And this was still during its media darling stage, before nitpicking and naysaying had become the norm, before Lindsay Naegle and Duffman, before the array of guest stars playing themselves. He wrote the monorail episode! (his favourite of his episodes) and Homer Goes to College! (my favourite of his episodes) What was Obama doing during that time? Professoring on Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School, directing a campaign that registered over 150,000 unregistered African Americans in Illinois, and writing a personal memoir that Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison called "quite extraordinary"? Yeah, real impressive.
I've been watching Conan for almost 10 years now (I remember seeing the In the Year 2000 bit when it was actually looking to the future), and I don't think I learned The Simpsons connection for years after that. And even though I wrote my Honours Thesis on Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, Conan will always be atop the talk show throne in my heart. From nervously shuffling around his mark in the opening monologue to lunging and roaring at the lady guests, from the alternating self-deprecating/self-aggrandizing interview style to the instant parodies of the pompous things celebrities say, the world is a slightly brighter place when Conan is on TV. (Plus Andy Richter's back!)
Hmm, though now that I think about it, maybe its for the best that the White House isn't run by a former Simpsons writer.
-hobospaceman
JubJub
You know, I'm not really a believer in the whole Karmic ledger. Good deeds getting rewards and all that. But even though my blog has been up barely a week, and technically still hasn't been read by anyone other than the Robot Fingers staff, good things are already starting to happen.
Yes, that's right, Futurama is coming back! After its cancellation in 2003 by our friends at FOX, and its all too brief revival in 4-episode/movie length straight to DVD releases in the last couple of years, Futurama is finally coming back. For real this time.
Not that I'm trying to take all the credit here. I'm just one man after all. But after only a week of my new TV blog, brimming with optimism and positivity about a television landscape so loathed and easily dismissed by others, Comedy Central just happens to order 26 new episodes of one of my favourite shows? Sure, call it coincidence if you feel that you must. If you're one of those people.
In case you are unfamiliar, Futurama is that other show that features characters like those on The Simpsons. Created by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen (who as David S. Cohen also wrote on The Simpsons for several years and invented the word "cromulent"), Futurama is an animated science fiction sitcom (or ani-sci-fi-com) set at the beginning of the 31st century. The show centres around Fry, a lovably dimwitted slacker who gets cryogenically frozen on New Years of 1999 and wakes up 1000 years later. There he meets Leela, a purple haired, one-eyed humanoid in the space heroine mould, and Bender, a drinking, smoking, gambling, stealing, bootlegging, pimping robot. Also he can bend things. Together they connect with Fry's descendant Professor Farnsworth, a dottering 160-something year old professor who gives them jobs as a delivery crew. And the hilarity ensues!
But as well as hilarity, in its original four year run (well, four year production, five year broadcast), Futurama made several unusually touching episodes, including my personal favourite episode of anything ever (forgive the hyperbole). These are the stories that tap into the core character dramas, which despite the sitcom facade and the fact that they are often used as sources for comedy, are actually quite tragic.
Leela, for one, is an orphan, and the only one eyed humanoid on earth (and in the known universe). Until the brilliant fourth season episode Leela's Homeworld, she had no idea where she even came from, and the answer to the mystery was one of the emotional high points for the series. (I'm not going to give away spoilers here, even though the episode is like 8 years old, I don't want to ruin it for anyone). And then there's Fry. For the most part, he's happy to leave behind his crummy 20th century life, but there are two episodes that explore what he left behind; Luck of the Fryrish, about his brother, and Jurassic Bark, about his dog. I will most likely write in depth about Jurassic Bark in a later post, but for now I'll just say that both episodes are examples of what episodic television is capable of. As well as what science fiction and time travel stories are capable of in evoking character drama that otherwise you just can't do.
Fans all around the world are rejoicing at the news. (well, I assume they are. I know I am) Though it is not completely unexpected, nor un-precedented, it still marks only the second time a show has been brought back from the dead so long after its original cancellation. Family Guy, also cancelled by FOX, was given new episodes in 2005, thanks in part to strong DVD sales and excellent ratings on Adult Swim. And now that show's creator Seth MacFarlane is poised to have three (mostly) different shows airing every Sunday on FOX, with spinoff The Cleveland Show joining not-really-spinoff American Dad for a rather lopsided Animation Block. Though Futurama will now be produced for Comedy Central and not Fox, we can still hope that its return can be so successful. Perhaps a Dr Zoidberg spinoff, with his very own private practice?
-hobospaceman
please rise for the futurama theme song