Apres Culture

This week we’re swinging by the Lone Star State, with stops in Waco, to talk juggernaut home renovation show Fixer Upper, and Marfa, to talk 1950s Western epic Giant. Feel free to take a drink every time Sara Ann says “mythmaking”—or just once for every one of Liz Taylor’s husbands. Pull up a chair and let JoJo explain her vision for your $300,000—it’s time for Après Culture. Tipple of the Week Shiner Bock, proud product of the Texas German Hill Country Next Week Nothing! It’s the end of season five, right here. But fret not; we plan to return in Fall 2018 with more booze, more pop culture history, more books, more movies, more TV, more guests, more gossip, and probably at least one movie that Sara Ann really hates. Ta-ta! Resources A story on the launch of Fixer Upper, from its hometown newspaper: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/waco-based-hgtv-home-remodeling-series-begins/article_357b354f-128e-5d15-b911-0b6dec42a313.html http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/neglected-north-waco-houses-transformed-as-hgtv-cameras-roll/article_dbf75c5e-460e-5ee8-a63c-81e1171c5f8f.html On Fixer Upper’s effect on the Waco economy: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2017/11/21/fixer-upper-effect-wacos-economy-benefits-chip-and-joanna-gaines-lifestyle-empire/884830001/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/how-chip-and-joanna-gaines-renovated-waco/ A fairly cynical take from the Dallas Observer: http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/chip-and-joanna-gaines-cant-fix-waco-9427134 On Giant: https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/how-elizabeth-taylor-and-james-dean-grew-old https://www.npr.org/2011/07/15/138163048/on-location-50-years-of-movie-magic-in-marfa-texas https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/elizabeth-taylors-feisty-feminist-turn-in-em-giant-em/281024/

This week we’re talking about the Windy City, with 80s comedy, um, classic? Adventures in Babysitting (1987), plus Life Itself (2014), a documentary about the life and death of iconic film critic Roger Ebert. It is the best of times, it is the worst of times, but don’t worry: Sara Ann’s and Kasey’s relationship will probably survive. Pull up a chair and and accept our sincere apologies for discussing Elisabeth Shue and not mentioning her 1996 Oscar nom for Leaving Las Vegas—it’s time for Après Culture. Tipple of the Week Malort (again, we’re so sorry) Next Week From Sara Ann’s home state of Texas, it’s HGTV juggernaut Fixer Upper (2013-2018) and the Western epic Giant (1956)—all over ice-cold Shiner Bock. Resources On Ebert’s Pulitzer: http://www.pulitzer.org/article/how-mad-helped-roger-ebert-win-pulitzer-prize The NYT’s review of Life Itself: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/movies/life-itself-reminiscences-of-roger-ebert.html Ebert’s review of Hoop Dreams: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hoop-dreams-1994 Ebert’s review of Adventures in Babysitting: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/adventures-in-babysitting-1987

Episode 41: Roseanne and One Day at a Time over Cuba Libres This week old sitcoms are new again: we’re talking about the Netflix reboot of Norman Lear’s One Day at a Time, and everything that made the soon-to-be-rebooted Roseanne beloved. We’ve got killer comedic actors, eye-opening storylines, and yes, behind-the-scenes shenanigans—and some of the best TV ever made. Pull up a chair and pay the three-pretzel ante—it’s time for Après Culture. Tipple of the Week: Cuba Libre Squeeze the juice of an entire lime into a tall glass, drop in a little ice and one or two of the spent lime rinds, add 2 oz rum and top off with cola. Next Week It’s all about Kasey’s new hometown, Chicago, with Adventures in Babysitting (1987) and Life Itself (2014), plus Roger Ebert’s reviews of Adventures in Babysitting and, for a bonus, of Hoop Dreams. Oh and the tipple next week? That would be a shot of Malort. Try it with us, you will regret it. Resources A 2008 EW retrospective on the series: http://ew.com/article/2008/10/24/roseanne-family-reunion/ A British take on Roseanne: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jul/01/return-roseanne-sitcom-broke-all-the-rules A look at the origins of the reboot: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/roseanne-returns-is-tv-ready-a-trump-loving-comic-nothing-left-prove-1086651 On the iconic Roseanne afghan, and its spread across TV: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/07/06/from_the_big_bang_theory_to_roseanne_to_jane_the_virgin_why_do_tv_characters.html Bio of Roseanne: https://www.biography.com/people/roseanne-barr-9463817

This week we’re toasting the Emerald Isle with a look at John Ford’s 1952 Maureen O’Hara/John Wayne romance, The Quiet Man, and Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney’s ungilded look at married life, Catastrophe. It’s two very different American men falling for two very different Irish women in two very different eras—and we have thoughts. Pull up a chair and pray you can understand the waitress’s thick County Cork accent—it’s time for Après Culture. Tipple of the Week: Guinness We’re sure there’s a proper way to pour this stuff, and we encourage you to look up whatever article Esquire or GQ or The Boston Globe wrote about it. Next Week Sitcom reboots: the recent, critically acclaimed Norman Lear revival One Day at a Time, and the hotly anticipated (slash slightly dreaded?) Roseanne. Resources On The Quiet Man (scroll past the Rob Nixon nonsense down to the Deborah Looney article): http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/24069/The-Quiet-Man/articles.html https://film.avclub.com/john-wayne-goes-to-ireland-for-what-should-have-won-bes-1798276673 https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/moma/moma-artist-interviews/v/moma-byrne-revisiting-the-quiet-man Maureen O’Hara’s obit: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/24/maureen-ohara-quiet-man-dies-aged-95 On the passing of Rob Delaney’s 2-year-old son: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/10/catastrophe-star-rob-delaneys-two-year-old-son-dies-cancer/ New Yorker profile of Sharon Horgan, incl. her work on Catastrophe and HBO’s divorce: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/25/sharon-horgan-the-brutal-romantic-behind-catastrophe

This week we’re talking 50s comediennes both factual (the iconic Lucille Ball) and fictional (Amy Sherman-Palladino’s latest fast-talking heroine, Midge Maisel). We’d say they do everything the guys do but in high heels and corsets—but let’s be real, no man has ever reached quite the same iconic status as Lucy. Pull up a chair and send the band leader your song request—it’s time for Après Culture. Tipple of the Week The Mudslide (recipe credit: https://www.supercall.com/recipe/the-ultimate-vodka-mudslide-recipe) Next Week It’s Saint Patrick’s Day! And we’ve got you covered with the John Ford/John Wayne/Maureen O’Hara classic, The Quiet Man, and the modern Sharon Horgan/Rob Delaney romance, Catastrophe. There will be brogues. There will be swoons. There will be Guinness. See you then ;) Resources On My Favorite Husband, the Lucille Ball radio show that led to I Love Lucy: http://splitsider.com/2014/06/a-look-at-i-love-lucys-radio-roots/ An interesting article on the technical innovations I Love Lucy was responsible for: https://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/0307-July-2003/I-Love-Lucy.aspx On the evolution of the three-camera system popularized by I Love Lucy, which would go on to dominate sitcoms for the next five decades: http://articles.latimes.com/1991-07-29/entertainment/ca-176_1_love-lucy A bio of Lucille Ball: https://www.biography.com/people/lucille-ball-9196958 Audio interviews on I Love Lucy, including one from Mindy Kaling about Ricky’s accent: https://www.wnyc.org/story/96246-american-icons-i-love-lucy/ On Madelyn Pugh Davis, one of the three writers on I Love Lucy and a TV pioneer in her own right: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/04/the-girl-writer-behind-i-love-lucy-dies/237705/ On Lenny Bruce and his obscenity arrests: http://time.com/3642530/50-years-lenny-bruce/ And an obituary from the year he died: http://events.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1013.html