#jfsp

"A New Type of Dog Show" - from Series 2 of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme

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Transcript:

"So, Mr. Cruft, I gather you have some innovation you wish to put before me?"

"Yes, sir. In a nutshell, I believe I have hit upon a formula for an entirely new type of dog show."

"Indeed. And how did you first become interested in dog shows, Mr. Cruft?"

"I think it was when I realized I had a name that a dog could easily say."

[Audience Laughter]

"I see. Well, nevertheless, I fear I cannot believe that there is any profitable type of dog show left to be invented."

"Yet I believe I have one."

(Scoff) "Oh, come, come, sir. There exist now contests the purpose of which is to determine which dog is the fastest, which dog is the superior fighter...even which dog is the most effective at bending sheep to his will. What aspect of the canine can possibly remain untouched?"

"My idea is this: A competition to determine which dog looks most like...a dog."

[Audience Laughter]

"Which dog looks most like a dog?"

"Precisely."

"But...do not all dogs look like dogs?"

"Perhaps. But some dogs look more like dogs than other dogs do."

[Audience Laughter]

"No they don't."

"They will if we say they do. I propose that we, as the organizers of the contest, draw a picture of a dog, and the winner will be the dog that looks most like the picture we drew."

"But...dogs vary widely from each other in appearance. Surely, er, different breeds and so on..."

"So much the better. We can have sub-competitions: the Cocker Spaniel that looks most like a Cocker Spaniel, the Sealyham most like a Sealyham...and then, the winners of these contests will be pitted up against one another and we will finally be able to determine whether the Labrador that looks most like a Labrador looks more like a Labrador than the Pug that looks most like a Pug looks like a Pug."

[Audience Laughter]

"And, tell me, will the dogs at any point be called upon to do anything?"

"On no account. No, the temperament, abilities, or character of the dog will be entirely irrelevant. Our sole interest will be in selecting the dog most like the picture of a dog drawn by us."

"But what can a dog or an owner possibly do to make a dog look more like the picture?"

"Nothing! But they can breed future dogs in such a way as to attempt to get closer to it."

"Ah... I believe I understand at last. By this method, you hope to encourage wise breeding of the animals to ensure healthier, fitter specimens in the future."

"Not really, no. No, I expect it will encourage intense inbreeding from a catastrophically small stock, thus making dogs less healthy, less fit, and more mad."

[Audience Laughter]

"Then for god's sake, man, why do it?"

"I think...it will help sell dog food."

[Audience Laughter]

"Oh. Well. We do sell dog food..."

"Precisely!"

[Audience Laughter, Applause]

the train driver

the train manager

I haven't listened to JFSP S9 in over a year, despite the fact that before that I listened to it multiple times a year (I've listened to it in total at least ten times if not more, including on my birthday at the top of a mountain while eating a chocolate cheese muffin very slowly- twice).

I just found, after not having been on Twitter for quite a while, the thread that I made after S9E3 aired. I don't recall exactly but I THINK that I listened to the first three episodes in one go, and that pretty much immediately afterward I wrote the thread, not something that is or was usual for me. I focused on an analysis of E3, and rereading it is quite interesting because it makes clearer than I'd remembered that what we would now think of as the obvious plot didn't really become evident til at EARLIEST E4 lol.

I'm not the only person who felt that S9 really jumpstarted at E3, but to this day it's still my favorite episode and it's because of Jerry. I'm sure he reminded lots of people of their grandfather, and all I can say is that I am one of them. When the show came out he was not only still alive but very active- he'd been through a lot of medical issues but had been astonishingly resilient throughout, and even as his health declined as he hit his 90s, he never lost his sense of humor, his creativity, his wit, his curiosity or the vast stores of love he had for all of his kids and grandkids. He also is to this day the example I have in my head for true love for a spouse, as he spent over 30 years caring for my disabled grandmother (whose personality, actually, had a lot of similarities with Hilla's- sharp and practical but with an appreciation for the silly that made everything better) and never truly got over her loss.

I'd listen to Jerry in S9 and think "wow, I'm lucky to have that." But now I don't, and haven't for over a year. And I haven't been able to decide whether I think that listening again will feel good or not.

Maybe another day I'll write more about the actual show, but for today I guess I'll just say that I stand by my feeling in the thread that the structure of building the characters out backward and structuring life through context felt pivotal to me. I gave the example of it being like learning about the lives of your grandparents before you met them, and in retrospect, as I have learned more about my grandfather's past life before I knew him as we go through all the photo albums and video recordings in his house, I'm reminded even more of the feeling of having gotten to know Jerry. I feel like I'm understanding my grandfather's story and what made him not only the man I knew, but the SPECIFIC man he was, as I go back in time.