Nerdist + Craig Ferguson + Gallifrey One = SO MUCH AWESOME

There was totally Gally name-dropping on last night’s Late Late Show!!!

And speaking of Gallifrey One… I’m off! See you guys at 1:25pm in Los Angeles!

giving your students a headache for a good reason

You know, sometimes, I think picking complex/difficult exercises is really good for my students. Things that are open-ended, things that even I’m not sure I have a good answer for. Like this clip from Blackpool (BBC, 2004):

I used this clip in my discussion sections of Introduction to Music and Film Sound this morning. Watching them struggle with making their arguments about what’s happening in the clip was really interesting. Many focused on diegetic vs. nondiegetic. Some of them tried to argue one way or another, and some couldn’t. The point being … you can make an argument for neither/both in this clip. As long as you qualify your argument and make your point clearly and meaningfully we will be happy! I also made the point to them that they can talk about expectations caused by convention, and discuss how this clip subverts them. When “Cupid” starts playing, it’s safe to assume that there is an audio advance going on. But as soon as she looks up and starts singing you retroactively realize there wasn’t an advance, and that some kind of audio dissolve occurred. Or maybe the subverted audio advance was itself a dissolve? I don’t even know. But it made for interesting discussion in class today.

Also, this clip is cool because it has what I consider a “visual audiodissolve.” When Ripley stops singing as he sees the pin, we’re given a visual indication that the song has dissolved out and the performance is ending. Very cool. “The Boy With a Thorn in His Side” does the same thing at the beginning. When the dancers start moving in the background we’re given a visual clue that a performance is about to begin. They could have easily used the song just as underscoring, and again, convention let’s us feel safe about that assumption, but the dancers indicate that it is a performance and not underscoring or an audio advance.

Sometimes I feel like complicated examples are easier to use in discussion than straightforward ones. Well, at least they’re more interesting.

the 30 day tv meme

So there is a fantastic 30 day tv meme floating around on Tumblr. I did the whole thing there, but I really want it here as well, since a whole different group of people follow this and don’t really look at Tumblr.

Day 01- A show that should have never been canceled
Day 02 – A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 – Your favorite new show ( aired this t.v season)
Day 04 – Your favorite show ever
Day 05 – A show you hate
Day 06 – Favorite episode of your favorite t.v show
Day 07 – Least favorite episode of your favorite t.v show
Day 08 – A show everyone should watch
Day 09 – Best scene ever
Day 10 – A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 – A show that disappointed you
Day 12 – An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times
Day 13 – Favorite childhood show
Day 14 – Favorite male character
Day 15 – Favorite female character
Day 16 – Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 – Favorite mini series
Day 18 – Favorite title sequence
Day 19 – Best t.v show cast
Day 20 – Favorite kiss
Day 21 – Favorite ship
Day 22 – Favorite series finale
Day 23 – Most annoying character
Day 24 – Best quote
Day 25 – A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 – OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 – Best pilot episode
Day 28 – First t.v show obsession
Day 29 – Current t.v show obsession
Day 30 – Saddest character death

Stay tuned for 30 days of tv goodness, peppered with my current and past obsessions, new interests, and a few bits of insight.

I mean, if I’m going to be writing a dissertation on a tv show I should probably engage with my interests, likes/dislikes, preferences, and tastes in shows to get the gears going, right?

i miss you

Dear Conan,

I’ve been a big fan of yours for, well, for as long as I can remember. My late night routine was Letterman and then flipping over to your Late Night show. I remember you going off air while you moved to LA and being SO SAD that I had to wait until June. And how we have to wait again … until September! And who knows where you’ll be!

You’ve gotta find a way to come back to us, Conan. Maybe a free webcast of you just doing zany, goofy stuff? On YouTube or something? They’ll let you do that, right?

I feel like I’ve grown up with you, so it’s very strange to not have you around on TV. I guess I’ll have to try to fill the void by watching old Late Night clips online.

Come back soon. I miss you.

Love,
ek

the best of conan: the simpsons edition

Those of you that know me personally know that I have been a HUGE fan of Conan O’Brien for a very long time. I used to stay up and watch Late Night with Conan O’Brien most nights, always being more interested in his monologue and bits than any of the interviews or god-awful musical guests. (Lets face it: even though Last Call with Carson Daly is on so late that people forget it exists, Carson was able to pull out his MTV Frequent Hosting card to get great musical talent to play on his show). Seeing him take over the mantel of the Tonight Show was exciting. And although it took him a while to get comfortable and get the ball rolling, the show was new and fun and very promising. He’s a fantastic writer, and with a good team of people to bounce ideas off of he really comes up with fantastic and fun stories and gags. (If you can’t tell, I’m much more interested in Conan as a writer and comedian more than an interviewer or Late Night personality.)

Some of his best work was during the hayday of The Simpsons, when he was a producer and writer. He spent time with the show from 1991-93, and penned some of the best and most memorable episodes in the show’s history.

I was going to come out and say “Here is his best episode EVAR” but you know what? I’m just going to put all four of them here and let you watch. I’ll tell you which one I think is best (and why) next week.

S4E08: “New Kid on the Block”

The Simpsons 408

S4E12: “Marge vs. the Monorail”

The Simpsons 412

S5E03: “Homer Goes to College”

The Simpsons 503

S5E05: “Treehouse of Horror IV”

The Simpsons 505

Although the thought of Conan going off the air makes me a sad panda, I have to say that I’d love to see him get back to writing again. More Conan-penned Simpsons episodes (maybe a Conan-penned Futurama episode!) would be incredible. And the show could definitely benefit from it, as the last 10 seasons have been slowly sliding down a narrow hill.