"Inside" With Bo Burnham

Up until this point, I knew Bo Burnham as the writer/director of "Eighth Grade," and more recently from his work as an actor in "Promising Young Woman."  I was not familiar at all with his history as a singer/songwriter wunderkind, who made his name as a teenage performer on Youtube, and later as a popular comedian.  I will admit that I managed to confuse him with Marc Maron at some point, and am still a little stunned that he only turned thirty last year.

Burnham's latest special for Netflix is 90 minutes of songs, sketches, and monologues that he wrote, directed, and filmed during the pandemic.  The first thing you'll notice is his impressive technical proficiency, especially his use of all kinds of fancy lighting, staging, and projection techniques to turn a single room into a gigantic canvas for his ideas.  In the opening minutes, he uses a headlamp and a disco ball to create his own light show.  Later on, he parodies saccharine Instagram posts by recreating their very specific aesthetics, one meticulous selfie at a time.  

You'll also very quickly realize that Burnham is wildly creative and talented.  His songs are catchy and densely packed with information.  Weird Al is cited as an influence, but Tom Lehrer is a better point of comparison, because of the topicality and difficulty of the subject matter Burham favors, and the similarity in performance style.  "Inside" features songs about Facetiming, about being problematic, about the horror of being famous on the Internet, and a two-part ode to Jeff Bezos.  The highlight is "Welcome to the Internet," a despairing ditty about the nightmare that Internet interaction has become.  I'm also fond of the song about sexting, mostly for Burham's hysterical delivery.  

But as the special progresses, Burnham's mood grows darker and darker, his hair and beard become more unkempt, and the wear of being stuck in quarantine for months becomes impossible to ignore.  Camera and lighting equipment litter the floor.  The moments of dark humor shift into a constant atmosphere of dread, and it becomes apparent that Burnham - or at least his onscreen persona for this project - is not mentally well.  There are uncomfortably candid moments where he talks about his past battles with depression and anxiety.   There are even more disturbing segments where he seems to be sliding into a full blown psychological crisis.  The struggle to finish the special becomes part of the narrative.  It is difficult not to want to read too much into "Inside," and project my own ideas onto Burnham, but his palpable misery onscreen throughout most of this special clearly go beyond failing to cope with unexpected social isolation.  

And I'm sure that's part of the larger point.  Bo Burnham very eloquently voices a lot of worries I share about environmental collapse, internet addiction, social disintegration, and privacy concerns.  And I can't help but notice that he's one of an unfortunate number of Internet darlings who have hit burnout and battled self-destructive urges by their late twenties.  With "Inside,"Burhman has managed to turn himself into an avatar for all this Millennial anxiety that's been roiling for years now.  And how he gets this all across is so sharp and so poignant.  Put aside the songs, and Burnham still has about the best grasp of internet visual language that I've ever seen.  One skit mocks reaction videos by stacking reactions on reactions on reactions ad infinitum.  Another is a gaming livestream where the game in question is Burnham's own bleak quarantine existence - press A to sob uncontrollably.  And since Burnham DIYd so much of the production, in a single room, with very limited resources, the special often feels like the ultimate Youtuber video essay.

I've seen pretty strong warnings about triggering content going around in discussions of "Inside," and I want to echo them here.  However, the special was very cathartic for me, because it was such a relief to hear someone else affirm some of my own fears and paranoia about modern life.  The pandemic had a devastating effect on many people's mental health that we've only just begun to acknowledge, let alone try to deal with.  "Inside" feels self-obsessed and self-pitying at times, but it also cannily reflects a brutal reality for a significant segment of the population.  And while the show was made during the pandemic, the pandemic is only rarely invoked directly, allowing the central metaphor of being trapped inside to represent a broad range of existential themes.  

I'm going to go and explore Bo Burnham's back catalogue, and get myself more context for "Inside."  And rest assured, I will never mistake him for Marc Maron again.

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Finishing "Parks & Recreation"

Spoilers for the full series ahead!

I'm taking a minute to enjoy the fact that I've finished my biggest series in a while.  125 episodes (plus a pandemic special), covering 2009 to 2015.  There are a ton of deleted and extended scenes, interviews, and ancillary material that I still want to catch up on, but it's very satisfying to reach the end of a long series like this, and see the payoff to all the character arcs, running jokes, and worldbuilding.

The second half of the show has its ups and downs.  I liked the fifth season for the most part, because we got back into episodic hijinks, Leslie found a new battleground on the city council, and several characters grew up a bit, particularly Ron and Tom.  The villains, like Councilman Jamm (Jon Glaser) and Mona Lisa Saperstein (Jenny Slate) got more annoying and cartoonish.  The romances - Leslie and Ben, and Ron and Diane (Lucy Lawless), progressed nicely, and we hit the first of the many points that were designed as potential series finales.  However, there were also several episodes in season five, and especially season six that felt like filler, with people sliding back into bad habits or just treading water.  Chris and Ann prepping for the departures of their actors was honestly the most interesting thing that had been done with either of the characters in ages.

The sixth season saw a lot of changes that simultaneously felt like they were happening too quickly and too slowly.  Rob Lowe and Rashida Jones left halfway through, making room for Retta and Jim O'Heir in the opening credits for a few episodes.  Leslie got recalled - relatively quickly - but took forever to make up her mind about taking a new federal government job.  We got the Cones of Dunshire, the Unity Concert, Johnny Karate, and a new Parks employee named Craig (Billy Eichner), but there were also some significant low points.  Chris Pratt was gone for most of the first half to shoot "Guardians of the Galaxy" and the reasons to keep everyone in Pawnee together kept getting more and more unconvincing. 

So, I have to admit that it was something of a relief to get to the final stretch of season seven, which begins with a time jump into an alternate future version of 2017, where apparently Trump didn't win the presidential election and everyone uses holographic displays created by new Big Bad tech company Gryzzl.  The Leslie and Ron grudge was a great mini-arc, Ben running for Congress lasted exactly as long as it should have, Tom finally found love in a non-cringey way with Natalie Morales' Lucy, and all the characters got fun spotlight episodes leading up to the epic finale.  Oh, and the guest stars were amazing.  I will treasure the appearances of Orlando-bound Werner Herzog and dead Bill Murray forever.  

 

"Parks & Recreation" is one of the only series of this length that I can think of that has been this consistently good.  I can nitpick about the weaker episodes and characters, but honestly the show avoids so many traps and so many cliches that have caused other sitcoms to stagnate.  The romances aren't dragged out.  People have kids that don't end up taking over the show.  People's careers progress, and they move on.  They grow up and their priorities change.  We slowly learn more about minor characters like Donna, Jerry/Terry/Larry/Garry, the Sapersteins, Shauna Malwae Tweep (Alison Becker), Joan Callamezzo (Mo Collins), Perd (Jay Jackson), and so many more familiar faces from Pawnee.  

The last handful of episodes were so satisfying, because they gave us concrete, well-considered endings for everybody.  Were they too unrealistically happy?  Sure, but "Parks & Recreation" isn't "Community" or "The Office," and has always existed in a cartoonish, off-kilter universe.  Letting Leslie Knope attain her dreams is pure wish fulfillment, especially in hindsight, but it's also the ending that feels right for her.  Nostalgia plays a big part in the finale, as everyone is saying their goodbyes, and I think it's a big part of the show's continuing appeal.  2015, and the waning days of the original "Must See TV," already feels like it was a million years ago.

As for me, this was a thoroughly rewarding and enjoyable experience, and I'm happy to have filled in another media blind spot.  The top ten list will be coming shortly.

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Rank 'Em: The Disney Renaissance, Part 2

Continued from last time. Minor spoilers ahead.

10. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) - There's a lot wrong here.  After seeing the Charles Laughton version of "Hunchback" from the '30s, I understand what Disney was going for, but there are some dire adaptation mistakes.  The gargoyles are too silly.  Esmerelda is too modern.  The happy ending is way too happy.  And yet, the Disney "Hunchback" is one of the most beautiful animated films ever made, and some of the sequences are as good as anything they've ever done.  These versions of Quasimodo and Frollo are truly moving, and had me invested in their fates.  I wish they existed in a film that lived up to them, but Disney played it too safe, and proved only willing to go so far.   

9. The Great Mouse Detective (1986) - This is the oldest film on the list, and something of a borderline case.  It had its origins in the pre-Eisner era, and feels more like a film of the old school, even though Katzenberg certainly had a hand in the production.  Also, it has some of Disney's earliest uses of CGI animation, and a lot of important Renaissance era talent was involved.  I like that the movie works as a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, and as an adventure comedy starring mice.  However, what helps "Great Mouse Detective" just squeak into the top half of this list is the villain, Ratigan, an egomaniacal rodent played with great panache by Vincent Price.    

8. The Rescuers Down Under (1990) - You forgot about this movie, didn't you?  Childhood nostalgia is in play here, as I was absolutely obsessed with this movie's flying sequences when I was a kid, but I continue to adore the intrepid Bernard and Miss Bianca.  Marahute the golden eagle is one of the most magnificent creatures ever animated, and yes, that is George C. Scott himself voicing the villainous poacher, McLeach.  I count this as the first, and perhaps the most successful of Disney's attempts to make a straight, blockbuster-style action-adventure picture.   The spectacle works, the comedy works, and most importantly it has characters that you can really root for.   

7. Hercules (1997) - It took a while, but "Hercules" has grown on me over time.  It helps that it's so broadly comedic, after several years of too-serious epics like "Pocahontas" and "Hunchback."  Here, using Gerald Scarfe's caricatures as the basis for the character designs, and recruiting very modern comic personalities to fill out the cast, we have a proper cartoon feature for the first time since "Aladdin."  My qualms with the film come down to the life and origins of Hercules being a little too Disneyfied, removing anything remotely scandalous from the story, and setting him up as the Grecian Rocky Balboa.  But its heart is in the right place, the vibe is swell, and I can't resist a Greek chorus.  

6. The Little Mermaid (1989) - I was a little wary of placing "The Little Mermaid" so high in the rankings, especially since Ariel's boy crazy motivations are kinda eyebrow-raising these days, but just about everything in the movie still works to a startling degree.  The music in particular is woven so well into the narrative that I can't imagine the movie without it.  With the help of composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, "The Little Mermaid" really originated and perfected the formula for the modern animated musical film - to the point where Disney found it very hard to divorce itself from this legacy in the following years.  And the kids, I can report firsthand, love it as much as ever.  

5. Tarzan (1999) - "Tarzan" is one of the most beautiful of the Disney features, and really the last one in this era that I felt was a successful execution of the Disney musical template - though it's not technically a musical, with Phil Collins' songs kept in the background.  There is a love story that works better than the vast majority of other Disney romances, the character animation of both the humans and animals is stunning, and Tarzan himself is far and away the most interesting character in the picture.  The comic relief is notably weak, but also far less obtrusive than we've seen in other Disney films.  It mystifies me that this feature is so often overlooked or forgotten in the lists of Renaissance classics.      

4. The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - "New Groove" underwent one of the most extreme transformations from original conception to the finished product.  The chaotic production, which went through multiple directors and multiple visions, was always meant to be "The Prince and the Pauper" in a South American fantasy kingdom, but somehow also became a Chuck Jones homage with llamas.  And it is the funniest, most delightful comedy that Disney ever made.  David Spade and John Goodman as Kuzco and Pacha are perfect.  Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton as Yzma and Kronk are even better.  And despite being a box office bust, it has slowly but surely become indispensable.      

3. The Lion King (1994) - I've had a love/hate relationship with this movie over the years, because on one hand it is an unparalleled visual spectacle, and on the other hand it was so omnipresent in pop culture for years that I got sick of it.  Frankly, it is not as good as its reputation proclaims, but what it does right, it does better than any other film.  The iconic opening sequence is still a high point in animation history, and Elton John and Hans Zimmer's music will live forever.  I can grumble that the characters and the story are too bland and basic, but that's a big reason why they resonate so well with so many viewers.  In the end, it's useless to try and argue against the masterpiece status of "The Lion King." 

2. Aladdin (1992) - I miss Robin Williams.  "Aladdin" managed to capture the energy and the joy of Robin Williams in a way that no other piece of media ever has.  It's no surprise that this was a box office sensation, because no other animated film had ever been so much concentrated entertainment, propelled in large part by Williams' performance as the Genie.  Whenever I rewatch it, I keep catching more little moments for grown-ups that it manages to sneak into the corners, like the William F. Buckley and Rodney Dangerfield impressions, and throwaway lines that go by so fast, kids don't catch the implications.  It's aged over the years, sure, but "Aladdin" is still full of surprises.        

1. Beauty and the Beast (1991) - A big reason I wrote this feature was because I realized that "Beauty and the Beast" has supplanted "Dumbo" as my favorite animated Disney feature.  Over the years I mostly remembered the funny moments and the campy moments, and somehow lost sight of the pathos and romance at the heart of the story.  I think it's because the most poignant moments play out largely away from the bombastic songs, and are these lovely, intimate scenes that tend to pass without much dialogue or comment.  It's so earnestly emotional in ways that have gone completely out of style, and I love it for that.  "Beauty and the Beast" also features my pick for the greatest piece of animation in any Disney film - the final transformation of the Beast.      

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Rank 'Em: The Disney Renaissance, Part 1

A few years ago I ranked all the animated films Disney made in the modern era, from 2006 to present.  Now, because I've been revisiting a lot of these films lately, I want to do the same thing with the films of the Disney Renaissance, from roughly 1986, when Michael Eisner and friends took over the ailing Disney animation studio, to 2005, when the studio temporarily went kaput.  This list is limited to the films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, not any of their subsidiaries or acquisitions.  So no PIXAR, no Tigger or Goofy movies, and no "Nightmare Before Christmas."  That's still twenty-one films, so this list will be split into two parts, and some entries will be significantly shorter than others.

Here we go.  Minor spoilers ahead.

20-21.  Dinosaur (2000) and Chicken Little (2005) - Officially, these are Disney's two first CGI features.  I've seen them once apiece, and they're so forgettable I regularly don't remember that they exist.  "Dinosaur" is entirely built around the concept of photorealistic dinosaurs, and presents a weird fusion of nature documentary and Exodus narrative.  "Chicken Little" is a clumsy sci-fi retelling of "Henny Penny," with a father-son story grafted on.  It's hard not to think of it as Disney's response to "Shrek," which cleaned up at the box office three years earlier.  Both are far more interesting for their technological advancements and stylistic deviations from the Disney norm than anything else.            

19. Pocahontas (1995) - After "Beauty and the Beast" made history as the first animated film to receive a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, Jeffrey Katzenberg is rumored to have gotten a little obsessed with repeating the feat.  "Pocahontas" is easily the most obvious piece of Oscar bait the studio ever produced, an unforgivably dull piece of historical fiction that reimagines the meeting of Pocahontas and John Smith as a tepid romance.  Individual sequences are perfectly lovely, like the "Colors of the Wind" musical number, but the whole project is so self-serious and so tone deaf in many respects that I consider it one of the least successful Disney films ever made.    

17-18. Brother Bear (2003) and Home on the Range (2004) - Both of these films have their charms and remain very watchable today, but they're both hampered by being rushed out the door during a very rough period in the studio's history.  The characters aren't very memorable, and the stories need more work.  I love the throwback '60s style character designs and animation in "Home on the Range," but it's all awfully derivative.  "Brother Bear" is more successful, featuring a touching central relationship between Kenai and Koda.  The film's only real deficiency is its lack of scope and limited resources - it had about half the budget of any other Disney feature from the same period.  

16. Mulan (1998) - I have a long list of complaints about "Mulan," which mostly boil down to the movie being so underwhelming to look at, and indulging in culture and gender stereotyping to a regrettable degree.  I know it was 1998, and we weren't all so enlightened about any of this, but it still grates.  It doesn't help that this was a film I was really hyped for, and sadly disappointed by.  After years of looking forward to a Chinese dragon in a Disney feature, I got Eddie Murphy wisecracking in tiny red reptile form.  This is also the Disney Renaissance musical with the least impressive songs and music.  Mulan herself is a wonderful heroine, and a great role model, but I was hoping for something more.     

15. Atlantis: the Lost Empire (2001) - I don't have any particularly strong feelings toward this one.  It's another of Disney's attempts at making a boy's adventure movie and straight action film that didn't really land with audiences.  I love the distinctive Matt Mignola designs and the Jules Verne approach to technology.  However, everything kind of falls apart when it comes to the actual Atlanteans, and the mix of oddball characters never quite gels right.  Disney succeeded in making a film that didn't really come across as a Disney film, and I suspect that it's probably a big reason why it didn't do as well as they hoped.  I'm glad "Atlantis" has its fans, but the film made it clear that it's not one aimed at me.     

14. Fantasia 2000 (2000) - I admire the ambition that it took to get a new installment of "Fantasia" made, but this one feels severely compromised.  First, the celebrity introductions to each segment are intrusive as hell.  Second, there are signs of executive tampering all over the place - the cartoon eyes on the whales in "Pines of Rome," the happy ending to "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," and the Donald Duck short that doesn't really let Donald be Donald.  I enjoy some of the individual pieces, like Eric Golberg's take on "Rhapsody in Blue," and the Brizzi brothers' spectacular finale, the "Firebird Suite," but frankly I was hoping for better.  The original is still one of the high water marks for Disney.    

13. Oliver & Company (1988) - There's been a long history of Disney animal films, and these make up the majority of the studio's features set in the present day.  In the case of "Oliver & Company," its specificity in capturing 1980s New York has turned it into a period piece over time, a fun melding of an animal-lead "Oliver Twist" with the kind of slightly scuzzy comedy that Eisner was known for shepherding along at Touchstone, like "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" and "Ruthless People."  It's an easy watch, with some catchy contemporary songs - the first time big pop stars were courted for a Disney feature - but feels very much like a warm up for the bigger projects coming a few years later.  

12. Treasure Planet (2003) - Here it is - the film that once killed traditional animation at Disney.  Directors Ron Clements and John Musker finally got to make their long-gestating dream project, and it was a financial bust.  It's a shame, because "Treasure Planet" has good characters, good spectacle, and an appealing mix of naval adventure and space fantasy.  Some of the swashbuckler trappings don't work, and there's evidence of a lot of last minute rejiggering of various characters.  However, I love how ambitious the film is.  The Long John Silver cyborg is fantastic, and the ensemble is especially strong.  Execution could use some work, but the Millennials love this one for a reason.  

11. Lilo & Stitch (2002) - This is a weird one.  It's a science-fiction comedy that features dysfunctional family dynamics, a Hawaiian setting, and a lot of Elvis Presley.  It is a very good kids' film, and I had the misfortune of watching it when I was not a kid, so I never really developed much of an attachment to it.  I appreciate that it's another film, like "Oliver & Company," that acknowledges the socioeconomic divide, and features a collection of characters who are struggling to get by.  I sympathized so much with poor Nani.  However, the real star of the show is Stitch, and he's the kind of loveable nightmare troublemaker that has never appealed to me.  Full points for taking some big risks, though.   

Next time, the top ten.  Stay tuned.

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Emmy Hangover 2021

So, after the ratings disaster that was last year's Emmy ceremony - despite the Zoom enabled telecast actually going pretty well - we're back to an in-person ceremony.  Cedric the Entertainer was on hand as a traditional comedian host, there was a red carpet and a backstage and live music, including an upbeat opening number.  There were still plenty of pandemic measures in place - most of the UK winners teleconferenced in their speeches from London, there was an extended comedic bit about Ken Jeong forgetting his vaccination card, and you could still see masks here and there.  Seth Rogen bluntly pointed out the unease in the room.  However, the Emmys did a decent job of pretending it was all business as usual.  Great set design with the long, room-spanning screens and the lights in the table centerpieces.   

The awards themselves were decent  this year.  It helped that I had seen most of the big winners - "The Crown," "Ted Lasso," "Mare of Easttown," and "The Queen's Gambit" - and was decently invested in some of the races.  It was great to see Hannah Waddingham win, Brett Goldstein win, Michaela Coel win, and Kate Winslet win.  If Scott Frank wanted to drone on for three and a half minutes, however, he really should have written himself a better speech.  Not too many surprises this year, except maybe Ewan McGregor winning for "Halston," and Julianne Nicholson winning for her small, but very good appearance in "Mare of Easttown."  It was great to see women winning so many of the writing and directing categories, but also super noticeable that nearly every winner was white.  Really, "Underground Railroad" should have had a far, far bigger presence here.  And where was "Small Axe"?!  Thank god for that Debbie Allen tribute.

Cedric the Entertainer was a pretty dull host, and none of the prerecorded comedy bits he did landed very well, except the support group for people who hadn't won Emmys.  It was really just an excuse to put Scott Bakula, Alyson Hannigan, Fred Savage, and Dr. Phil in a sketch together, but I laughed.  I admit it.  However, the various presenters added some life to the ceremony.  I missed the "Schitt's Creek" train completely, but the chemistry that the cast had was off the charts.  Stephen Colbert was the only one who did anything remotely political all night, making fun of the California governor recall.  Jennifer Coolidge and Bowen Yang and Bowen Yang's silver disco platform shoes were other favorites.  Good grief, I will never make fun of the red carpet ever again, because I didn't know how much I would miss the wild pageantry of these events until suddenly it was missing.  

And then there was Conan O'Brien, who left late night this year, and decided to be the most entertaining person at the ceremony.  After losing his own category to John Oliver - who said nice things about him in his acceptance speech - he heckled the Television Academy President, Frank Scherma by obsequiously cheering and saluting him.  He then joined Stephen Colbert and his crew onstage when they won a trophy for their election special.  It is one of the great award show tragedies that he never got to host the Emmys again after his incredible turn at the 2006 ceremony - before all the late night musical chairs happened.  

Because I'm a wonk, I'll point out that Netflix was the major winner here, with the most trophies by the end of the night, underlined by "The Queen's Gambit" nabbing the final win of the night - the first time I can remember the evening ending with the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series category.  The awards were so dominated by the streamers this year that it's starting to feel a little odd that the Emmys are still primarily airing on network television.     

I wish Bo Burnham would have won Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), and that "The Handmaid's Tale" would have picked up something out of all those nominations.  And I'm not sure whether I'm sad or relieved that "WandaVision" only managed to win three smaller production awards.  Probably both.

Next year, I expect I'll be back on the outs, when "Better Call Saul," "White Lotus," and "Succession" are poised to be the big contenders.  But you never know.  It's a long time until next year, and there's more television coming our way than ever.

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My Top Ten Episodes of 2020-2021

I watched an awful lot of television this year, and it's time to put together a list of the highlights.  A quick reminder before we start that I'm a big genre nerd, notoriously bad with comedies, and have a neverending "To Watch" list.  

I'm using Emmy rules for cutoff dates, which means that this list covers everything from the summer of 2019 to the spring of 2020.  I've categorized "Small Axe" as a series of movies, rather than a miniseries.  Entries are unranked, and I'm limiting myself to one episode per show or miniseries.  Awfully difficult to tell the difference these days.

The "Plus One" spot is reserved for the best episode I didn't watch in time to include on a previous list.

And here we go.  I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum.

Lovecraft Country, "Sundown" - "Lovecraft Country" was a very uneven show, but its premiere episode was a clear winner.  It compares the existential horror of being black in 1950s Jim Crow America with the threat of Lovecraftian monsters in one of the tensest, weirdest hours of television I've ever seen.  The show fulfills its promise of showing black leads in familiar genre situations, while confronting the discomfort of the historical reality of American race relations head-on.  And the top shelf HBO production values and sterling cast don't hurt either.   

Fargo, "Welcome to the Alternate Economy" - I've missed "Fargo."  This is another season that didn't shake out as well as I would have liked, but it has such a fantastic beginning.  It charts the history of the different ethnic mafia organizations that vie for control of Kansas City, Missouri, before finally coming to the current conflicts in 1949.  It's chock full of all of Noah Hawley's favorite little quirks and devices, from the framing devices to the stompy dance number, to the captions, but it feels like something truly different and distinct from the previous seasons.  

Raised by Wolves, "Mass" - This is the best piece of science-fiction we've gotten from Ridley Scott in a while, and so much of its effectiveness comes down to the tone and the atmosphere achieved by the production.  There's a truly alien quality to the look and the performances of the leads, and it was one of the year's biggest disappointments that this lessened as the season went on.  I appreciate the icky viscerality of the visuals and special effects.  The big, crazy action set piece that erupts at the climax is one of the best surprises of the season.    

The Queen's Gambit, "End Game" - I vacillated between picking the premiere episode or the finale, and ultimately went with the finale.  It's so emotionally satisfying, and features so many elements that the series has become known for - Anya Taylor Joy's performance, the glorious production design, and the fairy tale flourishes.  It really becomes clear in this episode that the show has been constructing a lovely piece of feminist fantasty, where every rival can become a friend, and there's no limit to how high a talented, persistent woman can climb.  

Ted Lasso, "The Hope That Kills You" - This was the hardest show to choose an episode for, but ultimately I went with the season finale, which does such a great job of playing with the viewer's emotions and setting up the next season.  The show has proved over and over again that it is not what it appears to be on the surface, that it's about the characters and their growth as much as the game.  And you only really learn who people are when you see them deal with big challenges.  The ending may have been a downer, but it was the perfect capper for this season. 

The Crown, "The Balmoral Test" - It was a tough choice between this and "Fairytale," the Charles and Diana wedding episode, but I like "The Balmoral Test" for the way it spotlights Margaret Thatcher, and the way it uses the metaphor of the two visits to illustrate the disconnect between the royals and the government.  The show spends so much time with Elizabeth and her brood, it's rare to see them from a wholly different perspective, and Thatcher is of course a perfect outsider.  Finally, it's a shame we only got Emma Corrin's Diana for one season.

I May Destroy You, "Ego Death" - I tried multiple times to get through the series, and failed.  Between my struggling with the characters' accents and the slice of life nature of the storylines, it just wasn't going to happen.  Finally, I just went ahead and watched the ending, which is a beautiful, healing, life-affirming episode of television, where the heroine makes peace with her demons, and is able to move forward with her life.  I expect to see Michaela Coel everywhere and in everything soon, and look forward to whatever she decides to do next.   

The Flight Attendant, "Rabbits" - What I love the most about "The Flight Attendant" is its wonderful energy and immediacy.  This is the second episode of the show, where our heroine Cassie decides to flee a bad situation.  The whole hour is full of tension and thrills as she tries to evade the police, makes several terrible mistakes, and starts down a dangerous path.  The writers also do a tremendous job of setting up several characters and relationships that are important for the rest of the season - notably Cassie's fantasy segments with a chatty murder victim.    

Mare of Easttown, "Miss Lady Hawk Herself" - The series follows the familiar template of a detective solving a murder in a small  town, and turning up everybody's secrets.  So naturally, the premiere is as much about Easttown as it is about Mare, and director Craig Zobel and writer Brad Inglesby do such a pitch perfect job of it, setting up all these different groups of characters and their dynamics, while hinting at the traumas hiding just under the surface.  When tragedy does strike, it feels almost like the natural result of so much tension finally exploding. 

The Underground Railroad, "Mabel" - I had some trouble deciding which episode of "The Underground Railroad" to spotlight, and I settled on the finale, "Mabel," which is a mostly self-contained flashback to events that happen before the rest of the series.  It's a wonderfully raw piece of television, and all the actors are wonderful, especially Sheila Atim as the title character.  The series is full of so much trauma, ambiguity, and darkness, it's a relief to get a concrete answer to one of the show's biggest mysteries in this chapter.

Honorable Mention:

Invincible, "Where I Really Come From"

Plus One:

For All Mankind, "Hi Bob"

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Female Directors at the Emmys - How Are We Doing?

 

So, once upon a time in 2012, I wrote up a post on the history of female directors at the Emmys, called Where Are the Female Directors? In Television!  This involved looking up and listing every single female nominee who had ever been nominated in a directing category.  Now it's ten years later and I figured that list was due for an update.  

Aside from 2012, which stands out as something of an outlier for only having one female directing nomination, the stats have been steadily inching upward.  

2015 was the first year that women were represented in all six of the directing categories, which also happened in 2020, which had seven categories after they added one for reality shows.  2020 was a banner year, where sixteen of the 48 directing nominations went to women, the highest total so far.  In 2016, they netted three wins, the most of any year.  Women have been doing so well that from 2013 to 2020, they won more directing trophies than they had for the entire history of the Emmys up until that point. 

An interesting wrinkle is Joey Soloway, our first nonbinary nominee and winner for back to back years of directing "Transparent" in 2015 and 2016.  After some debate, I decided to include them on the list, because I figure it's better to overinclude than leave someone out.

Here's the final list of Emmy nominated women and nonbinary directors for 2012-2021 for your reference. And good luck to all of this year's nominees.

2012

Comedy

Girls, "She Did" - Lena Dunham

2013

Drama

Breaking Bad,"Gliding Over All" - Michelle McLaren

Homeland, "Q&A" - Lesli Linka Glatter

Comedy

Modern Family, "Arrested" - Gail Mancuso - WINNER

30 Rock, "Hogcock!/Last Lunch" - Beth McCarthy Miller

Girls, "On All Fours" - Lena Dunham

Miniseries/Movie

Ring of Fire - Allison Anders

Top of the Lake - Jane Campion 

2014

Comedy

Modern Family, "Vegas" - Gail Mancuso - WINNER

Orange is the New Black, "Lesbian Request Denied" - Jodie Foster

Variety Special 

The Sound of Music Live! - Beth McCarthy Miller

Nonfiction

The Square - Jehane Noujaim - WINNER

2015

Drama

Homeland,"From A to B and Back Again" - Lesli Linka Glatter

Comedy

Transparent, "Best New Girl" - Joey Soloway - WINNER

Limited Series or Movie

Olive Kitteridge - Lisa Cholodenko - WINNER

Bessie - Dee Rees 

Variety Series

Inside Amy Schumer, "12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer" - Amy Schumer (co director)

Variety Special

Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert -Natalie Johns

Nonfiction

Citizenfour - Laura Poitras

2016

Drama

Homeland, "The Tradition of Hospitality" - Lesli Linka Glatter

Comedy

Transparent, "Man on the Land" - Joey Soloway - WINNER

Limited Series or Movie

The Night Manager - Susanne Bier - WINNER

Variety Special 

Adele Live in New York City -  Beth McCarthy Miller

Lemonade - Beyonce (co director)

Nonfiction

Making a Murderer - Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos - WINNER

What Happened, Miss Simone? - Liz Garbus 

2017

Drama

The Handmaid's Tale, "Offred" - Reed Morano - WINNER

The Handmaid's Tale, "The Bridge" - Kate Dennis 

Homeland, "America First" - Lesli Linka Glatter 

Comedy

Silicon Valley, "Intellectual Property" - Jamie Babbit 

Nonfiction

13th - Ava Duvernay

Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds - Alexis Bloom (co-director)

 Planet Earth II, "Islands" - Elizabeth White

2018

Drama

The Handmaid's Tale, "After" - Kari Skogland

Comedy

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, "Pilot" - Amy Sherman Palladino - WINNER

Variety Series

Portlandia, "Riot Spray" - Carrie Brownstein

Nonfiction/Documentary

The Vietnam War - Lynn Novick (co-director)

NOTE: This was the fIrst year for new category, Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program

2019

Drama

The Handmaid's Tale, "Holly" - Daina Reid

Killing Eve, "Desperate Times" - Lisa Brühlmann

Comedy

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, "All Alone" - Amy Sherman Palladino

Limited Series or Movie

When They See Us - Ava DuVernay

Fosse/Verdon, "Glory" - Jessica Yu 

Variety Special 

Homecoming - Beyonce (co director)

Nonfiction/Documentary

Free Solo - Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (co-director) - WINNER

RBG - Julie Cohen and Betsy West

2020

Drama

Homeland, "Prisoners of War" - Lesli Linka Glatter

The Crown, "Cri de Coeur," - Jessica Hobbs

The Morning Show, "The Interview" - Mimi Leder

Comedy

Modern Family, "Finale Part 2" - Gail Mancuso 

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, "It's Comedy or Cabbage" - Amy Sherman Palladino

Limited Series or Movie

Unorthodox - Maria Schrader - WINNER

Little Fires Everywhere - Lynn Shelton 

Watchmen, "Little Fear of Lightning" - Steph Green

Watchmen, "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice" - Nicole Kassell

Documentary/Nonfiction

American Factory - Julia Reichert (co-director) - WINNER

Becoming - Nadia Hallgren 

Tiger King - Rebecca Chaiklin (co-director) 

Reality

Top Chef, "The Jonathan Gold Standard" - Ariel Boles 

Variety Series

A Black Lady Sketch Show - Dime Davis 

Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready - Linda Mendoza 

Variety Special 

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: 'All in the Family' and 'Good Times' - Pamela Fryman 

2021

Drama

The Crown, "War" - Jessica Hobbs 

Bridgerton, "Diamond of the First Water" - Julie Anne Robinson  

The Handmaid's Tale, "The Wilderness" - Liz Garbus 

Comedy

Ted Lasso, "The Hope That Kills You" - M.J. Delaney 

Hacks, "There is No Line" - Lucia Aniello

The Flight Attendant, "In Case of Emergency" - Susanna Fogel

Documentary/Nonfiction

Allen v. Farrow - Amy Ziering (co-director)

Boys State - Amanda McBaine (co-director) 

Dick Johnson is Dead - Kristen Johnson 

Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

I May Destroy You, "Ego Death" - Michaela Coel (co-director) 

Reality

Top Chef, "Pan African Portland" - Ariel Boles

Variety Special

Dave Chapelle: 8:46 - Julia Reichert (co-director)

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My Favorite Frank Capra Film

"Arsenic and Old Lace" is not the best example of Frank Capra's work.  He's known for optimistic, bright-eyed fables about humanity being fundamentally good and helpful.  His penchant for sentimentality resulted in some of his films being labeled "Capra-corn" by critics of the time.  "Arsenic and Old Lace," on the other hand, is a screwball comedy about two lovely little old ladies who murder people for fun.  It's set on Halloween, and features a fiend who looks like Boris Karloff, a nutty uncle who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, and several corpses that get mixed up over the course of the evening.  However, Capra's facility with pratfalls and gags were absolutely vital to translating the original play into cinematic form.  

Adapting "Arsenic and Old Lace" was harder than it looked.  A major laugh line had to be removed from the end of the play because of censorship concerns.  Boris Karloff, who originated the role of the evil Jonathan, was not available so all the meta jokes about his appearance had to be reworked.  But more pressing was the runaway success of the original play.  Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941 with key members of the play's cast, but it wasn't released until 1944.  The stage version of "Arsenic and Old Lace" had to close before the film could hit theaters - which turned out to be two years later than originally planned.  By that time the play had gained such a reputation that the film version was immediately saddled with outsized expectations.         

The other major creative force in the film's production was Cary Grant, who had to be convinced to take the lead role, and then famously regretted it.  Capra originally wanted Bob Hope for the part, but Grant was the better choice.  He imparts so much endearing perplexity and charm as the frazzled Mortimer Brewster.  This is Grant's most over-the-top performance, full of big exaggerated reactions, cartoonish behavior, and wild takes.  And he's so good at it, we must lament that Grant rarely allowed himself to appear so silly onscreen afterwards, preferring to cultivate a cooler persona.  The other performers are also fantastic.  I adore John Alexander as Teddy, Josephine Hull and Jean Adair as the spinster sisters, and Raymond Massey as the hulking Jonathan.  And then there's Peter Lorre.  When I think of Peter Lorre, this is the performance I always remember - the nervous little crook who has been bullied into being a baddie by Jonathan, but happily plays along with Teddy digging up the basement.   

  

A big reason that "Arsenic and Old Lace" holds up so well after so many decades is because it's exceptionally well constructed.  The momentum builds slowly, as the film sets up all the different subplots and running gags, from the taxi cab kept waiting outside, to Mortimer's attempts to have Teddy committed, to Jonathan and Dr. Einstein's machinations, to those little old ladies who are alarmingly bold in their murderous tendencies.  I love the way that the ensemble works together, with Mortimer constantly having to ping-pong among the different problems and cast members, more and more people entering the house to complicate matters, and everyone finding out about the bodies at just the right (or wrong) time.  There are some odd bits, like the opening that flits around New York to establish the setting, and the sequence at City Hall.  However, once Mortimer finds that first corpse, the film finds its groove and never lets up.          

I've liked all of the Frank Capra films that I've seen, and admire the idealism of films like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "Meet John Doe.  However, my favorites are the ones that make me laugh - "It Happened One Night" and "Arsenic and Old Lace."  "Arsenic" especially gets to me because of how sincere and how silly it is.  Where else could you have a film where an old lady sees nothing wrong with murdering someone, but is aghast at the thought of telling a fib?  Or where the proprietor of the local "rest home" complains of having too many Teddy Roosevelts, and wonders if maybe a Napoleon is available?  Or where you can cheer at Peter Lorre getting away in the end?

My sympathies to Cary Grant's ego, but this is the most entertaining film he ever appeared in.   

What I've Seen - Frank Capra

The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)

Lady for a Day (1933)

It Happened One Night (1934)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Lost Horizon (1937)

You Can't Take It with You (1938)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Meet John Doe (1941)

Why We Fight (1942-1945)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

State of the Union (1948)

Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

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