Depths of Television

Well, well, well, Donny. Here we are, on Day 5 of your administration and you’re off to a rocky start. Well, rocky for people who care about freedom of press or environmental safeguards, quite successful for corporate america. But I digress. You’ve taken a sacred oath to protect the constitution and serve the American people. But do you even know what America is?

So much of my understanding of America is wrapped in my early exposure to American TV shows and I think TV is also perfect medium for you to get to know this country better. You think in sound bites. Your obsession with image is unparalleled. Your attention span is... limited, to put it kindly. There are great shows being crafted and shared everyday, so here's a short list for you. This might help you get ready for the next..sigh..4 years.

  Parks & Recreation. You literally don’t seem to know what the government does. And you clearly have no respect for women. This show should really be mandatory viewing for all elected officials. Parks captures how much passion and hard work goes into local government. It also showcases how people of different political leanings can share the same values. I know you’ll probably hate everything about this show except for Jeremy Jamm, so maybe Mike Schur’s newest show The Good Place might be more up your alley. It’s about a shitty person who mistakenly ends up in the Good Place (as opposed to the Bad Place) and has to scramble to pretend to be a good person to stay there. Oh? Too on the nose? Mike Schur might be this generation’s Norman Lear the way he sneaks progressive values into mainstream network shows and quietly subverts audience expectations.

Another contender for today’s Norman Lear is Kenya Barris, creator and showrunner of Black-ish. If you want to know what half of America really felt on November 9th (and still feels), watch the episode of Black-ish dealing with the election results. To be a president means to be serve every citizen (and non-citizen) regardless of how they voted. The American people are not your enemies, Donny. Critics, absolutely. Detractors, sure. But as it turns out, we also want the best for this country, its denizens, and the planet. Black-ish tells the story of a typical upper middle class American family, dealing with standard sitcom shenanigans. However, the show does not shy away from controversial subjects. In the past three seasons, they've deftly covered police brutality, racial profiling, and gender roles. The cast is hilarious and last season rightfully earned lead actress Tracee Ellis Ross a Golden Globe Award. I’m excited to see what other topics this show will tackle under your administration.

Speaking of Norman Lear, why not just watch One Day At A Time, the Netflix reboot of Lear’s show from the late 1970’s about a Cuban-American family (gasp) led by a single mom (double gasp) who is also an Army veteran. The story is universal, though the details are specific to the immigrant experience. The cast, led by Justina Machado and Rita Morena are utterly charming. The writing can be fairly clunky, and the plot lines formulaic. Despite being filmed in an archaic sitcom format, the show won me over by relentlessly tugging at my heartstrings. I'm not sure that will work on you but now that I know how much you like laugh tracks, you may find it adorable. Well, tolerable. 

I have a confession to make: I didn’t think the Wet Hot American Summer movie was funny. As a non-American, non-camp going, non-marijuana smoking woman, Camp Firewood and its inhabitants did not resonate with me. As the collective star of the cast kept rising, the movie would occasionally resurface; I kept trying to like it, albeit unsuccessfully. 

The TV show was a different story. Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp landed on Netflix last July and I finally got it. What changed? Other than the obvious facts—I got older and my taste got better—I think audiences today are better primed for and more receptive to comedy of this nature. 

Alt-comedy is not a new phenomenon; it is an established, decades old genre. Absurdist sketch shows like Kids in the Hall, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The State, and Second City Television (SCTV) helped pave the way for WAHS. However, given the proliferation of comedy podcasts (Comedy Bang Bang), stoner web series (Broad City, High Maintenance), and fringe shows (Nathan For You, Review) that explore the awkward space between comedy and parody, now even mainstream audiences have different expectations of what funny is. 

We live in a post-30 Rock-on-network-TV world—a world in which the lines between comedy and drama have been blurred to the point that award show categories feel arbitrary and stifling. Orange is the New Black has been nominated for both comedy & drama Emmy awards; Transparent might as well be. Peabody award–winning Louie defies any categorization. Louie CK’s newest project, Horace & Pete, continues to push the boundaries of traditional models of production and distribution. 

...now even mainstream audiences have different expectations of what funny is

  The parameters of accessibility have shifted, both from a physical medium point of view as well as a content perspective. A viewer discovering Bob’s Burgers on Fox, Hulu, or Netflix might be interested enough to explore creator Loren Bouchard’s previous shows—Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist or Home Movies—and because of the internet, find them easily. Both shows ran on cable channels originally (Comedy Central and Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, respectively) but viewers might not have noticed them. Having Bob’s Burgers serve as a gateway into the raw, uncut stuff consequently forces a viewer to push past their previously defined boundaries of “comedy.” Similarly, even a casual fan or FXX’s Archer would be more receptive to Adam Reed’s Sealab 2021, a show they overlooked when it premiered on Cartoon Network, before the Adult Swim channel even launched. 

Not only are there various points of entry for different comedic sensibilities, there is also a range of ways in which to engage them. As a fan of Paul F. Tompkins for his impeccable Werner Herzog impression on the Doug Loves Movies podcast, I felt compelled to listen to Superego and The Thrilling Adventure Hour. I recognized his voice work as the character Mr. Peanutbutter on Bojack Horseman. Using HBO NOW, I could delve into the 90’s sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David, an inappropriate show for me when it originally aired. These days, comedy (and comedians) have a certain accessibility that makes consuming media feel more personal and relatable than ever before.

A perfect example of this is Maria Bamford and Mitch Hurwitz’s new Netflix show, Lady Dynamite. The non-linear narrative structure, meta references, and jarring tone could have been off-putting, but instead blend together to form an aggressively delightful 12 episodes of TV. A  plethora of guest stars richly populate Bamford’s world, one that is somehow both inviting and alienating. Strands of Arrested Development’s DNA run through Lady Dynamite, so fans of Mitch Hurwitz should definitely give it a try. Lady Dynamite will not be everybody’s cup of tea. It’s more like a cup of herbal leaves brewed from tea your sister’s friend brought back from a “life-altering” Eat, Pray, Love-esque jaunt to Asia. The first sip tastes great, the bitter afternotes are confusing, but ultimately, you are left satiated, warm, and mildly nauseous.

Comedians using their personal troubles and trauma as creative fodder for new material is fortunately still a tradition that leads to some beautiful albeit disturbing work. The media might change, but the message remains the same. Go forth and laugh, weirdos. 

Jane the Virgin, the honey-sweet telenovela on the CW has been earning praise from critics for its sharp writing and wonderful acting (which garnered star Gina Rodriguez a Golden Globe for her first season). Jane plays with a concept each episode, often in a tongue in cheek way. The episode "Chapter 37" attempted to tackle feminism- specifically what feminism looks and doesn’t look like. The episode uses Jane’s new faculty advisor (played by episode director Melanie Mayron as a cliched portrait of a second wave feminist) to explain the concept of the Bechdel test to Jane. We see a green check flash on the screen when a scene passes the Bechdel test, and a red cross when it doesn’t. It’s a clever conceit which encapsulates Jane the Virgin's ability to gently mock a trope while embracing it at the same time.

There are definitely scenes that don’t pass the Bechdel test- Jane and her mother talking about Jane’s fiance, Michael or Jane’s abuela’s love interest, Pablo. But to argue this show is not feminist because of its genre or ability to constantly pass this one standard is silly and dismissive. Which is what the writers were ultimately aiming for, and underline with Marlene (is her hair getting frizzier in every scene?). The Bechdel test is just one measure after all. Even when Jane’s storylines revolve around her love interests, her sense of agency is never undermined. That the Bechdel test is not always useful because it can be reductive is a valid assertion.

"But to argue that this show is not feminist because of its genre or ability to constantly pass this one standard is silly and dismissive."

However, the show can struggle when even when it does pass the Bechdel test.  By pitting Jane against Petra, Jane's foil and her baby daddy's other baby mama, in the “who’s the better mother” competition, the show falls into an anti-feminist trap. Instead of exploring Petra’s valid decision to hire nannies and return to work as a choice she can afford to make, it is portrayed as her way to avoid contact with her twins. I’m glad the show introduced the concept of the Bechdel test to a larger audience and tried to grapple with some of its themes, but it fell short of the mark in this episode. If the show really wanted to compare Jane and Petra as mothers (which it really shouldn't) it would have to take into account their support systems. Jane’s mother and grandmother will always be there to support her, she has Michael, she has Rogelio, she has her friends. Petra has…..Rafael, kind of? 

I should have had more faith. The next episode "Chapter 38" directly addresses these issues. Petra has never been the most maternal or nurturing and thus, becomes a vehicle through which the writers explore postpartum depression. Not every mother immediately bonds with their child, and this was a great way to depict that dilemma while being true to Petra’s character. By bringing back Petra's almost cartoonishly evil mother, the audience is once again sympathetic towards Petra. In fact, Petra is the episode's saviour when she secretly buys a house for Jane and Michael. This character development proves necessary when we see Petra do the unthinkable for a mother; abandon her children. 

Jane the Virgin attempts to deconstruct lofty concepts and is not always successful. But that’s half the fun. After all, the show uses complex and interesting characters to introduce the Bechdel test to a wide network audience. Even within conventional soapy plotlines, the writers find new angles and stories to tell. By pushing past the boundaries of a telenovela, this show shines brighter than most network shows currently on the air. For that, I’m grateful.

Despite my love for almost all things television, I’ve never had any desire to actually work in the industry. I don’t think I’m creative enough to write/ act/ direct. Producing, though...another story. Given the drivel that consistently manages to get made, I think I have some good enough ideas. Unfortunately, most (ALL) of my TV show pitches are book adaptations. Here’s one of my passion dream projects.

Pitch: Adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies (one of my favorite books of all time, the title is permanently inked on me). This poignant collection of short stories was Lahiri’s incredible debut. The unfettered prose brilliantly captures the trauma of the immigrant experience, the quiet struggle of assimilation, and development of identity. Most of the stories are set in the suburbs of upper-middle class Boston, thus appealing to white NPR type viewers (perfect for HBO). The immigrant story transcends the Indian diaspora. It will be probably low rated but a critical darling, and will also draw Southeast Asian fans who will watch any show with brown people in them.

Channel: HBO and HBO only. Given their masterful treatment of Olive Kitteridge, I have faith the creative team will be able to do this justice and the content matter would be squarely in their wheelhouse.

Format: Miniseries, British style, click below for my favorite ones.

"A Temporary Matter"

"When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine"

"Interpreter of Maladies"

"A Real Durwan"

"Sexy"

"Mrs. Sen's"

"This Blessed House"

"The Treatment of Bibi Haldar"

I’ve omitted the last story because I think it’s explored better in Lahiri’s second collection (Season 2, perhaps?)

Cast: Freida Pinto (Twinkle), Kal Penn (Mr Das), Priyanka Chopra (Mrs. Das), Archie Panjabi (Shoba), Aasif Mandavi (Dev perhaps), Grace Gummer (Miranda), Tina Desai (Bibi Haldar)

Crew: Nicole Holofcener, Mira Nair (duh), Michael Uppendahl, Lesli Linka Glatter, Tarsem Singh, A different director for each episode, allowing them to play with tone and feel. However, much like the land of Pete and Pete, it will be perpetually fall, and feature a lot of earth tones.

The third season of Inside Amy Schumer premiered on Tuesday, April 21 with a strong and fearless episode. The sketches offered up commentary on rape in sports culture (using a Friday Night Lights parody), eviscerated the media's portrayal of older women in celebrity culture, and gave us the best birth control ad I've seen in recent times. 

However, one of my major criticisms of Schumer has always been her treatment of race. IAS has brought me around on Schumer's stand-up but some of her material is more cringe worthy the second time around. Her "jokes" about Latina women's behavior are offensive and lazy. In the aforementioned "Last Fuckable Day" skit, which was otherwise pitch perfect, having an actress of color would have gone a long way. The issues Schumer, Fey, et all are tackling are even worse for women in color who already are underrepresented in media, and especially in Hollywood. Casting Patricia Arquette is doubly perfect, given her acceptance speech at the 2015 Oscars. 

"And it's time for all the women in America and all the men that love women, and all the gay people, and all the people of color that we've all fought for to fight for us now."  -- Patricia Arquette