Currently watching.

Sweet action for kids 'n' cretins. Marjoram and capers.
Silent Majority
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Silent Majority »

I probably won't stick with Space Force. I think I find the massive budget and stakes distracting.
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revbob
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by revbob »

One more for 101...
BoJack Horseman

Inder
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Inder »

I just started watching Seinfeld for the first time.

Pretty funny! Wonder why it never really caught on.

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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Flex »

Inder wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 12:39pm
I just started watching Seinfeld for the first time.

Pretty funny! Wonder why it never really caught on.
I might have said this before, but when I was studying in China our student group's "unwind with Americana" evenings were watching episodes of Seinfeld from a bootleg dvd series we picked up. It's a funny show.
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Inder wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 12:39pm
I just started watching Seinfeld for the first time.

Pretty funny! Wonder why it never really caught on.
It's one of those shows that it's become cool (or something) to dismiss. And it can be critiqued for being a celebration of upward mobility even as it mocks social manners—I mean, when you're doing well, the only thing to fight about are manners—but the humble and wry view of life, that we're all absurd animals who constantly trip over ourselves is still enjoyable.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Silent Majority »

I like it. It's a nice place to hang out. George is part of all of us.
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Kory »

Silent Majority wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 2:51pm
I like it. It's a nice place to hang out. George is part of all of us.
No joke there.
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Low Down Low »

Just started on Seinfeld as part of my comedy binge, like revisiting a dear old friend. Takes a while into S2 until it clicks. Once they figured out Kramer, it was full steam ahead. The london calling of sitcoms for me.

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Re: Currently watching.

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Low Down Low wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 4:23pm
Just started on Seinfeld as part of my comedy binge, like revisiting a dear old friend. Takes a while into S2 until it clicks. Once they figured out Kramer, it was full steam ahead. The london calling of sitcoms for me.
Those involved with the show point to the Chinese restaurant episode as the one where they found their style and purpose—the one where what they were doing was distinct from others.

Cartwright!
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

101Walterton
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by 101Walterton »

Inder wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 12:39pm
I just started watching Seinfeld for the first time.

Pretty funny! Wonder why it never really caught on.
I thought it did?
I missed it (Wilderness years) but my brother quotes it daily!!! Was it bigger in UK.

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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Low Down Low »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 4:38pm
Low Down Low wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 4:23pm
Just started on Seinfeld as part of my comedy binge, like revisiting a dear old friend. Takes a while into S2 until it clicks. Once they figured out Kramer, it was full steam ahead. The london calling of sitcoms for me.
Those involved with the show point to the Chinese restaurant episode as the one where they found their style and purpose—the one where what they were doing was distinct from others.

Cartwright!
Ah, the one with Kramer not actually in it! Haven't got to it yet, from memory it's not over heavy on laughs but there's a lot of mojo in it. To bring an entire script based on 3 guys just standing in a queue took some chutzpah I'd say. Can see how that set a marker for the show alright.

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Re: Currently watching.

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Low Down Low wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 5:23pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 4:38pm
Low Down Low wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 4:23pm
Just started on Seinfeld as part of my comedy binge, like revisiting a dear old friend. Takes a while into S2 until it clicks. Once they figured out Kramer, it was full steam ahead. The london calling of sitcoms for me.
Those involved with the show point to the Chinese restaurant episode as the one where they found their style and purpose—the one where what they were doing was distinct from others.

Cartwright!
Ah, the one with Kramer not actually in it! Haven't got to it yet, from memory it's not over heavy on laughs but there's a lot of mojo in it. To bring an entire script based on 3 guys just standing in a queue took some chutzpah I'd say. Can see how that set a marker for the show alright.
That's right—Kramer isn't in that one (never really registered). As I recall, they really had to fight with the network to do that one because the suits said that there's no story to it, so audiences will be bored or confused. The episode makes me think of something George Carlin once said: Stuff that we all do but never talk about is funny. And audiences, I think, got that—something we can all relate too, especially because it's so mundane.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: Currently watching.

Post by Low Down Low »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 6:00pm
Low Down Low wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 5:23pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 4:38pm
Low Down Low wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 4:23pm
Just started on Seinfeld as part of my comedy binge, like revisiting a dear old friend. Takes a while into S2 until it clicks. Once they figured out Kramer, it was full steam ahead. The london calling of sitcoms for me.
Those involved with the show point to the Chinese restaurant episode as the one where they found their style and purpose—the one where what they were doing was distinct from others.

Cartwright!
Ah, the one with Kramer not actually in it! Haven't got to it yet, from memory it's not over heavy on laughs but there's a lot of mojo in it. To bring an entire script based on 3 guys just standing in a queue took some chutzpah I'd say. Can see how that set a marker for the show alright.
That's right—Kramer isn't in that one (never really registered). As I recall, they really had to fight with the network to do that one because the suits said that there's no story to it, so audiences will be bored or confused. The episode makes me think of something George Carlin once said: Stuff that we all do but never talk about is funny. And audiences, I think, got that—something we can all relate too, especially because it's so mundane.
Yeah i think the secret is all wrapped up in the mundanity somehow. I've always thought of it a bit like a David Foster Wallace novel, only funny.

revbob
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Re: Currently watching.

Post by revbob »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 12:53pm
Inder wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 12:39pm
I just started watching Seinfeld for the first time.

Pretty funny! Wonder why it never really caught on.
It's one of those shows that it's become cool (or something) to dismiss. And it can be critiqued for being a celebration of upward mobility even as it mocks social manners—I mean, when you're doing well, the only thing to fight about are manners—but the humble and wry view of life, that we're all absurd animals who constantly trip over ourselves is still enjoyable.
So for me there's a couple of things. It was a funny show. There was a distinct lack of people of color in the show. For a show based in NYC that seems impossible unless somehow deliberate. Larry David, to his credit addresses this in his show.

The other thing that bugged me was when Michael Richards went on that racist rant during a stand up gig and nobody from the show had much to say about it.

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Re: Currently watching.

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revbob wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 6:37pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 12:53pm
Inder wrote:
01 Jun 2020, 12:39pm
I just started watching Seinfeld for the first time.

Pretty funny! Wonder why it never really caught on.
It's one of those shows that it's become cool (or something) to dismiss. And it can be critiqued for being a celebration of upward mobility even as it mocks social manners—I mean, when you're doing well, the only thing to fight about are manners—but the humble and wry view of life, that we're all absurd animals who constantly trip over ourselves is still enjoyable.
So for me there's a couple of things. It was a funny show. There was a distinct lack of people of color in the show. For a show based in NYC that seems impossible unless somehow deliberate. Larry David, to his credit addresses this in his show.
Definitely. That's what I was getting at about the celebration of upward mobility. It existed in a world where social inequalities are weird grievances of manners. It had a distinct Clinton liberal self-congratulatory vibe. Non-whites exist primarily for flavouring. It was an illustration of the criticism of multiculturalism as white normativity with tolerance for non-whites in supporting roles.
The other thing that bugged me was when Michael Richards went on that racist rant during a stand up gig and nobody from the show had much to say about it.
I recall Jerry Seinfeld going on Letterman(?) and trying to advocate for his friend. I can appreciate their difficulty in figuring out how to balance their disgust (I hope) with their friendship. That's not a defence, mind you, only an understanding of the conflict when a friend fucks up so powerfully. Larry David did play around with it a bit in an episode of the Curb season about the Seinfeld reunion, tho whether that was handled dismissively is each person's call (I found it funny but an evasion).
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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