Extremely Fuzzy Memories Light the Corners of My Mind

Plus: Black Film Archive, Super Bowl ads, and what's making us happy!

View this email online by Aisha Harris Welcome! It was the week the Oscars begged the cool kids on Twitter to pay attention to them. It was the week Disney announced its plan to develop “storyliving,” a residential desert community project in Rancho Mirage, CA (other cities might follow) that sounds a lot like the makings of a Twilight Zone episode. And it was the week we were warned: A “vibe shift” is imminent. Leggo! Opening Argument: Extremely Fuzzy Memories Light the Corners of My Mind Last week the premiere date for the final season of Better Call Saul was announced: The first half is set to air on AMC starting in April, and the second half will premiere in August. At first, I was elated; this has been one of my absolute favorite shows of the past several years, the rare exercise in capitalizing on a pre-existing franchise that’s actually managed to distinguish itself as a great endeavor in its own right.  But quickly, a realization set in. I have zero recollection of where the show last left off. Honestly, I can’t even be certain I’d be able to tell you anything plot-related that occurred throughout Season 5. That season concluded April 20, 2020 – exactly two years minus two days from the upcoming launch of Season 6.  Two years might as well be an eternity for a show like Better Call Saul, where significant details tend to be doled out piecemeal via deliberately paced plotlines. All I have are fuzzy memories of long scenes spent with Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler combing through legal documents, Kim joining in on Jimmy’s elaborate scams but eventually becoming exasperated by them, and Nacho Varga partaking in a nighttime home invasion that I think might have involved some tunneling? Maybe? Also, Gus Fring did some things, and so did Mike Ehrmantraut. I’m 99 percent certain Walter White and Jesse Pinkman still haven’t entered the picture yet, though. I could totally be imagining all or some or most of these things. Like I said, I’m fuzzy on the details. I think I’ve got what I’ll call “hiatus brain.” Hiatus brain is exactly what it sounds like – it’s what happens when a narrative show leaves its viewers alone for too long before returning to continue the narrative. Once the lag between seasons begins to surpass, say, 10-12 months, the mind has a significantly harder time picking up where the show last left off. Plotlines are lost to the sands of time, established character arcs exist as little more than blemishes barely imprinted on the surface of the mind.  You then have to scour the internet for decent recaps or season finale reviews in order to feel up to speed – and yet even then, you may worry some important details have been left out and you’re going into the new installments woefully unprepared. Wait, who formed an alliance with who and why? And does so-and-so know so-and-so betrayed them yet, or are they still in the dark? The pandemic is, of course, partially to blame for hiatuses of some of your favorite shows. And in the case of Saul, we’re lucky to even be getting a final season considering star Bob Odenkirk’s on-set health scare last year. But even before Covid, this was becoming A Thing in the realm of episodic television, as the concept of time has collapsed into a flat circle where cable and streaming productions are no longer beholden to a strict primetime schedule. A little under 18 months elapsed between the Season 4 finale and Season 5 premiere of Saul, and I had the exact same problem I have now. There was also about a year and a half between the end of season three and beginning of season four of Insecure, which filmed before the pandemic. And it’s hard to believe the perfect first season of Russian Doll dropped more than three years ago, but here comes Season 2 this spring. (I loved Season 1 so much I watched the whole thing again right away, which is something I never do. Still, I feel like I’m going to need a refresher before I dive into the new episodes.) Atlanta is probably the most egregious recent example of this trend, though: When it finally comes back for its third season next month, it will have been four full years since Season 2 premiered. That is an incredible amount of time for a show that isn’t Curb Your Enthusiasm and isn’t a reboot of something that was previously canceled! Within that period, Donald Glover dropped “This Is America”; all four of its leads starred in huge blockbusters (good for them!); Kanye called slavery “a choice;” Meghan and Harry got hitched and absconded from the royal family (good for them, too!); two seasons of Tiger King were released; Trump left the White House kicking and screaming while insurrectionists descended upon the Capitol. Not to mention we’re now two years into this pandemic. (Of course, in the midst of my writing this lament it was announced Atlanta’s fourth and final season will premiere this fall, just a few months after Season 3. A respite!) Atlanta is much more vibes than it is plot, unlike Better Call Saul, but there’s still a loose narrative arc built around the central characters which, I think, warrants a re-watch of some of its previous episodes. I’m absolutely not going to dissuade anyone from revisiting Atlanta if they have the time, but who among us really has the time to watch every show again before the newest season airs years later?  And if you’re anything like me, a person who watches TV for a living, perhaps you’ve watched hundreds of hours of TV and other content since the last time your favorite thing was on the air. After a while themes and scenes and characters start to blend together until it becomes a game of Clue, where Kim Wexler probably did the murder in the bathroom at a house party in Atlanta during Nadia Vulvokov’s 36th “sweet birthday baby.” Aside from the pandemic restrictions, the looseness of TV seasons seems to have been spurred on by a combination of factors, only some of which are visible to us normies, like creators and performers wanting to work on other projects, and complex production demands, in the case of something like the final season of Game of Thrones. The morally sound core of my being wants to be happy for filmmakers who get to be liberated from the tyranny of network TV’s rigid release schedule, especially in this COVID-era.  But the selfish part of me misses the days when more shows were like Grey’s Anatomy, where you can count on Meredith and co. to get back to doing their sexy doctor stuff at the same time year after year.  My hiatus brain hurts. Newsletter continues after sponsor message We Recommend: Last weekend, everyone was talking about J. Lo’s latest entry in the rom-com canon, but I was pleasantly enchanted by I Want You Back, a breezy farce stacked with some of my favorite funny people: Jenny Slate, Charlie Day, and Manny Jacinto. To paraphrase a line from the movie, the premise is kind of like Cruel Intentions, but funnier: Emma (Slate) and Peter (Day) meet and bond over having just been dumped by their respective partners, who are played by Scott Eastwood and Gina Rodriguez; together they conspire to help the other win their ex back. Chaos ensues, in the best way – Slate and Day have great chemistry, Rodriguez and Eastwood are game and charming. Jacinto, meanwhile, is *chef’s kiss* as a hot self-serious middle school theater director. The jokes here really landed for me, and I’m always in for a Little Shop of Horrors reference. Maya Cade’s excellent Black Film Archive helps fill a gaping hole in scholarship and preservation, and it’s absolutely worth perusing to learn about movies you’ve probably never heard of before. She’s indexed tons of films from the silent era up through the 1970s, with info on how to stream them online. And for Black History Month, she’s highlighted 28 must-sees. You can also check out an interview she did with All Things Considered last fall. While researching for my book of pop culture essays – #sorrynotsorry, shameless plug: it’s to be published sometime next year by HarperOne! – I came across this gorgeous all-the-feels montage of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, created by video editor Elliott Alderton. It manages to capture nearly everything that makes those movies so profound and timeless, and will absolutely make you want to go back and rewatch them all again for the nth time.  And we’re going to be talking about Oscars, and we want to hear from you. What, in your estimation, was the BEST best picture Oscar ever awarded? There can be only one (but not really, as you'll get to pick five movies, listed below in random order). Who will win? Who will lose? Will the hardcore Wings stans make their voices heard? Vote now at npr.org/bestpicture! Vote like the wind!  What We Did This Week: HBO On Monday, Stephen and LaTesha Harris burned the midnight oil to chat about how this year’s Super Bowl ads and “Dre Day”-themed halftime show felt straight outta 2003.  On Tuesday, Glen, Stephen and Kat Chow gushed about the winning new HBO series Somebody, Somewhere, created by and starring comedian and cabaret performer Bridget Everett. Then on Wednesday, Kristen Meinzer, Jeffrey Masters and I discussed Inventing Anna, the very long miniseries about the infamous scammer of Manhattan’s elite, Anna Delvey. On Thursday, Eric Deggans, Tre’vell Anderson and Jarrett Hill joined me in talking about We Need to Talk About Cosby, W. Kamau Bell’s challenging four-part docuseries on the legacy and downfall of Bill Cosby. On Friday, Stephen, Marc Rivers, Jordan Crucchiola, and Shea Vassar got into the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the franchise’s long, spotty legacy. And Glen wrote a review of the Apple TV+ series Severance. What's Making Us Happy: Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: What’s making Jordan happy: Reacher Season1 What’s making Shea happy: The Secret History by Donna Tartt What’s making Marc happy: Kimi What’s making Stephen happy: Futurama Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+. Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free episodes. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: pchh@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! 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