Focusing on Frasier
Canned laughter, gags, crass humor, disposable characters. Anyone can tell you what makes for a bad sitcom, but what makes one watchable? You ask ten people and you’ll get ten different answers. I tried to come up with a far more scientific answer by watching an episode from one of my favorite sitcoms, Frasier, and figuring out why I still find it so funny. “The Focus Group,” Season Three, Episode 23 Let’s start with the set-up. Successful, stuck-up radio talk show host Frasier Crane watches…
Humor/Truth
The best dramas are also some of the funniest. This thought came to me as I watched Louise Brooks in Pandora’s Box (1929) at a free screening at the Getty this weekend. Poor and alone in a London garret, about to meet her fate at the hands of Jack the Ripper, she can’t help joking over dinner that “You can always buy whisky on credit but never bread.” The more I write, the less I like supposed divisions between genres. I think good dramas are…
New Video!
Here is a quick silly comedy I wrote called “The Unemployment Diaries.” Let me know what you think. I am showing it tonight at the Hammer’s Open Projector Night, which is quite exciting. Wish me luck! Jon
Cover Letter Blahs
So, I have been on the job hunt now for a couple of months and I am finally beginning to reevaluate my methods of finding a job. For example, like many, I cut and paste from several cover letters to personalize them for every position I apply to. Only now did I actually look at what I was sending. Geez, talk about never getting a call back, like, ever. To Whom It May Concern: I am applying to work as an office manager at Spago…
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