posted by Matthew Wrather on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 2:20am
Ryan Sheely and Matthew Wrather consider what Gossip Girl is “about” (as well as the metaphor of aboutness itself) with reference, of course, to The Wire. Also: Are these teenagers really f***ing? (This is a long episode, so strap in.)
Writing and Difference, Derrida [Erratum: The essay "Strucutre, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences" is actually collected here, not in Speech and Phenomena. The podcasters sincerely regret the error. —Ed.]
posted by Matthew Wrather on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 3:08am
Ryan Sheely and Matthew Wrather return from hiatus to overthink Glee and Gossip Girl, with detours into the narratology of farce, middlebrow thinking, irrationality and behavorial economics, consequentialism, and intertextuality.
posted by Matthew Wrather on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 1:36am
Ryan Sheely and Matthew Wrather overthink Gossip Girl and Glee, focusing on Jenny’s debutante ball and Dan/Olivia/Vanessa threesome. As a bonus, you will learn why democracies are richer than dictatorships.
posted by Matthew Wrather on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 3:32am
Ryan Sheely and Matthew Wrather alienate and confound the listenership taking their calls, mocking them, and discussing the sociological implications of Gossip Girl and Glee.
posted by Matthew Wrather on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 1:44am
Ryan Sheely and Matthew Wrather consider the sociological implications of Gossip Girl and Glee, with reference to the political philosophies of Hobbes, Rosseau, and Bentham, the uses of terror, and the interplay of structural institutions and individual agency. Also The Wire.
This is the last episode of TFT that will appear on the main Overthinking It Podcast feed. Make sure you subscribe in iTunes or via RSS.
There will be no spoiler warnings and there will be many naughty words. If either of those things bothers you, don’t click!
Reactions to the show? Email us or call 20-FAT-JOG-01 (that’s (203) 285-6401).
posted by Matthew Wrather on Saturday, October 24th, 2009 at 2:58am
Ryan Sheely and Matthew Wrather address the profound sociological implications of Glee and Gossip Girl, this time by mocking listener feedback, taking Belinkie to task, considering the merits of Sonic Youth as a wedding band, and generally being jerks.
There will be no spoiler warnings and there will be many naughty words. If either of those things bothers you, don’t click!
Reactions to the show? Email us or call 20-FAT-JOG-01 (that’s (203) 285-6401).
posted by Matthew Belinkie on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 10:29am
I have to believe that the producers of Glee had Saved by the Bell in mind when they wrote the October 7 episode, “Vitamin D.” In it, Finn is completely worn out from studying, preparing for a big performance with his singing group, and football practice. And in her (highly temporary) new job as school nurse, Will’s wife Terri helps him out with a couple of tablets of decongestant, which she promises will give him the energy to handle everything. Finn is skeptical, but Terri says it’s fine because they’re over-the-counter.
The most famous episode of Saved By the Bell ever aired is probably “Jessie’s Song,” from its second season. Elizabeth Berkley is completely worn out from studying and preparing for a big performance with her singing group (but not football practice). So she starts taking caffeine pills, which she thinks will give her the energy to handle everything. Slater is skeptical, but Jessie says it’s fine because they’re over-the-counter.
But that’s where the two episodes diverge radically. In “Jessie’s Song,” the pills quickly bring America’s sweetheart to the verge of a complete mental and physical collapse.
posted by stokes on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 6:43am
Why yes, Virginia, I do plan to reuse this graphic every time I write about this show.
Glee has honestly been a little patchy, for me, since its stellar pilot and the equally stellar season opener. It’s never been less than enjoyable, but there were a couple of weeks there – episodes 3 and 4, to be precise – where I found myself wondering what I had been so excited about. I’m happy to say that with the most recent episode, the trend has reversed. And I’m even happier to say that I think I’ve figured out why, because otherwise I don’t know what I would write about this week. Episode six brought back an element of the pilot that they maintained in episode two, let slide in episodes three and four, and hopefully will never let slide again: the epic voice.
Voice in this context has nothing to do with the show’s music, which has been consistently fantastic all along. I’m using it here to describe a certain kind of writing. Basically when you sit down to tell someone a story, you have two options. Either you can try to present the story as events that are actually happening, while trying to make yourself as invisible as possible, or you can call as much attention to yourself as possible, while giving up on any attempt to convince people that story is actually taking place. The first of these techniques is dramatic. The second is epic.
posted by Matthew Wrather on Friday, October 9th, 2009 at 12:35am
Ryan Sheely and Matthew Wrather return to discuss Gossip Girl, Glee, and the sociology of Teen Soaps. This week, they take up the Glee backlash on this very website, create a typology of celebrity cameos, discuss depictions of work, and mock a listener. (They are assholes.)
Also, Ryan’s girlfriend dies of consumption in the background. (They live in a studio apartment.)
There will be no spoiler warnings and there will be many naughty words. If either of those things bothers you, don’t click!
Reactions to the show? Suggestions about what to call it? Email us or call 20-FAT-JOG-01 (that’s (203) 285-6401).
Lee: Hey Sheely, let’s Overthink Miley Cyrus’s hit single, “Party in the USA.”