#pchh
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phrase i heard from a pop culture critic that i now love:
"nakedly derivative"
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Lovvvvve hearing smart people talk about pop culture!!! Hearing the Vibe Check crew and Pop Culture Happy Hour talk about Cowboy Carter has been incredible.
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My Best TV of 2022: A (Unexpectedly) Long List
This is not a problem I expected to have, early in 2022.
Back then, the quality of TV shows was so disappointing, I considered writing one of those cranky, old-school critic’s columns complaining about how the glut of shows in our modern, streaming-fueled media environment was ruining everything.
I should have just waited around a bit. Because, even though I was mightily disappointed by some of the biggest TV projects on the docket – everything from CNN+ to Lords of the Rings: Rings of Power (the repetition in the title should have been warning enough) – lots more TV shows surprised and delighted me this year. Too many to fit on a top ten or top 12 list.
In fact, there were too many to fit on this excellent roundup prepared by me and five other critics at NPR.org (we each got about eight choices). And I will fess up now – I didn’t vibe with FX’s Reservations Dogs in its first season, so I didn’t keep up with the second and it’s not on my list. Many apologies to devoted fans of a show I’m very glad exists and so many love. But I’m not among you devotees (at least not yet).
Here's my list of fave shows from 2022, in no particular order. It’s by design very subjective, so I welcome debate, but it’s about what touched ME on TV this year:
Andor (Disney+) – Started slow, but turned into a masterful reinvention of the Star Wars universe, focused on the gritty, merciless beginnings of the Rebel Alliance. Who knew a Star Wars show with no lightsabers, no Jedi Knights and no Force could be just what the franchise needed? REVIEW
Atlanta (FX/Hulu) – The last two seasons, both released this year, weren’t nearly as impactful as its first two. But this show remains an excellent showcase for creativity and ambitious storytelling in portraying the lives of a quartet of Black millennials.
Here’s a Q&A I moderated w/Atlanta cast and producers at SXSW
youtube
Better Call Saul (AMC) – This Breaking Bad spinoff stuck the landing in series finale that capped both the origin AND ending stories of criminal lawyer Saul Goodman. REVIEW
Abbott Elementary (ABC) – Sidesplitting mockumentary-style comedy about teaching in a Philadelphia school that is so good, because it’s absurd humor is so close to the actual truth. PROFILE of star Quinta Brunson.
The Patient (Hulu) – Steve Carrell delivers his most impressive dramatic role as a therapist interrogating his own messy personal history while kidnapped and forced to help a serial killer. REVIEW.
The U.S. and the Holocaust (PBS) -- Star documentarian Ken Burns reveals how antisemitism in America busted the myth that the U.S. was always on the side of the angels as Adolf Hitler took power in Germany and began implementing his Final Solution.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+) – Focused on the Starship Enterprise 10 years before James T. Kirk would take command, it’s a welcome return to a rollicking, adventure-a-week series that recalls the spirit of the original Trek series better than any other modern reboot/revival. REVIEW
Severance (Apple TV+) - for review, click here
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) - REVIEW
Euphoria (HBO) - for review, click here
A League of Their Own (Prime Video) -REVIEW
This is Us (NBC) - interview w/creator Dan Fogelman here
Sidney (Apple TV +) - REVIEW here
Under the Banner of Heaven (FX/Hulu) - for review, click here
We Own This City (HBO) - for interview w/EP David Simon, click here
Barry, season three (HBO) - for review, click here
Stranger Things (Netflix) - REVIEW
We Need to Talk About Cosby (Showtime) - PCHH discussion here
Harley Quinn (HBO Max) -
The Sandman (Netflix)
As We See It (Prime Video) - REVIEW
The Good Fight (Paramount+)
The Dropout (Hulu) -
The Crown (Netflix) - DISCUSSION here
The Handmaid’s Tale, season 5 (Hulu)
Ozark, season 4 (Netflix) - REVIEW here
Ms. Marvel (Disney+)
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I was listening to the PCHH today about Never Have I Ever, a very uneven show that I ultimately loved and highly recommend, and really took issue with a comment from one of the panelists. He said, "none of these characters seem like nerds, they all have main-character energy." Which... I am sorry, what? Like, every one is the main character of their own story! Does this man think that in real life, only the "popular kids" are the main characters and the nerds literally only exist for b and c plots? I was pretty much in Devi's circle in high school-- we were the kids who literally ran the school, as in we got the paper published and the yearbook designed and were in the plays and president of french club and national honor society. We were nerds or nerd adjacent, and we were the main characters of our own story and often the main character of the school story! I would say the NHIE depiction of being a nerd, which is kids who took school TOO SERIOUSLY and were TOO INVOLVED but also liked to go to parties some times and were a little boy crazy was the closest depiction to what my personal high school was like than anything I've ever seen, including Love Simon which was actually based on my high school experience.
Anyway I was offended by that man, who must have been "cool" and "popular" and not a striver. Whatever!
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having a love hatred relationship with pain, is a bliss and a mess.
pchh... I want more of it, I don't want any of it.
#kawaii#soft grunge#purple#sadisim#the school for good and evil#vivid bad squad#aesthetically pleasing
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Thanks to @magalis for the tag!
Last song I listened to: I’ve been mainlining podcasts recently (99pi, pchh, you’re wrong about, past present, so many more) and not listening much to music so I put my music on shuffle and landed first on Let’s Throw a Party by Sammy Rae & the Friends - a jam.
Last movie I watched: The Godfather II (1974). I am taking full advantage of unemployment and filling in some of the gaps in my Important Films knowledge. Surprised at how hot young Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were!
Last thing I read: I listened to The Husband Hunters by Anne de Courcy a little while back after finishing The Gilded Age and it was very interesting! Being a New York society lady in the late 19th century sounded like a nightmare! Being an English high society lady sounded like a hellish nightmare! Fun stuff. I’ve not been reading much of late but I have grand plans for an Edith Wharton summer. We’ll see how it goes.
I’ll tag @gendervilleusa @mbmused @alphacatsnest and @literarymagpie take or leave as you please. And obviously anyone else who wants to join in, please tell me what you’re listening to/watching/reading
#about me#tag games#nobody asked about tv but I love it so you’re getting it#currently watching: the obi-wan show (fine - I’m having fun) and ms. marvel (a delight) and business proposal (LOVE)#sammy rae & the friends#The Godfather II#the husband hunters
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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Synopsis: This novel is about a coming-of-age murder mystery about a woman accused of the death of the local golden boy and the childhood she had in the marshes that defined her. Kya was born in the marshlands of North Carolina and even as her family disappears one by one from her life, she makes the marsh her home and becomes known by the locals from the town over as Marsh Girl. Twenty years later, the body of Chase Andrews is found beneath an abandoned fire tower on the outskirts of town and the local authorities begin to suspect Kya. Now Kya must face an even greater challenge from her environment and overcome the prejudices of the local townspeople.
My Quibs: I have to say that it was an engaging read and a combination of "coming-of-age" story and "murder mystery" is very interesting. Owens sets up this very quaint snow globe world that's filled with beautiful detail. Almost otherworld-ly from describing a massive flock of birds descending into the marsh like a hurricane of feathers to detailing the nuances of the tail feather of a rare species. Though much like the characters, there is a separation. I never really felt placed within the world and instead very much on the outside peering in, which is ironic considering the message of the novel. I have to agree with PCHH's review that there's not as much depth in the characters as there is in the environment. That the stakes don't feel so high if you consider (despite being a poor and abandoned outsider) all the privileges she has. To simplify one of their points, she's supposed to be ostracized, this young and attractive woman in beautiful floral dresses - "Was there an Anthropologie in the marsh?". And when challenges appear, for instance she risks losing ownership of her property, it seems that solutions appear too, for instance not only are the taxes luckily not insurmountably high but she also has a preexisting means to acquire the money. PCHH also brings up the point that Owens is a conservationist and that the book is clearly from the point of an observer, which I wholeheartedly agree with. And I don't really get the point of studying human stories from behind a glass window.
Should you read it? If you liked the movie. The book was better than the movie.
Similar reads? Just on the point about a woman forced into a situation by society and then put on trial for a crime she may or may not have committed, it made me think again of Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. Which is a fantastic novel and wholly unrelated to Where the Crawdads Sing 😅.
(Spoiler Alert!) I was disappointed by the ending. In regards to the murder mystery part of the novel, it was a decent hook to follow the sheriff as he pieced together different leads. And Owens portrays him as fair-minded so that as the reader I wasn't overtly swayed as the story progressed. And in the end that isn't the point, as Kya is found innocent more through her lawyer than the investigation of the sheriff, winning the trial if not the minds of the townsfolk, which eh I found kinda saccharine. I was hoping Owens would leave it at that to whether or not we believe it was the right decision but instead we get a fast forward to more or less a posthumous confession. So now that I *know* Kya is a premeditated murderer who gets away with it, I feel like the whole story has a sour after taste now. Plus, with the leak about Owen's own history that parallels this, I feel like it really shines a different light on the whole story.
What did you think of Where the Crawdads Sing?
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ok edgar allan poe arc over im sick of seeing that fucking anime boy in the tag . KCCHH you suicidal KCCHH you suicidal PCHH you suicidal KCHIKCH why
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I love the show, I wanna marry the show, I want to live inside of the show. 10/10, no notes.
Same, mate. Same.
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LANDO y. you had one job :(
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Okay for context, Linda Holmes and Glen Weldon host Pop Culture Happy Hour on NPR together, and they are great friends. Linda is also a romance novel writer (and her book, Evvie Drake Starts Over, is wonderful.) Glen is a gay, married man and also often a cold-hearted cynic (which he would freely admit) in the way he approaches media. They seem to be preparing to cover Schitt’s Creek on PCHH, and Linda is watching some or all of it for the first time today. At least the David and Patrick stuff is new to her, and she’s clearly feeling a lot of feelings about it.
Edited to add more, because they can’t stop won’t stop.
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dunno anything abt overwatch but I do know one thing
I’m gay for the cowboy
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Evvie Drake Starts Over - Linda Holmes
Summary: Widowed on the day she plans to leave her husband, Evvie puts on a show of grief for the town, her family, and even her best friend Andy. Andy, concerned about Evvie’s finances and the fact that she rarely leaves the house, suggests that she rent out her extra room to a friend of his, Dean Tenney, a major league baseball pitcher whose career took a nosedive after he got a case of the “yips”.
Quote: “And if you’ve been somebody’s first call, it’s hard not to be their first call anymore. She says it’s one of the reasons why parents sometimes feel sad when their kids are getting married. It’s not just the empty nest. They’re not the first call anymore. I’m not Andy’s first call anymore. It doesn’t mean I want to be his girlfriend, and it doesn’t mean I don’t like her. But it was sad. It’s different. The doctor says it’s important to be sad.”
My rating: 4.0/5.0 Goodreads: 4.05/5.0
Review: Holmes works through all sorts of difficult issues with a kind and gentle touch. The conflicts between the characters feel achingly real. They have difficult conversations with friends, negotiate boundaries with parents, confront disappointed expectations, and define relationships. The marketing has mostly presented this as a romance, but Evvie’s recovery from her marriage is the most compelling aspect of the book. The climactic moment is centered on Evvie’s breakdown, which she has before deciding to finally reach out for help. Notably, when she first reaches out it’s to Andy, her best friend, not to Dean. The relationship between Evvie and Andy is one that brought me to tears a couple of times. The romance is gentle and sweet, with a subtle, nuanced conflict but the title has the right of it; this is more Evvie’s story than Evvie and Dean’s.
To listen: Linda Holmes is the host of the podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour. She brings the same thoughtfulness and kindness to her podcast that she does to her writing.
#evvie drake starts over#linda holmes#evvie drake#book review#book recommendation#romance#recovery#friendship#pchh#pop culture happy hour
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February 1 2019
Pop Culture Happy Hour, “Glass”
Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast, “Mary Queen of Scots”
The Writer’s Panel podcast, “Witchcraft in History, Practice, and Pop Culture with Jenny Calabro”
#mary queen of scots#daily media diary#media diary 2019#glass#m night shyamalan#pchh#stuff you missed in history class#pop culture#pop culture happy hour
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Everyone on the podcast panel have different opinions about the movie but all say that Timmy was BRILLIANT and perfect for the part
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"My song for the summer features the human voice just bursting open as pure, radiant sunshine," exclaims NPR Music's Tom Huizenga of Caroline Shaw & So Percussion's "To the Sky," from their new album Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part, on NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour's Songs of Summer episode. "The summer sun heats up and just pours out of Shaw in full-bodied bright light. It's really an extraordinary moment, and it makes me just want to open up the sun roof of the car and blast this music. Yes, to the sky."
You can hear the ☀️ episode here.
#caroline shaw#so percussion#to the sky#let the soil play its simple part#health : npr#npr music#pchh#song of summer#nonesuch#nonesuch records
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