Plus: The Godfather, sewing videos, and a big week for horror

View this email online by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when a very very big book business consolidation saw the brakes applied. It was the week when Drake did not, in fact, do a Tiny Desk. It was the week when Sesame Street pondered its future. Let's get to it. Opening Argument: Don't count out the multicamera sitcom, chapter one zillion -- Lopez vs. Lopez There was a time when it seemed like the multi-camera sitcom was on the ropes. In the event that phrase is mushy in your mind, think about a show like Three's Company or Friends (multi-cam) versus a show like Malcolm in the Middle or 30 Rock (single-cam). The multi-cam sitcom was by far the most popular kind for decades, and traditionally includes either a live audience or a laugh track (these are different things!).  It's perhaps unsurprising that single-cam, which looks more "movie-like," rules at places like HBO with shows like Sex and the City and Veep. But it also surged in the early 2000s on networks including NBC, where the multi-cam "Must-See TV" shows like Friends and Seinfeld gave way to The Office and Parks and Recreation in terms of the comedy signature, and ABC, where Black-ish and Modern Family were big hits. CBS had perhaps been the most loyal purveyor of the traditional multi-cam show, led by the behemoth The Big Bang Theory. But other than that, single-camera seemed to be the trend by the late aughts.  But the multi-cam sitcom, both in format and in sensibility, has continued to thrive in places -- including, surprisingly enough, Netflix. The reboot of One Day at a Time that bowed in 2017 achieved something that seemed tough to do by then: It was a critically acclaimed multi-camera sitcom. It certainly wasn't alone -- the same could be said of Jerrod Carmichael's The Carmichael Show, which ran on NBC from 2015 to 2017 and became a crucial stepping stone not only for Carmichael himself, but for co-stars Lil Rel Howery and Tiffany Haddish. Multi-cam might have been down, but it was never out. Casey Durkin/NBC And now, stalwart George Lopez, who's been starring in sitcoms off and on for 20 years while also doing stand-up and late-night and lots of other stuff, returns with a new show: NBC's Lopez vs. Lopez teams the actor with his daughter Mayan Lopez (who plays ... the fictional George Lopez's daughter Mayan Lopez) in a very traditional multi-camera series created by Debby Wolfe, whose credits include One Day at a Time as well as The Conners and Love, Victor. The show is semi-autobiographical and follows the fictional George's complicated relationship with the fictional Mayan in ways that echo real life. You'll probably know in a hurry whether this series is your speed or not -- it does have a live audience, which can make comedy seem more broad and more artificial, depending on the execution, particularly for audiences who purely associate that style with old shows. There are a certain number of what I would consider "sitcommy" jokes early on (Mayan, the Gen-Z daughter, says her dad's behavior might be triggering, and he thinks she's talking about guns, that kind of thing). But a lot of this kind of show is in that execution, and George Lopez can certainly pull off a prime-time comedy dad.  But honestly, it's good to see that there's life in forms that were in the process of being shuffled off to the side a bit; I've always wanted to point out to people who grew up thinking of everything with a studio audience or a laugh track as hokey and old-fashioned that great shows like M*A*S*H and Cheers and The Mary Tyler Moore Show had audible laughter and were still quite naturally funny. Moreover, NBC, which for years made legendary comedies, now makes one hour a week of comedy and six hours a week of Dick Wolf procedurals. So I will root for every NBC comedy whenever I can, because they're almost gone. Newsletter continues after sponsor message Listen to the Podcast Sponsor-Free Support your favorite pop culture junkies AND listen without sponsor interruptions with a subscription to Pop Culture Happy Hour+! Learn more and sign up at plus.npr.org/happy. Learn More We Recommend This is a very exciting week for us at Pop Culture Happy Hour. Our own Aisha Harris is launching a three-episode documentary series called "Screening Ourselves," which debuts this weekend with a look at The Godfather. It will be in your regular PCHH podcast feed, so keep your eyes peeled.  I've been watching a ton of the GQ YouTube videos in the "Iconic Characters" series. They are very uneven, but when they're great, they're great. Try Paul Dano or Willem Dafoe, both of whom I greatly enjoyed.  Speaking of YouTube, have we talked about sewing? I have never sewn anything more complicated than fleece mittens, but when things become tense out there in the world, I sometimes get very soothed by craft videos, and right now, I'm into Bernadette Banner and her historically accurate sewing projects.  If you have been following the podcast adventures of our pal Sam Sanders, don't miss him over on Jordan, Jesse, Go!, where he gets very frank about Paul Newman and sex and lots of other stuff. What We Did This Week Orion Pictures We provided an encore of our episode about horror movies for scaredy-cats, featuring Stephen and Neda Ulaby. Aisha and Stephen talked to Odie Henderson about Till.  Glen talked to Kristen Meinzer and Christina Tucker about the new adaptation of Interview With The Vampire. I had a great time chatting with Marc Rivers and Cristina Escobar about Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, which is right there waiting to creep you out.  And Stephen talked to Bedatri D. Choudhury and Chris Klimek about The Banshees of Inisherin. 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 Chris Klimek happy: The audiobook of Bono's memoir Surrender: 40 Songs - One Story (read by Bono, obviously) What's making Bedatri D. Choudhury happy: The Philadelphia Orchestra playing the Robyn song "Dancing on my Own" What's making Stephen Thompson happy: Tove Lo's album Dirt Femme featuring the song "To Die For" and Aisha Harris' series "Screening Ourselves" series coming to PCHH this Sunday! 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! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy