Welcome To May, 2023
TV, Power Rangers, Mars, and Vanderpump
Before I kick off this newsletter, I want to thank you all for subscribing to it. I’m dedicating this year to getting specific about things, and part of that involves figuring out the exact purpose and tone of what you’ve been reading from me each month. So far, I’ve uploaded many of my previous projects to the Letters from African America substack page including the Uncertain Life comic, It’s All True! podcast, and other special projects. Meanwhile, I’ve been developing new semi-regular segments, like this text-based interview series, and posts about abstract things I’ve been processing (the most recent installment being this Power Rangers themed reunion I had with my best friends from elementary school).
I truly appreciate you sticking around for the journey, and I’d love to know what you’ve been enjoying so far.
One thing is for sure. I’m gonna be starting these off Marc Maron style. There’s something magical about the way his WTF podcast intros find connective tissue between the brutally honest inner workings of his mind and random advertisements. I’ve heard him bare his soul right before promoting some sort of coffee or website builder. Like all great things, I once adored those intros, then I sort of hated them, and now I love them all over again because they are what make his show his show. If Maron dove straight into an interview, there would be nothing distinguishing it from any other interview with the exact same guest. By the way, he’s a great interviewer. I’m just saying that his long, rambling intros set a little something called tone. I think the wider media landscape can learn a lesson from the Maron method. There’s this Variety article I read last month about the seemingly sad state of late night television. It hammers in the idea that we are now so untethered to time slots and scheduled programing that the literal meaning of “late night” is being lost.
But I can tell you, as someone who has written for one of these shows, that the real problem with late night is likely the fact that instead of leaning into the time slot, it’s attempting to work with the internet algorithm. Unfortunately, it’s what feels necessary for success. It’s not like we can blame them. All of us are all chopping our lives into short, vertical, captioned videos. In the process, our attention spans seems to be shrinking as everything we interact with becomes a series of finely tuned segments.
Watching a clip from a late night show no longer gives the sensation of missing out on a bigger party. Instead, the clip feels like the party itself. But I maintain that what we really want are glimpses of chaos. Mistakes… flubs… someone accidentally breaking through the veil of glossy celebrity… Something with a level of realness that makes us feel lucky to have caught it in the moment — a moment that cannot be watched to the same effect the next day — and gets viewers to tune in instead of zone out.
Now that that’s out of the way, here’s the rundown:
SOMETHING YOU MISSED
Mighty Morphin Elementary School Reunion
As promised in last month’s newsletter, I released a conversation with my two closest friends from elementary school. Link below! And, in case that description doesn’t intrigue you, here’s something else. By reading it, you’ll learn the story behind this photo:
SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
This month I’ll be releasing a three-day text interview with multi-hyphenate Ashok Kondabolu (a.k.a. Dapwell) that’s sure to break the space-time continuum.
RANDOM FEAR #1: A.I. Documentaries
We’re all afraid of artificial intelligence. These constantly improving smart algorithms are taking our jobs, rapidly changing our society, and generally creeping us out. But I have a rather specific fear attached to the rise of A.I. And it’s all about what it’ll do to documentaries.
I say this as someone who loves documentaries. From the cheap ones with wacky stock music, to the prestigious ones with slow zooms made by Ken Burns, documentaries are the art of mixing narration with footage of historical documents and events, reenactments, first-hand accounts, and most importantly: interviews with historians, journalists, and various other human thinkers.
But what happens when A.I. replaces them?
If, or when that happens, instead of documentaries cutting to people who look like this…
Or this…
Or this…
They’ll be cutting to this…
…G.O.R.B.O.T., the all knowing android that can speak like Cornell West, Doris Kearns Goodwin, or Noam Chomsky at any given moment.
Instead of cutting to a human being, we will only see this bionic “person” whose internal algorithm contains swirling gigabytes of all that is known to man and all that isn’t.
Watching a documentary about jazz? It will only cut to G.O.R.B.O.T.
A deep dive about golf balls? G.O.R.B.O.T. has all the answers.
Eventually, G.O.R.B.O.T. will find your roots, read the news from a G.O.R.B.O.T.-prompter, and even debate itself weekdays on The View (starring G.O.R.B.O.T.) and weekends on Meet The Press (moderated by G.O.R.B.O.T.).
What does G.O.R.B.O.T. even stand for? I have no clue.
And that’s what scares me most.
This has been Random Fear #1.
CONSIDER CONSUMING
STANDUP: Hari Kondabolu | Vacation Baby (Full Comedy Special)
Hari Kondabolu is not only a great comedian, but also someone I’m lucky enough to call a friend. I first met him in 2014 while interviewing him on It’s All True!, and we’ve stayed in touch since. Vacation Baby now places him in the pantheon of comedians who have specials about their firstborn child (Roy Wood Jr.’s Father Figure comes to mind). These specials often have most compelling material from comics, who tend to start out in there 20s writing jokes that slowly evolve with every advancement of their lives. Hari, who I consider to be a master of joke construction, is just as funny as ever here. Every five minute chunk, in both structure and style, packs as much of a punch as a classic episode of The Simpsons. So, it’s not surprising that he got Hank Azaria to help promote it.
TV/ANIMATION: Fired on Mars (HBO Max… or, Max? Whatever They Want Us To Call It)
As someone who has made their own cartoon about working on Mars, I was stoked to see that Nate Sherman and Nick Vokey’s Fired on Mars animated series has finally been released on HBO Max. It’s a hilarious exploration of the human condition. And it’s a shame that it doesn’t seem to be getting the marketing push that it deserves. I know I’m not alone in hoping for more seasons.
PODCAST: Lifewriting Podcast
I listen to so many podcast about writing that it might technically be a bit of a problem. And now, Lifewriting Podcast has been added onto my roster. In each episode, married hosts Steven Barnes (no relation… that I know of) and Tananarive Due, give advice and share their experiences from years of penning sci-fi/horror novels and working in television and film. It’s at once a celebration of Black love, creativity, and perseverance in a challenging industry. Their interviews with Ashley C. Ford, Roy Wood Jr., Rodney Barnes (also no relation… that I know of), Nisi Shawl and David Gerrold are particular standouts.
Roy Wood Jr., COMPLETE REMARKS at 2023 White House Correspondents' Dinner (C-SPAN)
Roy Wood Jr. (who I once interviewed on It’s All True!) is one of the funniest comedians on the planet. And his performance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this year is a masterclass on how to get laughs from a tough crowd of journalists and political figures without selling your soul. There’s depth and nuance behind each of these jokes, which are less about making fun of particular personalities in the room and more about analyzing the absurd contradictions within our American institutions. It’s what makes him a great option as permanent host of The Daily Show.
SOMETHING FROM THE VAULT
Rage Restaurant (Comedy Central Digital)
Comedy Central recently re-posted this on its socials, and it’s probably the best sketch that I wrote while working there. Originally titled “A Restaurant For Arguments” it evolved in our digital writers’ room into what could be the most visually satisfying sketch of all time. My favorite part is shrouded in the credits at the very end, involving a heated discussion about Star Wars with David Lawson.
UPCOMING SHOWS
Live Vanderpump Robs Podcast Recording MAY 29th, 6:30PM @ Pete’s Candy Store (TICKETS)
SONG OF THE MONTH
Song Title: Skippin' Work Today Artist: Eddie Kendricks Album: The Hit Man (1975) WHY?: Eddie Kenricks, who rose to fame as a member of The Temptations, sings this smooth anthem that you can imagine cruising to on one of those days where you simply decide to skip work. I laughed when I first heard it, because the subject seems generally unexplored in music. There are tons of song about work. Working in a coal mine. Whatever it is Rihanna's "Work" is about. Michael Jackson's "Workin' Day And Night." But not enough about intentionally choosing not to for a day.
That’s all for now. Until next time, remember to look at life from all the angles.
