binge watch this: DIFFICULT PEOPLE S2

Difficult People chronicles the misadventures of Julie and Billy, two struggling comedians in New York. Self-identified difficult people, Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner, star as fictionalized versions of themselves. Created by Klausner herself, the show was Hulu’s first experiment with original content. In its first season, the show experienced feedback ranging from acclaim to outrage and earned enough of a cult following to warrant a second season. While many shows are known to suffer from a sophomore slump, Difficult People has truly blossomed into a nearly perfect sitcom in its second season.

this week on tv: DOCUMENTARY NOW! S2E3

This week, the genius IFC comedy Documentary Now! aired its most abstruse and in my opinion enjoyable episode of the season titled, “Parker Gail’s Location is Everything.” Simple in nature, it features a man dressed in plaid sitting at a desk with a microphone, a notebook and a glass of water. Hader plays Parker Gail, an overzealous story-teller whose interpretation of reality is delusional at best.

hopes & dreams: 2016 PRIMETIME EMMYS

If you know me, you know that the Emmy Awards are a sacred day for me. I spend all year watching television, with the hopes of seeing my favorite shows recognized for their accomplishments. Unfortunately, most Emmys leave me a little heartbroken. I firmly believe that this year the Emmys will do what they’re known for and give awards to the shows and actors who have received them time and time again, but lets live in a world where that doesn’t happen…okay? Here are my dreams and predictions for The 68th Emmy Awards.

binge watch this: STRANGER THINGS

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

Note: This blog post is spoiler free

People often refer to the past as being a simpler time. Over time memories blur leaving good times to float to the top and pain to sink to the bottom of consciousness. We as a culture crave feelings of nostalgia, especially during such tumultuous times as now. The internet is constantly populating the ether with “where are they now?” listicles; the film and television industry has been churning out reboots and sequels by the dozen; and a completely unqualified candidate sold nearly half the nation on the sole promise of turning back time. While nostalgia can make some feel warm and fuzzy, it can be equally haunting for those who refuse to forget the darker parts hidden underneath fond memories.

this week on tv: BASKETS

Laughter and sadness often go hand in hand. If you are reminded of a happy memory, one that makes you laugh, chances are your brain is also wrestling with the sadness of knowing that you could never experience this memory again. The desire to feel sadness in tandem with pure joy is why we crave nostalgia or why we love to bask in the miseries of others. This Thursday, FX premiered a show that explores this dichotomy through the story of one struggling artist, Chip Baskets, an aspiring clown who moves back to his hometown of Bakersfield, California after dropping out of Parisian clown college. Co-created by Louis C.K., Zach Galifinakis and Jonathan Krisel, Baskets is thoughtful, strange and a little depressing, but well worth the watch, even if just to see how far they can take this.

Top 10 TV Shows of 2015

The end of the year is as good a time as any to reflect on television’s highs and lows. 2015 said farewell to two of my favorites, “Mad Men” and “Parks and Recreation.” Both, to me, being equally as prolific in their own respects. Streaming services continued on their quest to take over television, with Netflix almost tripling distribution of their original content. As we transition from “The Golden Age of Television” to “The Golden Age of Streaming” cable shows like “Fargo” and “Mr. Robot” proved that there’s still hope for quality programming on cable networks. 2015 also marked a year of diverse and female empowered programs, paving the way for a future of more inclusive television.

This list is comprised of the shows that made me happy, frustrated, engrossed, and most importantly, made me choose staring at a glowing screen over human interaction time and time again!

hopes & dreams: 2015 PRIMETIME EMMYS

Here are MY thoughts on who should win Emmys tonight because MY thoughts are important! These aren’t necessarily predictions, just who I’d like to see win. Full disclosure I have not seen every single show nominated, because believe it or not I have a life, and I’m probably going to be incredibly wrong because we all know that all the awards will go to Modern Family. Fuck Modern Family.

binge watch this: BOJACK HORSEMAN SEASON 2

Because sometimes life is like being on a boat parked in a driveway 

Wherever you go, there you are. You just can’t escape, you. Whether you buy a boat and move to New Mexico, leave your job, go live in a war torn village in Cordovia or build an intricate tunnel system to get the sweet, sweet taste of freedom from that Mexican prison, when you look in the mirror you’re still going to see El Chapo staring back at you, or whoever. What? No, I’m not El Chapo! WHO?

this week on tv: DOCUMENTARY NOW! S1E1

As Much a Parody As it is a Tribute 

In Fred Armisen’s last year on SNL he starred in History of Punk, a digital package that mirrored the style of a VH1 Classics music documentary about fictional British punk band, Ian Rubbish and the Bizzaros. Rubbish was the abrasive and in your face lead singer of the anti-establishment band, whose only weakness were the charms of Margaret Thatcher. While every other punk band was putting out songs bashing the Prime Minister’s politics, Rubbish wished to flood airwaves with love ballads about the ‘Sweet Iron Lady.’ The sketch is genius. It features four original songs, uncannily authentic archived footage and a cameo appearance from punk legend, Steve Jones. The sketch was collaboratively written by Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers with producer Rhys Thomas and director Alex Buono completing the mockumentary dream team. Said dream team is back together for Documentary Now!, on IFC.

I went to a taping of The Chris Gethard Show and maybe joined a cult

This piece was originally written for Fusion and seems to have gotten lost in one of the company’s many re-brands, which is why I am preserving my writing and my memories here. 

I went to a taping of The Chris Gethard Show and maybe joined a cult

I was audience member #76. A producer named Andrew, affectionately known by the regular audience members as “Hot Dog” went around greeting everyone in line like he was catching up with a bunch of old friends. A girl slightly ahead of me put her hand out to reintroduce herself to Hot Dog, as their hands met he said, “Oh yeah, I remember your handshake” and quickly recalled her name. The Chris Gethard Show really gets to know their audience because without them the show would be nothing. The same group of audience members gather every week, some in costume, to see what Chris and friends have in store for them. To some the community feels like family and to others it seems like a cult. People from all around the world call into the show, there’s a 24-hour chat room, countless blogs, Twitter hashtags and at one point 5 podcasts completely devoted to fans of the show. I consider myself a reasonably shy person, so I’ve never actively subscribed to a fandom before. Every Wednesday night, which eventually became every Tuesday night, I would curl up to my computer to watch a TCGS live stream alone and I was completely content with that. Attending a live taping meant not being on my couch, so I already knew I was going to be thrust outside of my comfort zone, a small shadowy circle that looms around my head with about a 6-inch radius.

We were ushered into the studio and seated for what I expected to be a show with 4 acts, a monologue, bits, hijinks, a celebrity guest and a grand musical performance to close it out. Midway through Gethard’s monologue he stops to tell us that TCGS is no longer going to follow the routine that they’ve fallen into because they’re not that type of show. Shannon, TCGS sidekick, delivered the rest of Chris’ monologue. When Chris asked the Human Fish, who typically only speaks in “this vs. that” phrases, how he was doing he said he was doing “ok.”  Though, I really knew that they weren’t messing around when Bethany Hall, Internet Liaison and one of the more timid cast members, started to destroy the set. She ripped the head of a skeleton off and threw it into the audience for someone to keep as a souvenir. Chris told us that this week they were going to “bring it home.” He also told us that there were three buses waiting for us outside and that we would be going to New Jersey.