Thanks so much for this, Tamara. I've got some new (to me) shows to add to my list.
Agreed on Apple TV having far and away the best crop of new shows out of all the major streaming services. There certainly are a few clunkers, but still! One of my faves: Dickinson, which is absolutely ridiculous and so much fun b/c of it! Best cameo: Wiz Khalifa as Death. I think the show actually *did* have a lot of important moments per skewering notions of what women "can" and "can't" (or "shouldn't") do. The humor allowed the writers and cast to drive home a number of very important points. I think the cheekiness and use of what little we know about Emily Dickinson's life to riff on a *lot* of topics was pretty amazing. Favorite supporting cast member: Anna Baryshnikov (daughter of dancer Mikhail B.), who is an inspired comic actress. I won't describe my favorite bit, b/c it's a spoiler in and of itself. (The production design is marvelous, right down to the set being a model of the Dickinson family house, and fabrics made by a couple of firms that specialize in recreating period fabrics, prints, etc. I know... it's a nerd thing; I've worked in history museums.)
Thank you for reminding me of Dickinson! I agree with everything you said about the series! It was also a series that went under marketed… makes me curious about the tactics of these streamers and their marketing strategies. I suppose we are just meant to be content that these series/movies are getting made, never mind if they are being watched because then when they are inevitably cancelled due to lack of viewership they can say well we tried but women didn’t even watch so let’s put that budget and marketing muscle behind the ‘clunkers’ that cater to men… 🤨🤨🙄
Btw, one of the things i like most about Dickinson is that it allows Emily Dickinson to be entirely human. The massive number of books, articles, etc. etc. etc. that have been and are being written about her and her work don't allow for the fact that she was a real person. They just don't. If the show is "revisionist," so be it. I mean, she *was* real, and having the drive to create and be something other than a housewife - well, i have to say that i can identify with that, especially given the drudgery of the daily chores that never changed.
I have no problem with the use of contemporary English, their use of the dudebro stereotype, etc. And I have a hunch that they might have gotten some younger viewers hooked.
The thing is, my own tolerance for lit crit is very low. And ED the person/writer is almost buried under thousands of articles and analyses and bios. - you name it. She's pretty well invisible, in some important ways. This show brought her out into the world again, in ways that might not always work, but when everything clicks, the show is pretty amazing!
Two more thoughts: I didn't get her poetry when i was in undergrad... but then i got a gig as a museum intern in SE CT. And honestly, while i was up there, her poetry suddenly made sense - even when i didn't understand every line. The landscape, the headstones in cemeteries, the houses - a whole lot of it wasn't all *that* much different than it was in her lifetime. The light itself was part of it, too. (Though I was right by Long Island Sound, and she lived far inland.) And when i left... things went back to my not understanding anything about ED's work. But... the show's recreation of the actual Dickinson house as a set *really* helped me to "get" it again. I think the production designers, wardrobe folks, etc. did an amazing job as far as putting viewers into that setting (as much as is possible with TV). So my hat is off to every person who worked on that show, in any capacity.
The *only* flaw (that I noticed) was in s. 1, with the kids getting high on laudanum. B/c every housewife (except for those who couldn't afford it) kept a vial of laudanum in her equivalent of a home first aid kit at that time. (Found out about it via a staffer at a historic house in CT, as she showed us a basket full of common medicines, bandaging supplies and such that dated back to the mid-19th c. We were all surprised about the laudanum + belladonna.)
*Definitely* undermarketed, but I also think that many people were put off by the humor, the extreme revisionism (or reimagining, really). And the scripts. A writer friend of mine saw the 1st episode, and thought the writing was bad, so she quit watching. That surprised me, as I thought it would appeal to her - and she's a very good writer, too.
The entire show is so off-kilter that I don't think it lands with all that many people. In a sense, some of the humor is almost British, in that it's very wry, deadpan, sly, etc. (Like the episode where A. Baryshnikov is attempting to pose as a certain kind of statue and to be seen posing....)
Agreed on "clunkers that cater to men"! Oh, that reminds me... have you seen the English series "We Are Lady Parts"? It features a crew of young Muslim women who start a punk (or maybe post-punk) band, and is on Peacock. I *love* it, though being from this country, I know that a lot of things go right past me. The woman who created it co-wrote all of the songs with her brother and sister. The very 1st one, in s. 1, was completely unexpected and I had to pause the episode b/c I was laughing so hard! 😂🙃😎 The characters are all very relatable, and there are some interesting parallels between the womens' families and their practice of Islam per evangelicalism in this country. (In white churches and, to a degree, in Black churches, but that last is based on my own limited experience of a few.)
I can see that about some people opposing to revisionism, in a sense. I agree that many American’s simply do not get British humour. Having cut my teeth on Benny Hill, Are you Being served?, Yes, Prime Minister, Allo Allo and Absolutely Fabulous, among others, I am biased to their blend…
I have heard many good things about We are Lady Parts and it is on my list of series to watch. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten to it yet, but will remedy that this weekend. Thank you for the reminder :)
Oh hey, I think We Are Lady Parts is *definitely* full of material for both of your blogs! Malala Yousafzai guested in s. 2. (It turns out that Fawlty Towers is one of her favorite shows.)
I have my own inclinations toward British humor, though I guess I was more of a Monty Python and Fawlty Towers kind of girl when I was younger. It was the absurdity of it that appealed to me - still does. And I still like P. G. Wodehouse's novels and stories. For a few years, many PBS stations carried the Pythons in late night slots, and my mom fell in love with that show! She was in her 50s then, and her favorite parts were Terry Gilliam's animated segments.
I loved the AbFab cast (especially poor, long-suffering Saffy).
Per Fawlty Towers, it was the ensemble cast that made it work, Prunella Scales and Connie Booth in particular. Am not sure anyone would air it now, b/c of the supposedly Spanish waiter and the accent he used.
Thanks so much for this, Tamara. I've got some new (to me) shows to add to my list.
Agreed on Apple TV having far and away the best crop of new shows out of all the major streaming services. There certainly are a few clunkers, but still! One of my faves: Dickinson, which is absolutely ridiculous and so much fun b/c of it! Best cameo: Wiz Khalifa as Death. I think the show actually *did* have a lot of important moments per skewering notions of what women "can" and "can't" (or "shouldn't") do. The humor allowed the writers and cast to drive home a number of very important points. I think the cheekiness and use of what little we know about Emily Dickinson's life to riff on a *lot* of topics was pretty amazing. Favorite supporting cast member: Anna Baryshnikov (daughter of dancer Mikhail B.), who is an inspired comic actress. I won't describe my favorite bit, b/c it's a spoiler in and of itself. (The production design is marvelous, right down to the set being a model of the Dickinson family house, and fabrics made by a couple of firms that specialize in recreating period fabrics, prints, etc. I know... it's a nerd thing; I've worked in history museums.)
Thank you for reminding me of Dickinson! I agree with everything you said about the series! It was also a series that went under marketed… makes me curious about the tactics of these streamers and their marketing strategies. I suppose we are just meant to be content that these series/movies are getting made, never mind if they are being watched because then when they are inevitably cancelled due to lack of viewership they can say well we tried but women didn’t even watch so let’s put that budget and marketing muscle behind the ‘clunkers’ that cater to men… 🤨🤨🙄
Btw, one of the things i like most about Dickinson is that it allows Emily Dickinson to be entirely human. The massive number of books, articles, etc. etc. etc. that have been and are being written about her and her work don't allow for the fact that she was a real person. They just don't. If the show is "revisionist," so be it. I mean, she *was* real, and having the drive to create and be something other than a housewife - well, i have to say that i can identify with that, especially given the drudgery of the daily chores that never changed.
AGREED!
I have no problem with the use of contemporary English, their use of the dudebro stereotype, etc. And I have a hunch that they might have gotten some younger viewers hooked.
The thing is, my own tolerance for lit crit is very low. And ED the person/writer is almost buried under thousands of articles and analyses and bios. - you name it. She's pretty well invisible, in some important ways. This show brought her out into the world again, in ways that might not always work, but when everything clicks, the show is pretty amazing!
Two more thoughts: I didn't get her poetry when i was in undergrad... but then i got a gig as a museum intern in SE CT. And honestly, while i was up there, her poetry suddenly made sense - even when i didn't understand every line. The landscape, the headstones in cemeteries, the houses - a whole lot of it wasn't all *that* much different than it was in her lifetime. The light itself was part of it, too. (Though I was right by Long Island Sound, and she lived far inland.) And when i left... things went back to my not understanding anything about ED's work. But... the show's recreation of the actual Dickinson house as a set *really* helped me to "get" it again. I think the production designers, wardrobe folks, etc. did an amazing job as far as putting viewers into that setting (as much as is possible with TV). So my hat is off to every person who worked on that show, in any capacity.
The *only* flaw (that I noticed) was in s. 1, with the kids getting high on laudanum. B/c every housewife (except for those who couldn't afford it) kept a vial of laudanum in her equivalent of a home first aid kit at that time. (Found out about it via a staffer at a historic house in CT, as she showed us a basket full of common medicines, bandaging supplies and such that dated back to the mid-19th c. We were all surprised about the laudanum + belladonna.)
*Definitely* undermarketed, but I also think that many people were put off by the humor, the extreme revisionism (or reimagining, really). And the scripts. A writer friend of mine saw the 1st episode, and thought the writing was bad, so she quit watching. That surprised me, as I thought it would appeal to her - and she's a very good writer, too.
The entire show is so off-kilter that I don't think it lands with all that many people. In a sense, some of the humor is almost British, in that it's very wry, deadpan, sly, etc. (Like the episode where A. Baryshnikov is attempting to pose as a certain kind of statue and to be seen posing....)
Agreed on "clunkers that cater to men"! Oh, that reminds me... have you seen the English series "We Are Lady Parts"? It features a crew of young Muslim women who start a punk (or maybe post-punk) band, and is on Peacock. I *love* it, though being from this country, I know that a lot of things go right past me. The woman who created it co-wrote all of the songs with her brother and sister. The very 1st one, in s. 1, was completely unexpected and I had to pause the episode b/c I was laughing so hard! 😂🙃😎 The characters are all very relatable, and there are some interesting parallels between the womens' families and their practice of Islam per evangelicalism in this country. (In white churches and, to a degree, in Black churches, but that last is based on my own limited experience of a few.)
I can see that about some people opposing to revisionism, in a sense. I agree that many American’s simply do not get British humour. Having cut my teeth on Benny Hill, Are you Being served?, Yes, Prime Minister, Allo Allo and Absolutely Fabulous, among others, I am biased to their blend…
I have heard many good things about We are Lady Parts and it is on my list of series to watch. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten to it yet, but will remedy that this weekend. Thank you for the reminder :)
Oh hey, I think We Are Lady Parts is *definitely* full of material for both of your blogs! Malala Yousafzai guested in s. 2. (It turns out that Fawlty Towers is one of her favorite shows.)
I have my own inclinations toward British humor, though I guess I was more of a Monty Python and Fawlty Towers kind of girl when I was younger. It was the absurdity of it that appealed to me - still does. And I still like P. G. Wodehouse's novels and stories. For a few years, many PBS stations carried the Pythons in late night slots, and my mom fell in love with that show! She was in her 50s then, and her favorite parts were Terry Gilliam's animated segments.
Thanks for the tip! I also remember Fawlty Towers and Monty Python and Upstairs and Downstairs 😊
I loved the AbFab cast (especially poor, long-suffering Saffy).
Per Fawlty Towers, it was the ensemble cast that made it work, Prunella Scales and Connie Booth in particular. Am not sure anyone would air it now, b/c of the supposedly Spanish waiter and the accent he used.
My mom absolutely loved the opening credits for Monty Python, made by Terry Gilliam -
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2AxiATxLofk