Thirty-nine years ago, NBC debuted the sitcom A Different World. Originally a spin-off of the The Cosby Show, following Lisa Bonet’s Denise Huxtable characters, the show slowly evolved into an ensemble program that chronicled life at the fictional HBCU Hillman University for six seasons. Two weeks ago, the show returned as a Netflix dramedy that…
Category: Television
e442. Is Classic TV Dead? The Evolution of Viewing in the Streaming Age
Once upon a time TV was the centerpiece of the American monoculture. But that time is over. Gone are the days where there were three TV channels and it has been replaced by an endless array of streaming options. Is it better? Yes, probably, but has anything been lost? Actually, probably a lot. On this…
e441. In Blackest Night: a Deep Dive into the World of Lanterns
Are you watching Lanterns? Ratings and critical response imply that you very well might be. Which is why we’re talking about ti again. If you’re wondering “wait, didn’t you do this before?” Well, yes and no! We did have an episode about the Green Lanterns a few weeks ago where we talked about the history…
e439. Legal Dramas and Pop Culture: Unpacking Courtroom Fantasies
Something occurred to us last week with the release of the very funny Coyote vs. Acme. There sure are a lot of movies, TV shows, and other properties that star lawyers. In fact, it seems like it’s one of pop cultures favorite professions. Why is that? Obviously, it can be an interesting job, but so…
e438. Vertical MicroDramas: Fad or the Dawning of a New Age?
Have you ever seen those ads for those over the top melodramatic drama movies on TikTok or Facebook or Instagram Reels or Youtube shorts? And by ads, we mean basically… 2-5 minutes of the movie in an attempt to hook you into watching the rest of it? If you have, did you click on it?…
e437. In Brightest Day: The History and Popularity of Green Lantern
Every once in a while an adaptation property really surprises us by capturing the cultural zeitgeist far more than its source material would imply that it should. That seems to be the case with the TV show Lanterns. For comic book fans, this always looked interesting — an unlikely buddy cop period drama in the…
e436. Robotic Dreams and Digital Nightmares: Is A.I the Monster… or the Mirror?
Obviously, Artificial Intelligence has been a big topic in the news of late. But in the world of pop culture, it really isn’t anything new. A.I. has been a huge theme in literature in one way or another for essentially the last century if not longer. As long as we have dreamed of creating life,…
e429. Out of this World: Alien Archetypes in Pop Culture
Aliens are one of the most enduring concepts in popular culture. It makes sense really. If we know there are other planets then it stands to reason that we might wonder what’s on them. There’s no shortage of books, films, TV shows and video games that explore this. So it’s kind of weird that we…
e428. The Supergirl Legacy: The Evolution of the Maid of Might
If you pay attention to the weekly pop-culture media landscape you might be aware that a new Supergirl movie released the weekend before this episode. It performed… somewhat underwhelmingly at the box office. It also had mixed reviews. But is that fair? On this episode Mav, Wayne and Hannah welcome returning guest, comics scholar Anna…