2021: The Year It Got Real(ity)For the past 8 years I've kept a diary of all the culture I take in during a year: TV, film, books, podcasts. Loosely inspired by Steven Soderbergh's annual lists, which are insane.
This year was weird. The first half of the year, we were expecting a baby; the list is full of pregnancy books, parenting books, and a bunch of TV and film as we a) tried to relax and bond and b) tried to cram in a lot of things before le bebe arrived. The second half does a lot of the same, except now I'm up with a baby at 5am looking for something to keep me awake. Partly as "research" for a "project," I started watching reality competitions, particularly Survivor. Turns out you can watch a lot of seasons of Survivor while your baby sleeps on your. shoulder. Highlights Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado - excellent and surprising short story collection. Les Vampires - classic series of French silent films following a newspaper man out to stop a criminal gang. Fantastic and available on YouTube. I Think You Should Leave - we discovered this series about 6 weeks before the baby arrived and watch an episode the night we went into labor (I'm pretty sure we could blame the timing on a particular sketch). About a week into baby's life, we had a date night while the Grandparents took care of the baby, and we sat together in bed, eating popcorn and watching three episodes of the second season. One of my favorite nights of the year. The Birth Partner - speaking of baby, I finished this How To on my way home from work, the day we went into labor. Excellent timing! New Teeth by Simon Rich - fantastic stories to read and laugh at early in the morning as a new father. But also this made me seek out Miracle Workers, which is a tremendous delight as well. Patricia Highsmith's Ripliad - I burned through all five of her Tom Ripley novels, never having read them before. A real treat. The Velvet Underground, by Todd Haynes - Gorgeous. Not to be seen without a fantastic sound and video set up. Daniel Craig Retrospective - I'm a Bond nerd; One of my earliest memories is waking up in the middle of the night and finding my grandfather watching YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. In the lead up to the release of NO TIME TO DIE, I watched all of DC's 007 appearances leading up to the new one. I watched them early in the morning as my child slept on my shoulder. B won't have memories of this, but I will. RULES - I don't track food or music, unless I experienced them with cultural intention. Meaning: getting take out doesn't count, going to a restaurant doesn't count; but going to a restaurant with the intention of trying something spectacular, does. Same with music. - I similarly don't track news, one-off articles, or short reading, unless it's with specific intention. - This is not a place to differentiate between live theatre, filmed archival theatre, zoom theatre. If the author's medium is theatre, it's theatre as far as this list is concerned. LEGEND Film. Screenplay (Read) Play (seen live) Play (read) TV (watched) TV (read) Book / Publication Podcast. Museum / Art Gallery Music. Food January 1 This is Love: Something Large & Wild Killing Eve 3.2 January 2 The Plague Year by Lawrence Wright Ken Burns Masterclass Ep 11-13, 16-22 Killing Eve 3.3 Schitt’s Creek 2.2 January 3 Ken Burns Masterclass Ep 23 - 25 City Hall, dir Frederick Wiseman (1:45 minutes) January 4 John Warren’s Writing the Scene, Module 1 - 5 City Hall, dir Frederick Wiseman (next 1:15 minutes) January 5 John Warren’s Writing the Scene, Module 6 & 7 City Hall, dir Frederick Wiseman (finished) January 6 John Warren’s Writing the Scene, Module 8 The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey History of Swear Words: Fuck, Shit Schitts Creek 2.2 January 7 John Warren’s Writing the Scene, Module 9 History of Swear Words: Bitch Killing Eve 3.4 January 8 Beetlejuice dir. Tim Burton January 9 FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened January 10 Schitt’s Creek 2.3, 2.4 January 11 The Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Fred Armisen The Bechdel Group Overnight 10 Minute Play Readings January 12 The Talented Mr. Ripley, w/d Anthony Minghella January 13 Fosse/Verdon 1.1 January 14 Killing Eve 3.5 January 15 Pretend Its a City Ep 1 & 2 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: JB Smoove Killing Eve 3.6 January 16 Edward Scissorhands January 17 Noble Blood: Marie Antoinette’s Second Death; Charles II; The Claimant Killing Eve 3.7 January 18 Noble Blood: Ever Dearest Cousin Nicky Pretend its a City, Ep 3 & 4 Killing Eve 3.8 January 19 Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett January 20 Fosse/Verdon Ep 2+3 January 21 Schitt’s Creek 2.5 January 22 Blown Away 2.1 and 2.2 January 23 Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story Blown Away 2.3 January 24 Noble Blood: Until We Meet Again Pretend It’s a City Ep 5, 6, 7 The Happiness Lab: Self Compassion Blown Away 2.5 January 25 Noble Blood: What Eye has Wept for George IV The Office 1.1 (British) 10 Years with Miyazaki pt. 1: Ponyo is Here Blown Away: 2.6 January 27 Low Life by Luc Sante Dramatist Magazine July/August 2020 Belle Reprieve by Peggy Shaw and Lois Weaver 10 Years with Miyazaki pt. 2 Drawing What’s Real Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Mike Birbiglia Noble Blood: the Maybe Queen Arbella Blown Away, 2.7, 8, and 9 January 28 Noble Blood: The Butler in the Bedroom with the Sabre Noble Blood: The Marquise and her Poisons 10 Years with Miyazaki pt. 3: Go Ahead, Threaten Me Blown Away, 2.10 January 29 10 Years with Miyazaki pt. 4: No Cheap Excuses Mall Murder Madness January 30 The Theater and Cinema of Buster Keaton The Trip to Greece January 31 Noble Blood: Let Him Be Hanged There for a Lamb Noble Blood: The Wedding Ended in Blood Noble Blood: The Ice Queen The Railrodder (with Buster Keaton) Blown Away 1.1, 1.2 February 1 Buster Keaton’s The Playhouse Buster Keaton’s Cops Blown Away 1.3, 1.4 February 2 Blown Away 1.5, 6, 7 February 3 Wild and Crazy Guys, by Nick de Semlyen The General, w/d Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman Blown Away, 1.8 February 4 Dramatist Magazine, Sept/Oct 2020 Blown Away 1.9, 1.10 February 5 Dramatist Magazine Nov/December 2020 Making’ It 2.1 February 6 Dramatist Magazine Jan/Feb 2021 Noble Blood: The Neck and the Necklace Noble Blood: The Swan King Went Mad Making It 2.2 Dick Johnson is Dead February 7 Buster Keaton’s One Week Noble Blood: Today We Leave for Mexico Noble Blood: Catherine the Great and Her Husband the Mediocre Making It 2.3 Super Bowl February 8 Vanity Fair March 2021 February 9 Making It 2.4 and 2.5 February 10 Fosse/Verdon EP 4 + 5 February 11 Making it 2.6 February 12 Expecting Better by Emily Oster Writer’s Digest Sep/Oct 2020 Making It 2.7 February 13 Making It 2.8 Finale Framing Britney Spears February 14 Writer’s Digest Nov/Dec 2020 Roman Holiday, dir William Wyler When Harry Met Sally, dir Rob Reiner Pretty Woman, dir Garry Marshall Music and Lyrics, w/d Marc Lawrence February 15 Writer’s Digest Jan/Feb 2021 February 16 Puccini’s Tosca, dir. Mark Lamos (2000) Schitt’s Creek 2.7 and 2.8 February 17 Fosse/Verdon Ep 6 Schitt’s Creek 2.9 February 18 The Secret Life of the American Musical, by Jack Viertel Skitch Henderson 80th Birthday Celebration, NYC Pops Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: David Spade Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Dave Grohl Fran Lebowitz: Public Speaking, dir Martin Scorsese Schitt’s Creek 2.10 and 2.11 February 19 2046, w/d Wong Kar Wai February 20 Funny Face, dir Stanley Donen February 21 Noble Blood: Divorced Noble Blood: Beheaded Schitt’s Creek 2.12 and 2.13 February 22 Arrested Development 1.3 February 23 Lizzie Borden, by Jack Beeson Preacher 1.1 February 24 Confessions of a Window Dresser by Simon Doonan The Ventriloquist’s Wife, by Charles Ludlam The Enchanted Pig, by Charles Ludlam Arrested Development 1.4 February 25 Faster Pussycat! Kill Kill! February 26 The Kid From Brooklyn (finished) Arrested Development 1.5, 1.6 February 27 I Care A Lot February 28 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Kenan Thompson Noble Blood: Died (Jane Seymour) Monty Python and the Holy Grail March 2 Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo Final Table 1.1: Mexico March 3 Fosse/Verdon 1.9 March 4 Home Game, by Michael Lewis Puccini’s La Boheme (Live at Lincoln Center 2001) - finished Final Table 1.2: Spain March 5 Final Table 1.3: United Kingdom March 6 A Night at the Roxbury March 7 The Bluest Eye, by Tony Morrison Final Table 1.4: Brazil March 8 Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill Final Table 1.5: India March 9 Final Table 1.6: USA March 10 Final Table 1.7: Italy March 11 Arrested Development 1.7 March 12 Final Table 1.8: Japan Final Table 1.9: France March 13 The Expectant Father by Brott and Ash Final Table: Finale Arrested Development 1.8 March 14 Valley of the Dolls March 15 Bluebeard, by Charles Ludlam Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Jane Lynch Murder Among the Mormons, Part 1 March 17 Murder Among the Mormons, Part 2 March 18 Arrested Development 1.9 March 19 The Business of Being Born Murder Among the Mormons, Part 3 March 20 Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter Night Stalker Ep 1 March 21 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Angela Kinsey & Jenna Fischer Night Stalker ep 2 Arrested Development 1.10 March 22 Vanity Fair Hollywood: April 2021 The Adventures of Prince Ahmed, w/d Lotte Reiniger Arrested Development 1.11 March 23 Night Stalker ep 3 Arrested Development 1.12 March 24 The Codebreaker: Elizabeth Smith Friedman The Blacksmith, w/d Buster Keaton (Short) Writer’s Digest March/April 2021 Night Stalker pt 4 March 25 Arrested Development 1.13-1.15 Imposter by Philip K Dick March 26 The King of the Elves by Philip K Dick Arrested Development 1.16 March 27 Breakfast at Tiffany’s Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga March 28 The First Wives Club Werner Herzog MC: 1 - 4 Arrested Development 1.17 March 29 Marty Feldman: Six Degrees of Separation Arrested Development 1.18 and 1.19 March 30 Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Arrested Development 1.20 and 1.21 March 31 Jack and the Beanstalk, by Charles Ludlam Medea by Charles Ludlam Arrested Development 1.22 April 1 Kind Hearts and Coronets Shirley, dir Josephine Decker April 2 The Last Blockbuster Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado April 3 Be Kind Rewind w/d Michel Gondry April 4 Instant Hotel 2.1 April 5 Vanity Fair April 2021 Werner Herzog MC: 5, 6, 7 April 6 Instant Hotel 2.2, 2.3 April 7 Instant Hotel 2.4 April 8 Les Vampires 1: The Severed Head dir. Louis Feuillade Les Vampires 2: The Ring that Kills dir. Louis Feuillade Instant Hotel 2.5 April 10 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Adam McKay; Seth Myers Instant Hotel 2.6 This Is a Robbery Ep 1 April 11 The Happiness Lab: Reconnect with the Moment The Happiness Lab: Feed Yourself Like You’d Feed a Loved One This is a Robbery, Ep 2: Vipers in the Grass This is a Robbery, Ep 3: We’ve Seen It April 12 Les Vampires Ep 3: The Red Cryptogram Les Vampires Ep 4: The Spectre April 13 This is a Robbery Ep 4: $10Million Reward QAnon: Calm Before the Storm April 14 Les Vampires Ep 5: The Corpse’s Escape Les Vampires Ep 6: The Eyes That Mesmerize April 15 QAnon: Do you Believe in Coincidences April 16 The Grand Tarot by Charles Ludlam QAnon: Disinformation is Real QAnon: Panic in D.C. April 17 Mark Dery and Peter Neumeyer in Conversation QAnon: Game Over. QAnon: The Storm April 18 The Adjustment Team by Philip K Dick Foster, You’re Dead, by Philip K Dick Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Bob Odenkirk Planet of the Grapes LIVE, Peter Michael Marino Legally Blonde April 19 Upon the Dull Earth by Philip K Duck Camille by Charles Ludlam Les Vampires Ep 7: Satanas April 20 Autofac by Philip K. Dick April 21 Les Vampires Ep 8: The Lord of Thunder Arrested Development 2.1 The Minority Report, by Philip K. Dick April 23 Arrested Development 2.2 and 2.3 April 24 Precious Artifact by Philip K. Dick Todd London Creativity Workshop April 25 A Game of Unchance by Philip K. Dick Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Abbi Jacobson Arrested Development 2.4 and 2.5 April 26 We Can Remember it For You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick Les Vampires Ep 9: The Poison Man Master Class: Werner Herzog, Pt 8 & 9 Arrested Development 2.6 and 2.7 April 27 Aeschylus and Athens, by George Thomson Generation Hustle: Hollywood Con Queen April 28 Master Class: Werner Herzog, Pt 10 Les Vampires Ep 10: The Bloody Wedding Arrested Development 2.8 Tao Te Ching April 29 WTF Podcast: David Letterman Arrested Development 2.9 April 30 Generation Hustle: Anna Delvey May 1 Arrested Development 2.10 May 2 When No One Was Looking, by Alyssa Cole WTF Podcast: John Waters May 3 A Long Way Home, by Steve Bogart WTF Podcast: Steve Coogan Arrested Development 2.11 May 4 Vanity Fair May 2021 WTF Podcast: Robin Williams Generation Hustle: Prince of Fraud May 6 Master Class: Werner Herzog, Pt 11 Arrested Development 2.12, 2.13 May 7 WTF Podcast: Conan O’Brien Sons of Sam Ep 1 May 8 Sons of Sam Ep 2 May 9 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Eric Andre Sons of Sam Ep 3 Baby Cobra, Ali Wong May 10 Chuck Jones: Extremes and InBetweens Sons of Sam Ep 4 May 11 Arrested development 2.14, 2.15 May 13 Quincy Arrested Development 2.16 May 14 We Play Ourselves, by Jen Silverman Evil Genius Part I Hard Knock Wife, Ali Wong May 15 Evil Genius Part II May 16 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Seth Rogen Song Exploder: Losing My Religion Song Exploder: HURT May 17 Arrested Development 2.17 May 18 The Gift by Lewis Hyde May 20 Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of the Dana Carvey Show Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, by Peter Brown Dinosaur Vs. Mommy by Bob Shea A Sick Day for Amos McGee, by Philip and Erin Stead May 21 WTF Podcast: John Oliver Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop May 23 These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong Evil Genius Part III May 24 Clementine, by Sarah Pennypacker Evil Genius Part IV May 26 Arrested Develpment 2.18, 3.1 May 27 This American Wife, by Fake Friends May 31 Mare of Easttown Ep 1 June 1 Mare of Easttown Ep 2 Arrested Development 3.2 June 3 Mare of Easttown Ep 3 Arrested Development 3.3 June 4 Mare of Easttown Ep 4 and 5 June 5 Mare of Easttown Ep 6 and 7 June 6 WTF Podcast: John Mulaney Arrested Development 3.4 Don’t Fuck With Cats Ep 1 June 7 Arrested Development, 3.5 New York New York New York by Thomas Dyja June 8 Fosse/Verdon EP 8 Arrested Development 3.6 June 9 Vanity Fair June 2021 The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl WTF Podcast, Stephen Colbert Arrested Development 3.7 June 10 Ivy & Bean, by Annie Barrows Broken Record: Brian Eno Arrested Development 3.8 June 11 Kid Sheriff and the Terrible Toads, by Bob Shea and Lane Smith Mother Bruce, by Ryan T. Higgins Arrested Development 3.9 June 12 The Adventures of Nanny Piggins by R.A. Spratt and Dan Santat Don’t Fuck With Cats, Ep 2 Arrested Development 3.10 June 13 DIA: Beacon Don’t Fuck With Cats Ep 3 Arrested Development 3.11 June 14 What’s Opera Doc? One Froggy Evening Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Kathryn Hahn Arrested Development 3.12 Balanchine’s Elegie (Stravinsky; with Warren Laffredo) June 15 Arrested Development 3.12 June 16 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Jon Krasinski June 17 Hacks, Ep 1 June 18 Hacks Ep 2 June 19 The Vow, Ep 1 June 20 Trapped in a Video Game, by Dustin Brady The Curious Garden by Peter Brown Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Jake Tapper A Quiet Place pt 2, w/d Jon Krasinski Hacks ep 3 June 22 The Wild Robot by Peter Brown Hacks Ep 4 June 23 Hacks ep 5 June 24 Squids Will Be Squids by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith Dog Man by Day Pilkey The Vow, ep 2 June 26 The First Forty Days, by Heng Ou June 27 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Desus & Mero Broken Record: Jeff Tweedy Bo Burnham: Inside June 28 Hacks Ep 6&7 June 29 Hacks Ep 8&9 June 30 The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Bill Burr Julian is a Mermaid, by Jessica Love The Tub Grandfather, by Pam Conrad / Richard Egielski July 1 The Twits, by Roald Dahl July 3 Hacks ep 10 July 4 Jaws, dir Steven Spielberg July 5 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Sean Penn Starstruck Ep 1 July 6 Starstruck Ep 2 July 7 The Vow, Ep 3 Starstruck Ep 3 In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson July 9. The Vow, Ep 4 July 10 WTF Podcast: Mike Myers The Vow, Ep 5 Starstruck, Ep 4&5 July 11 Vanity Fair, July/August 2021 The Vow, Ep 6 Starstruck Ep 6 The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl July 12 My Father’s Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett I Think You Should Leave, with Tim Robinson, 1.1 July 13 The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (Live) The Vow ep 7 I Think You Should Leave, with Tim Robinson 1.2 July 14 The BFG by Roald Dahl The Vow part 8 July 15 I Think You Should Leave, with Tim Robinson 1.3 The Witches by Roald Dahl Burlesque July 16 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Weird Al Yankovic July 18 I Think You Should Leave, with Tim Robinson 1.4 July 20 I Think You Should Leave, with Tim Robinson 1.5 July 21 Broadchurch 1.1 July 22 The Vow part 9 July 23 I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, 1.6 July 24 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Daniel Radcliffe July 26 I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, 2.1 and 2.2 July 27 I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, 2.3 The Birth Partner, by Penny Simkin and Katie Rohs August 1 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, John Wilson August 3 I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6 August 5 Salut au Monde by Walt Whitman August 7 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Flula Borg The Undoing Ep 1, 2 August 8 The Undoing Ep 3, 4 August 9 The City We Became, by N.K.Jemisin The Undoing Ep 5 August 10 The Undoing Ep 6 Veep 2.1 and 2.2 August 11 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Cecily Strong Veep 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 Master Class, David Sedaris: 1, 2 August 12 MC, David Sedaris, 3 Veep 2.6, 2.7 The White Lotus ep 1 August 13 Master Class, Sedaris 4, 5, 6, 8 Veep 2.8 The White Lotus ep 2 August 14 Master Class, Sedaris 8, 9 Veep 2.9, 2.10 August 15 Master Class, Sedaris 10 - 13 The White Lotus ep 3, 4, 5 August 16 Veep 3.1 New Teeth, by Simon Rich August 17 White Lotus 6 Veep 3.2 August 18 Veep 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 August 19 Veep 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9 August 20 Veep 3.10 Nine Perfect Strangers 1 August 22. Nine Perfect Strangers 2 August 23. Nine Perfect Strangers 3 August 24 Veep 4.1, 4.2 August 25 Veep 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Michael Keaton August 26 Veep 4.6, 4.7, 4.8 August 27 Veep 4.9, 4.10, 5.1, 5.2 August 28 Veep 5.3, 5.4 August 29 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Hannah Einbinder Veep 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750 - 1804, by Alan Taylor August 30 Veep 5.8 August 31 Veep 5.9, 5.10 Only Murders in the Building 1&2 September 1 Only Murders in the Building 3 September 2 Veep 6.1, 6.2 Instant Hotel 1.1 September 3 Veep 6.3 September 4 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Joel McHale September 5 Instant Hotel 1.2 September 6 Veep 6.4 September 8 Veep 6.5 September 9 Instant Hotel 1.3 Veep 6.6 September 10 Veep 6.7 September 11 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Kristen Schaal Instant Hotel 1.4 & 5 September 12 Instant Hotel 1.6 September 13 Instant Hotel 1.7 and 1.8 September 14 Instant Hotel 1.9 and 1.10 Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke September 15 Instant Hotel 1.11 September 16 Instant Hotel 1.12 September 17 Only Murders in the Building 4&5 September 18 Miracle Workers 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Conan Talks about Norm MacDonald The Chair 1.1, 1.2 September 19 Miracle Workers 1.4, 1.5 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend; Alan Yang The Chair 1.3 September 20 Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts, by Karen Kleiman Miracle Workers 1.6, 1.7 The Chair 1.4, 1.5, 1.6 September 21 Miracle Workers 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 September 22 Miracle Workers 2.4, 2.5 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Melissa McCarthy Only Murders in the Building 6 Veep 6.8, 6.9 September 23 Miracle Workers 2.6, 2.7 Veep 6.10 Astronomy Club 1.1 September 24 Miracle Workers 2.8, 2.9. 2.10 Awake 1.1 The Big Flower Fight 1.1 September 25 How To with John Wilson 1.1, 1.2 Kitchen Nightmares 10.1 Survivor: 20.1 WTF: Steve Buscemi September 26 Survivor 20.2-8 The Big Flower Fight 1.2, 1.3 September 27 Survivor 20.9-13 The Big Flower Fight 1.4, 1.5 September 28 Survivor 20.14 Vanity Fair September 2021 The Big Flower Fight 1.6 September 29 Survivor 28.1-4 The Big Flower Fight 1.7, 1.8 September 30 Survivor 28.5-7 Only Murders in the Building Ep 7 How To Improve Your Memory, with John Wilson October 1 Survivor 28.8 - 12 October 2 Vanity Fair October 2021 Survivor 28.13 Awake 1.2 We Are the Champions: Cheese rollers October 3 We Are the Champions: Chili Eaters We are the Champions: Fantasy Hairstyling Alone: The Arctic (7.1) The Mole 1.1 We are the Champions: Yo Yo October 4 Micromegas, by Voltaire The Circle 1.1-2 October 5 The Circle 1.3 The Mole 1.2 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Tiffany Haddish Only Murders in the Building Ep 8 The Circle 1.4 October 6 The Mole 1.3-4 The Circle 1.5 How To With John Wilson: How to Cover Your Furniture October 7 The Mole 1.5-9 We Are the Champions: Frog Jumping Nailed It, 6.1 Zadig by Voltaire The Circle 1.6 October 8 The Circle 1.7-12 The Challenge 1.1 October 9 Made to Explode, by Sandra Beasley The Mole 2.1-2.11 We Are the Champions: Dog Dancing October 10 The Mole 2.12, 2.13 The Challenge 1.2 Casino Royale dir Martin Campbell October 11 Quantum of Solace, dir. Marc Forster Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Jake Gyllenhaal Based on a True Story, by Norm Macdonald October 12 Skyfall dir. Sam Mendes Only Murders in the Building: Ep 9 October 13 The Council of Animals, by Nick McDonell How To with John Wilson: How to Split the Check How To with John Wilson: How to Cook the Perfect Risotto Wellington Paranormal 1.1 October 14 Spectre, dir. Sam Mendes How to Make Small Talk with John Wilson The Frick Museum October 15 What We Do in the Shadows 3.1-3 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Anderson Cooper October 16 What We Do In the Shadows, 3.4-6 October 17 What We Do in the Shadows, 3.7-8 October 18 Floor is Lava 1.1 Ink Master 1.1-6 October 19 Ink Master 1.7-8 Bowery Boys: The Shuberts - The Brothers Who Built Broadway October 20 Ink Master 2.1 - 10 Only Murders in the Building, 1.10 October 21 Ink Master 2.11-13 America’s Next Top Model 3.1-4 Vanity Fair October 2021 October 22 America’s Next Top Model 3.5-7 October 23 America’s Next Top Model 3.8-11 Forged in Fire 6.1 October 24 AFF: On Comedy AFF: Scott Frank AFF: Mike Schur America’s Next Top Model 3.12-13 October 25 The Velvet Underground, dir Todd Haynes October 26 Count me In, dir Mark Lo Metal Shop Masters 1.1 Dave 1.1 - 2 Insecure 5.1 October 27 AFF: Writing and Development at Pixar Ripley Under Ground, by Patricia Highsmith American Museum of Natural History The Other Two 1.1 October 28 AFF: The Creative Career What We Do in the Shadows 3.9 Dave 1.3 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Daniel Sloss The Other Two 1.2-3 October 29 What We Do in the Shadows 3.10 America’s Next Top Model 3.1-2 The Other Two, 1.4-5 October 30 Dave 1.4 Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell 1.1 America’s Next Top Model 3.3 What We Do in the Shadows 1.1-3 The Other Two 1.6 October 30 America’s Next Top Model 3.4-5 October 31 America’s Next Top Model 3.6-8 What We Do in the Shadows 1.4 November 1 America’s Next Top Model 3.9-11 Ripley’s Game, by Patricia Highsmith The Other Two 1.7-8 November 2 America’s Next Top Model 3.12-13 Cuddlebug, by Jenna-Marie Warenecke The Other Two 1.9 November 3 Dave 1.5-8 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Elvis Costello The Other Two 1.10 November 4 Dave 1.9-10 November 5 Either/Or by Kim Marcelino (Pilot Script) Audentes Fortuna Luvat, by Larissa Kruesi (short film script) November 8 Insecure 5.2 The Other Two, 2.1 November 9 Dave 2.1-3 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Rachel Dratch The Other Two, 2.2-3 November 9 Dave 2.4-5 The Other Two, 2.4 November 10 Dave 2.6 November 11 The Other Two, 2.5 November 12 The Other Two, 2.6 November 13 Witch by Jen Silverman, dir Rebecca Bradshaw Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Live with Will Arnett The Other Two 2.7 November 14 The Other Two 2.8 November 16 The Other Two 2.9 November 17 Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami Smartless: Jerry Seinfeld The Other Two 2.10 November 18 Survivor, 16.1 Smartless: Zach Galifinakis Insecure 5.3 November 19 Survivor 16.2 Dave 2.7-8 Insecure 5.4 November 20 Dave 2.9-10 Smartless: Conan O’Brien What We Do In the Shadows 1.5 November 21 Survivor 16.3-5 What We Do In the Shadows 1.6 November 22 The Minotaur Takes a Smoke Break, by Steven Sherrill Survivor 16.6 What We Do In the Shadows 1.7 November 23 Survivor 16.7-12 November 24 Survivor 16.13-14 November 25 What We Do In the Shadows 1.8 November 26 The Woman in the Window November 27 Strangers on a Train What We Do In the Shadows 1.9-10 November 28 Joe Pera Talks to You 1.1 Smartless: Dave Grohl November 29 Master Class - Werner Herzog - Camera Techniques Master Class - Martin Scorsese - 1-5 No Time To Die, dir. Cari Joji Fukunaga Joe Pera Talks With You: 1.2 November 30 Master Class - Martin Scorsese - 6-9 Joe Pera Talks With You: 1.3 Kiss and Make-Up by Catherine Durickas December 1 Master Class - Martin Scorsese - 12, 15, 16, 18, 25, 26 Joe Pera Talks With You: 1.4 December 2 Master Class - Martin Scorsese - 19-21, 23, 27-30 The Boy Who Followed Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith Joe Pera Talks With You: 1.5 December 3 Master Class - Ken Burns 24-26 Master Class - Spike Lee 2 - 4 Joe Pera Talks With You: 1.6 December 4 Master Class - Spike Lee 6-7, 9-11 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Ellie Kemper Smartless: Tom Hanks What we Do In the Shadows 2.1 December 5 Master Class - Spike Lee 12, 16-17 Survivor 37: 1 - 6 Joe Pera Talks With You: 1.7 December 6 Survivor 37: 7-12 Joe Pera Talks With You: 1.8 December 7 Survivor 37: 13-15 Smartless: Stephen Colbert Joe Pera Talks With You: 1.9 December 8 Ripley Under Water, by Patricia Highsmith Survivor 7, 1 - 3 What We Do In The Shadows 2.2 December 9 Survivor 7: 4, 5, 7 (6 not available?) Hear the Wind Sing, Haruki Murakami What We Do in the Shadows 2.3 December 10 Survivor 7: 8-11 Joe Pera Talks With You 2.1 December 11 Survivor 7: 12 - 15 Pinball 1973, by Haruki Murakami Mr. Big by Woody Allen Smartless: Julia Louis-Dreyfus December 12 Survivor 10: 2-5 (No ep 1 on Hulu) What We Do in the Shadows 2.4 - 2.5 December 13 Survivor 10: 6-14 What We Do in the Shadows 2.6 December 14 Survivor 13: 1 - 3 What We Do in the Shadows 2.7 December 15 Survivor 13: 4-9 December 16 Survivor 13: 10-14 Smartless: Will Forte What we Do in the Shadows 2.8 December 17 Survivor 13: 15 December 18 Survivor 15: 1 - 7 The Last Man On Earth, Ep 1 Vanity Fair: Dec 2021 / January 2022 What we Do in the Shadows 2.9 December 19 Survivor 15: 8-9, 11-14 What we Do in the Shadows 2.10 December 20 The Last Man On Earth, Ep 2-3 Inside the Actor’s Studio: Steven Sondheim Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Quentin Tarantino December 21 The Last Man On Earth, Ep 4 Smartless: Woody Harrelson What we Do in the Shadows 3.1 December 22 The Last Man on Earth Ep 5 (2/3 - done with this) Black Death 1.1-2 Malcolm X Playboy Interview by Alex Haley What we Do in the Shadows 3.2 December 23 Mel Brooks Unwrapped Sway: Neal Stephenson Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again What we Do in the Shadows 3.3 December 24 Survivor 33:1-2 What we Do in the Shadows 3.4 December 25 Survivor 33: 3-5 December 26 Survivor 33: 6 - 9 December 27 Survivor 33: 10 - 13 All About Me! By Mel Brooks December 28 Survivor 33: 14 December 29 Baskets 1.1 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Jim Gaffigan What we Do in the Shadows 3.5 December 30 Baskets 1.2 Smartless: Barry Sonnenfeld What we Do in the Shadows 3.6 December 31 The Incredibly Strange Film Show: Russ Meyers Smartless: Sandra Bullock Miss Congeniality, dir. Donald Petrie Down With Love, dir. Peyton Reed It’s Complicated, dir. Nancy Meyers Crazy, Stupid, Love, dir. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa Trainwreck, dir. Judd Apatow
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The Binge YearFor the past 7 years I've kept a diary of all the culture I take in during a year: TV, film, books, podcasts. Loosely inspired by Steven Soderbergh's annual lists, which are insane.
RULES - I don't track food or music, unless I experienced them with cultural intention. Meaning: getting take out doesn't count, going to a restaurant doesn't count; but going to a restaurant with the intention of trying something spectacular, does. Same with music. - I similarly don't track news, one-off articles, or short reading, unless it's with specific intention. - This is not a place to differentiate between live theatre, filmed archival theatre, zoom theatre. If the author's medium is theatre, it's theatre as far as this list is concerned. HIGHLIGHTS Midnight Gospel - this mad and wild mash up of philosophical / spiritual podcast with dark fantasy animation was the perfect content for me in 2020. It's hilarious, eye and mind expanding, genuinely moving and hopeful. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga - This Will Ferrell / Rachel McAdams comedy is so dumb we watched it twice. It's a genuine delight, silly and knows it, and the music is genuinely solid (we still put it on). Beckett Trilogy - After fighting in the French Resistance, Samuel Beckett locked himself in a room for three years and wrote all of his seminal works, including these three minimalist novels in which characters increasingly cannot move, and instead delve deeper to go fishing in their own streams of consciousness. I don't know what compelled me to pick this up in April of 2020 but it was funny, powerful, and eerily timely. Zack Efron's Down to Earth - Zack Efron travels the world, exploring eco-conscious systems and businesses in Iceland, Costa Rica, and many others. It's light, fun, bro-ey, insightful, and oddly addictive. I May Destroy You - I have no words. If you haven't watched this, watch this. Short Silent Films - I've always loved silent and early films, but this year I took a few tumbles into the weird, particularly the early horror and magic films of Georges Melies, who basically invented the B Movie before there were even movies. LEGEND Film. Screenplay (Read) Play (seen live) Play (read) TV (watched) TV (read) Book / Publication Podcast. Museum / Art Gallery Music. Food THE 2020 LIST: 1.1 The Force Awakens The Last Jedi 1.2 The Good Place 4.1 1.3 The Good Place 4.2, 4.3 1.4 The Likeness by Tana French 1.5 The Good Place 4.4, 4.5 1.6 The Good Place 4.6, 4.7, 4.8 1.7 The Good Place 4.9 1.8 Gingerbread Chef’s Choice 1.10 Ready or Not Clueless, w/d by Amy Heckerling The Good Place 4.10 Sick in the Head, by Judd Apatow 1.11 What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night by Refe and Susan Tuma Conan O’Brian Needs a Friend: Charles Barkley Schitt’s Creek: 2.12, 2.13, 3.1, 3.2 1.12 Moby Dick by Dave Malloy Schitt’s Creek 3.3, and 3.4 1.13 Monty Python’s Life of Brian Schitt’s Creek 3.5 1.14 Animated Shorts: Cinderella by Lotte Resigner Little Nemo aka Winsor McCay The Sculptor’s Nightmare, D.W. Griffith, 1908 How Animated Cartoons are Made, by Wallace Carlson, 1919 Schitt’s Creek 3.6 1.15 Musings with Rabelais by Steven Bogart 1.16 Schitt’s Creek 3.7 1.17 Schitts Creek 3.8 Faithful Place by Tana French Conan OBrien Needs a Friend: Nikki Glaser, 3.9, 3.10 1.18 New Bedford Whaling Museum Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez 1.19 We all Fall Down Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Ben Stiller The Kids are Alright 1.20 The Good Place 4.11 Schitt’s Creek 3.11, 3.12, 3.13 1.21 Tiny Furniture w/d Lena Dunham Schitt’s Creek 4.1 1.22 Broken Harbor by Tana French 1.23 The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes 1.24 On the Razzle by Tom Stoppard Schitt’s Creek 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 1.26 The Good Place 4.12 SNL: Adam Driver 1.27 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara Schitt’s Creek 4.5, 4.6 1.28 Donald And the…; & Donald Has a Difficulty; w Peter F Neumeyer; illus Edward Gorey Schitt’s Creek 4.7 1.29 Schitt’s Creek 4.8, 4.9 1.30 Do The Right Thing, w/d Spike Lee Gloria: A Life, by Emily Mann 1.31 The Secret Place, by Tana French The Good Place 4.13 2.1 Schitt’s Creek 4.10 2.2 Pass Over Super Bowl VII 2.3 Schitt’s Creek 4.11 2.4 Schitt’s Creek 4.12 2.5 Monty Python 2:12: Spam 2.6 The Last Catastrophist by David Valdes 2.7 Democratic Debate 2.8 The Trespasser by Tana French The Interrobangers by M Sloth Levine Serene Jones: On Being Schitts Creek: Merry Christmas Johnny Rose 2.9 Beneski Museum of Natural History 2.10 Downhill 2.12 Endless Night, Agatha Christie Schitt’s Creek 5.1 2.13 The Office: 3.16 Business School Schitt’s Creek 5.2, 5.3 2.14 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Keegan Michael Key Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Sarah Silverman TS I Love You 2.15 Sweat by Lynn Nottage The Moving Finger, Agatha Christie 2.16 Miss Americana 2.17 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Judd Apatow Schitt’s Creek 5.4, 5.5, 5.6 2.18 Schitt’s Creek 5.7 and 5.8 2.19 The Murder of Daniel Ackroyd, Agatha Christie Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Jessie Eisenberg 2.20 Dance Nation by Claire Barron Schitt’s Creek 5.9 and 5.10 2.21 Do the Right Thing: A Spike Lee Joint Museum Piece by JJK 2.22 The Subtext: Clare Barron’s Secret Sauce Schitt’s Creek 5.11 and 5.12 2.23 Sleeping With Other People w/d Lesley Headland 2.24 The Subtext: Adam Symkowicz on Redefining Success Five Little Pigs, Agatha Christie 2.25 Blue Velvet by Michael Atkinson 2.26 Schitt’s Creek 5.13 2.27 The Office Pilot 2.28 Vanity Fair Hollywood 2020 2.29 METG Prelims @ Hanover High 3.1 Parasite w/d Bong Joon Ho 3.2 Vanity Fair March 2020 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Ali Wong Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: John Mulaney Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: Will Ferrell Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Welcome to the Hellmouth 3.3 Documentary Now: The CoOp 3.4 Frank Forgot his Wallet, by Keith Foster Parks & Recreation: Pilot 3.5 Monty Python 2:13 What We Do in the Shadows - original Short Two Cars, One Night, w/d Taika Waititi 3.6 Babies, 1.1 3.7 Murder is Announced, Agatha Christie rEvolution at Boston Ballet The Subtext: Crystal Skillman Babies: 1.2 (First Food) 3.8 Babies 1.3 3.9 Babies 1.4 3.11 Babies 1.5 Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie Mamàgua by Sebastián Alberdi 3.12 Plata Quemada, Teatro Cinema 3.13 McMillion$ Ep 1 and 2 3.14 Contagion, dir Steven Soderbergh 3.15 Babies 1.6 3.16 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Paul Rubens Towards Zero, Agatha Christie Will and Grace Pilot 3.19 The Office 2.1 3.20 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Will Arnett McMillion$ Ep 3 The Office 2.3 3.21 The Office 2.22 3.22. Becoming a Man, P. Carl 3.23 The Office, 3.2 3.24 The Office 3.7 3.25 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Whitney Cummings Everything But, by Aislinn Frantz 3.26. The Subtext: Will Arbery’s Guilt Traps The Office 3.8 3.27 The Subtext: Chisa Hutchinson The Office 3.10 3.28 McMillion$ Ep 3, 4 3.29 McMillion$ Ep 5 3.30 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Steve Coogan 3.31 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Jim Gaffigan Armchair Expert: Rainn Wilson 4.1 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Lisa Kudrow Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Patton Oswalt McMillion$ Ep 6 4.2 Armchair Expert: Ronan Farrow Armchair Expert: Kumail Nanjiani and Rob McElheny Tiger King ep 1 4.3 Welcome tot he Goddamn Ice Cube, by Blair Braverman Armchair Expert: Josh Gad Tiger king ep 2, 3 4.4 Tiger King Ep 4, 5 4.5 Tiger King Ep 6 7 4.6 Vanity Fair, April 2020 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 3.1 4.7 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 3.2 4.8 The Office 3.11 4.9 The Office 3.12 4.10. The Office 3.13 4.11. Conan O’ Brien needs a Friend: D’Arcy Carden Sugar Calling: George Saunders Moonstruck 4.12 The Office 3.18 4.14 Molloy, by Samuel Beckett Insecure, Pilot Breaking Bad, Pilot 4.15 Friday Night Lights Pilot The Office 3.19 4.16 The Office 3.20 4.17 The Office 3.21 4.18 Date Night 4.19 Mallone Dies, by Samuel Beckett The Office 3.22 4.20 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 3.3 4.21 4.22 The Office 3.23 4.23 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 3.4 4.24 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 3.5 4.25 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Kevin Nealon; Ricky Gervais The Best Worst Thing That Ever Happened 4.26 The Unnameable, Samuel Beckett The Office 4.1 4.27 The Office 4.2 POP Class: Will Arbery 4.28 the good place pilot Veep 1.1, 1.3 Vanity Fair April 2020 4.29 In praise of Darkness, Borges Veep 1.3 Armchair Expert: Ed Helms 4.30 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Nick Kroll Nosferatu the Vampyre by M. Sloth Levine The Book of Sand, Jose Luis Borges 5.1 Shakespeare’s Memories, Borges The Office 4.5 5.2 Hollywood Ep 1 & 2 5.3 National Theatre Live: Frankenstein 5.4 Hollywood Ep 3 The Office 4.6 5.5 Hollywood Ep 4 The Nanny Pilot Zoom Reading 5.6 The Good Place, Pilot (screenplay) Hollywood Ep 5 5.7 Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey, Ed Karen Wilkins Hollywood Ep 6 5.8 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Ted Danson Hollywood Episode 7 5.10 Schitt’s Creek 6.1 5.11 Schitt’s Creek 6.2 POP Class: Clare Barron 5.12 Schitt’s Creek 6.3 5.13 Schitt’s creek 6.4 5.14 Schitt’s Creak 6.5 5.15 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Mike Meyers Schitt’s Creek 6.6 Bullets on Broadway (interactive Murder Mystery) 5.16 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery 5.17 5.18 Pop Class: Michael R. Jackson The Last Dance Ep 1 5.19 The Last Dance Ep 2 5.20 The Last Dance ep 3 Schitt’s Creek 6.7 5.21 The Last Dance ep 4 Schitts Creek 6.8 5.22 Conan O’Brien needs a friend: JJ Abrams The Last Dance 5 and 6 5.23 The Last Dance, ep 7, 8, 9 NT Live: A Streetcar Named Desire 5.24 Schitt’s Creek 6.9 5.25 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Russell Brand The Last Dance Ep 10 Schitt’s Creek 6.10 5.26 What we Do in the Shadows 1.1 and 1.2 5.27 Schitt’s Creek 6.11 5.28 Schitt’s Creek 6.12 5.29 Gray’s Anatomy, dir Steven Soderbergh 5.30 Vanity Fair June 2020 The Office 4.8 5.31 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 6.1 Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 3.1: Whicker’s World Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 3.2: Mr. and Mrs. Brian Norris’ Ford Popular 6.2 Franklin Park Protest 6.3 I Am Not Your Negro, by James Baldwin and Raoul Peck 6.4 Bob Dylan: No Direction Home 6.5 Woody Guthrie: Ain’t Got No Home 6.7 Schitt’s Creek 6.13 6.8 Schitt’s Creek 6.14 6.9 Nobody Knows My Name, by James Baldwin Scitt’s Creek Finale Behind the Scenes 6.10 What we Do in the Shadows 1.3 and 1.4 Veep 4.1 6.11 What we Do in the Shadows 1.5 Spinal Tap original Demo 6.12 Dave Chapelle 8:46 What we Do In the Shadows 1.6 6.13 Insecure 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 6.15 Insecure 4.4, 4.5 6.16 WWDITS 1.7, 8, 9, 10 6.17 WWDITS 2.1, 2.2 Diana Oh H8 Letter to the Gr8 American Theatre 6.18 WWDITS 2.3, 2.4 6.19 The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas, by Anand Giridhardas The Case for Reparations, Ta-Nehisi Coates WWDITS 2.5 Insecure 4.6, 4.7 6.20 WWDITS 2.6 2.7, 2.8 The Happiest Season, w/d Clea DuVall 6.21 Insecure 4.8 and 4.9 6.22 6.23 Insecure 4.10 6.24 The Office 4.9 6.25 Hillary Ep 1 6.26 Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga 6.27 Hillary Ep 2 Veep 4.2 6.28 Hillary Ep 3 and 4 6.29 6.30 Midnight Gospel Ep 1 and 2 7.1 Midnight Gospel 3, 4 Veep 4.3 A Sense of Occasion, Harold Prince 7.2 Veep 4.4 7.3 Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga 7.4 7.5 Monster in a Box, by Spalding Gray 7.6 Midnight Gospel 6 WWDITS 2.8, 2.9 7.7 Midnight Gospel 7, 8 7.8 Veep 4.5 7.9 7.10 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Tom Hanks And Here’s the Kicker, by Mike Sacks 7.11 Bullets On Broadway Murder Mystery 7.12 Swimming to Cambodia by Spalding Gray 7.13 Veep 4.6 7.15 Veep 4.7 7.16 Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend: Rob Lowe Veep 4.8 7.17 Veep 4.9, 4.10 7.18 Rewrites, by Neil Simon Palm Springs 7.20 Down to Earth: Iceland 7.22 Down to Earth: Costa Rica 7.23 Down to Earth: Sardinia The Play Goes On, by Neil Simon 7.24 Ole White Sugah Daddy (Zoom), by Obehi Janice 7.25 The Clash: 1977 7.26 Forgetting Sarah Marshall 7.27 Down to Earth: London 7.29 Down to Earth: France Vanity Fair July 2020 7.30 Down to Earth: Puerto Rico Shonda Rhimes Masterclass (finished) 7.31 Down to Earth: Lima & Iquitos 8.1 Portrait of a Lady on Fire 8.2 The Man With The Golden Gun, Ian Fleming I May Destroy You, 1 and 2 8.3 I May Destroy You 3 and 4 8.5 Abingdon Square by Maria Irene Fornes I May Destroy You 5 and 6 8.6 Museum by Tina Howe I May Destroy You 7 and 8 8.8 Bring Down The House 8.9 Get Him to the Greek The Office 4.11 8.10 Goldfinger by Ian Fleming 8.12 I May Destroy You, 9 8.13 I May Destroy You, 10 8.16 The Office 5.1, 2, 3 8.17 The Office 5.4 I May Destroy You, 11 8.18 The Office 5.5 8.19 The sandman, 1-8, Preludes and Nocturnes The Office 5.6, 5.7 8.20 8.21 The Office 5.8 Dark Tourist: USA 8.22 End of the Fucking World, Ep 1, 2, 3 The Office, 5.9, 5.10 8.23 End of the Fucking World, Ep 4 The Office 5.11 8.24 I May Destroy You, 12 8.25 Big Mouth 1.1 The Office 5.12 8.26 The Office 5.13 8.27 Zone One by Colson Whitehead 8.28 The Office 5.14-5.15 8.29 End of the Fucking World, 5-8 Escape from New York 8.30 End of the Fucking World 2.1, 2.2 The Office 5.16 8.31 End of the Fucking World 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 The Office 5.17 9.1 Basquiat: Rage to Riches 9.2 You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming End of the Fucking World 2.6, 2.7, 2.8 The Office 5.18 and 5.19 9.3 The Office 5.20 The Met: In Search of Fashion 9.4 Radiant Child: JMB The Office 5.21, 5.22 9.5 The Office 5.23, 5.24, 5.25 9.6 The Office 5.26, 5.27, 5.28 9.8 The Office 6.1 Vanity Fair September 2020 9.9 The Office 6.3, 6.4 9.10 Babies 2.1; The Office 6.5 9.11 9.12 My Best Friend’s Wedding 9.13 Dark Tourist: Return to America 9.14 The Office 6.6 9.15 The Town, dir Ben Affleck 9.16 Inside Man, dir Spike Lee Babies 2.2 9.17 Point Break, dir. Katherine Bigelow 9.18 White Men Can’t Jump w/d Ron Shelton The Thomas Crown Affair, dir. John McTiernan 9.19 The Office 6.7, 6.8, 6.9 9.20 Thelma & Louise 9.21 Inception, w/d Christopher Nolan 9.22 The Office 6.10 9.23 The Office 6.11 and 6.12 9.24 The Office 6.13, 6.14, 6.15 9.25 Training Day The Office 6.16 9.26 Pineapple Express 9.27 The Office 6.17 Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky 9.28 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid The Office 6.18 9.29 The Office 6.19, 6.20 9.30 The Office 6.21, 6.22 10.1 Tom Waits: Under Review Underworld (first 40 minutes) 10.2 Zodiac, dir David Fischer 10.3 American Murder: The Family Next Door 10.4 Dark Places by Gillian Flynn 10.5 Mountain, Jake Alexander The Office 6.23, 6.24 10.6 The Invitation, dir Karyn Kusama 10.7 The Office 6.25, 6.26 10.8 The Sign of Four, AC Doyle Minority Report, dir Steven Spielberg 10.9 My Octopus Teacher 10.10 Weekend with Picasso, w/s Herbert Siguenza The Office 7.1 10.11 The Office 7.2, 7.3, 7.4 10.12 The Drowned World, by JG Ballard 10.13 Cam, dir. Daniel Goldhaber 10.14 The Office 7.5 10.15 Vanity Fair October 2020 The Office 7.6, 7.7 10.16 Sleepy Hollow, dir Tim Burton 10.17 Nightcrawler 10.18 Over the Garden Wall 1 & 2 The Office 7.8 10.19 Over the Garden Wall 3&4 The Office 7.9, 7.10 10.20 Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn The Staircase Ep 1 10.21 The Staircase Ep 2 Over the Garden Wall 5 & 6 The Office 7.11 and 7.12 10.22 An American Werewolf in London 10.23 Vanity Fair November 2020 The Office 7.13, 14 15, 16 10.24 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Colin Quinn My Next Guest…Robert Downey Jr. The Office 7.17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 10.25 The Staircase Ep 3 The Office 7.23, 24, 25, 26 - END SEASON 7 10.26 Bob Fosse: Steam Heat The Staircase Ep 4 10.27 Clue The Never List, by Koethi Zan 10.28 SALEM pilot Zoom reading 10.29 My Next Guest… Dave Chapelle 10.30 Dracula, Radio Play Over the Gardel Wall 7 & 8 10.31 Bram Stoker’s Dracula, FFC The Girl on the Train 11.1 Over the Garden Wall 9 and 10 11.2 The Staircase Ep 5 & 6 11.3 The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick 11.4 Queen’s Gambit, 3 and 4 11.5 The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle Queens Gambit Ep 5 11.6 The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Rashida Jones Queen’s Gambit 6 11.7 The Adventures of the Noble Bachelor, Arthur Conan Doyle The Office 2.7 11.8 The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, Arthur Conan Doyle Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Hillary Clinton Queen’s Gambit 7 11.9 The Staircase Ep 7 and 8 The Office, 2.9 11.10 Truth Seekers ep 1 The Office 2.13 11.11 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: Sam Richardson Homo Sapiens: Debby Harry 11.12 My Next Guest Needs no Introduction: Lizzo; Kim Kardashian The Office 2.15 11.13 Hooking Up, dir. Nico Raineau 11.14 Gone Girl, dir David Fincher 11.18 The Searcher by Tana French 11.20 Killing Eve 2.1 11.21 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: John Leguizamo Homo sapiens: Murray Hill 11.23 Dallas Morning News 11.23.1963 edition Sex & Vanity by Kevin Kwan 11.25 Vanity Fair December Truth Seekers ep 2 Knives Out 11.27 The Bling Wring w/d Sofia Coppola 11.28 There’s Something About Mary, Farrelly Brothers 11.29 You’re Wrong About…The Newsboy Strike of 1899 Killing Eve 2.2, 2.3 11.30 Creativity: a short and cheerful guide, John Cleese Dr. Strangelove… Stanley Kubrick & Terry Southern Dr. Strangelove... dir. by Stanley Kubrick 12.1 The Office 2.18 12.2 The Office 2.19 12.3 The Maiden Heist, dir. Peter Hewitt The Office 2.20 12.4 Ocean’s Eleven - screenplay by Ted Griffin Ocean’s Eleven, dir. Steven Soderbergh 12.5 Which Lie Did I Tell? by William Goldman Easy A The Office 2.21 12.6 Killing Eve 2.4, 2.5 12.7 The Office 2.4 12.8 The Killing, dir. Kubrick 12.10 Bridesmaids, screenplay by Kristen Wiig 12.11 The City & The City by China Mieville Holiday Movies We Love: Elf 12.12 Le Manoir du Diable by Georges Melies Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend: John Cleese Killing Eve 2.6 12.13 Vanity Fair Holiday 2020/2021 Killing Eve 2.7 and 2.8 12.14 The Office 2.8 12.16 The Fury of the Demon, Fabien Delage 12.17 The Office 2.10 12.18 STORY by Robert McKee 12.19 ELF 12.20 Le Voyage dans La Lune dir Georges Melies Un Homme de Tetes dir Georges Melies 12.21 Gunga Din dir George Stevens 12.23 Defeated Nintendo World Cup Soccer: Tournament Ruthless People Conan O’Brien needs a friend: Amy Sedaris 12.24 Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam You’re Wrong About: Marie Antoinette It’s a Wonderful Life 12.25 Happiest Season Love Actually 12.26 The Family Stone 12.27 Office Christmas Party 12.28 Killing Eve 3.1 12.29 Killing Eve 3.1 Ken Burns Masterclass Ep 8 12.30 The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith Ken Burns Masterclass Ep 9, 10 The Office 1.5 12.31 Winonathon: Heathers Reality Bites Little Women The Crucible Girl, Interrupted Autumn In New York Destination Wedding  People keep asking me when I’m going to write about the Plague, and I keep saying “Never.” But I don’t suppose you can live through a thing like this and be a writer and not write on it, even if you do it sideways.
This was going to be the year I made money. We’d decided to move to NYC in January. My wife gave notice at work, we gave notice to our landlord in Boston, and I put my nose to the grindstone. Got hired by the Census. Re-upped as an art handler / delivery driver. Studied and perfected a new history tour on Harvard to add to my tour guide repertoire. These were all part-time but combined – if I hustled as I meant to – I’d be raking in more money come March than I had in recent memory. By March 15 all those jobs were gone. I remember overhearing my mother say, when I was four or five, “John never says anything unless it’s very smart or very funny.” Somehow, I internalized that; I have such anxiety in social situations, sitting quiet – apps running in my brain, siphoning the things to say – until I feel I know my place in the conversation. Some nights I don’t say much. I wonder if it’s this urge to stay useful: only saying something with a purpose. I’ve lived too much of my life that way, prioritizing Achievement, living by what I accomplish. I guess in this Instagram world a lot of us are like that? So, finding myself suddenly jobless, I got busy not making money. The list that follows is not a brag but a demonstration of the feverish drive I felt, having nothing to keep busy, and desperate to hold on to some sense of worth, to keep from going mad. In March we made a dance song about Not Wearing Pants. In April we made a web series about learning to work from home, together. We made 12 episodes; 1 every week for 3 months: writing, filming, acting and editing. I finished a full-length play commission by late May, for SpeakEasy Stage. I wrote a new ½ hour Comedy Pilot: BLOOD FROM A STONE. Then I wrote another: THE MANNY. Then I wrote a spec script for WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS. I submitted my work to over 115 writing opportunities, contests, agents, managers. I’m lucky to have been a freelancer long enough that my motivation is built in. That, and my equating accomplishment with worth. If accomplishment is worth, then Zero Accomplishment = Zero Value. I’m not saying I agree with this, I’m saying it’s how I’m wired, you see? At a certain point, it becomes its own madness. An acquaintance asked me if what I do about writer’s block. Don’t have it – not the way people talk about, not crushing blockage. Sometimes I feel I have life block, which is writer’s block but for living. You see, in all this hustle it became incredibly easy to dissociate from what was going on in the world. My therapist asked me who I was catching up with, now the Pandemic and Zoom made schedules and distance meaningless. No one. I wasn’t talking to anyone. It would be easy to say my pandemic was lonely but the truth is my life has been. I’ve spent so much of life equating my own value with achievement that I was never much of a good friend, a good brother. I valued work over friendship, utility over connection. In August, we moved. Oh yes, because we’d already committed ourselves to moving. We were either going to look for a new home and jobs in Boston – a city we didn’t want to be – or in New York. Pandemic be damned, we moved. Even now I want to give you the list, the good things I did with my time. (I wrote and published short humor. I wrote my first feature screenplay. I discovered home-made lo-fi animation….) But I was flailing. The newness of the move wore off. October and November were hard. Not having a job, not having an income for 5+ months, no longer having insurance (which meant no longer having therapy), STILL not being able to go out, all merged with shorter days into something I can’t describe. I was sadder than I can remember being in over 7 years. I was ideating suicide. Which – lucky for me – is NOT particularly achievement-oriented; what I mean is that I’ll have short sharp daydreams – not with intention, just little images flashing: on a walk when a car gets too close, I see it driving through me; on a jog past the cold river, I see myself falling into it. These moments help me breathe better, which I don’t think is their evolutionary cause. Was my lack of activity finally allowing a deeper experience of the pandemic to get up in me? Was it my 40th birthday approaching, and weighing my accomplishments, my place in life, against expectations of my 4th decade? I don’t know but it was dark and hard and awful. Just awful. I wake up 2 – 3 hours before my wife each day and there was a week when I spent that entire time crying in the den, in the dark, before the sun rose. Every day. If you’d asked, I couldn’t say what I was sad about. There was no thing, no cause. Just ever-present sorrow. An article led to a wormhole that eventually flipped a light switch on: I don’t have to value myself by what I accomplish, by material or external ideas of success. I can value other things if I practice. And so, the last six weeks of the year, I’ve practiced shifting in my values. Every day I’ve practiced a conscious valuing of my health – mental and physical – and prioritizing that. I’ve consciously valued my relationships – with my wife, family, friends – and tried to carve out time to dedicate to those when, in previous moments, I’d too often let a text or email slip by because “I had work to do.” It’s not fast work. We were alone on Christmas; we Zoomed with Family. My wife got many texts from friends and family all day. I got, I think, two. A reminder of how long and how often I have failed to prioritize friendships. The day I started writing this I started ideating again. I felt full, in an awful way. That scene in It’s A Wonderful Life, when the money’s gone and Potter’s turned him down and George yells at his family and kicks over his desk in the corner and feels such immediate shame – that moment: rage, fear, trapped, shame. I feel like that every day. But it’s good work to be doing. Essential, even. The project itself is joy; not dependent on how many people view it or if it gets me a job. This has all coalesced in a nice way with Holiday movies. Because good holiday movies reassert that the most important achievement is our value to one another: not what we can do for one another, not what we can buy or give. But how we make one another feel. I guess if you look at much of the news this year, there are a lot of people and a lot of systems that value accomplishment and financial success over people and relationships. But there were also lovely things. Ways the people came together. Communities and strangers, families and friends, valuing one another just for being. This has not been particularly funny and – I don’t imagine – very intelligent article. I feel sheepish and dumb coming to these conclusions only now at my age. But I have been so very sad. And I know you have, too. And I didn’t want to write about COVID. But there are other pandemics that plague us. In the New Year, may you be healthy in body, mind, and heart. May your days be filled with connection. May your screen be full of faces, your schedule empty of obligations and full of opportunity, and may your throat be full of meaningless laughter and love. |