This week’s newsletter will be a little more fragmented than usual because I just don’t have the time or the headspace to write something coherent about one film or theme. I’m working on two books in two different stages and also my kid had four days off of preschool, and preschool time is my only reliable (well, reliable-ish) chunk of work time most weeks. But I still wanted to send something out because, unfortunately, I am addicted to this newsletter. So! Here’s what I’ve been watching lately. I’ve barely been watching movies lately (my “movies watched this year” list is still in the single digits!), and I feel unmoored. Adrift. Not at all like myself! What have I been doing instead, you ask? Mostly watching television. Television! The very thing I claim to avoid! I do still resent the time commitment of TV, but lately I’ve been loving a lot of stuff, some of it predictable and some of it…well, not. Here’s what I’ve been watching (and listening to) lately.
Somebody Somewhere (TV show; HBOMax)
I started watching Somebody Somewhere because Lauren recommended it to me, and boy was she ever correct. I love this show. It’s set in Kansas, filmed outside of Chicago, but absolutely feels like it could be Ohio (which is, of course, the highest compliment). It’s about Sam, played by Bridget Everett, who moves back to her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas and is struggling to deal with the loss of her sister. But then she befriends a former classmate/choirmate named Joel (I love him and want him to be my friend), ends up attending a “choir practice” that’s actually, like, a queer karaoke night, gets in a lot of fights with her sister, tries to get her alcoholic mom into rehab…there’s a lot going on, but all of it’s very low-key and realistic while also reliably making me laugh out loud a lot. My favorite part is how all the people look (and dress) very realistically. Sam’s bitchy midwest sister dresses like an IRL bitchy midwest mom. No one is overly styled and cute. You will not walk away from this show thinking you need to go shopping. And the houses! They’re all aggressively normal/Midwestern. I didn’t realize how bad it made me feel to constantly watch shows where everyone is thin, has perfectly styled hair, fancy clothing, and lovely homes. It turns out I feel so much better watching people who have cramped kitchens, or mismatched furniture, or rumpled t-shirts. Who knew? Anyway, this is a Duplass brothers joint, if that gives you an idea of what to expect, and I love it so much. Classic “everyone is annoying but we all have to depend on one another anyway” entertainment. My favorite kind!
Wheel of Fortune (tv show, but you know that)
I don’t know when or why, but Hollis and I have become Wheel Watchers. We watch Wheel of Fortune almost every night, and it is in no way great for my productivity, but I don’t mind. I’m under the spell of Pat Sajak and Vanna White and I don’t care about anything except the bonus round, baby. This is, without a doubt, the fastest half hour of my day. I keep saying “Wheel time is faster than real time” because despite frequent commercial breaks for medication and J.D. Vance’s political run (I’m frowning just typing his name…I’ve yet to meet an Ohioan who likes J.D. Vance, although I’m sure they’re out there!), that half hour flies by. Wheel is largely drama-free (except for that time Pat Sajak wouldn’t give a lady an Audi) and doesn’t have the extremely online audience of Jeopardy. We also only watch it via our antenna, so we’re subject to the whims of local broadcasting and weather. We have nearly every streaming service (we don’t pay full price for the majority of them because Hollis is so good at finding deals but we seriously have almost every service, even the weird niche ones, like Acorn and Sundance), but we spend our evenings watching Wheel. I think this is a sign we should cancel everything, because honestly most of the time I’m good with whatever the antenna sees fit to give me.
FBI (TV show; CBS/Paramount+)
Because of our Wheel addiction, Hollis and I have become familiar with the CBS programming that comes on after the show ends. On Mondays, you’ve got a depressingly unfunny sitcom starring Max Greenfield from New Girl and Cedric the Entertainer, where the only concept seems to be “they’re neighbors.” On Wednesdays, reality TV (we watched a few minutes of Celebrity Big Brother one night and got sad about Chris Kattan, and also Hollis didn’t know any of the celebrities). Thursday is Young Sheldon night (I have no thoughts). Fridays are a mystery because we don’t usually watch Wheel. But Tuesday…well, Tuesday is FBI night. Now, please let me make clear that I don’t typically care about procedurals. They just don’t capture my attention. But there’s something about FBI that has bewitched us, body and soul, and it’s almost physically impossible for me to resist its siren song. It’s set in NYC, of course, and it’s about the FBI, of course, and every time we watch it Hollis says “this show is made for 70 year old white people who are scared of the city.” The first episode was about dangerous gang violence and the second was about a girl who poisoned salad bars because she got into metal music (!) on the internet (!!) and then she wanted to become a terrorist bride (!!!). And yet we’re perplexed by FBI’s politics. On the one hand, these are fear-mongering stories seemingly designed to prey on a panicked, conspiracy theory riddled public. On the other hand, the first episode ended with the discovery that the bombings were not caused by a gang, but by an alt-right commentator who was a white nationalist and trying to start a race war. I guess I also have to leave open the possibility that FBI doesn’t have any larger message to send. Well, okay, there’s one message, and his name is JUBAL VALENTINE.
Jubal Valentine (I still can’t get over this name) is played by Jeremy Sisto, and Hollis and I are obsessed with him. My primary Jeremy Sisto associations are Clueless and Waitress, and I truly cannot believe this is the same man.
He looks like Jeremy Sisto’s older brother who got into working out. I had no idea he looked like this now. He constantly and dramatically talks with his hands and he lights up a room! He’s also almost always in one room, staring at screens that show suspects’ faces while he barks out orders with his deep voice. I don’t know that I have a clear recommendation here. Watching CBS? Getting very into a supremely untrendy crime procedural? Following Jeremy Sisto to the ends of the earth? I guess this is a plug for the idea of simply watching whatever is on TV at the moment and using your antenna. This is why I’m never gonna be the person who reads more by simply not watching television. It very literally couldn’t be me.
Joe Pera Talks with You (tv show, HBOMax)
I finally finished the third season and I’m so sad it’s over. I know I’ve talked about this show a lot, but this is just a reminder that it’s a beautiful little weird gem. Much like Somebody Somewhere, people have very real houses. It makes me want to move to Marquette, Michigan! It makes me want to learn how to make a chair! It makes me want to create an underground bunker! I just love this show and although I truly believe most shows shouldn’t go past three-five seasons (except for FBI, which I hope gives Jeremy Sisto work for the rest of his life if he so wishes), I hope this one continues for a long time. It always makes me feel really good about life and also I laugh a lot.
Waiting for Impact (podcast, Dave Holmes)
If you take one recommendation from me, let it be this one. As a 35 year old woman, Dave Holmes is very familiar to me because he was on MTV during my prime TRL/MTV Spring Break watching years. And then, much later, I listened to his memoir, Party of One, and it became one of my favorite audiobooks ever. It truly felt like listening to a friend tell you stories, and when it ended I was so sad. Luckily, he recently did a podcast that, no hyperbole, changed the way I think about my career. It’s called Waiting for Impact, and it’s ostensibly about Dave investigating what became of a band called Sudden Impact, who briefly appeared in Boyz II Men’s Motownphilly video and then were never heard from again. The idea of getting obsessed with something that seemingly no one else cares about is, well, the idea behind my newsletter (and also my life, I guess), so I was immediately on board. But the podcast becomes so much bigger than one band. It’s about the idea of success, and failure, and shame. It’s about what it means to pursue a creative career, and what happens if it doesn’t work out the way you thought it would. It’s about leaving a dream in the past and finding a new one, maybe one that suits you better. It’s about all the things you can do in one life, and about how one public failure actually doesn’t define you at all! It’s also about 90’s music, and it inspired me to rewatch a lot of videos, including One Sweet Day and Baby, Baby (both recommended). And, yeah, it made me think about my own career and it challenged some ideas that had worked their ways into my brain without me even realizing it. I laughed out loud so much and by the end, you guessed it, I cried. Everyone he interviews is so smart and interesting and funny, and Dave himself is the ideal interviewer (curious, non-judgmental). I can’t recommend this podcast enough, and I’ll listen to anything Dave Holmes puts out in the future.
All the Oscar Nominees
Okay, so not all. I always tell Hollis that the Oscars are my super bowl (except this year I cared about the super bowl a lot because OHIO). I would love to someday watch all the best picture nominees, but that’s just not gonna happen because I tried last year and I immediately got bored and gave up (unfortunately, I just don’t think I’m gonna become an Aaron Sorkin fan at 35…it’s too late for me). My kid and I are working our way through the animation nominees (except for Flee, because he’s five) and we loved The Mitchells vs. the Machines. We’ve decided Raya and the Last Dragon is too scary (people getting turned into statues? Not for my kid!). Encanto is dominating my house to the point that I’m considering sending a formal complaint to Lin-Manuel Miranda. Luca is very nice. Otherwise, I’ve really only seen CODA, which so many people are hilariously mad about (I’m sorry that one nominee is a pleasant, straightforward family movie). But I am planning to watch some of the others! Drive My Car especially. I don’t know, you guys, I just love the Oscars and I always have. I love the speeches, especially the ones from the “small” behind-the-scenes categories. I think it’s nice to recognize people who work hard on art and entertainment, and also it’s just a lot of fun. Anyway, I’ll probably give up after a few films like I did last year and revert to my true self (someone who primarily watches melodramas from the 1930s).
This newsletter didn’t really end up being any shorter than usual, but there you go! As always, let me know if you have any recommendations for me. Since I started writing this edition of the newsletter, I’ve watched a movie from the 1930s so I’m feeling much more settled. There might not be a newsletter next week, because of the whole “I’m actually trying to do my job” thing, but no matter what, I’ll see you soon.
Stuff I've Been Into, Vol. 1
OMG! Jeremy Sisto was on Law and Order way back when. (I'm old enough to be your mother.) He was hot in a tubby, intellectual way and I loved him. Oooh baby, so glad he's back. And smokin' hot.
Jeremy Sisto will ALWAYS be Elton from Clueless, but the other thing (besides Waitress) that I always think of him in is Six Feet Under as Billy, Brenda's bipolar brother, and Claire's boyfriend at one point.