Category: Television

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Programming Note

Dan Seeger

This space has gathered dust the past few days. It was the unexpected result of a toppling series of dominoes related to a recent move and the colossal ineptitude of a certain multinational corporation. It especially pains me that I missed yesterday’s College Countdown post, but circumstances were largely beyond my control. Since my mind and spirit are still weary (in part because of yet one more service technician curveball hurled right at my noggin earlier today), I’m giving myself one more day of trembling stasis. Content returns tomorrow with a movie review of a big ol’ blockbuster. Whatever could … Continue reading Programming Note

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Laughing Matters: Mr. Show, “The Limits of Science”

Dan Seeger

Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too.. I spend my days writing about the latest surgical tools and medical advances. When my weary mind drifts, I invariably land on this sketch from the late, great Mr. Show. “Leeches suck out the sick inside of you that witches put there.” Previous entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Laughing Matters” tag. Continue reading Laughing Matters: Mr. Show, “The Limits of Science”

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Trivia Answer of the Day: North Oconomowoc Ocelots

Dan Seeger

This coming weekend, I’ll participate in The World’s Largest Trivia ContestTM. As per tradition, this week is filled with idle reminiscing about memorable answers in past years. Or rather, in past year. Every one of these answers figured in the 2016 edition of the contest. There are times when participating in the The World’s Largest Trivia ContestTM may call upon an individual to consume media they might otherwise avoid — or perhaps to which they’d be entirely oblivious. Those ventures might include the woolier reaches of television scheduled pitched at those craving entertainment after a hard week of middle school. Usually, … Continue reading Trivia Answer of the Day: North Oconomowoc Ocelots

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Trivia Answer of the Day: Zeke and Luther

Dan Seeger

This coming weekend, I’ll participate in The World’s Largest Trivia ContestTM. As per tradition, this week is filled with idle reminiscing about memorable answers in past years. Or rather, in past year. Every one of these answers figured in the 2016 edition of the contest. While The World’s Largest Trivia ContestTM is dominated by the kind of topics that would be immediately recognizable and comfortable to anyone who has spent time conjuring up answers at the quiz night at their favorite purveyor of adult beverages, there are a few peculiarities. For instance, I’m not sure how many other major trivia battles … Continue reading Trivia Answer of the Day: Zeke and Luther

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Trivia Answer of the Day: Debra Winger

Dan Seeger

This coming weekend, I’ll participate in The World’s Largest Trivia ContestTM. As per tradition, this week is filled with idle reminiscing about memorable answers in past years. Or rather, in past year. Every one of these answers figured in the 2016 edition of the contest. Those with long memories know just how dramatically The World’s Largest Trivia ContestTM changed about twenty years ago. Once the internet made its seismic shift from a tool exclusively for the tech-savvy to the depository for seemingly every last bit of information ever, it became far trickier for the writers of our beloved annual trivia … Continue reading Trivia Answer of the Day: Debra Winger

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Laughing Matters: The Max Fischer Players

Dan Seeger

Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. “She’s the smartest person in the world, general. I think we ought to listen to her.” I love this with an intensity I’ll never be able to truly convey. Previous entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Laughing Matters” tag. Continue reading Laughing Matters: The Max Fischer Players

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Laughing Matters: Louis C.K., “Of Course, But Maybe”

Dan Seeger

Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. Louis C.K. has talked openly and repeatedly about the way that George Carlin changed his career. It was Carlin’s practice of throwing out all his material once it was documented in one of his many HBO specials and then building an act anew that inspired C.K., making him go deeper and be smarter with his own work. So when C.K. signed on for his … Continue reading Laughing Matters: Louis C.K., “Of Course, But Maybe”

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That Championship Season: Community, Season Two

Dan Seeger

It is dizzyingly appropriate that Community was a television series that eventually got swamped by its own behind-the-scenes backstory. From early in its run, Dan Harmon’s creation discarded most of its nominal overtures to sitcom convention in favor of demolishing any and all familiar tropes. The most basic summary of the show indicated that it was about a study group at a struggling community college. In actuality, Community was a television show about television shows, so enthralled with the clicking gears of traditional narrative that cracked the shell right off the machine, peering excitedly inside. It makes sense. That’s where all … Continue reading That Championship Season: Community, Season Two

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Laughing Matters: Key & Peele, “‘Gremlins 2’ Brainstorm

Dan Seeger

Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. I am sharing this today because at the moment I find something highly appealing about Jordan Peele — excuse me, I mean Star Magic Jackson, Jr. — engaging in a freewheeling brainstorming session for a movie, celebrating narrative elements that shouldn’t quite work but somehow do. As if, say, someone pitched a cross between Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and The Stepford Wives that was … Continue reading Laughing Matters: Key & Peele, “‘Gremlins 2’ Brainstorm