EPISODE 902: PREPARE FOR A MEATY EMMYS
Also, If you don't know who Bob Vila is, you are dead to me.
POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! I hope it’s a good day for rest and recharging for you and yours. The course of justice may not run smooth, but it doesn’t run at all if we don’t fight for it.
Today in the Wow: Max continues to be the network that stomps on dreams like a toddler in a field of daisies; Why am I obsessed with home renovation shows? And the Emmys!
Let’s get into it.
THE WOWND UP
This week the ironically-named Max cancelled both Our Flag Means Death and Julia, continuing its commitment since the Time Warner Discovery merger to reward its long-term subscribers with a hearty slap in the face. Our Flag Means Death at least had a kind of ending for its main couple at the conclusion of its second season—though it clearly had many more stories to tell, and its fan base was ridiculously passionate; Julia, meanwhile, was poised to grow, as its second season began exploring the broader story of WGBH, Boston’s public television network, which was the forerunner and foundation of great public television in our country. WGBH created not only The French Chef but This Old House, Frontline, Nova, Masterpiece, Evening at Pops, ZOOM, Arthur, Curious George and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.There’s so much story there to tell, and this cast and writing was so damn perfect. Julia was an exquisite little gem of a show, filled with courage and goodness.
In other news, the Daily Beast is reporting that actor Shia LeBeouf has converted to Catholicism and told the Franciscan that he worked with that at some point he’d like to become a deacon. LeBeouf is currently awaiting trial over allegations that he had been “relentlessly” abusive to his ex-girlfriend, including choking her and purposely giving her a sexually-transmitted disease. The bishop and Franciscans present at his confirmation celebrated afterward with a group picture.
If I could just have a second.
Actually, I’ll need just one more.
In much, much better news, Disney/Lucasfilm announced that there is going to be a second season of Ahsoka and a Mandalorian and Grogu movie (seemingly to replace season 4 of the show). Also the Daisy Ridley-sequel to the sequel trilogy (The sequel sequel? The sesequel? As the sequel to a trilogy, the tri-quel?)—is due to start filming in April. And at some point soon we’ve got the Jude Law-led show Skeleton Crew, which also takes place in the post-Return of the Jedi era, and The Acolyte, which takes place hundreds of years earlier.
And for those who need their fix now, there’s this 50 minute fan film about X-Wings and TIEs in a dogfight that I am hearing is insane.
MY HOME RENOVATION FANTASY
I’m writing this from the home of friends with whom I spent the better part of yesterday watching House Hunters International and home renovation shows, including one about a couple moving to the Northern Beaches of Sydney that made my heart feel many things (starting with, American guy, Baby, you cannot get a place in Sydney that is near the ocean and near the city for $2500 a month).
Every time I come to my friends’ place, I spend an inordinate amount of time watching shows like this. I am not myself a home improvement kind of person, but for some reason I find these kinds of shows so relaxing. And given the fact that HHI alone has had over 190 seasons (!), I gather I am not the only one.
Why are these shows so addictively compelling? Three theories.
1) House renovation and hunting shows are mood boards for your own home.
You watch a home improvement or shopping show and it gives you ideas. How to use your space, how to change the game by knocking out a wall, details you can bring to spruce up a corner or deal with an issue in your house. In sharing their expertise with the families they help, they’re teaching us stuff as well. Bob Vila was doing a version of this as long ago as 1979, and with amazing hair.
2) Home shows are actually travel shows.
The best part about shows like HHI is that I can sit in my pajamas drinking tea in my friends’ den and travel to places I have never been, like Thailand or Puerto Vallarta, or places that I have been and love, like Sydney. First of all, you get to see those places, and the wild stuff that comes with them, like um, elephants.
But the homes themselves also give us cool glimpses into those worlds. We watched an episode with a couple moving to Thailand; one of the houses they looked at was tall and thin with dark wood in a style that you simply would not find in the United States. Travel through the floors of the building was done via an outdoor stairwell—again, pretty unusual for us. And the home had an outdoor pool in a backyard that was shared by three different families, which felt both super weird—What if your neighbors are crazy?—and fascinating.
While domestic home renovation shows seem a little bit less tourist-y, in actuality some seem to have a similar draw. Laurel, Mississippi has thousands of tourists a year because of HGTV’s Home Town; in fact, those tourists have brought downtown Laurel back to life. There are golf cart tours of Bentonville, Arkansas, where Fixer to Fabulous is filmed. You can also go to Indianapolis and stay in an home renovated by the Good Bones team or wander the neighborhood they work in. The list goes on and on.
3) Home shows are actually relationship shows.
This is my main theory: In home hunting or renovation shows where the couple plays an actual role, the home project is the context that helps draw out the contours of the relationship between the partners. And most of the time the partners don’t really seem to notice that. We really are voyeurs, getting to see what’s going on between them in a way they don’t necessarily see themselves. Like the American couple who are hunting for a new house, and the husband wants his wife and toddler son to accept a four-storey walk-up because he loves a new build home. He also ended up putting a bid in on a house without talking to her. Yeah, it was bad.
Or the American couple who want to get a second home in Puerto Vallarta (as one does), and the older of the two is very clear, the point is to have a place that reduces their stress and they can get some downtime, while the younger is like, I want an expensive place where we can have big groups of people stay/party with me. Cut to: Conflict.
I was talking to one of my friends about all this last night. He had a much simpler theory: The homes, the money, the locations; it’s all such a wonderful fantasy.
I may have overthought this.
EMMY BEEFS
Delayed for four months by the writers and actors strikes, the 2023 Emmys are tonight!
Five things to keep an eye out for:
The Bear—While there’s going to be lots of focus and/or obsession with the final season of Succession, I think the other big winner tonight is likely to be FX’s The Bear, the crazily intense half hour show about a downtown Chicago fast food restaurant that is becoming a fine dining institution. The writing is insane, the acting extraordinary, and in its second season it found time for Ted Lasso Christmas or Amsterdam-like moments that were just wonderful. (Note: If you watched the first season and felt like it’s too intense for you, highly recommend checking out season two. It’s very different.)
Better Call Saul—It feels like Saul ended a thousand years ago, which is too bad, because its final season was genius. Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn have never won for their performances, which is crazy. It’d be amazing to see Seehorn win; she was an unknown when she took the supporting role of Jimmy’s friend/love interest Kim Wexler, and she quickly became not only the co-lead, but the character we were most invested in. Probably Succession-fever is going to overwhelm everyone, but I hope someone celebrates this great show.
Gay Panic—I feel like a lot of gay men are going to be wondering why Fellow Travelers, this fall’s unbelievable mini-series about queer people in Washington during the McCarthy era, has received literally zero nominations. In fact, the mini didn’t start airing until after the voting for the Emmys was done (see: the strikes). So everything is fine, Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey will have their day, as will Jelani Alladin, Noah Ricketts and the rest Now if someone can just figure out a way to bring them all back together for something else….
Gay Rage—Looking back on the year of television, probably the most talked-about hour of drama was the Last of Us’ third episode, in which the show suddenly cut away from its main characters to deliver what many have felt is one of TV’s all-time greatest gay love stories. I predict that either Murray Bartlett or Nick Offerman is going to win for outstanding guest actor—truly they should give it to both of them, though I’m rooting for Murray Bartlett, a marvelous Australian actor who has not gotten enough attention. It should also win best dramatic episode writing. And if these things somehow don’t prove true, we riot.
Jokes about Beef—The Bear is about a restaurant known for its Chicago beef. Netflix has a mini-series called Beef which seems poised to crush all of the mini-series categories. Plus there’s The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White’s new Calvin Klein ads. This is a tame one.
I just think we may be in for a night for meat-related humor.
I always love the Emmys for a list of things I should have watched but haven’t yet. High on that list for me now are Beef, Jury Duty, Wednesday, Welcome to Chippendales, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and Fleischman is in Trouble.
I BET IT’S GOOD THOUGH
I know nothing about football, but I’m fascinated by these two recent pieces about the Kansas City Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid.
MOMENT OF WOW
There were a lot of not-warm-feelings after the Golden Globes last week. But in the midst of that desert we also got this:
Vulture did an interview with the creator of the song. It’s wonderful.
I’ll be back later this week for subscribers with the full interview with Jim Merillat, composer and pianist extraordinaire! Have a great week!
1. I've never watched a home renovation show, but your enthusiasm ALMOST makes me want to.
2. "If I could just have a second"...I guffawed!
3. Your thoughts on the Emmys last night were very prescient!!
4. Keep up the good work!!!