PicoBlog

“I’m 76 years old and I have never learned a lesson in my entire life.” It’s something Larry says only a few scenes into the series finale of Curb—a throwaway line, really, spoken to a pair of one-scene characters we’ll never see again, but one imbued with much more meaning because of the episode in which it appears. And it’s not the only time the subject comes up, even outside the courtroom.
In the 26 years since Larry David ended his last TV show, the Seinfeld finale has loomed large. It wasn’t a popular ending at the time, but David has defended it over the years, even as Jerry Seinfeld has more openly acknowledged the issues. (In my book, it’s a decent enough episode, but never one I’d re-watch if I were in the mood to pop on a Seinfeld.) Season seven of Curb Your Enthusiasm offered a perfectly meta way to “redo” that original ending, offering all the affectionate cast reunions you could hope for without compromising David’s own stated disinterest in actually reviving the show.
When I think of the various settings of Curb Your Enthusiasm over the years, a few key spots come to mind: the various houses where Larry and Cheryl lived (I can never keep track of how many times they moved), along with Jeff and Susie’s house, and Larry’s office. And right up there is another location Larry frequents every season: the golf course. Golf has been a favorite pastime for Larry and his wealthy male friends and business partners throughout the show, and the sport offers its own distinct set of variables and conflicts.
One thing I didn’t expect about these big, buzzy 60th anniversary specials is how much they’d feel like regular episodes of Doctor Who—as if Russell T. Davies took a year off after “The End of Time” but then jumped right into a fifth season of the show. Cut a few references to the Flux (the Flux!) and the ongoing mystery about why the Doctor got his old face back, and this could easily be a months-later adventure with the Doctor and Donna circa 2010.
It was inevitable that any TV miniseries about Truman Capote’s love/hate relationship with high society would end up covering the Black and White Ball. Sure, this season of Feud is focused primarily on what happened with Capote and his rich lady friends after Esquire’s publication of his scandalous short story “La Côte Basque.” But it’s impossible to understand how Capote’s life started to fall apart in 1976 without reliving 1966.
The biggest impact of the fleshing out of Heartstopper’s second volume has been the decentering of Charlie within the narrative. This isn’t to say that Charlie’s character arc is being poorly adapted from the graphic novels: it’s just not being expanded significantly, whereas Nick’s coming out story is gaining more nuance, and you have expanded roles for Elle, Tara, Darcy, and Tao that are competing for story space as well. It’s a far cry from the books, where the first volume is so tightly in Charlie’s point-of-view and naturally anchors the rest of the story there in a way that the show destabilizes.
ISOM #2 (July & Richards; 2023), from Rippaverse comics, is a crowd-funded trade paperback created by YouTuber and musician Eric D July. Eric, aka Young Rippa has strong opinions on what’s wrong with modern American comic book culture and the industry at large. He’s drawn ire and given plenty back. Rippaverse is his big “F U” to the haters. Isom #1 was an undeniably huge success. His first campaign made a reported $3.
Welcome to Episodic Medium’s coverage of Justified: City Primeval, the revival and extension of FX’s hit drama series. As always, the first review is free, but subsequent reviews will be exclusively for paid subscribers. To learn more, check out our summer schedule, or check out our About Page. One of the bright spots of my year thus far has been rewatching all six seasons of Justified in preparation for this Justified: City Primeval miniseries.
Let’s start with zero theatrics, then spin some up over time. Because there’s no value to theatrics without sense and no reason to make sense if we don’t have fun. I enjoyed Lauren Oyler’s new essay collection No Judgment a lot, and I think it’s a good demonstration of growth from a remarkably talented but frequently frustrating writer. She’s kept her trademark complexity and compositional adventurousness while leaving some of the adversarial framing and self-defensive tics behind.