Anna and Ben sit down to investigate the rebellious origins of BBS Productions' film Five Easy Pieces. While not actually a comedy, they examine it as a forerunner of Nicholson's manic performances and an extension of Rafelson's work with The Monkees, and then delve into trivia surrounding the classical music featured in the soundtrack. https://audioboom.com/posts/7681573 … Continue reading 12 September 1970: Five Easy Pieces
A Third of Your Monthly Penance
While searching for a blog entry that might reveal the name of the typeset that was used in The Apartment's main title sequence, I stumbled upon a lovely, stream-of-consciousness post by Janielle Kastner, a writer and podcaster out of Texas. She, like me, drilled down into the finances of C.C. "Bud" Baxter, since he is so … Continue reading A Third of Your Monthly Penance
Episode W861: The Apartment Complex
Anna sits in with Ben to once again revisit anniversary cinema and discuss Billy Wilder's The Apartment on the event of its sixtieth anniversary. Does the romance hold up under contemporary power strictures, how has Mad Men influenced our opinions about office culture in the '60s, and who knows anything about that mishegas down at … Continue reading Episode W861: The Apartment Complex
Episode 1975: Rutland Weekend Television
Diverting somewhat from the mainstream of their remit, Nathan and Ben celebrate the 45th anniversary of the original broadcast of Eric Idle's Rutland Weekend Television by watching the first episode, "Gibberish", and weighing it against half a century of Python comparisons. https://audioboom.com/posts/7579644-episode-1975-rutland-weekend-television Sources and References Eric Idle and Neil Innes interviewed by the NME about … Continue reading Episode 1975: Rutland Weekend Television
Dyscalculia
Somewhere in the Wikipedia page for M*A*S*H is the minor detail that the lovable scamps of the legendary 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital are based on based on author Richard Hooker's actual experiences in the 8055th. I'm certainly not claiming that the cognitive dissonance of trying to keep all those numbers from falling into a … Continue reading Dyscalculia
Episode 4077: The M*A*S*H Report
A one-off episode in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the theatrical release of Robert Altman's M*A*S*H and inspired by avoiding the stress and pressure of social distancing. Join Ben and special co-host Anna as they discuss the sexism, criticism, and other isms embedded in the trauma and drama of this wartime comedy. https://audioboom.com/posts/7534753-episode-4077-the-m-a-s-h-report Sources … Continue reading Episode 4077: The M*A*S*H Report
Episode 13: Intermission
Nathan and Ben come to the end of the first series of the Flying Circus, weigh the episode's anarchic nature, tally its in-jokes, and other phrases, man. Money isn't real, but their hiatus until the next episode will be. There will now be a whopping great intermission. https://audioboom.com/posts/7475750-episode-13-intermission
Episode 12: The Naked Ant
Nathan and Ben heed the legend of the Sloan Rangers and peer into the inherited tendencies of the landed gentry. As they weigh the tension of delaying the expectations of an obvious laugh, does that mean they're falling for stalling? Or mauling for trawling, or squalling while zalling? "Zalling"? Is that even a word? https://audioboom.com/posts/7469970-episode-12-the-naked-ant
Verbal Typos and Other Word Salad
Nathan and Ben began their discussion of Episode 11 with a few choice confabulations in their vocabulary. First, Ben was confused as to whether "interleavened" was a word. It's not. Had he let the dough of his brain rise somewhat, he would have realized the word is the syllabically simpler "interleaved", meaning "with alternating layers". … Continue reading Verbal Typos and Other Word Salad
Episode 11: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom
Nathan and Ben offer context on celebrity boutiques and the internal lives of Python's characters, while speculating on editing and group dynamics. And a quiz on Gumbies is deadly enough to qualify for the Batley Townswomen's Guild historical re-enactments. https://audioboom.com/posts/7464539-episode-11-the-royal-philharmonic-orchestra-goes-to-the-bathroom
Farced Perspective 